Editing Spyro: Year of the Dragon

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{{Game infobox
|image = [[File:Spyro Year of the Dragon PS1 US cover.jpg|250px]]
|developer = [[Insomniac Games]]
|publisher = [[Sony Computer Entertainment]]
|released = {{released|USA|October 24, 2000|Europe|November 10, 2000}}
|genre = Platformer
|ratings = {{ratings|esrb=e}}
|console = [[PlayStation]]
|modes = Single player
|media = Disc
|input = PlayStation Controller
}}
{{wikipedia}}
'''''Spyro: Year of the Dragon''''' is the third game of the ''[[Spyro the Dragon (series)|Spyro the Dragon]]'' series. It was developed by [[Insomniac Games]] and published by [[Sony Computer Entertainment]]. The game was released for the [[PlayStation]] in 2000. It is the last ''Spyro'' game that was developed by Insomniac. In 2018, the game and the previous two games were remade for ''[[Spyro Reignited Trilogy]]''. The original PlayStation version was not released in Japan.

Named for the animal of the Chinese zodiac, ''Year of the Dragon'' follows Spyro as he travels to the [[Forgotten Realms]] after 150 [[Dragon Egg]]s were stolen by an evil sorceress. He travels across thirty different worlds gathering gems and eggs. Upon release, the game received positive critical response; on Game Rankings, ''Year of the Dragon'' is one of the top 20 highest-rated PlayStation games of all time.

==Story==
The game starts with the [[dragon]]s celebrating the [[Year of the Dragon]], an event that occurs every twelve years where new Dragon Eggs are brought to the realm. During the celebration, a cloaked rabbit girl, [[Bianca]], invades the Dragon Realms with an army of [[Rhynoc]]s and steals all of the Dragon eggs. Spyro, [[Sparx]], and Hunter go 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 an army of Rhynocs. Of the few who defy the Sorceress' rule, the first one that Spyro encounters is a kangaroo named [[Sheila]]. She is locked within a cage, but Spyro pay a fee to Moneybags to release her.

As Spyro travels through each realm, acquiring aid from local inhabitants and bartering with Moneybags for passage to new areas, Bianca 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 out she feels sorry for the baby dragons, and defects to side with Spyro, Hunter, and the others who defy the Sorceress.

Celebrations resume after the Sorceress' defeat, although Spyro cannot find Hunter. With help from his friends, Spyro eventually locates Hunter out on a date with Bianca and laments about another hero "falling" for love.

It is later revealed that the Sorceress survived her previous battle with Spyro. She is found in the [[Super Bonus World]], awaiting Spyro on her UFO. The two of them battle again, each in a UFO, above a pool of hazardous liquid. Spyro eventually manages to shoot down the Sorceress, and she drops into the liquid below, presumably killing her. After she dies, it becomes apparent that she had the final dragon egg, which hatches a Siamese pair of dragons named [[Yin Yang]]. The baby dragons then return to the [[Dragon Kingdom]].

==Gameplay==
[[File:Spyro 3 gameplay.jpg|thumb|220px|Gameplay screenshot of Spyro approaching two Rhynocs]]
''Spyro: Year of the Dragon''{{'}}s gameplay makes few deviations from the previous two games, especially the second game, ''Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!''. There are four [[Home World]]s, which are the hub areas, and they have [[portal]]s that lead to a specific [[realm]]. [[Spyro the Dragon|Spyro]]'s main goal is to collect [[Dragon Egg]]s, which have been scattered across Home Worlds and realms. These Dragon Eggs are either hidden or are rewarded for completing a certain objective. To proceed to the next Home World, Spyro must complete five [[realm]]s, have at least a certain number of Dragon Eggs, and the Home World boss.

[[Gem]]s are another collectible item, and they are abundantly scattered across the Home Worlds and realms. Spyro must obtain these gems to bribe a bear named [[Moneybags]] to release a captured critter or to progress further into an area. Each Home World has a critter that Spyro must rescue, and that critter is found in front of a portal leading to a realm in which the player plays as that critter instead of Spyro. The critter must be freed before that level can be accessed.

