Spyro: Year of the Dragon is the third and last in the original trilogy of the Spyro series developed by Insomniac Games and for the PlayStation. The game has cute colorful graphics that manages to hold up better than a lot of other PS1 games. The only thing that doesn't hold up in this game is the fact that the camera can only be controlled by the L2/R2 buttons and not by the right analogue stick. You cannot invert the camera if you are used to the opposite directions. The game is a platformer where you control the small dragon Spyro who can charge, flame, jump and glide. He retains abilities from the second game from the get go including the ability to dive underwater, headbutt down and hover at the end of a jump for just that tiny bit extra distance.
The player starts off in the first hub world which has portals to various levels. Each level has a different design and theme. The aim of the game is to collect treasure gems scattered around the levels and retrieve dragon eggs. In total, there are four hub worlds, with each hub world having the same amount of levels: four normal levels, one level where you don't play as Spyro, one race level, one Sparx level and a boss fight. It takes around 5-10 hours to complete the game, depending on how much of everything you wanted to collect. The main collectible this time around are dragon eggs as the antagonist has stolen all of them from the noses of the dragons. By hiding them in a hidden part of the world that can only be traversed by Spyro thanks to his small size, it is up to him again to get them all back. Dragon eggs are either hidden in the level or you complete minigames to get it. The unified collectible means it's not as tedious as Spyro 2 (as that one had talismans and orbs).
There are 150 dragon eggs in total and you only need 100 in order to progress to the final boss and beat them. As long as you aren't deliberately speeding through levels, then this goal is very easy to achieve. Scattered in each level are enemies. Their designs and attacks are really similar compared to previous games, being defeated either by charge or fire. After three games of the same type of moves, it can be predictable. The great news is that you get gems again from defeating enemies, which is a lot more satisfying than just a spirit that powers up a gate. The flagship new addition in this third game is certain levels will allow you to use other characters. They have slightly different abilities such as the kangaroo being able to double jump or a penguin that can fly indefinitely and fire homing rockets, which changes things up quite a bit. It's too bad that they are regulated to only specific sections and levels, feeling underutilized at times.
The game perfects the blend of platforming in the original Spyro and the minigames of Spyro 2. The minigames are not as prevalent and the levels feel more opened. To be honest, the minigames are probably the worst parts of the game, since a lot of them aren't fun, are finicky or are super cheap/difficult, which just annoys the player. The ones that require you to utilize a vehicle are hit and miss. Some are easy to control, while others are a nightmare. Having one hit KO elements in some of the minigames also suck. The level designs are as great as ever. The main path to the end of the level is straightforward and easy. However, the portal leading back to the hub world is only around the halfway point of the level as there are plenty of hidden areas left. This makes it enjoyable to explore the level and try to find what it has to offer.
While you cannot select the difficulty of the game, it has an automatic scaling difficulty. If you die too much, things will become easier such as a longer charge time between an enemy prepping their attack and actually attacking. On the other hand, if you are good and have not died much, then it gets harder. This can be annoying especially during the race levels where it can feel near impossible to beat in the harder settings. On the whole, the platforming challenges and secrets are somewhat easy. The core difficulty does increase in the last world with stronger enemies with harder to avoid attacks, and tougher platforming.
When compared to the second game, the final boss isn't as memorable or as hard. However, the lower requirements are welcomed as you are not forced to retread levels before seeing the credits. Of course, there is still incentive to go back to each level now that you have unlocked all the characters, since they were previously closed off the first run through. The normal ending you get makes it clear that it is not over, and that there is a true ending. Overall, Spyro: Year of the Dragon is a fantastic and fun game. It takes what made the first two games great and balances it out such that you get great platforming and level design, as well as optional minigames that do not overwhelm everything else like the second did.
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