Spyro: Year of the Dragon

is the third game in the Spyro the Dragon series and the franchise. It was also the last Spyro game to be released for the PlayStation, as well as the last Spyro game developed by Insomniac Games.
A remake of Year of the Dragon, along with the first Spyro game and Ripto's Rage! was released as part of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
==Setting==
Spyro is assisted by many characters during the course of Year of the Dragon. Sparx functions as the player's health meter and assists the player in gathering gems; Sparx is a playable character in certain levels. Also aiding Spyro is Hunter, who teaches the player game mechanics and is a playable character at special racing levels. Four other playable characters are freed from Moneybags during the game; these include Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, Bentley the Yeti, and Agent 9 the Monkey. The primary antagonist of the game is the Sorceress, a tyrant who rules over the Forgotten Realms with her forces. Aiding her is the apprentice Bianca, who attempts to hinder Spyro on his mission.
==Characters==
===Playable===
*Spyro
*Sparx
*Sheila
*Sgt. Byrd
*Bentley
*Agent 9
*Hunter (Secret Speedway challenges)
===Non-Playable===
*Bianca
*Professor
*Elora
*Bartholomew
*Moneybags
*Rhynocs
====Bosses====
#Buzz
#Spike
#Scorch
#Sorceress (2 phases)
=====Mini=====
*Bluto
*Sleepyhead
*Twin Fire Dragons
==Story==
The game opens with the aftermath of a celebration in the Dragon Realms. The Dragons are celebrating the Year of the Dragon, an event when every 12 years new Dragon Eggs are brought to the realm. After the celebration however, a cloaked anthropomorphic rabbit girl, Bianca, invades the Realms with an army of Rhynocs and steals all of the Dragon eggs. As Bianca steals the last egg, she accidentally woke up Hunter causing him to release a yowl of pain that woke up Spyro and the other dragons. They were unable to stop her and she escapes with the egg in tow. Spyro, along with Sparx and Hunter, are sent down a hole to find the thieves and recover the Dragon eggs.
Pursuing the thief, Spyro discovers a realm once inhabited by the Dragons, but long abandoned and forgotten, now known only as the "Forgotten Realms", ruled by a queen called "the Sorceress", and under firm control of her Rhynocs army. Of the few that question the Sorceress' rule, the first is a kangaroo named Sheila. She is held prisoner by Moneybags within a cage, but is released after you pay a "small fee" to him. Sheila kicks him in the stomach and knocks Moneybags out.
As Spyro travels through each realm, acquiring aid from local inhabitants, and bartering with Moneybags for passage to new areas and freeing Sgt. Byrd and Bentley, The Sorceress abducts and imprisons Hunter. It is later revealed that the Sorceress is seeking not the baby dragons themselves, but merely their wings to concoct a spell that can grant her immortality. Once Bianca finds this out, she feels sorry for the baby Dragons, and defects to side with Spyro, Hunter, and the others who question the Sorceress' rule.
Celebrations resume after the Sorceress' defeat, although Spyro is unable to locate Hunter. Searching throughout the realm, Spyro's friends are reluctant to say anything of Hunter's whereabouts until the young dragon ultimately locates Hunter out on a date with Bianca, and laments about another hero "falling" for love.
However, it later turns out that the Sorceress survived her previous battle with Spyro, and is found in the Super Bonus Round, waiting for Spyro on her UFO. Spyro and the Sorceress battle again, on two UFOs above a pool of unknown, but deadly liquid. Eventually, Spyro manages to shoot the Sorceress down, and she falls into the liquid below, presumably killing her. After she dies, it becomes apparent that she had the final Dragon egg, which hatches two baby dragons named Yin and Yang.
The baby dragons then return to the Dragon Realms as the game closes.
==Gameplay==
The gameplay is somewhat similar to its two predecessors. 
There are four homeworlds in this 3-D platform game and in order to proceed to the next world, Spyro must defeat the boss of the world. However, to travel to these boss arenas, Spyro must make his way to the four normal realms and the one rebel realm in that particular homeworld to rescue a villager who powers the vehicles which enables access to these bosses.
These realms are free to explore and wander in all directions without any time limit. The realms are littered with enemies which attack Spyro. Spyro can defeat these enemies, and as a reward receive gems, these gems can be used later in the game. Gems also lay all over the level on the ground and inside crates. The levels are also littered with non-playable characters which inform you on the state of the realm.
