Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!
Also known as: Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer (EU), Spyro X Sparx: Tondemo Tours (JP) Developer: Insomniac Games Publishers: SCEA (US), SCEE (EU), SCEI (JP) Platform: PlayStation Released in JP: March 16, 2000 Released in US: November 2, 1999 Released in EU: November 5, 1999 This game has unused animations. This game has unused areas. This game has a hidden developer message. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences. This game has anti-piracy features. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! is the second Spyro game in the famous Spyro franchise, in which our favorite purple dragon is sent out the world of Avalar in order to save its inhabitants from, you guessed it, Ripto's Rage.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Prerelease Info

Developer Messages

The following text, which contains quotes from several renowned authors, can be found in the game's files:

Now is the winter of our discontent...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
Call me Ishmael...
Stately, plump Buck Mulligan...
Call me Jonah.  My parents did...
Gaily bedight a gallant knight...
Beware the ides of March...
Tyger tyger burning bright...
...
I always get the Shemp...

This paragraph is also present in the files of the first and third game. The last sentence, "I always get the Shemp...", refers to a joke among the developers, in that whenever they messed up, they "got the Shemp" (the joke even made its way into the first game in the form of the name of the boss Dr. Shemp).

In the European version of the game, amongst the German dialogue strings for Foreman Bud (or Vorarbeiter Kalle as he is known in German) are the following... unusual messages written in English, despite their location:

Don't fuck with this message.

Don't fuck with this message either.

It's not clear why these messages are here, and they don't appear in the dialogue strings for any of the other languages.

Unused Graphics

An unused Guidebook logo for Dragon Shores. In the final game this level actually lacks a corresponding page in the Guidebook.

Unused Guidebook text related to the unused orb mission in Shady Oasis. (see #Unused Orb Mission)

Unused Music

Bizarrely, there exists two tracks exclusive to the European releases of the game which go totally unused. Both tracks are distinguished from the rest of the other ones by their comparatively poorer sound quality, a consequence of flattening the stereo channels into a singular mono channel:

An unused duplicate of the "Save Them Again!" theme used during the second Lava Lizards Orb mission in Skelos Badlands. The composition and instruments are identical to the final track, with the only difference being the aforementioned poorer output quality.

A faster version of the theme of Hurricos, except with a similar instrumentation to that of Aquaria Towers' theme. The September 15th, 1999 build (released as part of Project Eclipse) used this theme during the Lightning Stone Thief Chase orb mission in Hurricos.

Unused Dialogue

There are parts of the game where the dialogue didn't get a chance to be used.

Dialogue for Inactive Power-Ups

There are a few instances in the game where a Power-Up Gate used for a minigame that is found later in the level has been set to a low enemies-defeated counter so that it will be activated by the point Spyro reaches it. Getting to these points without defeating any enemies is very difficult, if not impossible during normal gameplay. However, through the use of cheats, the player can get to these points without defeating any enemies. If so, then the player gets to see the inactive power-ups as well as the possibility to hear dialogue from the NPCs that otherwise never end up being seen.

These two such instances are in the levels "Magma Cone" and "Metropolis". The number of enemies they need to activate the power-up are 2 and 1 respectively.

Level name	Dialogue for the activated Power-Up Gate	Dialogue for the inactive Power-Up Gate	Voice clip
Magma Cone	Chedda the Faun Hey Spyro! You're just in time for the party. Well, you would be if those nasty Lava Monsters hadn't stolen our hats. It just won't be the same without party hats.	Chedda the Faun Here we are on the night of the big party, and we don't have anything to celebrate with. If you could fly, maybe you could do something about it.
Metropolis	Inventor Droid It's a first for Avalar! A combination powerup! Thank goodness you're here to test it out... these invading sheep in their spaceships must be stopped!	Inventor Droid I've successfully developed a super powerup here Spyro... knock off just a few more enemies and you can be the first ever to use it!

