Spyro: Year of the Dragon
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| Spyro: Year of the Dragon | |
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| Developer(s) | Insomniac Games |
| Publisher(s) | SCEA |
| Release date(s) |  October 23, 2000 November 10, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Everyone ELSPA: 3+ OFLC: G8+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Media | CD-ROM |
Spyro: Year of the Dragon is the third game in the Spyro series. It was the last Spyro game to be released for the PlayStation, as well as the last Spyro game developed by Insomniac Games.
Contents |
[edit] Story
In Year of the Dragon, the dragons are celebrating the coming of dragon eggs, an event that takes place every twelve years. A mysterious anthropomorphic rabbit girl, Bianca, along with an army of rhynocs, comes by and steals all the eggs. Spyro, Sparx, and Hunter must now follow her down a rabbit hole to the other side of the world - to the Forgotten Realms to challenge Bianca, the rhynoc army, and their powerful queen, The Sorceress.
When Spyro first arrives in the Sunrise Spring, Bianca soon appears to taunt him, telling her that if he continues with his mission, she will become very angry - and according to her, Spyro won't like her when she's angry.
When Spyro progresses in the Sunrise Spring, Bianca turns up. Hiding behind the trees, she laughs as Hunter trips over. After an exchange of insults, she charges a spell which she fires at Hunter and Spyro, narrowly missing them both, before leaving.
As Spyro travels to the Midday Gardens, Bianca is scolded by the Sorceress for failing to eliminate Spyro. Bianca informs her queen that Spyro is "not afraid of anything", to which the Sorceress angrily responds that she should use magic to take him out. After a few errors, Bianca is able to transform a Rhynoc into a blue bunny, and then into a green toad-like creature, named "Buzz".
Buzz is soon defeated by the combined efforts of Spyro and Sheila, and Bianca appears in the Midday Gardens to warn Spyro of the dangers facing him.
As Spyro and Hunter progress through the Midday Gardens, they encounter Bianca again, this time trying to transform a flower, which looks similar to a Piranha Plant, into something which can defeat Spyro. After a number of failed attempts, she experiments on a blue rabbit, which becomes super-sized. The giant rabbit soon attacks Bianca, swallowing her whole. Hunter jumps up and attacks the rabbit, landing on his back as the rabbit perpares to jump on him. Hunter kicks it in the stomach, causing it to expel Bianca, who soon uses a spell to restore the rabbit to its normal size before it jumps on Hunter again. Hunter punches the bouncing rabbit off his head, and Bianca grudgingly thanks the duo. She tries to eliminate Spyro with another spell, but is out of magic, and leaves.
As Spyro takes flight for the Evening Lake, Bianca receives a severe scolding from her queen. She then proceeds to demonstrate to Bianca how a "real" Sorceress does things, transforming a Rhynoc into a monstrous yeti-like creature, who is then armed with a laser gun.
The Sorceress' new creation, Spike, is soon deefated by Spyro and Sergeant Byrd. Bianca appears in Evening Lake to tell Spyro to turn back in case the Sorceress - who apparently has something indescribable planned - catches him, but promises to take care of the remainder of the Dragon Eggs.
As Spyro continues through Evening Lake, Hunter ends up falling into a trap set by the Sorceress (presumably intended primarily for Spyro). Hunter is soon visited by Bianca, who brings him an apple to eat and explains her concerns about the Sorceress' plans, and also how she is responsible for the magic fading from the Forgotten Worlds. Hunter says that he can help to convince the Dragons to return, if Bianca releases him. Bianca hesitates, looks toward the doorway, and tells Hunter that she cannot.
When Spyro boards the spacecraft to fly to the Midnight Mountain, an enraged Sorceress says that she is going to create a "monster to end all monsters", before saying that she is going to command it to destroy all of the dragons (including the new hatchlings), before happily describing how it will gruesomely attack them. Bianca notices that the Sorceress has not mentioned its ability to kill them, and the Sorceress merely laughs, saying that it doesn't matter if it lets them live, as long as she can collect the Dragons' wings. Bianca, confused, asks if that is all that her queen wants the Dragons for, before the Sorceress reveals her ultimate plan - to use the Dragons' wings to create an immortality spell. Bianca repeats it, before her rather frustrated queen sarcastically asks her what she thought the Dragons were needed for - definitely not to open a zoo with them. Realising how cruel the Sorceress really is, Bianca leaves, exclaiming that she cannot believe that she ever listened to the Sorceress. The Sorceress says to herself that she will take care of the "stupid, insolent brat" once Spyro has been finished off, before beckoning to a Rhynoc (who has been laughing at the Sorceress' sarcasm throughout) over to her, and the unwilling Rhynoc is pushed by his ally's shield toward the Sorceress as she raises her staff and prepares to transform him.
