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Spyro: Year of the Dragon

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Spyro: Year of the Dragon
File:Gallery001_med.jpg
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: SCEA
Collectibles: Image:gem.png 20,000
Image:egg.png 150
Released: NA(October 11, 2000)
UK(October 25, 2000)
PAL(November 10, 2000)
JP(Unreleased)
Genre: Platform
Mode: Single-player
Rating: Everyone
Platform: Playstation

Spyro: Year of the Dragon is the third game in the Spyro the Dragon series. It was the last Spyro game to be released for the PlayStation, as well as the last Spyro game developed by Insomniac. This is the only Spyro game on the PS1 library to not be released in Japan.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

The Gameplay is somewhat similar to its two predecessors. There are four homeworlds 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 4 normal realms and the 1 rebel realm in that particular Homeworld to rescue a villager who powers the machines which enables access to these bosses.

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.

Spyro: Year of the Dragon European Coverart
To enter all of these realms you must travel via portals, some portals can not be entered unless you aquire 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 aquired 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 a super flame, A flying ability 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 tack, 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 15000 gems). Once you have achieved this, a secret world will open, this world is called Super Bonus World it contains the 150th egg.

[edit] Setting

Spyro saves Sheila, as they converse in front of Sheila's Alp

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. James 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.

There are four Homeworlds in "The Forgotten Realms", all named after times in the day:

  • Sunrise Spring: The starting Homeworld, 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 blue sky overlooking wide gardens and large towering castles.
  • Evening Lake: The third Homeworld, Evening Lake is set during the evening inside a large lake containing parts of a submerged Tudor-style castle.
  • Midnight Mountain: The final Homeworld, Midnight Mountain is set at night on top of a high mountain.

Each homeworld contains:

  • Four Normal Realms
  • One Rebel Realm
  • One Speedway
  • One Sparx Realm

[edit] Story

The game opens with a celebration in the Dragon Realms, where they are celebrating the Year of the Dragon, an event every twelve years where new Dragon eggs are brought to the realm. During the celebration, however, a cloaked anthropomorphic rabbit girl, Bianca, invades the Dragon Realms with an army of Rhynocs and steals all of the Dragon eggs. 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 Realms", ruled by a queen called "the Sorceress", and under firm control of the Rhynocs' army. Of the few that question the Sorceress' rule, the first is is a kangaroo named Sheila. She's 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, 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 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; Spyro 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 World, 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 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 Realms.

[edit] Worlds and Levels

[edit] Sunrise Spring

[edit] Midday Gardens

[edit] Evening Lake

[edit] Midnight Mountain

[edit] Characters

[edit] Playable Characters

[edit] Non-Playable Characters

[edit] Ratings

  • GameSpot: 8.4/10
  • IGN: 9.1/10
  • PSM: 9/10

[edit] Links

[1]

Retrieved from "http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Spyro:_Year_of_the_Dragon"