Dino Mines is a western realm in Spyro: Year of the Dragon and in the Reignited Trilogy remaster of the third game. It can be accessed in the Midnight Mountain homeworld after collecting 80 Dragon Eggs.
Description
The realm is based on the old American West, with various Western-styled buildings, barns, cliffs, and cacti. One of the main features of this realm is its flooded mine, which features loose TNT crates and old remains of wooden carts. This has created a home for seahorses, but watch out! They are not friendly whatsoever and will shoot any outsider they see on sight with their revolvers. Another flooded mine with railroad tracks is also present here, this one appearing to have been recently flooded as its underground infrastructure is falling apart by the time Spyro gets there.
Another main feature of the realm is its jail, in which the local Rabbit Sheriffs use to keep their prisoners locked up. However, it is poorly built, as these prisoners somehow find ways to escape and get revenge later on.
Story
The sheriff of the town, Wyatt, was captured by the Bailey Gang and locked him in his own jail cell. When Spyro arrives, Sheriff Wyatt asks him to take the gang out.
After defeating the gang, Spyro charges a broken wall to find Sheriff Wyatt in his cell, who now realizes why his suspects keep escaping. He gives Spyro an egg as a reward, and later comments after the baby dragon hatches as being "the cutest little dinosaur I ever did see!"
After Agent 9 is released, he goes to another part of the town to help Deputy Roy eliminate more members of the Bailey Gang, who have overrun the place. After clearing them out, Deputy Roy gives Agent 9 an egg that the gang was trying to steal, and further claims that it's "not like them at all!", hinting that the gang were actually working for the Sorceress.
In the original game's epilogue, it is revealed that Deputy Holiday has captured the thieves (called the "Nyaah Nyaah" Gang in the game), and locked them in the cell, with the thieves looking very mad at him. Also, it is revealed that the Bailey Gang has targeted Moneybags and is shown trying to steal his gems.
Guide
Eggs
- Jail Break! (Kiki): Rescue Sheriff Wyatt by charging into a wall behind the jail.
- Shafted! (Elliot): In this sub-level, Deputy Holiday discovers an egg that was thrown by a dinosaur down a flooded mine shaft. Help him out by reaching the end of the mine without hitting any logs, falling rocks, or TNT crates that may get in the way.
- Swim Through the Wall (Romey): In the underwater portion of the main realm, look for a broken wall. Charge into it and you'll find an egg.
- Gunfight at the Jurassic Corral (Sharon): In Agent 9's sub-level, he decides to become a sheriff. Help Deputy Roy take out all members of the Bailey Gang, shoot 'em up style.
- Leap of Faith (Dan): Right where you start at the beginning of the realm, immediately go left. Jump as high as you can, then glide around the corner of the building. Behind it is where the egg will be. Make sure to hover near the cliff as a safe measure, otherwise you may fall off and lose a life.
- Take It to the Bank (Sergio): After completing Agent 9's sub-level, go through the level again. Look for a white building you went into earlier. Go inside, and jump over a ledge into a secondary room. An egg will be sitting there.
Skill Points
- Hit the Secret Dino: Near the end of the fight with the Bailey Gang as Agent 9, a dark-green and red colored T-Rex (just red in Reignited) will appear behind three normal green T-Rexes. Shooting it earns a skill point. Killing him can be used as a way to heal Sparx should his health be low.
- Kill All Seahorses: Hit all the Seahorses in the flooded mine. This may take a few tries, but once a seahorse is hit, he won't reappear, but will still count as a hit should you have to start again. This is considered to be one of the hardest skill points in the game.
Achievements & Trophies (Reignited Trilogy)
- Nice Shootin' Tex: As Agent 9, defeat an enemy with a ricochet shot.
- PS4: Bronze Trophy
- XBOX One: 20G
Characters
Allies
Enemies
- Gunfighter Dinos
- TNT Dinos
- Gattling Gun Dinos
- Seahorses
- Thieves (epilogue)
Glitches
Original Game
- Spyro is able to perform the swim in the air glitch in this realm, and it requires at least one extra life. To do it, go to the end of the underwater portion of the realm where Zoe is, but don't let her zap you yet. When you're in position, jump towards her and then charge underwater immediately. If done correctly, Zoe should zap you while you're underwater. After that is done, go back to the surface and kill yourself by jumping off the nearby cliff, and you should re-spawn swimming in the air.
- In Agent 9's sub-level, he is able to shoot and break almost all the windows. You can actually jump into some of the smaller windows, but a glitch will occur where Agent 9 may become trapped inside. Some of the inside walls don't have collision detection, however, and Agent 9 may fall out and plummet to his death. The only way out without losing lives is to leave the sub-level via the pause menu.
Reignited Trilogy
- It is possible to exceed the Gem count by 4 additional Gems, making 704 instead of only 700. shown here.
- It is possible to get Spyro stuck at the end of the underwater mine shaft after hitting the last Seahorse, forcing you to reboot the game.
Video
| Dino Mines - Spyro: Year of the Dragon |
Gallery
- Main article: Dino Mines/Gallery
Trivia
General
- It is one of two realms in the game to not have any Rhynocs as enemies; the other being the Crystal Islands.
- While Agent 9 is able to shoot and break windows in his sub-level, Spyro cannot do the same with any window in the main realm.
Original Game
- In all versions of the game except for the Greatest Hits version, this realm shares its theme with Molten Crater.
- This realm was originally called Dry Gulch.
- Using the "Swim in the Air" glitch, you can access an empty arena via a hidden challenge portal (see above). It is not entirely known why it was created, but it is speculated that Spyro was to fight the Bailey Gang here.
- Early versions of the game refer to an egg called The Bailey Gang's Last Stand, which probably would have been used here. This egg was later replaced with Take It to the Bank.
- In the 2018 Insomniac Live Spyro: Year of the Dragon speed run, developer Brian Hastings recalls that Dino Mines was "one of those levels that was coming in hot at the end of the game", which may have resulted in the sub-level being cut due to it not being finished in time.
- The person in the WANTED posters around the realm is Dan Johnson, an Insomniac employee famous for his in-game cameo appearances, especially in the Ratchet & Clank series.
- Additionally, one of the dragons found in this realm is named Dan.
- In the Reignited Trilogy, these wanted posters instead show the faces of Agent 9, Bentley, Sgt. Byrd, and Sheila. This may be to no longer make references to Insomniac, much like how Dan Johnson’s face no longer appears on the coins in Mystic Marsh.
- This realm has the same skybox as Magma Cone, Canyon Speedway, and Molten Crater.
- The fodder in this realm make a similar noise, upon defeating them, to the Horned Rabbits from the previous game.
- The Rabbits in this realm bear a resemblance to Chuck Norris, who is best known for his role as Walker Texas Ranger. Considering that Dino Mines is a western / cowboy themed level, this is likely a coincidence.
- The TNT Dinos and Gunfighter Dinos of this level bear a striking resemblance to the Lava Lizards from Skelos Badlands seen in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!.
- An egg model titled Object 764 - Dino Mines Egg was going to be used in this level presumably for the Gunfighter Dinos & TNT Dinos to hatch out from. Though the texture for the egg model appears different in the final, the cracked shell fragments also use this object ID seem to use the same left-over texture the aforementioned eggs that the Lava Lizards spawn from in Skelos Badlands from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!.
- A beta screenshot of Dino Mines shown in the SCEE review build of Spyro: Year of the Dragon seen in an issue of PS Max further shows that their egg model was originally textured red like in Skelos Badlands from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! before settling on a different texture for the egg model in the final.