Bambi 2: Scar's Rage!

Bambi 2: Scar's Rage! (Bambi 2: Gateway To Glimmer in Europe and Australia) is the second game in the original series, made by Magenta Software and Eurocom.

Plot
The protagonist of the series, Bambi, decides to take a vacation to Forest Shores with his friend Sparx a few years after defeating Hades. The portal he enters accidentally takes him to the land of Avalar because the Professor, Elora and Hunter are trying to bring a fawn to Avalar. A sorcerer, known as Ripto, has invaded the world of Avalar and is wreaking havoc on its citizens with his magic. Idols come to life and attack their creators, Eskimos are encased in ice cubes, and a civilization of seahorses has had its water confiscated. Spyro must travel through the land of Avalar, undoing the damage done by Ripto and ultimately defeating him.

Setting
Ripto's Rage! is set in Avalar, rather than the Dragon Realms, where the previous installment was set. The world of Avalar is split up into three homeworlds, all of them named after a season of the year: Summer Forest, Autumn Plains, and Winter Tundra. All three homeworlds feature a certain number of realms, one or two speedways, and a Boss Realm. Avalar's name may have been derived from the legendary island Avalon.

Characters
The Dragons of the previous installment have been replaced with an entirely new cast of characters, including fauns, satyrs, anthropomorphic animals, and robotic businessmen.

Playable Characters

 * Spyro the Dragon - voiced by Tom Kenny

Non-Playable Characters

 * Sparx the Dragonfly - voiced by André Sogliuzzo
 * The Professor - voiced by Tom Kenny
 * Hunter the Cheetah - voiced by Greg Berger
 * Elora the Faun - voiced by Melissa Disney
 * Zoe the Fairy - voiced by Mary Linda Phillips
 * Moneybags the Bear - voiced by Richard Barnes
 * Crush, one of Ripto's henchmen - voiced by Greg Berger
 * Gulp, one of Ripto's henchmen - voiced by Greg Berger
 * Ripto the Riptoc - voiced by Greg Berger

Story
In the land of Avalar, residents Elora, Hunter, and the Professor have been working on their latest and largest portal. During a test, Hunter persuades the Professor to enter his birthdate, 22475 (22nd April, 1975) as the portal's target coordinates, inadvertently activating it and allowing a small sorcerer named Ripto into the realm, along with his two dinosaurs, Crush and Gulp. Sensing that the world he has landed in is free of Dragons, Ripto declares that he is going to "move in" and take over. He instructs Crush to go back and pack his things. However, Elora is able to deactivate the portal by instructing fairies to remove the orbs powering the portal and scatter them throughout the realms of Avalar. As Ripto begins to terrorize Avalar, Elora and the Professor plan to "catch" a Dragon in order to drive Ripto off.

Meanwhile, the Dragon Realms have been experiencing rainy weather for some time, and Spyro declares that he needs a vacation. He locates the portal to the realm of Dragon Shores and enters it. However, he finds himself instead landing in the realm of Avalar, intercepted by a portal built by the Professor. Ripto immediately enters the scene and destroys the portal, objecting to the Professor's success in bringing a Dragon to Avalar. Ripto is, however, forced to retreat when Gulp accidentally swallows Ripto's magical scepter. Elora asks Spyro to help save the realm of Avalar by defeating Ripto.

Each of Avalar's homeworlds is captured by Ripto immediately after Spyro enters it, and either Ripto or one of his main minions await Spyro in a dungeon area at the end of each. Spyro must gain access these dungeons by collecting all of the Talismans in the homeworld, and in the case of the final confrontation, collecting 40 orbs total also. The Talismans are being held by the leaders of each realm. Somehow, perhaps using his magic, Ripto has succeeded in turning the citizens of the realms against each other, causing outbreaks of war between realms and races within realms. However, it's possible that Ripto did not terroise these realms, since Zephyr and Breeze Harbor have been in a war for some time, Mystic Marsh's trouble was only caused by a sleeping Water Wizard, and nobody ever mentioned Ripto at all.

