Spyro: Year of the Dragon
The third game in the Spyro series, and the last to be made by Insomniac Games. Spyro: Year of the Dragon is the biggest of all the Spyro games so far made. It incorporates several new playable characters as well as a new evil to fight.
In this game you play mainly as Spyro, but there are certain levels and parts of levels where you can only play as a different character. The playable characters in this game are: Spyro, Sparx, Hunter, Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. James Byrd, Bently the Yeti and Agent 9.
 |
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 Oct 11th 2000 |
 Nov 10th 2000 |
The Story
Every twelve years, the Dragon Kingdom celebrates its most important event: the "Year of the Dragon" Festival. Fairies deliver a new batch of dragon eggs and dragons come from all around to dance and feast until everyone drops from...eggshaustion.
The Year of the Dragon is upon us again and the fairies have brought 150 eggs to the Dragon Worlds. However, unbeknownst to the celebrating dragons, a sinister plot is about to unfold...
Far away - on the opposite side of the world - lies a kingdom long since forgotten by dragonkind. So forgotten, in fact, that even the legends about these "Forgotten Worlds" have now been forgotten.
This kingdom is ruled by a mean and spiteful Sorceress who has frankly become quite fed up with being forgotten. As she sits on her forgotten throne, the Sorceress has hatched a fiendishly evil plan. A plan to restore the fading magic to her forgotten realm. A plan to conquer the dragons once and for all. All she needs is a little help from her army of horn-nosed 'rhynocs', the cooperation of her mysterious disciple Bianca and of course, those 150 magical dragon eggs.
The Controls
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Jump. Press again when in the air to glide |
| Square | Charge |
| Circle | Flame/Spit out rock |
| Triangle | Look around/Aim rock/Drop out of glide/Headbash when just jumped |
| R1/L1 | Bring the camera behind Spyro fast |
| R2/L2 | Turn the camera |
| R1+R2+L1+L2 | Sparx points at nearest gem (only available when you've earned it) |
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Jump. Press again when in the air to go higher. Press again the moment you land to double jump |
| Square | Kick |
| Circle | Kick |
| Triangle | Look around/Headbash when just jumped |
| R1/L1 | Bring the camera behind Sheila fast |
| R2/L2 | Turn the camera |
| R1+R2+L1+L2 | Sparx points at nearest gem (only available when you've earned it) |
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Fly, hold to go higher |
| Square | Drop bomb/projectile |
| Circle | Fire guns |
| Triangle | Look around/Aim |
| R1/L1 | Bring the camera behind Sgt. Byrd fast |
| R2/L2 | Turn the camera |
| R1+R2+L1+L2 | Sparx points at nearest gem (only available when you've earned it) |
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Jump |
| Square | Thump |
| Circle | Spin club |
| Triangle | Look around |
| R1/L1 | Bring the camera behind Bentley fast |
| R2/L2 | Turn the camera |
| R1+R2+L1+L2 | Sparx points at nearest gem (only available when you've earned it) |
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| X | Jump |
| Square | Throw Bomb |
| Square (hold) | Aim Bomb |
| Circle | Fire Weapon |
| Triangle | Sniper Mode |
| R1/L1 | Zoom in/out in sniper mode |
| R1/L1 | Dodge left/right |
| R2/L2 | Turn the camera |
| R1+R2+L1+L2 | Sparx points at nearest gem (only available when you've earned it) |
Gems are strangely identical to the last game. Strangely because Avalar and The Forgotten Worlds are most likely further away from each other then the Dragon Realms is from the Forgotten Worlds. Strange how they have the Avalar set of gems rather than the Dragon Realms set, maybe the Sorceress had the GemCutters in from Avalar though.
| Gem Colour | Gem Value |
|---|---|
| Red | 1 |
| Green | 2 |
| Purple | 5 |
| Yellow | 10 |
| Pink | 25 |
The same containers for the gems as in Avalar. However here you get gems from killing the Rhynocs whereas in Avalar they released a Spirit Particle. Also this game sees the return of a locked chest, slightly different in appearence from the first game, but you will still need to find a key to open them.
Anyway, on with the walkthrough, and on to Sunrise Spring!
Comments
"A lot more of the same thing, but with this series, that's good."
Spyro the Dragon has always been second dragon when compared to Crash Bandicoot, but games like this make me wonder how that's possible. This game is chock full of fun, from beginning to end.
Gameplay - Better than ever. First of all, the controls are very tight. You'll find its easy to control Spyro and friends as they move through a very well designed 3-D environment. And while you start the game with just Spyro, he'll have all of the moves from Ripto's Rage, and you can gain four other playable characters: Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, Bently the Yeti, and Agent 9 the...space monkey...You will also even get to use Sparx this time around.
However, you'll notice that even with all the new quirks, it's very much the same as the other Spyro games. You'll find similar levels, and some similar challenges too. This would be a bad thing if the earlier Spyro games weren't as great as they were. Spyro 2 left me asking for more, and Spyro 3 gave it to me. However, if you hated the other ones, stay away. 10/10
Story - Every twelve years in the dragon kingdom, the ''Year of the Dragon'' occurs. This is when fairies deliver a new batch of dragon eggs. However, an evil sorceress from ''the forgotten worlds'' has stolen all 150 dragon eggs, and it's up to Spyro to save them! Not too elaborate, but the story is just as loony as the other games, with all the strange cartoonish scenes that can be expected out of a Spyro game. It's great. 10/10
Graphics - Beautiful. All the characters look great, and the environments are all just gorgeous. Very similar to Spyro 2, just tweaked a little. 10/10
Sound - I haven't really paid much attention to the music yet, but from the parts I have listened to, it's not too great.
The character voices, on the other hand, are done VERY well. This is a task that most video games fail to achieve, yet Spyro: Year of the Dragon has some of the most off-the-wall voice acting I've ever heard. You'll laugh at Sheila the kangaroo's Australian accent or when all the characters start speaking in haiku (No, I'm serious...they speak in haiku for one level). Just plain funny. 9/10
Replay Value - This one depends. If you like to completely finish a game, then Spyro 3 is good for you. If you like to finish it, but don't want to bother going for all 100%, then stay away. Personally, this game's humor and fun will last me, and many people, a long time. 10/10
Buy, Borrow, or Burn?
Buy - If you're a fan of the series or you love 3-D platformers.
Borrow - If you just try to run through games as quickly as possible, or if you have mixed feelings about the series.
Burn - If you hate platformers or hate the Spyro series.
I definitely recommend buying this one. It is, without a doubt, one of the better games on the system.
Overall: 10/10
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