Spyro 2 is pretty much the ideal video game sequel. At its heart, it follows the same formula as its predecessor, but it enhances that formula while adding in several new features. Though I loved the original, it didn’t take long for me to decide that this one was better.

In this game, Spyro inadvertently ends up in the world of Avalar and soon finds himself caught up in a plot to defeat Ripto, a villian who’s been causing trouble in that area. Assisted by new friends Elora, the Professor and Hunter (all of whom I was quite fond of, especially Hunter), Spyro has to visit various worlds in order to collect orbs and talismans so he can open more worlds and eventually reach Ripto.

The worlds were interesting and fun to explore. They were all fairly distinct and never really felt repetitive. My favourite was probably a place called Aquaria Towers, where you explore a base at the bottom of the ocean and later get to swim around outside it – finally getting out into the open ocean was really exciting. Another was Robotica Farms – some farmland which is run by robots, which was a rather quirky setting. I was also pretty fond of Magma Cone, a level which has you flying around the inside of a volcano.

With a game like this, the quality of these levels is one of the most important things. Though I enjoyed the levels of the first game, they were all essentially deserted locations, with the exception of a few enemies. This time, each level is full of wacky characters who’ll have a problem for you to solve upon your arrival (e.g. rescuing baby turtles, restoring a water supply or catching thieves) and once you’ve done this initial (usually linear) task, you can then go wherever you want and find other tasks to complete.

On top of the improved levels, this game also gives Spyro himself a more versatile play style. I was very pleased, for example, that he can swim now, as it opens the doors for a wider variety of settings and challenges. Spyro is also given the ability to fly much more often and in more fun and interesting ways than before.

So if you’re looking for a delightful slice of 90s 3D platforming, then look no further. This is a lovely game and one which has aged very nicely. I played it for the first time roughly twenty years after its initial release and I still had a lot of fun.

Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.

After playing the first Assassin’s Creed game, I was a little reluctant to keep going with the series. I found it to be such a dreary game and I was concerned that the second game might be a similarly unenjoyable experience. But I pushed on, because I knew the series was really popular and several people had told me how good some of the later games were.

And you know what? I’m glad I kept going. I can honestly say that Assassin’s Creed II was a pretty darn good game. But what’s funny is that in a lot of ways, it’s very similar to the original – it just goes to show that with just a few small tweaks, a bad formula can become a good one.

The biggest (and best) difference, is that this game is much more story driven than its predecessor. While the first game only really used Desmond as a character to walk in and out of the Animus, there are some pretty dramatic developments on his end this time – to the extent that I often enjoyed playing as him just as much as I enjoyed playing as Ezio in the past. Although Ezio’s storyline was pretty great too. Especially the ending.

Ezio, by the way, replaced Altaïr as the primary protagonist. While Altaïr was a bit of a ‘blank slate’ character who never received any development and just followed his orders without us ever really getting any glimpse at who he was, Ezio is a real person with thoughts and feelings of his own. You see his family (you even see him being born!) and get to see his relationships grow with other characters – I particularly liked the friendship between him and Leonardo Da Vinci. Ezio is a man who finds himself caught up in the world of Assassins and Templars without knowing anything about them beforehand – making him a bit of a gateway character, which I think is needed in a game like this.

Since I actually cared about Ezio (unlike Altaïr) this gave me much more motivation to keep going through the game. But that’s just one of several things which made it much more appealing . You can now collect money from the guards you kill (meaning that when they endlessly fight you, it actually feels productive) and you then use this money to buy medicine, improve your armour or purchase new weapons. They’re just small additions, but it means even if you don’t really progress the story when you play, you can feel like you did something worthwhile (rather than just wandering around and fighting pointlessly).

Another positive was changing the setting to Italy. The environments felt atmospheric and were kind of beautiful. The green open countryside that you sometimes walk (or rode your horse) through was easy on the eyes and it was a significant improvement over the dusty old cities of the Holy Land that Altaïr had to explore.

Overall, this is a pretty solid game and if you’re interested in getting into the Assassin’s Creed games, I recommend starting here over the first game. You really don’t miss much by skipping over it – except from perhaps a few hours of boredom. This will be a much better first impression for a series which is well worth playing.

Rating: 8.9/10

Buy it here.