Spyro: Year of the Dragon

Spyro: Year of the Dragon

Spyro: Year of the Dragon is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in North America and for PAL regions in October and November 2000, respectively, but unlike the other two games, it was not given a Japanese release. The main objective of the game is to collect special dragon eggs which are scattered across 37 worlds. Spyro has several abilities, including breathing fire, swimming and diving, gliding, and headbutting.

About Spyro: Year of the Dragon in brief

Summary Spyro: Year of the DragonSpyro: Year of the Dragon is a platform game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released in North America and for PAL regions in October and November 2000, respectively, but unlike the other two games, it was not given a Japanese release. The main objective of the game is to collect special dragon eggs which are scattered across 37 worlds. 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. There are a total of seven playable characters, which all have their own special moves and abilities. The game’s protagonist Spyro is assisted by additional characters throughout the game, including Sparx, a dragonfly who changes color and then disappears after taking progressively more damage. It sold more than two million units in the United States and received critical acclaim. In 2018, the game was re-released under the Greatest Hits label, and remastered as part of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy in 2018. It is followed by the multiplatform title Spyro:  Enter the Dragonfly, and was later re- released under the greatest hits label, as well as Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage and Spyro 3: The Rage of Riptos! The game was the last Spyro game Insomriac developed; their next title would be Ratchet & Clank for the Playstation 2.

It also introduced new characters and minigames to the series, and offered improved graphics and music. The player controls the dragon Spyro for most of thegame. The world of Spyro are linked together by ‘homeworlds’ or ‘hubs’, large worlds which contain gateways to many other levels. To proceed to the next hub, the character must complete five worlds, gather a certain number of eggs, and defeat a boss. Four other playable characters are freed during special levels during the game. Some are entirely new to theseries, while others are played by Spyro or the other Spyro characters at certain levels. Four characters are also playable in certain levels at the game’s special levels, including Cheetah, the Hunter, who teaches the player the game mechanics and is a playable character at special levels and teaches Spyro how to race at the same time. In certain levels, Spyro can run into ‘Powerup Gates’ which give him special abilities for a limited period. These gems are used to bribe a bear named Moneybags to release captured captured creatures. Critters can be found blocking the level they are played in until released from Moneybags. Subsequently, the player plays as the character in specially marked sections of levels.