Game review #1 - Dragon Fighter (Sofel, 1992)

I thought I'd start off by digging out a game that is a little less common than others that I have seen and read countless reviews on. There is a little bit of method to my madness.  Since this is my first review I didn't want to say things that had been said a hundred times and I also didn't want to trash a game that many people might hold in high regard.

For my maiden voyage into the game review foray I have chosen Dragon Fighter (Sofel, 1992).

This game was not at all what I expected. Cartridge Artwork looked pretty neat. Kinda reminiscent of Iron Sword (I guess Fabio was busy when Sofel called). Our protagonist looks like a badass Dragon tracker, kneeling down to inspect some droppings.  He's hot on the trail of a dragon and this must be a cool RPG.  Sofel must've looked at the game Dragon Warrior, grabbed
a thesaurus and came up with Dragon Fighter.  I mean Prehistoric Pugilist probably didn't roll of the tongue quite as nicely. So a finely tuned RPG then, right?   WRONG!!!  You ARE the dragon. Or at least you become one when your 'dragon meter' fills up enough. Once you become aware of the game's direction it is a pretty capable side-scroller.

7/10

This is the game's strong suit.  The character's movements are very fluid and precise. The one complaint I have is that you are unable to turn around when in dragon form.  Aside from this, Dragon Fighter does not suffer from the instability that other similar games have of a lag when more than 4 sprites are on the screen at one time.  Because this game relies on both killiing of enemies in front and behind you and also dodging enemy fire (and giant slowflakes.. yup that's right) it requires a simple and effective mobility and it delivers.

10/10

The title screen opens with white noise interspersed with a midi quality nintendo standard.  Unfortunately that squelching that can only be compared to the generic 'crowd' sound effect from earlier nintendo titles
obscures the opening notes that should serve to grab the gamer's attention and draw them in. Thankfully from here on out the music is quite enjoyable and the sound effects well placed.

8/10

At first glance our hero resembles baraka from the Mortal Kombat series with the sword just kind of protruding from his arm. As for his clothes.... I'm not sure what is up with him wearing Batman's boots and that unfortunate hat. At least he can morph into a dragon from time to time to hide the shame of this dress-up debacle. The backgrounds are adequate, and the enemies look pretty good.  The depictions of the character's movements (like the controls) are very well done. One thing I really like about the gameplay graphics are the little touches they added. For example when you crouch with your character your sword goes up to your eyeline and when you strike you actually get the sense that his arm and shoulder are swinging.  I also enjoyed what appears to be mocking laughter coming from the green ogres as well as the little skiffs of snow they kick up when they charge at you.

9/10

I found the game quite challenging and though I did not play through past the first level I would have to make the observation that the game is hampered a little by the fact that (though you can continue) you can't
continue from where you died.  You get one turn before it is game over and then you have the option to continue up to 3 times.  This would be fine, but if I get to the boss and die right away because 98% of my life was spent in the comission of getting that far I can't continue there (a la Megaman) but rather I have to go all the way back to the start. I would have to assume that once you defeat the first boss the continue option will allow you to return to the furthest stage you made it to. So, on the one hand, the frustrations I encountered might make me not want to pick this game up again, but the fact that there are 6 levels and I have only seen a handful of the baddies and stages tells me that there is a whole lot more in store.  The creators of this game have also offered up a fair amount of easter eggs.  Included is a hardmode, a stage select and a cheat that will allow players to regain their life.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/587244-dragon-fighter/cheats


7/10

Overall this game is pretty good.  I won't say it is 'as advertised' but I was pleasantly surprised with it.  It is fairly challenging (so far),  the background graphics and music offer a nice landscape to the gameplay and the controls will not frustrate the player to the point of destroying their controller or hurtling the cartridge into traffic.  I wanted to get this up there, but through research and introspection I've determined that I will pick this game up again and try to press on.  Perhaps I will update this entry with a completion date if I make it that far.... without the cheats of course.

8/10