In the end, Spyro is able to bring peace to each of the realms that have been corrupted by Ripto's machinations. After defeating both Crush and Gulp, Spyro is hurtled into Winter Tundra, where he finds out that Ripto has taken over the homeworld and holed himself up in the castle. The Professor instructs Spyro to gather up forty orbs, which will enable him to storm the castle Ripto has claimed and retake Avalar for the peaceful natives to whom it belongs.

Spyro successfully gathers the forty orbs and enters the castle. With the assistance of Hunter, Spyro fights Ripto to the bitter end. As Ripto spawns a mechanical Gulp, and later a mechanical pterodactyl (who could be one of Ripto's deceased henchman that died before the events of the game), Hunter dons his wings, flies over the arena, and drops orbs supercharged by the Professor to give Spyro enhanced abilities for a short amount of time. Spyro ultimately devastates Ripto, sending him sinking into the lava below.

After Spyro beats Ripto, he is congratulated by Hunter, Elora, the Professor, and Moneybags. The Professor opens a portal to Dragon Shores with the remaining orbs, and Hunter attacks Moneybags in order to retrieve the gems he took from Spyro throughout the events of the game.

Gameplay
Gameplay flows in a manner similar to the original game Spyro the Dragon, with few variations in control and Spyro's main abilities intact. The only notable difference is the removal of Spyro's side-rolling ability (previously activated by L1 and R1), which some would argue was useless in the first place.

Returning Abilities
Spyro retains the ability to jump and glide, and he is only able to fly (gain altitude) in speedway levels or with a certain temporary powerup.

Spyro can attack with his fire breath and his charge. He can take down many varieties of enemies with either attack. However, metal-armored enemies are impervious to Spyro's flame, and enemies much larger than Spyro are immune to his charge attack.

New Abilities
Spyro also acquires a variety of new abilities throughout the game. Toward the beginning, Hunter teaches Spyro how to glide, and he includes instructions on how to hover at the end of a glide in order to gain extra height. Many levels were designed with this in mind, and this game accordingly contains longer glide distances than its predecessor, Spyro the Dragon.

Moneybags then teaches Spyro a few new abilities. Of course, all of these come at the expense of a "small fee" of gems. The abilities Moneybags teaches Spyro are:

Swimming: Swimming on the surface of water is an ability Spyro has from the beginning of the game. Swimming underwater enables Spyro to travel to new areas, recover gems and battle enemies. One level is even set entirely underwater. Once Spyro learns to swim from Moneybags, the square button may be pressed to dive from the surface. (There is no time limit on underwater swimming, since Spyro is apparently amphibious and has no need to return to the surface to breathe, and Sparx is encased in a bubble.) Underwater, the 'x' button causes Spyro to paddle in any direction the player chooses, while pressing the square button causes him to charge. Pressing the circle button, which usually corresponds to the flame attack, causes Spyro to emit nothing but a stream of bubbles unless he is currently powered-up with Superflame.

Climbing: Using the climbing ability, certain walls bear ladder imprints and can be climbed. Simply jumping against the wall will make Spyro dig his claws in, and he can climb in any direction for as far as the imprints go. Spyro frequently must cross from ladder to ladder in order to reach new areas.

Headbash: The headbash enables Spyro to break certain rocks and special gem containers. The headbash is achieved by jumping into the air and then pressing the triangle button. Spyro will execute a forward somersault and launch himself downwards, horns first. Spyro can also drop into a Headbash from a glide by hitting triangle twice—first to Hover, then to Headbash.

Powerup Gates
(See main article: Powerups)

In addition to Spyro's returning and new abilities, many levels in the game feature power-up "gates" which give Spyro a special ability for a limited time.