Spyro's health is measured by his companion Sparx, a dragonfly who changes color and then disappears after taking progressively more damage. If Spyro is without Sparx and takes another hit, he loses a life and restarts from the previous checkpoint. Spyro can defeat [[fodder]] to release a [[butterfly]], which Sparx can eat to regenerate a unit of his health. Spyro has several abilities, including breathing fire, swimming and diving, gliding, and headbutting, which he can use to explore and combat a variety of enemies, most of which are rhinoceros-like creatures called [[Rhynoc]]s. Some enemies are only vulnerable to certain moves.

There are [[Powerup Gate]]s, which Spyro can walk through to receive a powerful ability for a short period of time. During this, a bar at the top-right of the screen shows the time remaining. These abilities could be either a stronger flame, full flight control, or invincibility.

Like the previous two game, there are some areas where Spyro can [[supercharge]], allowing him to charge rapidly. This is required to break certain objects or to catch a rapidly moving [[thief]].

Once the player has achieved 100% [[completion]] (which is done by collecting all 150 Dragon Eggs and 15,000 [[gem]]s), a secret world known as the [[Super Bonus World]] is opened. It features harder versions of minigames from previous realms and has several gems.

==Characters==
===Spyro===
{{quote|Spyro is the mischievous hero of this tale. He may be the smallest hero in the Dragon Family, but even the Elder Dragons admit he's got gumption! Just ask Gnasty Gnorc - he won't mess with Spyro again! Spyro's always rarin' to go, especially when he can headbash some sheep or flame some frogs. He's so full of energy, he keeps me on the move! Spyro is extremely curious and hardly ever cautious, which sometimes gets him into trouble! That's why I stick around, to make sure nothing too serious happens to him!|Sparx}}

Spyro is the main protagonist of the game. He retains his special abilities from the two previous games, and still uses two main attacks:
*[[Charge]]: allows Spyro to run faster as well as ram enemies with his horn. Spyro will bounce off walls if he charges into them, and large enemies aren't affected by charging.
*[[Flame]]: Spyro unleashes a fire burst from his mouth to singe enemies. Enemies wearing metal armour or shields are immune to his flame (they aren't immune to the fireball generated by the Superflame power-up).

===Sparx===
Sparx has a larger role than in earlier games. As with the previous two games, Sparx functions as Spyro's health bar, allowing him to withstand a few extra hits. Sparx "in charge" of all the speedway levels, asking Spyro through his kazoo voice what Spyro wants to do in these levels.

He also has 4 playable levels of his own, which are bird's-eye—view scroll-shooters. In these levels, Sparx must shoot a number of enemies and collect the gems they leave, eat butterfiles which increase his health or give him special powers, collect keys to open gates and defeat the boss at the end of the levels to receive an egg.

After completing these levels, Sparx unlocks permanent special abilities for himself, such as the ability to collect more distant gems or gaining an extra hit point.

===Other characters===
{|class="wikitable"
!Character
!Description
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Hunter]]
|A cheetah and a friend of Spyro, Hunter returns to help Spyro on his journey. In some levels, Hunter hosts a series of skateboarding challenges, which Spyro can go to by entering a Challenge Portal.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Bianca]]
|A young rabbit girl and the love interest of Hunter. At first, she worked for the Sorceress but later joined Spyro and Hunter.
|-
|[[Moneybags]]
|A greedy bear with an obsession for gems, Moneybags was hired by the Sorceress to "keep charge" of certain things in the Forgotten Realms. Like the previous game, Spyro must pay Moneybags to get through some levels. He must also pay Moneybags to release critters that are imprisoned in front of their own level. At the end of the game, Moneybags appears in Midnight Mountain. Spyro can humorously chase him down and ram into him repeatedly, to regain all of his gems and a Dragon Egg. If Spyro gets the six eggs in Midnight Mountain and get Moneybags' Dragon Egg as well, the atlas shows Midnight Mountain as having '6/5' Dragon Eggs.
|}

===Critters===
The critters are a group of four characters, one in each Home World, that have been imprisoned for defying the Sorceress, and are guarded by Moneybags. Spyro can bribe Moneybags with gems to release a critter of the Home World he is in. The critters each have their own playable levels. In each boss battle, a certain critter aids Spyro. The critters are featured in various missions and minigames, many of which are only accessible from a [[Challenge Portal]].