To enter all of these realms you must travel via portals, some portals can not be entered unless you acquire a certain amount of dragon eggs. To enter all the rebel realms, you must pay Moneybags gems that were collected to release the rebel who is blocking the way into the realm.
As said above, to access some realms, it is necessary to collect a certain amount of eggs; these eggs can be acquired by locating them or as a reward for completing one of the minigames inside the realm. There are many different minigames, which reward you with these eggs such as sliding down a slide, skateboarding, saving a wolf, collecting bones, catching thieves, or battling bosses.
Spyro can also run into Powerup Gates which give him special abilities for a period of time (time left can be seen on a bar on the right of the screen). These abilities could be superflame, superfly, or invincibility. Like in the last two games, there are some areas where you can supercharge, this means that when you charge on a certain track, you go super fast and can break heavy crates or catch fast thieves.
Once you have defeated The Sorceress, there is an option of getting 100% (which requires collecting 149 eggs as well as all 15,000 gems). Once you have achieved this, the last portal on Midnight Mountain will open; it is called Super Bonus Round and contains the 150th egg, as well as some extra minigames and tons of treasure. 
===Controls===
====Spyro====
Button 	Movement
 	Jump
+ 	Glide
Hover 	
Hold 	Look around environment
 	Flame
 	Charge
and 	Skip/Quick Charge
+ 	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
or 	Move the camera
 	Pause Menu
 	View Atlas
(underwater)	Swimming
+ and + +	Climbing
+ 	Headbash
====Sheila====
Button	Movement
 	Jump
+ 	Double jump
+ + 	Mega jump
+ 	Stomp
Hold 	Look around environment
or 	Kick
+ 	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
or 	Move the camera
 	Pause Menu
 	View Atlas
====Sgt. Byrd====
Button	Movement
 	Fly
Hold 	To fly higher
 	Drop item
 	Fire Rocket launchers
Hold 	Aim
+ 	Sparx gem radar (after completingSpider Town or doing a cheat code)
or 	Move the camera
 	Pause Menu
 	View Atlas
====Bentley====
Button	Movement
 	Jump
 	Thump
 	Spin club
 	Look around
+ 	Sparx gem radar (after completingSpider Town or doing a cheat code)
or 	Move the camera
 	Pause Menu
 	View Atlas
====Agent 9====
Button	Movement
 	Jump
 	Throw bomb
 	Fire blaster
+ 	Stomp
Hold 	Sniper mode
+ 	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
or 	Move the camera
 	Pause Menu
 	View Atlas
==Forgotten Realms locations==
There are four Homeworlds in "The Forgotten Realms", all named after times in the day. Each Homeworld contains at least four normal Realms (two that are already open and 2 that require a specific number of eggs to unlock), one rebel Realm which acts as a tutorial for each of Spyro's allies, one Speedway which also requires eggs to unlock, and 1 Sparx Realm which can only be accessed by defeating the Homeworld's Boss. After completing a normal Realm in one of the first 3 Homeworlds, an inhabitant of that Realm will travel to the respective Homeworld to help build a vehicle that will enable Spyro to travel to the next world, but not before defeating the Sorceress' most powerful creatures, which acts as that Homeworld's boss. In the final Homeworld, Spyro confronts the Sorceress herself and defeats her. There is also one additional Realm that requires completing everything else in the game.
*(Sh) Sheila Levels: 5
*(SgB) Sgt. Byrd Levels: 4
*(Bt) Bentley Levels: 4
*(A9) Agent 9 Levels: 4
*(H) Hunter Quests (Speedways Only): 4
Homeworlds 	Realms 	Speedways (H) 	Boss Realms 	Sparx Realms
SunriseSpring 	Sunny Villa (Sh)Cloud SpiresMolten Crater (SgB)Seashell Shore (Sh)Sheila's Alp (Sh only) 	MushroomSpeedway	Buzz's Dungeon(Helped by Sheila) 	CrawdadFarm
MiddayGardens 	Icy PeakEnchanted Towers (SgB)Spooky Swamp (Sh)Bamboo Terrace (Bt)Sgt. Byrd's Base (SgB only) 	CountrySpeedway 	Spike's Arena(Helped by Sgt. Byrd) 	SpiderTown
EveningLake 	Frozen Altars (Bt)Lost FleetFireworks Factory (A9)Charmed Ridge (SgB)Bentley's Outpost (Bt only) 	HoneySpeedway 	Scorch's Pit(Helped by Bentley) 	StarfishReef
MidnightMountain	Crystal Islands (Bt)Desert Ruins (Sh)Haunted Tomb (A9)Dino Mines (A9)Agent 9's Lab (A9 only)Super Bonus Round - Bonus/final realm	HarborSpeedway 	Sorceress's Lair(Helped by Agent 9)	BugbotFactory
==Storyline Videos== 
*An Evil Plot Unfolds...