It is interesting to note that the dialogue for Magma Cone can technically be heard as you can simply walk right past the Earthshapers without killing them, but the level is designed in such a way where avoiding them before getting to the gate is a bit tricky, and as such casual players are extremely unlikely to hear this. An updated version of this line can still be heard in the game's remake.

As for Metropolis, it is nearly impossible to hear this dialogue in-game, as there are self-destructing pigs put in your path that count towards the spirit particle total when they explode. Near-TAS skill is essentially required to pull it off without the use of cheats. Like Magma Cone's, this dialogue was also re-recorded for the remake, although don’t count on actually hearing it in-game.

(Source: CrystalFissure)

(Source: Hwd45)

Unused Orb Mission

There is leftover data in the level Shady Oasis for a harder variant of the "Free Hippos" mission where Spyro would have had to rescue Grundy's 15 cousins.

Context	Dialogue text	Voice clip
First intro dialogue string	Grundy the Hippo Oh no! Now my 15 cousins have been petrified too! Can you save all 15?
Second intro dialogue string	Grundy the Hippo Follow me...and remember, jump and then press Triangle to headbash.
Upon failing the mission	Grundy the Hippo Almost successful, Spyro.
Upon completing the mission	Grundy the Hippo Thanks for freeing us. All I have to give you is this thingy I found...at least it's not a rock.

The text "Help out again?" also goes unused.

(Source: Mr. C (sound clips))

Dialogue Oddities

Zoe

Three of Zoe's placeholder voice lines were accidentally left in the game; two of her voice clips from Colossus, one regarding how spirit particles work, and one reminding Spyro how to properly glide. The third placeholder voice clip left in the game is her introduction to the final battle in Ripto's Arena. The voice clips are clearly from a different voice actress, not Mary Linda Phillips, and are read in a relatively unenthusiastic tone compared to how Phillips does her reads.

Strangely enough, the Crash Team Racing Demo of Spyro 2 has the correct line voiced by Phillips for the reminder on how to glide in Colossus, despite it being absent from the final retail build of the game. This build of the game does not have any audio play for the Spirit Particle dialog, and simply displays the text.

Brother Ned

Colossus's Talisman NPC Brother Ned's initial dialogue text states "Even though I'm a vegetarian, I think you should torch that yeti". The voice audio played, however, says "Even though I'm a vegetarian, I think you should kill that yeti".

In the Reignited Trilogy, both the text and voice say "torch", removing this inconsistency.

Early Level Names

There are several instances throughout the game where characters refer to a level by a name it used during development, likely due to developer oversights.

• In Zephyr, when talking to the Landblubber Romeo after rescuing Juliet he will mention that they can now finally have their honeymoon in Colossus Springs so that they can see the idols. Unused level names in the game's earliest demo confirms that what was then known as Colossus Springs later became Idol Springs. This inconsistency isn't present in the game's remake, where Romeo instead says that he and Juliet can take their honeymoon in Idol Springs.

• In Cloud Temples, Murgen the Wizard refers to the level as "Mystic City". Once again, the list of early level names from the first demo reveals that Cloud Temples was indeed originally known as Mystic City. This inconsistency isn't present in the game's remake, where Murgen instead gives Spyro an orb from the Cloud Temples gift shop.

There is also one instance of a character referring to a level name that is not necessarily believed to have been a level used during development, but it's notable regardless:

• In Crystal Glacier, Widgie the Icebuilder informs you that Shaman Tuk needs to be rescued as he has their tickets to the hockey game in Colossus Valley. The character is likely just referring to "Colossus", but the wording could lead one to believe that the level was once called Colossus Valley. However, this appears to simply be a dialogue quirk (or a canonical alternative name for the location) rather than an actual early name, as even the earliest known design documents for the game as well as the game's earliest demo have all referred to the level as "Colossus Steppes" before the level took on its final name. This is be reinforced by the fact that this inconsistency is still present in the game's remake.

(Source: Slidespin.tv)

Unused Animations

To do: Many of these animations are not unused, and should be removed. Video creator is working on a new version to make it clearer which animations are actually unused. An archived version of this video is located here - but its contents should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The liveliness of the characters and enemies is something that is clearly one of the game's strong point, yet it seems like at one point in time Insomniac wanted even more animations to be seen.

