Strangely enough, this is the Spyro game that gives me the biggest dose of nostalgia when I boot it up, despite the fact that I played the other two games before it. Often considered the apex of the franchise, while Year of the Dragon is certainly the biggest Spyro game, it also exhibits a vague sense of desperation, as though the designers are just throwing every idea at a wall and seeing what sticks. While the core Spyro experience of charging at foes, setting asses on fire, and collecting treasure is still very much present, it's muddled by an endless buffet of increasingly-complex minigames, some of which can definitely try your patience if you're trying to 100% it, as I have several times. The four other playable characters are somewhat diverting in small doses (which is what the game gives you, really), but they're ultimately just symptoms of its lack of focus. (It's definitely not a coincidence that two of those characters use some form of gun - that's the direction that Insomniac was headed as a studio, for sure.) Despite these flaws, this is still a very fun game if you're willing to take it at face value, and it's one of my favorite games to revisit every now and then. Personally speaking, this game got me through the worst finals season back in undergrad, so it'll always have a special place in my heart.