Dragon Spirit
System: TG-16
Release Date: December 1989
Developer: Namco
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Namco debuts on the TurboGrafx-16 with Dragon Spirit. You are Amur and within you is the spirit of the dragon. The princess Alicia must be saved from the evil clutches of the Demon of Darkness. Amur transforms into the Blue Dragon and sets out to conquer eight levels of enemies and obstacles.
Amur can shoot fireballs to attack the ground with Button I and spit dragon breath with Button II. You can either hold the button down for continuous fire or tap if you want more control. Enemies come on screen as usual for a shoot ‘em up, though some will choose to come on screen opposite of the half you’re on. Most enemies aren’t much problem, but if many enemy bullets come on screen at once, good luck avoiding them all. This is the main problem of the game, the dragon is way too big and way too slow, and it’s difficult to get powerups to negate this disadvantage.
You don’t die after one hit, but have a life bar. The unfortunate thing is when you’re hit, you lose a level of powerup. There are three ways to powerup. Shooting a fireball at blue eggs will release an icon that adds a head to the dragon, giving an extra shot. Shooting a fireball at a red egg releases a fire gauge item. Collecting three will power up your breath and you can do this twice. Having three heads and fully powered dragon breath makes you pretty unstoppable. Until something appears under you and hits you, dropping a head and a level of power.
There are also flashing enemies that occasionally appear. These drop much more interesting items. The Torch Spell is the ultimate weapon that will carry you through most of the game if you can get it and hold on to it. The dragon blows long streams of flame that do massive damage, charring bosses into dust. The Reducer Spell shrinks the dragon, making it easier to avoid enemy bullets, but reduces your power, as well. The Expander Spell is the spread shot of the game, but not particularly strong. The Homer Spell shoots homing missiles for a set period of time. All of these also go away if you get hit. You can also catch an Earthquake icon that shakes the screen and kills ground enemies for a time. The Power Wing grants you invincibility for a short period, as well. Gold and Diamonds give you points when you collect them. You can also find a Speed Up icon that can stack three times. What you want to avoid is the mean skull looking item that represents Decrease Power. Collecting this removes a head and a firing level.
Dragon Spirit is a quarter muncher, but playing as intended is basically impossible. First, there’s no way to refill your life bar. Second, you get three lives. If you lose them all, it’s game over, start from the beginning. Luckily, there is a code to input on the title screen to get 100 continues. I’m sure someone can beat this game without continuing, but it’s not me. The bosses range from simple (especially if you have the torch), to requiring precise timing, to enragingly difficult (the final boss). Even getting to the final boss is near impossible. I’m looking at you spear room…
Graphics: 2.0
Everything looks 8-bit, but with some more colors.
Sound: 2.0
The music and sound effects were standard for the genre. Music is a bit too uptempo for the speed of scrolling.
Gameplay: 2.5
The dragon seems to control as intended, but the game is too stingy with powerups.
Difficulty: 2.5
The dragon is too big and too slow, which will lead to deaths that aren’t fair. Without the continue code, I’d say Dragon Spirit is impossible.
Fun Factor: 1.5
The first two levels are enjoyable, but the entertainment drops off a cliff after that.
Overall Grade: 2.1
Dragon Spirit earns a C. It’s not a bad game, but it’s not one I feel comfortable recommending with any fervor.