SPYRO: Year of the Dragon

Release Date: September 9, 1998

"It feels different to earlier incarnations, with four co-stars to control and a hefty bucket of mini-games"

Get your hankies ready because Spyro Year Of The Dragon is the little lizards PlayStation swansong. It’s only three years since Spyro first unfurled his wings and gave all those wannabe 3D platformers a royal roasting, but it seems like a lifetime ago. These days, 3D comes as standard and his work here is done... Well, almost.

Don't blub yet because Spyro 3 is not just the best Spyro game; its the best platformer on PlayStation. Brave words, perhaps, but we challenge anyone to suggest a leap 'em up that can better it. With near¬ perfect 3D environments, finely tuned flying and hopping, beautifully animated characters and spot-on voice acting, nothing else comes close.

You might be saying to yourself, it’s just Spyro 2 again, isn't it? Well, while there’s obviously a lot that'll seem familiar - what with the return of Sparx, Hunter and Moneybags - Insomniac has ensured Spyro 3 looks and feels different to earlier incarnations, with four co-stars to control and a hefty bucket of mini-games.

Barely have you got started before Hunter gives you the chance to go skateboarding around a converted gladiatorial arena, flaming and butting troublesome reptiles. Later on you'll command a speedboat, clamber in a tank and go skating and swimming (the little fella’s jump-and-dive move looks especially cool). And this is only the stuff Spyro does;

A the other characters 9 have their own adventures too. Sheila the kangaroo stomps a fort into the ground, and Sgt Byrd flaps about transporting heavy weights on to pressure switches while unleashing a barrage of rockets, characters could have been nothing more than Spyro in drag, but brilliant characterisation and unique abilities (Sheilas super-leap. Byrd’s powered flight) makes taking on their guises a refreshing change.

Something that stands out by not standing out at all is the way the main levels and all the various mini-games and sub-missions fit together. The intro sequence is short, and every so often a cut-scene will introduce some new story element, but the action is never suspended for long. Instead friendly faces pop up in-game to tell you what’s happening and what extra labours you may want to undertake. Success is measured in dragon eggs won back and having enough gems to pay for doors to be opened and helpers freed. It also helps that you can travel about with just brief loading sequences between the huge levels (during which your progress is saved), making the game feel like one continuous adventure.

Despite being much harder than the original, Spyro 2 was rightly criticised in some quarters for being too easy, and while the first few worlds of Spyro 3 aren't that tough to unlock, some of the stages are trickiness itself to complete. Tearing about in a powerboat while shelling a shark submarine isn't easy, and catching an egg thief accelerating along a super-charged track will take plenty of practice. Just when you think you've seen all a world has to offer, you’ll find an aerial speedway section or discover another sub-boss who must be defeated.

While many other series - X-Men and Toshinden come to mind - go stale over time. Spyro just gets better. Insomniac has never compromised in its quest to create games that appeal to kids without patronising them, while reminding oldsters why they first picked up a joypad. back when they were knee-high to a giant mutant grasshopper.

PlayStationVerdict

■GRAPHICS: Cartoony 3D that deserves to be on a gallery wall.

■ GAMEPLAY: Leaping, flying, racing, shooting, puzzling, bombing.

■ LIFESPAN: Finished all the speedways and all the battles? Didn't think so.

■ OVERALL: A fitting final bow for one of PlayStations star performers. Charming, intelligent and funny, Spyro is also a beautifully constructed title with a build quality superior to your average BMW Faultless.