Will the last Insomniac created Spyro game make or break under the pressure of being too familiar?
Like the previous two games in the series, Spyro: Year of the Dragon (less known as "Spyro 3") is a 3D platformer for the original PlayStation console.
Graphics
Though the Spyro franchise has never had movie-like cutscenes that some companies were coming up with at the time, it's gameplay graphics, gigantic field areas, and standard but humorous game movies well make up for it. Unlike the super pixilated graphics that most original PlayStation games support, Spyro is one of the few that actually look almost like a PlayStation 2 era game, were it not for a few rough bits around the edges (which couldn't be helped with the current technology of the time).
The worlds are also gigantic for it's time, supporting free-roaming gameplay. Basically, if it looks like something you would be able to jump or glide to, odds are that you probably can. Along with this expansive world comes short and few load times, being the only time that you will ever notice them is when you pass through a clearly visible portal to a separate level or a mini game area. Everything else you can just run around freely, beat up bad guys, and never once see a single sign of slowdown (similar to the more modern PS2 games). Even in the areas where loading is inescapable, the actual time it takes to load a level is surprisingly low. Just click your heels, count to three, and you'll be there.
Gameplay
Okay, so the graphics are of excellent quality, but what about the gameplay? I'm happy to say that just like the earlier games in the series, the third Spyro installment is just as fun if not more to play. As a dragon (albeit a very small one) you are gifted with the natural abilities to run, jump, swim, breath fire, glide short distances, and charge through enemies and walls alike. Pretty much the same thing as the previous Spyro games.
New to the challenge, though only available in short mini game levels, are 5 other playable characters as well as different vehicles/ devices for Spyro himself to use including, but not limited to, a skateboard, a mobile cannon, a flying saucer, and even a underwater manta ray.
Unfortunately, or maybe even thankfully, your main objectives to the game are still pretty much the same. Travel from place to place collecting the scattered gems and treasure you see lying about the ground, defeat almost all enemies in a single hit, and collect all of the main points for your journey which this time manifest themselves as dragon eggs. If you're familiar with all of this, then there is nothing too new here for you, besides the method of collection itself.
Story
Just as before you'll be taking the role of Spyro, a small purple dragon with a superheated flame, to take charge and clean up the mess that an evil villain known as the Sorceress has created when she snuck over to your side of the globe and snatched all of the precious, ready to hatch, dragon eggs. Seeing as you are the only dragon small enough to fit down the holes her devious cohorts crawled through, it's again your task to save the day. However, this time you won't be doing it alone. For the first time ever in Spyro history you are able to control four other characters that you encounter, including your partner Sparx (making five playable characters total) though you will only be able use them for their own specific levels, or their own mini game levels scattered here and there. You won't be able to just use them whenever you feel like it.
Being an Insomniac developed game, Spyro: Year of the Dragon holds true to the company's interesting sense of humor, so even when some of the more repetitive areas of play are present, there is always something amusing there to draw your attention away from the negative.
Music
The music is for the most part standard BGM for a video game, but that actually suits the environment better I think than a orchestral score ever would. Probably because it helps maintain the feel of the game and goes along well with already quirky nature that Spyro has.
Replay Value
There isn't any sort of New Game Plus feature to this game like there was in the second installment Ripto's Rage/ Gateway to Glimmer (though it wasn't directly called "New Game Plus"), but I still found it fun to go back to the very beginning and play through the game again just for the heck of it.
Overall
All in all I found Spyro: Year of the Dragon to be just as fun as the earlier games in the series and a real joy to play, even after I'd beaten the game two or three times already. There are some aspects that have become rather linear with the franchise, but I found many of these flaws to be forgivable.