{|class="wikitable"
!Character
!Description
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Sheila]]
|Found in Sunrise Springs, She is an Australian kangaroo with an exceptional jumping ability. She can also kick with her feet. When freed, she kicks Moneybags in the stomach.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Sgt. Byrd]]
|Found in Midday Gardens, he is a penguin and military soldier with a slow waddle. He can fly as well as shoot homing missiles and launch bombs. When freed, he is questioned by Spyro why he didn't shoot his way out of the cage. He responds that he had 'limited ammo' and promptly shoots Moneybags off the platform.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Bentley]]
|Found in Evening Lake, he is a smart and strong yeti with a gentle demeanor who wields a club made of ice. He can hit things with this club or rebound snowballs. When freed, he demonstrates his verbose nature by calling Moneybags a stream of wordy insults and hitting him over the head with his club.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Agent 9]]
|Found in Midnight Mountain, he is a space monkey who carries a laser gun and is obsessed with killing Rhynocs. He assists the same Professor from ''Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!'', who can only be seen in Agent 9's level and in one of the final cutscenes. In an odd exploit of the game, paying Moneybags to free him isn't actually required; accessing the last boss only requires eggs and not the participation of someone from every realm, Spyro can just ignore his level and he will mysteriously show up to help him anyway in the last fight.
|}

==Bosses==
{|class="wikitable"
!Character
!Description
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Buzz]]
|A giant toad-like character with a pair of strong legs. When pushed into lava, Sheila stomps on him to deal damage.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Spike]]
|A tall, muscle-bound monster who uses a laser-like weapon to shoot at Spyro. His main attacks are trying to crush Spyro under his fist or shooting plasma balls at him. Later on in the fight he can pick up the ammo Sgt. Byrd drops and briefly power up. 
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Scorch]]
|A giant winged beast that can produce a forcefield to protect himself. He is defeated via the powerups Bentley throws.
|-
|style="text-align:center"|[[Sorceress]]
|The final boss and main antagonist, the Sorceress can conjure up some powerful magic when necessary.  There are two times she must be defeated: the first time is reached by collecting one hundred dragon eggs to gain entry into her lair and the second time is a saucer battle for the last dragon egg. In the first fight, Agent 9 helps out even if Moneybags was not paid for his release.
|}

===Mini-Bosses===
*[[Bluto]] and his [[Shark Sub]] - Fought in a giant tank of water. He is a clever and skilled in using his submarine. 
*[[Sleepy Head]] - Fought in a dome like room surrounded by a piranha filled moat. He is lazy and has no desire to defend his territory, but he gets mad if Spyro wakes him up though. 
*[[Boxing Bully Yeti]] - Fought by Bentley in a boxing ring. The Yeti from ''Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!'' has made a complete recovery and is causing havoc once again.
*[[Double Dragon]] - Fought in a fireworks based area. With the double power up portal from Spyro 2 perfected Spyro uses it not to fight sheep, but two other dragons this time. 

===Sparx Level bosses===
*[[Crawdad King]] - Fought in a corn field
*[[Spider Queen]] - Fought in an arena surrounded by a wall with cobwebs
*[[Giant Manta Ray]] - Fought in a "party room"
*[[Mecha Peed]] - Fought in a battle dome

===Fodder===
*Sheep in Enchanted Tower
*Chicken Diving in Seashell Shore
*Frog in Sunny Villa
*Gull in Sheila's Alp
*Peacock in Cloud Spires
*Slug in Molten Crater
*Ant in Bamboo Terrace

==Worlds==
There are four [[Home World]]s, and each are named after a time of day. The later ones have more dangerous environmental obstacles, although none of them have enemies. Each Home World has four realms, a Sparx level, a protestor level, and a [[Speedway]] level.

