History VideoGame / SpyroYearOftheDragon

* AnimalsNotToScale: The sizes of FunnyAnimal and TalkingAnimal characters are all over the map; the hummingbirds are bigger than Sgt. Byrd, a penguin. Polar bear townsfolk in [[CanadaEh Icy Peak]] are smaller than Moneybags, a brown bear. Sheila and Agent 9 are the same height, when kangaroos are almost always bigger than monkeys. ''Fireflies'' in Spooky Swamp are the same height as any other NPC type, making them much larger than Sparx and the other more normal-scale bugs.

* CanadaEh: The residents of Icy Peak appear to exhibit this. To top it off, when you opt out of paying Moneybags for an optional side quest, the negative reply is "Take off, hoser!". In case you were wondering, the mission involves protecting an ice skater... from Rhynoc hockey players. The only native residents of the area you meet are named Bob and Doug, along with said ice skater (Nancy). All three of the native residents speak as if they are from the Great North.

*** The two [[CanadaEh highly Canadian]] polar bears found in the main level share names with Bob and Doug [=McKenzie=] of ''Series/{{SCTV}}'''s "Great White North" and ''Film/StrangeBrew'' fame.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: This was the last game in the original Spyro trilogy by Insomniac, and while somewhat similar to the previous game, it's vastly different from the first game. The hardcore platforming is all but gone, with the emphasis being instead on minigames with a variety of different gameplay styles, as well as multiple playable characters each with their own style as well. It's clear that by this point Insomniac was considering the basic Spyro gameplay to be rather limited, which contributed to them abandoning Spyro in favour of[Franchise/RatchetAndClank.

* MadeOfExplodium: In the first two games, cacti were flame resistant. In Dino Mines, Spyro's basic flame attack with make them explode.

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Getting all 15000 gems and all 149 eggs awards you with a new level, Super Bonus Round, which is filled with treasure and ends with [[spoiler:[[TrueFinalBoss one last showdown with the Sorceress]] after which you get the 150th and final egg]].

* HelpfulMook:
** The giant mooks of Haunted Tomb provide the means to permanently rid it of Rhynocs.
** The Golems of Haunted Tombs provide rocks for you to spit against them or other enemies.

* GameplayRoulette: A large portion of the game is spend with Spyro driving several types of vehicles, or controlling different characters who play differently from Spyro. As a result, the game alternates between classical Spyro platforming, skating, 2D platforming, boxing, third-person shooter, top-down shoot 'em up, etc.

* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: This was the last game in the original Spyro trilogy by Insomniac, and while somewhat similar to the previous game, it's vastyl different from the first game. The hardcore platforming is all but gone, with the emphasis being instead on minigames with a variety of different gameplay styles, as well as multiple playable characters each with their own style as well. It's clear that by this point Insomniac was considering the basic Spyro gameplay to be rather limited, which contributed to them abandoning Spyro in favour of [[Franchise/RatchetAndClank]].

%%* KickTheDog:

** The trick names for the harder and hardest tricks for score-based skateboarding are named [[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage Gulp (plus Big Gulp), Crush (plus Orange Crush)]], [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 Toasty, Doctor Shemp, Gnasty Gnorc]] and [[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage Raging Ripto]].

* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Awards you with a new level, Super Bonus Round, which is filled with treasure and ends with [[spoiler:[[TrueFinalBoss one last showdown with the Sorceress]]]].

* AssInALionSkin: After beating the Cat Hockey challenge in Frozen Altars, Spyro is rewarded with a dragon egg... which hatches to reveal a sheep. But then it suddenly splits open to reveal a baby dragon, [[FridgeLogic which was somehow born wearing a sheep disguise]] (but to be fair, many of the other baby dragons that hatch throughout the game wear glasses and hats). It's also called "Ba'ah".

* ContinuitySnarl: Downplayed. The manual of ''Year of the Dragon'' states that dragons are an AlwaysMale OneGenderRace, who receive new dragon eggs from the faeries from an unknown once every twelve years in an event called the [[TitleDrop "Year of the Dragon"]]. But in the actual game, many of the baby dragons hatch with ''female'' names and/or TertiarySexualCharacteristics, with the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' version of the game making these female hatchlings more prominent.

* DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to the two previous games, this one comes off as slightly darker: aside from exploring the [[MeaningfulName aptly-named]] "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Forgotten Worlds]]" having a relatively unnerving feeling, there's the fact that [[SecretCharacter other playable characters]] are [[UnlockableContent unlocked]] with what [[DeconstructedTrope boils down to a ransom]], TheDragon threatening you whenever you access a new world (which evolves into warning and then outright ''begging'' you to leave [[EvenEvilHasStandards as their master exceeds their own limits]]), a DerelictGraveyard made of SaharanShipwreck-ed ships surrounded by HollywoodAcid, giant {{snowlems}} sporting a SlasherSmile, cowboy dinosaurs (not making this up) throwing dynamite sticks -- and shooting -- at you, Spyro getting EatenAlive by a whale, and so on. Then there's [[VileVillainSaccharineShow the Sorceress]], who alone turns the dark-and-edgy-ness up to eleven.

