Spyro: Year of the Dragon

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Spyro: Year of the Dragon
NTSC-UPALReignited
Developer(s):	Insomniac Games
Publisher(s):	Sony Computer Entertainment
Release date(s):	October 24, 2000 November 10, 2000
Genre(s):	Platformer
Rating(s):	ESRB: - Everyone
Console(s):	PlayStation
Mode(s):	Single player
Media:	Disc
Input:	PlayStation Controller

Spyro: Year of the Dragon is the third game of the 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 Worlds after 150 Dragon Eggs were stolen by an evil sorceress. He travels across thirty different worlds gathering gems and eggs. Upon release, the game received positive critical response.

Summaries

“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.”

– Spyro: Year of the Dragon game manual

“Year of the Dragon introduces a new chapter in Spyro's life. The game begins just after Spyro has returned from defeating Ripto in Avalar, and he's out celebrating the arrival of the newest dragon eggs. After partying all night, Spyro and the other dragons fall into an exhausted slumber, allowing the evil Rhynocs' to invade the Dragon World, grab the eggs and jump back down the holes they've burrowed to their underground world. When the dragons awake and realise what's happened, they send Spyro to chase the Rhynocs because he's the only one who can fit through the holes! And so the adventure begins...”

– Playstation's interview with Insomniac on the Spyro: Year of the Dragon website

“It ain't easy being a Dragon. One minute you're celebrating the arrival of the new batch of dragon eggs, the next thing you and your scaly sidekick are facing off with a bunch of evil critters who've taken your babies to the dark depths of the Forgotten World. It could only happen to the kind of reptile with the reputation of Spyro.
Just when the defest dude in Dragon World though he could have a break from breathing fire, he and right-hand man Sparx have to locate those eggs before the nasties nab 'em. If you thought dragons were the stuff of fantasy, you'd better watch out: this is where the fairytale ends!”

– Spyro: Year of the Dragon website

Setting

Spyro saves Sheila, as they converse in front of her home portal.

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.

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 twelve years new Dragon Eggs are delivered to the Dragon Worlds by Fairies. After the celebration however, a cloaked rabbit girl, Bianca, invades the Realms with an army of Rhynocs through holes in the ground 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 Bianca escapes with the egg in tow. Being the only ones small enough to fit through the holes, 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 Worlds", 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 acid pool below, presumably killing her. After she dies, it becomes apparent that she had the final Dragon egg, which hatches into two baby dragons named Yin Yang.

The baby dragons then return to the Dragon Realms, where the Dragons resume their celebration as the game closes.

Gameplay

The gameplay is somewhat similar to its two predecessors. There are four home worlds 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.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon European Coverart

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.

Anti-piracy

Zoe's message if an illegal or hacked copy of the game is detected

Spyro: Year of the Dragon has two layers of copy-protection: one to detect a PlayStation modchip, in which case the game stops playing, and another to detect attempts at bypassing the first copy protection method. In the latter's case, the game plays normally for a few levels up until Spyro talks to Zoe at the balloon. She breaks the fourth wall by informing him that he is playing a hacked version of the game. From this point on, various changes occur during gameplay, specifically done to make the gameplay more frustrating and difficult for the player.

Several of the changes occur in random parts of gameplay, such as Spyro losing Dragon Eggs that he had collected, gems vanishing from levels, and portals, balloons, and rockets taking Spyro to a random location. In European versions, the game's language also changes randomly. Sparx's color remains green, so his health cannot be increased. An exception is if Spyro gets an extra life without Sparx accompanying him, in which case Sparx returns at full health. Whenever Sparx eats a butterfly, he disappears. Moneybags charges Spyro more than once to access the critter levels, even if they have already been unlocked. Lastly, during the final boss, the game suddenly exits back to the first world, Sunrise Spring Home. When this happens, Spyro's entire progress is erased, forcing him to restart his adventure.

Characters

Main characters

Character	Description
Spyro	The main protagonist of the game, Spyro goes on an adventure to rescue the Dragon Eggs and defeat the Sorceress.
Sparx	Returning from the previous two games, Sparx once again allows Spyro to withstand extra hits and brings nearby gems to him.
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.
Bianca	A rabbit girl and the Sorceress' apprentice, who then later joined Spyro and Hunter and became Hunter's love interest.
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.

Character	Description
Sheila	Found in Sunrise Spring. She is a mountain kangaroo with an exceptional jumping ability. She can also kick with her feet.
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.
Bentley	Found in Evening Lake. He is a smart and strong yeti with a gentle demeanor and wields a club made of ice. He can hit things with this club or rebound snowballs.
Agent 9	Found in Midnight Mountain. He is a lab monkey who carries a laser gun and is obsessed with killing Rhynocs. He assists the Professor, who can only be found in Agent 9's Lab. 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 still show up to help him anyway in the last fight.