Back-tracking is often necessary to obtain all of the collectibles in certain levels. Clever and persistent players can, however, get around certain obstacles without the use of the intended skills or power-ups. For instance, in Glimmer, Spyro can reach the landing above the ladder in the crystal cave using the Superfly powerup outside.

Features
After the success of Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2 went a little further to make the series bigger. These features were introduced in this game:
 * The Map: This was the first game where Spyro could call upon a map to find out where he was. The map feature was similar to The Legend of Zelda's map feature, except that it could only be viewed in the bottom left corner of the screen. Spyro's location appeared as a beam of light on the map, with the exact position of Spyro being the smallest point, and the largest point being where Spyro was looking. The map feature did not carry over into Spyro: Year of the Dragon, but was used in other Spyro games as an alternative pause screen.
 * A Bigger Story: More cutscenes were used in this game than the previous installment, however some could argue that each dragon-release, as well as the 3-second scenes after flaming Gnasty Gnorc, counts for cutscenes. There were also shorter cutscenes that played when entering and leaving the various levels (which eliminated the animations of Spyro flying directly into the next level and doing an aerial backflip. Instead, after the cutscene plays, there is a blackout, and when the lights come back up, Spyro is waiting to move in the level). Ripto's Arena also had two mini-cutscenes between each battle-section. There was a more personal feeling to Spyro 2 than Spyro 1. Cutscenes continue to be a part of the Spyro franchise.
 * The Dialogue Box: When speaking to characters in-game, dialogue boxes appear. In Spyro the Dragon, all of the dialogue (whether in-game, or cutscene) was spoken without a dialogue box, except for the balloonists, which was followed by a choosing option. Spyro does not talk to anyone in game in Spyro 1 (except when Gnasty is beaten (unless the scene is counted as a cutscene)), only in the cutscenes.
 * Recurring Characters: The Dragons in the first game were cool and all, but once you freed them they disappeared into some sort of limbo, leaving every level sort of empty. And they always had the same dialogue with Spyro if he ever called upon their wisdom again, except for Argus (depending on whether you've completed a level or not (however, still counts only as one dragon)). Spyro 2 introduced friendly characters that inhabited the levels Spyro visited and followed Spyro throughout the game.
 * Safe Homeworlds: Enemies were removed from the homeworlds, giving Spyro safe places to recuperate and explore uninhibited.
 * Mandatory Boss Battles: In Spyro the Dragon, you could skip the boss and go to the next level. Also, the boss resided in worlds that were similar to the normal realms, with enemies and gems and Dragons. The boss battles in Spyro 2 were required to progress through the game, and you fought in an arena, with no collectibles or regular enemies whatsoever.
 * New Types of Death: Spyro now can die more realistically. There is actual lava in this game (whereas in Spyro 1, every level that had some kind of liquid was a different version of a drowning pool, even if it looked like lava) and when Spyro lands in the lava, he is sent into the air with a scorched posterior. If he dies on the lava, he ends up burnt to a black, smoking crisp, where he will stand straight up and fall onto his back. Other deaths include getting spun by means of getting slapped or having something swung at you where spyro will spin to face the camera, balancing on his right leg, only to fall forward shortly after, and getting eaten by a robot shark where Spyro will just disappear as the shark does a chewing animation. Also, the water in this game does not always kill Spyro. The developers took advantage of the Dragons-cannot-drown concept and applied it to this game.
 * Ending Objective: Instead of finding all of the required items in a level, Spyro is given a one-of-a-kind item at the end of the first 14 levels. After that, he has to go after the less rare orbs.
 * Gem Radar: Starting with this game, Sparx can help Spyro find any gems nearby by pressing the shoulder buttons. This is very helpful if Spyro is trying to find gems that are in clever hiding spots.
 * Hover: This game introduces an extra action for the triangle button: a hover at the end of Spyro's glide. It gives Spyro a little extra boost so he can reach hard to reach platforms.