When Spyro and Bentley eventually defeat this flying monster, Scorch, Bianca releases Hunter and explains why she has turned against the Sorceress, before hurrying off to Spyro.
Bianca appears in Midnight Mountain and tells Spyro how to reach the Sorceress. She also appears to help Spyro to gain access to the Sorceress' Lair, where he and Agent 9 fight the evil queen. The final hit sends the Sorceress flying into the lava river surrounding her arena, apparently killing her, but she begins to climb out of the lava as Spyro and Agent 9 leave.
Eventually, Spyro makes it to the Super Bonus World, where Bianca tells him that he can use the treasure in the Sorceress' vaults for the Dragon Worlds. When Spyro eventually makes it into the main tower of the Super Bonus World, he encounters the Sorceress for the final fight (this time in a flying saucer), in which Bianca grants him a powered-up flying saucer to fight her with. Defeated, the flying saucer hits the lava, presumably killing its pilot. Spyro then returns to the Dragon Worlds.
[edit] Gameplay
Spyro retains his abilities gained in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (i.e. swimming, climbing, hover, and headbash). Spyro's attacks stay the same, being a short range flame attack, and a fast charge more suitable for small armored foes.
[edit] Playable characters
A noticeable difference is the new addition of extra playable characters. Each character has one playable level exclusive to themselves, and they also appear for various missions and minigames in other levels. In most cases, these missions are separate from the main level by means of a portal; upon arriving, player control switches from Spyro to the character, and the side mission begins.
- Sheila
- An Australian kangaroo with an exceptional jumping ability. She also has a very powerful kicking ability to defeat enemies with.
- Sgt. Byrd
- A penguin and military soldier (code name: 90068), wielding weaponry such as homing missiles and bombs. His missions revolve primarily around his flying missions. His DBX9 rocket launchers can fire homing rockets at distant targets.
- Bentley
- A smart yeti with a gentle demeanor; most of his missions revolve around his great physical strength.
- Agent 9
- A monkey who assisted the Professor. Agent 9 carries a laser blaster for combat at a distance, and can also pick up and throw grenades. His missions revolve around his shooting ability, some of which parody other shooter games such as DOOM.
[edit] Worlds
- Sunrise Spring (Home World)
Sunny Villa
Cloud Spires
Molten Crater
Seashell Shore
Sheila's Alp
Mushroom Speedway
Crawdad Farm
Buzz's Dungeon - Midday Garden (Home World)
Icy Peak
Enchanted Towers
Spooky Swamp
Bamboo Terrace
Sgt. Byrd's Base
Country Speedway
Spider Town
Spike's Arena - Evening Lake (Home World)
Frozen Altars
Lost Fleet
Fireworks Factory
Charmed Ridge
Bently's Outpost
Honey Speedway
Starfish Reef
Scorch's Pit - Midnight Mountain (Home World)
Crystal Islands
Desert Ruins
Haunted Tomb
Dino Mines
Agent 9's Lab
Harbor Speedway
Bugbot Factory
Sorceress' Lair
Super Bonus Round
[edit] Worlds Creatures Butterflies
- Sheep Enchanted Tower
- Chicken Diving in Seashell Shore
- Frog in Sunny Villa
- Gull in Sheila's Alp
- Peacock in Cloud Spires
- Slug in Molten Lava
- Ant in Bamboo Terrace
[edit] 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.
[edit] Trivia
- The first production run of Spyro: Year of the Dragon featured holographic artwork on the case cover.
- Several of the skateboarding tricks in the Tony Hawk–styled minigames are named after various Spyro antagonists (such as Gnasty Gnorc).
- Cutscenes in one level, "Fireworks Factory", parody The Matrix.
- The game's release date is astrologically correct; 2000 was the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac.
- you can change spyro's colors in this version