Time in the video	Description	Notes
0ː07 - 0ː15	An unused idle animation for the Gemcutter NPC turning on and off the light of his helmet.	No SFX.
0ː15 - 0ː22	An unused idle animation for Bounsa turning on and off the light of his helmet.	Has SFX.
0ː22 - 0ː26	Another unused animation for Bounsa, this time of him hiding / being scared (presumably by an enemy). A similar animation is used for the Indigo Lizards when Spyro gets close to them. This animation is actually used by Gus in Desert Ruins in the third game.	No SFX.
0ː26 - 0ː32	An unused animation of the Indigo Lizard enemy hopping, presumably upon noticing Spyro and being surprised by him.	No SFX.
0ː32 - 0ː38	An animation for the Brown Lizard enemy laughing, presumably mocking Spyro after he has been hit by its club.	Has SFX.
0ː38 - 0ː46	An unused idle animation for the Foreman NPC from Idol Springs using his rolled-up blueprints as a telescope.	No SFX.
0ː46 - 0ː53	An unused talk animation for the Worker NPC from Idol Springs reminiscent of the one used by the Monks in Collosus (which isn't surprising giving how they basically share the same base model). You can't talk to the Workers in the final game.	Possible leftover.
0ː53 - 0ː57	An unused animation for the Electroll where it it can heard letting out some kind of grunt while moving its body back a bit.	Has SFX.
0ː57 - 1ː00	An unused animation for the Starfish fodder in Sunny Beach flapping its arms.	No SFX.
1ː00 - 1ː06	Another unused animation for the Starfish fodder, this time of it losing one if its arms before putting it back where it was. This animation is mostly a reference to the fact that a starfish can regrow missing limbs (which may have been a concept a bit too dark for the game).	No SFX.
1ː06 - 1ː13	An unused animation of the Lava Toad enemy hopping, which may have been used on the out of reach ones to make them harder to hit, such as the Lava Toad standing on top of the skull entrance.	No SFX.
1ː13 - 1ː17	An unused idle animation of the Bonebuilder NPC swaying his arms left and right.	No SFX.
1ː17 - 1ː24	Another unused idle animation of the Bonebuilder NPC, this time of him picking his nose with his spear.	No SFX.
1ː24 - 1ː29	An unused faster variation of the vase-pushing animation used by the regular Hippo NPC from Shady Oasis.	No SFX.
1ː29 - 1ː32	Another unused animation of the regular Hippo NPC, this time of him being hurt and letting out a "Wah". In the final game enemies ignore these NPCs as they walk by.	Has SFX.
1ː32 - 1ː34	An unused idle animation of the big Hippo variant. In the final game the effects of the magic berries only serve as a temporary power-up, rendering this idle animation useless.	No SFX.
1ː34 - 1ː38	Another unused animation of the big Hippo variant, this time of it pushing a door open. In the final game the big Hippos walk right through them, destroying them in the process.	No SFX.
1ː38 - 1ː43	An unused animation of Hunter in Magma Cone where he can be seen jumping while letting out angry / annoyed cat noises (which may have been used after Spyro beats him to his minigame).	Has SFX.
1ː43 - 1ː47	An unused variation of Hunter's swiping animation used in Magma Cone's Crystal pop-corn minigame. Here he can be heard making an angry / annoyed grunt (which may have been used instead of the regular one for the harder version of the minigame).	Has SFX.
1ː47 - 1ː55	An unused animation for the Penguin fodder in Winter Toundra hopping, flapping its wings and letting out a squawk (presumably upon noticing Spyro).	Has SFX.
1ː55 - 2ː01	An unused animation for the Water Wizard NPC sleeping and snoring. Most likely intended for Snoozle before Spyro interacts with him, which is supported by the fact that his dialogue refers to him waking up, despite using the regular "awake" idle animation. Snoozle actually uses a sleeping animation in the game's remake.	Has SFX.
2ː01 - 2ː06	Another unused animation for the Water Wizard NPC, this time of him waking up. Most likely intended for Snoozle when Spyro interacts with him, which is supported by the fact that his dialogue refers to him waking up, despite using the regular "awake" idle animation.	No SFX.
2ː06 - 2ː12	Yet another unused animation for the Water Wizard NPC, this time of him pressing a switch. Most likely intended for Snoozle for after when Spyro interacts with him, however in the final game the fountain just suddenly starts working again with no physical action from anyone.	No SFX.
1ː12 - 2ː19	An unused talk animation for the Sky Wizard NPC, a similar one is used in the final game, but without the part where the NPC gives his scepter a glance.	No SFX.
2ː19 - 2ː22	An unused idle animation for Agent Zero, possibly intended for when he is in his secret base and wouldn't have to use his standard "Look left and right" idle animation.	No SFX.
2ː22 - 2ː27	Another unused animation of Agent Zero, this time of him pushing a door open. In the final game the doors open before him.	Has SFX.
2ː27 - 2ː32	Another unused animation of Agent Zero, this time of him giggling like a stereotypical Japanese schoolgirl.	Has SFX.
2ː32 - 2ː38	Yet another unused animation of Agent Zero, this time of him watering flowers (most probably intended to be used on the flowers found in his secret base).	Has SFX, but lacks a model for the watering can.
2ː38 - 2ː45	An unused idle animation of the Farmers NPC in Robotica Farms swatting some (invisible) insects.	Has SFX.
2ː45 - 2ː52	An unused animation of the robot scarecrow in Robotica Farms shaking its head down, presumably intended for when Spyro fails to catch the flying bugs.	No SFX.
2ː52 - 2ː57	Another unused animation of the robot scarecrow in Robotica Farms gesticulating energetically with its arms.	No SFX.
3ː04 - 3ː08	An unused animation of the Space Cow enemy from Metropolis laughing, presumably mocking Spyro after he has been hit by its laser. While this animation isn't used, a variant of this enemy (the Armored Space Cows) do use a hit-related animation.	Has SFX.
3ː08 - 3ː15	An unused animation of the Ox mini-boss from Metropolis bawling, presumably intended for when it notices Spyro for the first time.	Has SFX.

