Insomniac's last game starring the amiable purple dragon before they began working on Ratchet & Clank was a fitting send-off for 3D platformers on the original PlayStation. Sure, it came right at the start of the decade and was technically inferior to every other game on this list, but it also squeezed the very most out of the PlayStation's hardware capabilities. The missions were appropriately wacky, and aside from toasting everything in his path, Spyro also got to play Ice Hockey with pink cats, skateboard (with tricks and a Tony Hawk's-lite point-scoring system), and take on some exhilarating bosses - anyone remember the airborne battle against the Twin Dragons? it was bright, silly, and immensely playable - everything a 3D platformer should be. While the core gameplay changed little from past Spyro excursions, the extra side-missions and new playable characters made it worth returning to. You could buy caged animals from the series' resident, avaricious a-hole Moneybags (I don't know why Spyro doesn't just torch the guy), and spent around half the game playing as Spyro's strange allies; including a kangaroo, a bomb-throwing penguin, a yeti, a dragonfly and a laser-wielding monkey - all of which diversified the gameplay to arguably make Year Of The Dragon the quirkiest, greatest PSX platformer yet.
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