* DirtyCoward: During the third boss cutscene, the Sorceress searches for another minion to transform. One of the Rhynoc guards, [[OhCrap realising she's eying him]], starts pushing his kicking and screaming co worker forward to her instead.

** ''Year of the Dragon'' has a whole level devoted to this, Charmed Ridge.
** The same game also has a mission which requires you to rescue Rapunzel from a tower. [[spoiler:It turns out she's there of her own free will and has taken out a restraining order on the man attempting to rescue her]].

* TheGreatWhodini: The wizards from Crystal Island have this naming scheme. They also act like stage magicians despite being actual wizards.

* HandOrObjectUnderwear: Two of the baby dragons exhibit this trope when hatched, one of which is appropriately named "Modesty".

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The DualBoss fire dragons of Fireworks Factory are vaguely "Eastern" {{segmented serpent}}s that fly without wings. Given that dragons were banished from the Forgotten Worlds by the Sorceress, she owns Fireworks Factory, and the fire dragons are hostile to the resistance against the Sorceress, this raises a lot of questions, though one could assume she created the pair.

%%* PalmtreePanic: Seashell Shore.

%%* ShiftingSandLand: Desert Ruins.

* StealthPun: [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia Sheila]] hails not from a LandDownUnder, but YodelLand. [[UsefulNotes/{{Austria}} In other words...]]
* StorybookEpisode: Charmed Ridge

* SwallowedWhole: Happens to Spyro the first time he swims too close to the whale's mouth in Evening Lake.

* TRexpy: Cowboy ''Tyrannosaurus'' appear in Dino Mines. They'll either shoot you with deadly aim or throw dynamite sticks at you.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The Sorceress.

The third ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' game, and the last to be developed by Creator/InsomniacGames for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation. Released in 2000, the actual Year of the Dragon.

This game, along with the [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 first game]] and ''[[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage Ripto's Rage!]]'', was remastered on the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, PC and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch with updated graphics as a part of the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'', with the latter two ports coinciding with the franchise's [[MilestoneCelebration 20th anniversary]].

** The baby dragons all have some diverse names. Examples range from "Tom" to "Pee-wee" to "Thelonious" (who is female!).

* AncientGrome: The world is populated by a race of anthropomorphic lions dressed in togas and wreath-crowns who bred giant chickens before the Sorceress sent her Rhynoc hordes to invade the place. The Rhynoc enemies that populate it are all dressed like gladiators.

* AncientGrome: Sunny Villa serves as the title image for the trope page. The world is populated by a race of anthropomorphic lions dressed in togas and wreath-crowns who bred giant chickens before the Sorceress sent her Rhynoc hordes to invade the place. The Rhynoc enemies that populate it are all dressed like gladiators.

In the Year of the Dragon, a rare event that happens [[EasternZodiac every 12 years]], mass numbers of new Dragon Eggs are brought to the Dragon Realms. But they're stolen en route by a [[Literature/AliceInWonderland white rabbit thief who disappears into a strange hole]]. Spyro follows her and ends up in the Forgotten Worlds, where an evil sorceress rules. Now Spyro, with the help of his new friends [[KangaroosRepresentAustralia Sheila]], [[FlyingFlightlessBird Sgt. Byrd]], [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bentley]], and [[MischiefMakingMonkey Agent 9]], has to recover all the Dragon Eggs and make sure the Baby Dragons get home safely.

** Playing a cracked copy of ''Spyro: Year of the Dragon''? Zoe the Fairy appears at the latter part of Sunrise Spring [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqEx_euxPfA telling you]] that [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou your copy is hacked and may be an illegal copy, which will lead you to experience "problems" you would not experience on a legal copy]]. And as a ShoutOut to ''Videogame/EarthBound'', the game recreates the "[[spoiler:save file erasure]]" thing from said game, although in a more subtle manner: instead of just [[spoiler:taking you back to an empty "select your save file" screen]], it just [[spoiler:stops the boss battle against the Sorceress and then a travel-between-worlds Saving-LoadingScreen appears, and after it, you return back to the Sunrise Spring Home with your hot air balloon, with the only difference that your save file has been written with a new status - namely, a big fat zero over everything you can collect]]. To sum it up, instead of [[spoiler:erasing your save file]], the game [[spoiler:resets it back to the beginning]]. It counts as a ShoutOut as both cases of CopyProtection interrupt the [[FinalBoss Final Bo]][[BossBattle ss Battle]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT9O62ZNQSU You can even see it here.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Can you take the heat?]]

* PandaingToTheAudience: Bamboo Terrace is, unsurprisingly, inhabited by pandas.

* EvilEvolves: The Sorceress' plans to get rid of Spyro get increasingly devious, from sending increasingly bigger and deadlier monsters at him to attempting to destroy the eggs just so he can't save all of them to having a factory created to make an army of robot bugs ''just'' to get rid of Sparx so Spyro will lack protection.