These are two videos that I recorded last summer (BEFORE the LP, hence the bad quality) that have me beating Gulp and Ripto without superflame. The official skill points don't call for it (they just want it done), but think of it as an unofficial test of your Spyro skills. I did have one for Crush, but since I have an LP piece of me doing it, I just deleted it. Beating Crush is dead easy anyways and the battles don't change in difficulty with or without superflame. Gulp and Ripto on the other hand are MUCH harder. I've defeated them without superflame MANY times (which is the reason you don't get the skill point chime at the end), but it takes a lot of practice.
There is also no commentary, because it would just be me senselessly rambling as post-commentary, and that's not as fun as live.
Gulp: The superflame battle lasts a few seconds, making it the easiest skill point in the game. Without it, it's easy among the hardest. At least Gulp is pretty predictable for most of the match and my most common hit from when I play him is caused by rushing in and getting caught in my own attack (you can see that a few times where I just backed off). Not much to say about "strategy" except I tend to run in circles a lot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Patience and choosing your time to attack CAREFULLY helps too. There are many where I perhaps should've been hit (especially since I ran out of room frequently), but the game decided to cut me slack.
Ripto: You damn derranged muppet! This guy is a real bitch even with superflame, since you don't get any real advantage except for the first two stages. In the last stage, it's so easy to get hit. Playing defensively I guess is my strategy, but the game seems to have issues with you hitting and running. In the first stage, sometimes the game decides that your stunning attack will miss, and Spyro hops away with a flamed ass. For the last stage, I launch a few seemingly on target fireballs, veer away, and it either doesn't hit or the bird just squacks. It doesn't register a hit unless you're closer to being face-to-face I guess. I'll admit it, this battle has a lot of luck involved. The reason why I won is that Ripto and I got the right power-ups (I got superflame and that acid...stuff, while Ripto only had ONE green power-up in the entire battle. That lazer attack is a bitch and kept killing me in the 40 or so tries I had). My "kill finger" was also really itchy and I tried attacking Gulp WITHOUT a power-up (wasn't paying attention to my orbs) and somehow escaped without a scratch. Phew.
Also, taking a break on Okami for a little to get some editing done by the way.