(Source: Breezeharbour)

Hockey Player Room

The level Colossus contains a hockey mini-game in which Spyro can compete against Riptocs in hope to gain orbs. When a match starts, goalie(s) and/or the opponent will come out of a room that Spyro can't normally access, yet it is possible to access this room through the use of glitches.

This simple area contains the models for the goalies and opponent (which constantly cycles through his ice-skating animation, as opposed to the goalies who are stationary) as well as being entirely textured and with full collision.

Cutscene Oddities

To do: Images.

Despite the fact that the game's cutscenes appear to reuse level models seen elsewhere throughout the game, the cutscene models are actually separate from those used in levels. There are a few minor differences between some of these models that suggest they may reflect an earlier version of the level that they derived from.

Gulp's Overlook and Spyro, you did it!

The lava is higher than normal, causing the surrounding polygons to be slightly squashed. The edge of the central platform is also totally different, and actually resembles the one seen in an early trailer. It's also worth noting the low poly models have some differences of their own.

Cutscene model	Level model
300px	300px

Autumn Plains and Boo!

The inside of the castle in Autumn Plains has some different geometry, with namely the addition of an indent in the wall with slightly different textures compared to the regular model, as well as the Scorch portal being further inside the enclave:

Cutscene model	Level model
300px	300px

Winter Tundra

In all three cutscene models set in Winter Tundra, the entrance to Ripto's Arena uses a copy of the pit similar to the one leading to the other bosses in the game (namely Crush and Gulp) instead of the signature corridor:

Cutscene model	Level model

Epilogue Oddities

To do: Images.