Summer Forest

 * Level 1: Glimmer. Gemcutters are being terrorized by lizards, who keep stealing their gems.
 * Level 2: Idol Springs. Wooden Idols are turning on their creators.
 * Level 3: Colossus. A Yeti is rampaging around a once-peaceful mountain.
 * Level 4: Sunny Beach. Lead baby turtles to safety.
 * Level 5: Hurricos. The Gear Grinders are segregating their smaller, weaker workmates, the Electrolls.
 * Level 6: Aquaria Towers. A civilization of seahorses have had their water confiscated by the Water Workers.
 * Level 7: Ocean Speedway
 * Level 8: Crush's Dungeon. Defeat Crush, a blue Riptoc with a club.

Autumn Plains

 * Level 1: Skelos Badlands. Cavemen are having trouble with some dinosaurs and Fire Wizards.
 * Level 2: Crystal Glacier. Eskimos have been trapped inside blocks of ice, and the leader is imprisoned by Ice Wizards.
 * Level 3: Breeze Harbor. Help the Breezebuilders fight off a Land Blubber infestation.
 * Level 4: Zephyr. Help the Land Blubbers fight off the Breezebuilder assault.
 * Level 5: Scorch. Help Handel and Greta infiltrate an enemy castle.
 * Level 6: Fracture Hills. Satyrs have been encased in stone by Earthshapers.
 * Level 7: Magma Cone. Help fauns close the volcano.
 * Level 8: Shady Oasis. Help a hippo reach the Big Berry Bush.
 * Level 9: Metro Speedway
 * Level 10: Icy Speedway
 * Level 11: Gulp's Overlook. Defeat Gulp, a huge & green Riptoc with a cannon-like contraption on his back.

Winter Tundra

 * Level 1: Mystic Marsh. Switch on the fountain.
 * Level 2: Cloud Temples. Evil warlocks have stolen the powerful magician's wands.
 * Level 3: Robotica Farms. The residents are having trouble with a bug infestation.
 * Level 4: Metropolis. Space Cows, Space Pigs and Sheep UFOs have invaded.
 * Level 5: Canyon Speedway
 * Level 6: Ripto's Arena. Defeat Ripto, a small & red Riptoc and the main enemy. He is the final boss in the game, and has 3 stages (Normal, Metal Gulp, Pterodactyl).

Dragon Shores

 * Dunk 'em Down in Water (3 Tokens): Fire baseball-like rocks at a dunk tank.
 * Tunnel of Love (1 Token): Ride the Tunnel of Love.
 * Coaster Ride (3 Tokens): Pop balloons on a rollercoaster.
 * Shooting Range (3 Tokens): Shoot enemies and targets that pop up out of the ground.

Trivia

 * When the game was released on the North American PlayStation Store, it was pulled out from sales less than a week later because of reports that Idol Springs and Colossus were not working properly. The glitch has since been fixed and the game has been re-released.
 * In the European PlayStation Store, the game has been released to the NTSC version.
 * During gameplay, Spyro is always seen frowning, it's possible the developers did this purposely to give him a tougher appearance. This was later changed in Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Comically though, some fans believe Spyro is frowning because his vacation was ruined when he suddenly arrived in Avalar.
 * As seen in the first cutscene, the Dragon Realms, more specifically, where Spyro and the other dragons live, has changed in appearance. In the first game, it looked like a combination of Stone Hill and Dark Hollow. It now looks like a mix of Stone Hill and Autumn Plains.
 * One of the enemies in this game is an early prototype build of Ratchet & Clank.
 * Beginning with this game, Tom Kenny became the voice of Spyro. He would continue to voice Spyro until Spyro: A Hero's Tail where he was replaced by Jess Harnell.
 * The Italian voice of Moneybags (Riccone) is made by Alessandro Ricci, the Italian voice of Solid Snake.
 * The Ocean Speedway, Metro Speedway and Icy Speedway are water except in Canyon Speedway which is lava, if Bambi lands in the water he angrily smacks his hand on the water.