*A Powerful Villain Emerges...
*A Desperate Rescue Begins...
*No Hard Feelings
*The Second Warning
*Bianca Strikes Back
*Byrd, James Byrd
*Hunter's Tussle
*Spike Is Born
*A Duplicitous, Larcenous Ursine
*An Apology, And Lunch
*A Monster To End All Monsters
*The Escape!
*The Dancing Bear
*Deja Vu?
*A Familiar Face
*Billy In the Wall
*One Less Noble Warrior
*The End
==Cast==
Character 	Voice Actor
SpyroSgt. ByrdProfessor	Tom Kenny
Sheila 	Edita Brychta
BentleyMoneybags 	Neil Ross
Agent 9 	Richard Tatum
Hunter 	Gregg Berger
EloraZoe 	Carolyn Lawrence
Bianca 	Pamela Hayden
Sorceress 	Flo Di Re
==Development==
Development of Spyro: Year of the Dragon spanned about ten and a half months, from November 1999 to September 2000; the development team was influenced by a host of other games, including Doom and Crash Bandicoot.An Interview with Ted Price, the Developer of Spyro. (Date Posted - 2000). Playstation Illustrated. Among the new features touted before the game's release was "Auto Challenge Tuning", which Insomniac CEO Ted Price described as "invented to even out the gameplay difficulty curve for players of different abilities".Feature: Interview With The Dragon. GamePro. The levels were made much larger than those in Spyro 2, so that more areas for minigames could be added; to prevent player confusion on where to go next, these areas were designed to load separately from the main hubs.Interview with the Dragon Price stated that the addition of critters was a way to make the game more enjoyable and varied, instead of just adding more moves for Spyro. The game was named "Year of the Dragon" simply because it was released during 2000, the year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.An Interview with Ted Price, Developer of Spyro.
In previews, publications such as IGN and GameSpot noted that the graphics had been improved, and that there were many new characters and locations.Spyro: The Year of the Dragon Preview. (Date Posted - Oct. 12, 2000). GameSpot. The new minigames were previewed, and IGN pointed out that they offered enough complexity to back up the simple gameplay.Spyro the Dragon Preview In an interview with GameSpot, Ted Price stated that the emphasis for the title was on the new critters, but that Spyro would not be left behind in the story.Q&A: Ted Price of Insomniac Games. (Date Posted - Oct. 10, 2000). GameSpot. Year of the Dragon also implemented crack protection, in addition to the copy protection previous games had contained. This helped prevent hackers from cracking the game until two months after release.Keeping the Pirates at Bay: Implementing Crack Protection for Spyro: Year of the Dragon. (Date Posted - Oct. 17, 2001). GameSpot. 
==Reception==
Upon release, Spyro: Year of the Dragon garnered positive critical reaction, with the game receiving an average ranking of 91% at Game Rankings, and a similar score based on fifteen reviews at MetaCritic.Spyro: Year of the Dragon. Metacritic. According to Game Rankings, Year of the Dragon is the fourteenth highest rated PlayStation game of all time. The game sold more than two million units in the United States.The Magic Box - US Platinum Videogame Chart. The MagicBox.
GameSpot noted that while Year of the Dragon made no significant changes to the formula of its predecessors, the combination of new playable characters, more detailed graphics, and the variety of minigames made the game worth the buy.Spyro: Year of the Dragon Review IGN praised the game's appeal to all ages and the polished levels, as well as the successful multi-character focus.Spyro: Year of the Dragon. (Date Posted - Oct. 12, 2000). IGN. Game Revolution thought that while the game's premise itself was simply a rehash of previous titles, "the story that unfolds as you actually play the game is flawlessly interwoven and quite entertaining".Spyro: Year of the Dragon Review GamePro noted that the ability of the game to automatically drop the difficulty if players get stuck was an excellent feature. Next Generation Magazine's Kevin Rice provided one of the most positive review in which he stated the top-notch level design, intuitive controls and excellent graphics made the title the best Spyro game to date, and arguably the best PlayStation game overall.