The pictures used in the Epilogue are taken from a few worlds and levels, but with a few of them having differences from the way the levels themselves actually look:

• The skybox in "Some of the Earthshapers joined the Faun dance troupe in Fracture Hills", "Moneybags swindled the bonebuilders one too many times", "The Chef finally got to host a hot tub party" is facing the wrong way.
• The cylindrical tower shown in the background of the page named "Agent Zero found some new recruits to train." is missing its roof.

Regional Differences

Japanese Version

This page or section has one or more broken YouTube links. Please find an archived version of the video(s) or a suitable replacement.

Similar to the first Spyro game, the game underwent massive changes when it was localized in Japan. Sadly, these changes, while less bothersome than in the first game, were in vain as the third game and most subsequent entries were never localized for Japan.

Audiovisual Differences

• Like in the Japanese version of the first game, Spyro makes cute high-pitched grunts every time he jumps, charges, or loses a life.
• The short level cutscenes shown at the beginning of every level now have full voice acting, with several characters like Spyro or even Moneybags narrating some of them.
• Some characters and levels have different names.
• The eye textures of some characters were made darker (for example, Hunter, Elora, Handel/Greta, the Fauns and the Water Wizards now have turquoise or dark purple eyes).
• The "Guidebook" label on the Guidebook was replaced with small, unreadable pixelated characters.
• The explosion effects were either replaced with an image saying "Boom," or were simply dulled out in order to reduce the risk of epilepsy.

Gameplay Differences

• Much like in the Japanese version of the first game, Spyro appears to be far slower. His charging speed is similar to that of his walking speed in the international releases.
• The camera is zoomed out considerably in the Japanese version compared to the North American and European versions of the game, keeping a fixed perspective as opposed to following Spyro directly. However, in the Speedway levels it remains identical to the other versions. The camera angle from the North American and European versions can be restored in the options menu. Also, the center camera function was changed; instead of pressing L1/2 and R1/2 in the US and European versions, pressing either L1 or R1 centers the camera, which was retained in Spyro: Year of the Dragon.
• Multicolored signposts are scattered throughout the game, providing text-based "hints". However, unlike the ones in the previous game, they are now only found in the homeworlds. In addition, interacting with these signs is now done by pressing the Triangle button as opposed to flaming them in the previous game.
• You now have to repeatedly press the Square button in order to swim underwater, as opposed to just holding the button down in every other version.
• Sparx's ability to detect gems by holding all of the shoulder buttons was removed.
• The map is enabled by default when you start the game.
• The "Double Jump" glitch was fixed in this version.
• In Summer Forest, all buttons (except the one for the orb challenge) used to open/close doors were removed, meaning that they're always open. This change was probably made to prevent a glitch that allowed the player to get out of bounds, which would've granted early access to the Crush boss fight.
• Most of the windmills in Robotica Farms are now stopped, presumably to make the level easier.

To do: Add quality pictures of where the dragonfly eggs are located.

• Another returning aspect is that Sparx always appears as green, regardless of how many hits Spyro has sustained. The shade of green dulls each time Spyro gets hit. This is because you can obtain other dragonflies that have different colors by finding dragonfly eggs scattered throughout the levels, save for the Speedway levels, boss fights and Dragon Shores. The dragonfly eggs only appear if the player has a PocketStation plugged into the system. Successfully hatching a dragonfly egg through the PocketStation device will let you have various types of dragonflies, and some of them even let Spyro take more damage from enemies.

