When the original Spyro the Dragon game was released in 1998 many people fans and critics alike were impressed by various features included in this title.  The original Spyro game included a basic plot amazing levels and nice 3D gameplay. Shortly, after the release of the original Spyro game many people were eager for a sequel to this title. During the fall of 2000, Spyro: Year of the Dragon was released for the Sony PlayStation.  The second installment of the Spyro series featured various improvements from the original title including more playable characters.  Along with playing as Spyro people get to utilize other characters including Sparx, Sheila, Sergeant Byrd, Bentley, and Cheetah who provides you with assistance dealing with in-game mechanics.

The plot for Spyro: Year of the Dragon is also a bit more complex than the original because the main antagonist of this game devised to carry out her motives.  The main antagonist of the original Spyro game captured other dragons because he was insulted.  In Year of the Dragon Spyro and his friends must stop the Sorceress and her army in order to retrieve stolen dragon eggs.  Year of the Dragon provides players with brand new settings in the form of realms such as Evening Lake, Midday Gardens, Midnight Mountain, and Sunrise Spring. Along with the addition of new characters and realms Year of the Dragon featured  improved gameplay, graphics along with mini-games which made this title more enjoyable than the original.  Looking back at the time frame Year of the Dragon was released some people might scratch their heads and wonder why it was not ported for the PlayStation 2.

After all, the PlayStation 2 did make its debut late in the year 2000.  Despite, not being released for the PlayStation 2 people were still able to play it on that console since it was conveniently backwards compatible with the PS1.   Shortly after its release GameSpot scored the game in eight out of ten while IGN gave it a nine.   Since this title made its debut in 2000 it has sold over 2 million units worldwide and continues to be recognized one of the best platform games released for the original Sony PlayStation.