{|class="wikitable"
!Name
!Description
|-
|[[Sunrise Springs]]
|The starting homeworld for Year of the Dragon. This world is set during the morning with lush green hillsides, small woods and lakes.
|-
|[[Midday Garden]]
|The second homeworld. Midday Garden is set during the day with a brilliant blue sky overlooking wide gardens and large towering castles.
|-
|[[Evening Lake]]
|The third homeworld is set during the evening inside a large lake containing parts of a submerged tudor-style castle.
|-
|[[Midnight Mountain]]
|The final homeworld set at night on top of a high mountain. One of the most dangerous homeworlds featuring multiple clifftops linked by bridges and small castles.
|}

==Levels==
===Sunrise Spring===
*Level I: Sunny Villa
*Level II: Cloud Spires
*Level III: Molten Crater
*Level IV: Seashell Shore
*Level V (Speedway): Mushroom Speedway
*Level VI (Protestor): Sheila's Alp
*Level VII (Boss): Buzz's Dungeon
*Level VIII (Sparx world): Crawdad Farm

===Midday Gardens===
*Level I: Icy Peak
*Level II: Enchanted Towers
*Level III: Spooky Swamp
*Level IV: Bamboo Terrace
*Level V (Speedway): Country Speedway
*Level VI (Protestor): Sgt. Byrd's Base
*Level VII (Boss): Spike's Arena
*Level VIII (Sparx world): Spider Town

===Evening Lake===
*Level I: Frozen Altars
*Level II: Lost Fleet
*Level III: Fireworks Factory
*Level IV: Charmed Ridge
*Level V (Speedway): Honey Speedway 
*Level VI (Protestor): Bentley's Outpost
*Level VII (Boss): Scorch's Pit
*Level VIII (Sparx world): Starfish Reef

===Midnight Mountain===
*Level I: Crystal Islands
*Level II: Desert Ruins
*Level III: Haunted Tomb
*Level IV: Dino Mines
*Level V (Speedway): Harbor Speedway
*Level VI (Protestor): Agent 9's Lab
*Level VII (Boss): Sorceress's Lair
*Level VIII (Sparx world): BugBot Factory 

The last world is [[Super Bonus World]], but is only accessible if the player has achieved a 100% [[completion]].

===Minigames===
''Year of the Dragon'' features a wide range of minigames, some included as missions within a particular level (such as a ''Tony Hawk''-style skateboarding minigame, or a [[boxing]] match between Bentley and another yeti), and others featured as levels of their own, such as Spyro's flying levels, and several ''Gauntlet''-style levels featuring Sparx.

==Gallery==
{{main-gallery}}

==Trivia==
*The first production run of ''Spyro: Year of the Dragon'' featured lenticular artwork on the case cover.
*Several of the skateboarding tricks in the skateboarding minigames are named after bosses from the first ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' (such as [[Gnasty Gnorc]]).
*The game's release date is astrologically correct; 2000 was the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac.
*A level in the game, Desert Ruins of Midnight Mountain, parodies the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In it, Spyro is sent to rescue a girl named [[Tara]] who is "raiding the Tomb of Stone Golum". Tara is dressed like the series' protagonist {{wp|Lara Croft}}. In Desert Ruins, Sheila's missions, "Krash Kangaroo I" and "Krash Kangaroo II" is a parody of the ''[[crashbandicootwiki:Crash Bandicoot (franchise)|Crash Bandicoot]]'' franchise.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120417223510/http://www.spyro-yearofthedragon.com/ North American website] (Wayback Machine)

{{Spyro franchise}}
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