Level name	Location of the Dragonfly eggs	Pictures
Summer Forest	Located in the alcove under where you find Hunter.	X
Glimmer	Located behind where you start the level.	X
Idol Springs	Located on the forehead of the big Tiki found in the third area (the one with the pillar).	X
Colossus	Located near a pillar on the platform where you start the level.	X
Sunny Beach	Located on the rock found in the second area you visit.	X
Hurricos	Located near the first electrical gate you see when you start the level.	X
Aquaria Towers	Located behind the stone formation next to the fifth tower.	X
Autumn Plains	Located behind the portal to Crystal Glacier.	X
Skelos Badlands	Located under the bridge near where the End Portal is found.	X
Crystal Glacier	Located on the dinosaur skull in the first area of the level.	X
Breeze Harbor	Found floating in midair on the path you take when riding the flying sailing ships.	X
Zephyr	Located in the corner of the platform where you start the level.	X
Scorch	Located near the gate in the area where the small “cavern” is found.	X
Fracture Hills	Located inside the group of bushes found behind where you start the level.	X
Magma Cone	Located on the small platform where the faun you help is found (the one holding the small boulder).	X
Shady Oasis	Located behind the first pillar in the blue room where two pillars are found.	X
Winter Tundra	Located on the ledge of the big tower of Ripto’s castle (the ledge on the left when facing the stairs).	X
Mystic Marsh	Located in the backseat of the car of Basil the Explorer.	X
Cloud Temples	Located in Agent Zero’s secret hideout.	X
Robotica Farms	Located in the ledge of the first windmill you see when you start the level.	X
Metropolis	Found floating in midair in the final section (near the two-branched planet-shaped structure).	X

(Source: CrystalFissure)

(Source: SpyroPS1iscool)

European Version

To do: The European release was earlier than the North American release, yet this section is worded almost like it's a later version.

Audiovisual Differences

• For the European version of the game, the title was changed from "Ripto's Rage" to "Gateway to Glimmer" (Glimmer being the first level you explore). As a result, a different title screen graphic is used: the "Spyro" part being of a lighter shade of purple while the subtitle "Gateway to Glimmer" is written in small light green text underneath. This change doesn't apply to the game's remaster, which, like the other two games, is based on its original North American release.

Europe	North America

• In this version, the "PRESS START" was replaced by an option that allows the player to change the game's language to either English, French, German, Spanish or Italian.
• The title screen intro cutscene cannot be skipped.
• The level "Breeze Harbor" was renamed "Breeze Harbour" to fit the spelling of the word in British English.
• Opera-styled vocals were added to the track that plays during the final fight against Ripto for the North American release. This change additionally carried over to the Japanese release.

Europe	North American and Japanese

• All the music is in mono instead of stereo.

Anti-Piracy

Some PlayStation games released after 1998 (especially in Europe, Oceania and South Africa) contain the LibCrypt protection system developed by Sony, in order to curb modchips and illegal copies on the system.

The LibCrypt functions on the software level in two ways: by detecting a modchip upon bootup of the game and by detecting an illegal copy through a 16-bit key located in the subchannel data of the disc. The first check is to see whether or not a modchip is installed on the system. As earlier modchips are active by default, all that is necessary to detect one is for the program to return data from a modchip. If it detects it, the game crashes immediately. This was mitigated by pirates with so-called "stealth" modchips, which turn off immediately when loading disc region data during boot-up. However, the second check now comes into play. The second part functions as a part of the game. It decrypts the 16-bit LibCrypt data key stored in the subchannel of the disc and stores it in the coprocessor of the system. If the data is incorrect, the game implements its anti-piracy measures. As most CD burners cannot properly replicate subchannel data on the disc, a pirated copy, whether burned directly to another disc or as a disc image, trips the anti-piracy measure by default.

A modded system allows for a backup, a pirated copy, or a legitimate copy of the game from a region different than the console, to start normally. However, with LibCrypt, the game can crash, freeze or perform tricks to prevent pirates, depending on the title.

In this game’s case, the game starts out fine, until the player enters the portal for the levels Colossus or Idol Springs in the Summer Forest hub world shortly after the Glimmer tutorial section. The cinematic plays and afterwards the game hangs on a black screen. In addition, if the memory card is set, the game saves automatically when going to one of the two worlds mentioned, which effectively locks the player's progression. Note that this copy protection is not present in the North American and Japanese versions of the game; they use anti-modchip protection instead. Unfortunately, LibCrypt prevents the European version from being played on a PlayStation 3 due to the software emulation setting off this measure.

(Source: Copy Protected PlayStation games list, MVG's video about copy protection schemes on PS, tested through Mednafen emulator)