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(c)1987 1988 NAMCO LTD., ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Release : 1988-12-16 (¥5500)
HuCard (2 Mbits) NC63003
Shooter / Vertical
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Released in America as
DRAGON SPIRIT
( TGX020016 )
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Dragon spirit is Namco's conversion on its own arcade game released in 1987.
Alicia, the princess of the Mitgult kingdon, has been kidnapped by the evil serpent
demon king Zawel. Amur, knight and player's avatar, is the hero of
Dragon Spirit. At the beginning of his quest to rescue the princess,
he is struck by a lightning from heaven and turned into a powerful and
great blue dragon. Dragon Spirit counts eight long levels. In a
way similar to Xevious, the flying dragon can fire in the air or on
the ground. Bombs can be dropped on magic eggs and crack them opened, freeing the powerups hidden inside :
Red increases the dragon's fire power,
blue gives him an extra head ( up to maximum of three ). Also,
flashing creatures drop other power-ups when killed : S for
speed up, W for three ways, X multi ways, heart
for extra life (three need to be collected though, it will be first in
the shape of a Dragon's egg which needs to hatch) and a lot more.
However, our hero must avoid the floating skull options at all cost as they
will power-down his dragon.
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Namco released the arcade game Dragon Spirit in 1987 (It is interesting to
notice that it was distributed in America by Atari).
The game was converted for many console and computer systems, including Dragon Spirit
(X68000, 1987), Dragon Spirit (C64, Atari ST, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, 1989), Dragon Spirit
: Aratanaru Densetsu (Famicom, 1989) and part of the Namco Museum Vol.5
(Playstation, 1997). Finally, a Dragon Spirit LCD game also exists. Namco
released a sequel in 1990, called Dragon Saber. But this time, Namco
America distributed it in the US, and not Atari. As far as I know it was
only converted for the PC Engine system and part of Namco Museum Encore
(Playstation, 1997). Finally, let's also mention Shinji Hosoe, the person
behind all Dragon Spirit great music scores and also responsible for other
outstanding video game soundtracks including Ordyne, Dragon Saber,
Star Blade, Ridge Racer, Bushido Blade
and EspGaluda just to name a few.
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Teaser text from the American version:
Amur, the spirit of the dragon, lives within you. As the winged creature that breathes
mega-tons of fire, your mission is revealed. Rescue Princess Alicia from Zowel, Demon of
Darkness. So take to the skies and destroy enemy creatures with breath and fireballs. Add
dragon heads and incredible power ups. Confront Zowel in a Super Battle of Beasts!
(Careful not to breathe on Alicia).
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
STAFF
Character Design
Macchan
Arakawa Da!
Music Composer
Megaten Hosoe
Astron Ishii
Kawagen
Thunder Nogushi
Main Programmer
Otenba Kid
Guest Programmer
Hal/Uda
Sound Programmer
Yoshi Kabasan
Producer
Greatist Asayan
Special Thanks To
Kyonta
Kazuchan
Yohkun
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Omake!
<<1984>>
Galaxian
Pac-Man
Xevious
Mappy
<<1985>>
Galaga
Digdug
The Tower Of Druaga
Warpman
Battle City
Pac-Land
Burger Time
Star Luster
<<1986>>
Digdug2
Tag Team Prowrestling
Super Chinese
Babel
Valkyrie
Skykid
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Super Xevious
Mappy-Land
Family Stadium
Metrocross
<<1987>>
Dragon Buster
Family Jockey
Sanma No Meitantei
Dragonslayer4
Family Boxing
Family Mahjong
Digital Devil Story
Side Pocket
Lupin The 3rd
Devious
Karnov
Family Stadium'97
Family Tennis
Star Wars
<<1988>>
Family Circuit
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Yokai Douchuki
Dokuganeyu Masamune
World Stadium
Namco Classic
Youkai Douchuki
Galaga'88
The quest of Ki
Sangokushi
World Court
and
Dragon Spirit
The end
Presented by Namco
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O
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A
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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s
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Dragon Spirit is excellent, difficulty is well balanced
and the game offers great music scores and good graphics for
the time. The game moves away from space ships and asteroid fields
and definitively adds originality to the shooter genre. This
version seems to be slightly easier than the arcade game, and
therefore more enjoyable. And this is a wise decision. It is not always
a good idea to faithfully convert an arcade's game difficulty level
for the home market (Capcom, I am looking at you and your Daimakaimura's
franchise, why did you have to make them so hard ?).
I personally appreciate this choice, and this PC Engine version for
that matter. However, I rather prefer its sequel, Dragon Saber,
which has better graphics and animations. But don't get me wrong,
Dragon Spirit is an amazing game !
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