Controls

Spyro

Button	Movement
X	Jump
X + X	Glide
X + X + Δ	Hover
Hold Δ	Look around environment
O	Flame
□	Charge
□ and X	Skip/Quick Charge
L1 + R1	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
L2 or R2	Move the camera
START	Pause Menu
SELECT	View Atlas
X (underwater)	Swimming
X + left analog stick and X + left analog stick + X	Climbing
X + Δ	Headbash

Sheila

Button	Movement
X	Jump
X + X	Double jump
X + X + X	Mega jump
X + Δ	Stomp
Hold Δ	Look around environment
O or □	Kick
L1 + R1	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
L2 or R2	Move the camera
START	Pause Menu
SELECT	View Atlas

Sgt. Byrd

Button	Movement
X	Fly
Hold X	To fly higher
□	Drop item
O	Fire Rocket launchers
Hold Δ	Aim
L1 + R1	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
L2 or R2	Move the camera
START	Pause Menu
SELECT	View Atlas

Bentley

Button	Movement
X	Jump
□	Thump
O	Spin club
Δ	Look around
L1 + R1	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
L2 or R2	Move the camera
START	Pause Menu
SELECT	View Atlas

Agent 9

Button	Movement
X	Jump
Δ	Throw bomb
O	Fire blaster
X + Δ	Stomp
Hold Δ	Sniper mode
L1 + R1	Sparx gem radar (after completing Spider Town or doing a cheat code)
L2 or R2	Move the camera
START	Pause Menu
SELECT	View Atlas

Bosses

Character	Description
Buzz	A giant toad-like character with a pair of strong legs. When pushed into lava, Sheila stomps on him to deal damage.
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.
Scorch	A giant winged beast that can produce a forcefield to protect himself. He is defeated via the powerups Bentley throws.
The 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.
• Twin Fire Dragons - 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 King - Fought in an arena surrounded by a wall with cobwebs
• Manta Ray (boss) - Fought in a "party room"
• Metapede - 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 Worlds, 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.

Name	Description
Sunrise Spring	The starting homeworld for Year of the Dragon. This world is set during the morning with lush green hillsides, small woods and lakes.
Midday Gardens	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

All four Home Worlds have 400 gems; the first three also have 5 Dragon Eggs, but Midnight Mountain Home has 6 Dragon Eggs.

No.	Level	Gems	Dragon Eggs
Sunrise Spring Home
1	Sunny Villa	400	6
2	Cloud Spires	400	6
3	Molten Crater	400	6
4	Seashell Shore	400	6
5	Mushroom Speedway	400	3
6	Sheila's Alp	400	3
7	Boss level: Buzz's Dungeon	None	1
8	Sparx world: Crawdad Farm	200	1
Midday Gardens Home
9	Icy Peak	500	6
10	Enchanted Towers	500	6
11	Spooky Swamp	500	6
12	Bamboo Terrace	500	6
13	Country Speedway	400	3
14	Sgt. Byrd's Base	500	3
15	Boss level: Spike's Arena	None	1
16	Sparx world: Spider Town	200	1
Evening Lake Home
17	Frozen Altars	600	6
18	Lost Fleet	600	6
19	Fireworks Factory	600	6
20	Charmed Ridge	600	6
21	Honey Speedway	400	3
22	Bentley's Outpost	600	3
23	Boss level: Scorch's Pit	None	1
24	Sparx world: Starfish Reef	200	1
Midnight Mountain Home
25	Crystal Islands	700	6
26	Desert Ruins	700	6
27	Haunted Tomb	700	6
28	Dino Mines	700	6
29	Harbor Speedway	400	3
30	Agent 9's Lab	700	3
31	Boss level: Sorceress's Lair	None	1
32	Sparx world: Bugbot Factory	200	1
33	Super Bonus Round	5,000	1

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. 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". 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. 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.

In previews, publications such as IGN and GameSpot noted that the graphics had been improved, and that there were many new characters and locations. The new minigames were previewed, and IGN pointed out that they offered enough complexity to back up the simple gameplay. 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. 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.

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. 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.

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. IGN praised the game's appeal to all ages and the polished levels, as well as the successful multi-character focus. 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". 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, and Allgame enthused that "Insomniac should be commended for realizing the importance of music in games; it seems to enhance the whole experience." 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

For this subject's image gallery, see Spyro: Year of the Dragon/Gallery.

• 
  European cover
• 
  Title screen

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 first game (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 Lara Croft. In Desert Ruins, Sheila's missions, "Krash Kangaroo I" and "Krash Kangaroo II" is a parody of the Crash Bandicoot franchise.
  • 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".
• 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 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.
• 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.
  • Due to an oversight, the demo build of Crash Bash featured is a full beta build of the game. Additional minigames beyond the handful accessible normally can be accessed by inputting the cheat code: Left, Right, Left, Right, Right, Left, Right, Right, Right, Left, Right, Right, Right, Right, Left, Right, Right, Right, Right, Right.
• 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.
• There was originally Rhynoc Egg Thieves before they were replaced with the traditional Blue Thieves.

External links

• North American website (Wayback Machine)