Stewart Copeland's score was generally well-received, though several critics sharply disagreed with the general consensus. Publications like PSXExtreme thought the music helped bring atmosphere to the varied worlds,Spyro: Year of the Dragon Review. (Date Posted - Oct. 29, 2000). PSXExtreme. and Allgame enthused that "Insomniac should be commended for realizing the importance of music in games; it seems to enhance the whole experience."Spyro: Year of the Dragon. allgame. Others, such as Joseph Parazen of Game Revolution, thought the background music sounded "identical to every other 3D, cartoony, action platformer I've ever played". Other points of praise were the voice acting and character development. Among the few complaints aside from the story included the game camera, which could be difficult to control and led to unjustified enemy attacks. Some publications warned that the game might feel too much like its predecessors, with a similar plot and objectives.
==Gallery== 
::Main article: Spyro: Year of the Dragon/Gallery
===Videos===
File:Spyro- Year of the Dragon - Trailer - 2000
File:Spyro- Year of the Dragon (PSX) - Commercial
==Trivia ==
*This is the only game in the original trilogy not to be released in Japan.
**However, the Japanese release of the Reignited Trilogy marks the first time that the game is playable in Japan in any official form.
*This is the last Spyro game to be developed by Insomniac Games. After Spyro, Insomniac went on to develop the Ratchet and Clank series.
*Each realm's portal in the homeworld is based on the structures within the level itself.
*In cutscenes where it is day or night, before the cutscene starts, and the title is displayed, the background will be the opposite time from the time the cutscene is actually taken. An example is; in "An Evil Plot Unfolds...", the picture shows the cutscene at night, but when the cutscene starts, it's day.
*This game was released in 2000, therefore it was indeed the Year of the Dragon in real-life at the time.
*This is the first game in the series where the player can play as more characters than just Spyro.
*Spyro: Year of the Dragon is notorious for its many glitches, with one of the most notable glitches being the swim-in-the-air glitch. 
**There is a glitch in the original NTSC release version that causes a couple of the audio tracks to go unused (for example, Evening Lake uses the Sunrise Spring theme instead of its own theme). This was only partially remedied in the PAL release, and fixed completely in the Greatest Hits version.
**In the original NTSC release version features a game-breaking glitch that can occur on any of the speedway levels. The glitch will occur if the player decided to race against the flying racers and chose to give up in the middle of an unfinished race and leave the area. Upon returning to the level and completing the race, Sparx refuses to give the player the egg they deserve. There is no fix for this glitch once it has activated.
**In the original NTSC release version of the game, the cutscene "Spike is Born" fails to play, due to a glitch.
*There is a reference to Crash Bandicoot in Haunted Tomb. When the dog asks Spyro a riddle, one of the answers is a bandicoot.
*There is also a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog in Crystal Islands. If the player refuse Moneybags’ offer, he’ll say that he might turn Spyro "into a blue hedgehog, or something".
*The PlayStation Store version of the game is the original NTSC release version, even in PAL regions.
*At the start screen, if the player presses L1, R2, and square simultaneously, they will be taken to a demo of Crash Bash.
*In the European PlayStation Store, the game has been released to the original NTSC version, due to glitches with the PAL version, as explained here.
*The identities of 3 of the 5 elder dragons in the cutscenes were originally unknown. However, in Spyro Reignited Trilogy, the dragons were retconned to be Argus, Gavin and Bubba, alongside Astor and Lindar.
*The game is known for having impossible anti-piracy measures, with ParaDox actually thanking Insomniac for giving them such a challenge. The measures include removing eggs from the inventory, portals taking the player to different places, crashes, and The final boss battle deleting players' save data in the middle. In the PAL version, there is an extra anti-piracy measure: the language randomly changes while playing the game.
*There were plans for the Atlas to show details of all the baby dragons saved, which included their name, breed and favorite color.The page was supposed to be a way to track all the baby dragons that you collected with a few details like name, breed, and their favorite color.. (Date Posted - Dec. 3, 2018). Twitter.
*There was originally Rhynoc Egg Thieves before they were replaced with the traditional Blue Thieves.Spyro: Year of the Dragon Prototype (April 25th 2000) - Sunrise Spring, Part 2. (Date Posted - Apr. 17, 2021). YouTube.
==References==
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Category:Games
Category:Classic Series Games
Category:Spyro Reignited Trilogy