ActivisionThese days, you probably know the name Insomniac Games for superhero epics like Marvel’s Spider-Man and the upcoming Wolverine — or even for a furry feline named Ratchet. But before all that, Insomniac was responsible for crafting one of the most definitive mascot platformer series around, featuring an adorable, diminutive dragon named Spyro. While Spyro might have faded from the cultural zeitgeist, two decades later, the dragon can still lay claim to one of the most definitive platforming experiences ever made. Spyro: Year of the Dragon is one of the greatest masterpieces the genre has ever seen — a confluence of ingenuity and charm that rivals even the likes of Mario. It’s a reminder of how desperately we still need these kinds of experiences from PlayStation’s first-party studios.Year of the Dragon is the third game in the Spyro series, and the last one to be developed by Insomniac. And while Spyro kept going for years, this third game is arguably the pinnacle of the series — where Insomniac really laid everything on the line. It’s like dialing all the fun from the first two games up to eleven, with the definitive challenge that captures the whimsy and adventure of Spyro. Year of the Dragon has so many fun and quirky characters, it’s almost hard to keep track of. | ActivisionA big part of why Year of the Dragon works so well is how tight and refined its overall structure feels. This third game has a nearly symmetrical feel to the way everything plays out, with four distinct major zones you explore, all based on seasons: Sunrise Spring, Midday Gardens, Evening Lake, and Midnight Mountain. This format doesn’t just help give each area a distinct feel, but separates them into levels of difficulty. The more you play and get a hold of Spyro’s controls, the more complex challenges you’ll start getting.Like the previous two games, Spyro’s main objective in Year of the Dragon is to travel through various worlds and recover stolen dragon eggs — rewards for completing objectives or exploration. There’s certainly a collect-a-thon element to Spyro, especially when you factor in the gems you collect to bribe the grotesquely greedy bear Moneybags. Year of the Dragon also has incredibly tight platforming. As Spyro, you can jump, shoot fire blasts, glide, charge with your horns, and more. The Spyro games absolutely revel in good “game feel,” giving you plenty of options for how to move around and interact with the world. And Year of the Dragon easily has some of the best-designed levels of the series, from dodging explosions and lava in Fireworks Factory to scoring goals in an icy game of Cat Hockey. Spyro has to fight off a host of fearsome Rhynocs while he gets back the dragon eggs. | ActivisionEach level in Year of the Dragon presents some kind of unique idea or gimmick, built around that strong core platforming. But Year of the Dragon also mixes in a far more diverse array of possibilities than its predecessors, giving you the option to play as a handful of other quirky characters. Scattered throughout the game are sections where you play as “critters,” each with its own distinct style. Sergeant Byrd is a penguin with rockets on his back, letting you shoot missiles as you dodge enemies. Meanwhile, Sheila the Kangaroo has a double jump that completely changes how you approach platforming.The critter sections add a phenomenal sense of variety to the game, and that’s before you consider the minigames like skateboarding, races, gunfights, and more. And despite all the disparate gameplay styles, Year of the Dragon paces everything out impeccably well — making sure to shake up the main platforming gameplay with a quick minigame or critter section. More than anything, looking back to Year of the Dragon almost feels like a different era. Outside of Nintendo, few big publishers focus on smaller, whimsical experiences like Spyro. The closest thing to Year of the Dragon that I can think of in the last decade is Astro Bot, PlayStation’s exclusive that doubles up as both a technical feat and a celebration of the platform’s many successful franchises. The Reignited Trilogy gives Year of the Dragon a gorgeous coat of paint, and makes it player better than ever. | ActivisionAs PlayStation and other big publishers have shifted focus onto cinematic open worlds and live service games, we’ve lost the smaller, charming projects. There are still plenty of indies filling the space these days, but it’d genuinely be great to see a studio like Insomniac Games work on more than just superhero epics like Spider-Man again. It’s a side effect of ballooning budgets for games and the pressure to not just succeed, but break record numbers.That’s exactly why I’m happy to see something like Astro Bot flourish — it proves there’s still a real hunger for those smaller, simpler experiences. And Spyro got his chance to shine again in the Reignited Trilogy. But it’s an utter shame that it currently feels so out of reach to get another game like Year of the Dragon. As the tides of what players want continue to change, maybe Astro Bot is all the proof we need that the purple dragon should wake up from his hibernation.Spyro: Year of the Dragon is included in the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.