Dragon Saber

pixeljunkie · 03/18/2006, 02:41 AM

Played this non-stop tonight....finally gave up on the level 5 boss. [I coulda' beat him....but my eyes were hurtin':shock:] I love this damn game!

I like the addition of new dragon powerups and charge blasts.

What's funny is I just got God Of War on my PS2 recently...and while it is awesome....all I can play is my PCE

esteban · 03/18/2006, 04:59 AM

Dragon Saber is one of my most favorite HuCards. When folks dismiss HuCards, this game is usually one of the ones I recommend (it's cheap, easilly available, and ROCKS!)

While I love Dragon Spirit, Dragon Saber really improves things.

pixeljunkie · 03/18/2006, 06:39 PM

Quote from: "stevek666"Dragon Saber is one of my most favorite HuCards. When folks dismiss HuCards, this game is usually one of the ones I recommend (it's cheap, easilly available, and ROCKS!)

While I love Dragon Spirit, Dragon Saber really improves things.

has anyone ever actually FINISHED Dragon Spirit??? My GOD that game is tough as nails.

Keranu · 03/19/2006, 02:12 AM

Oh man, Dragon Saber is awesome. Dragon Spirit was a pretty cool game too, but like Steve said, this game improves on some things, specifically gameplay elements. The graphics look similar, though some areas look cooler because of more detail and the bosses are really sweet in this game, one of them having this crazy long tile shift effect when you beat it. The only thing worse about this sequel maybe is the music, though I would have to compare both sometime to really see, but I just remember Dragon Spirit having cooler music. Still a awesome game though and if you have a buddy to play with, invite him over for two players!

akamichi · 03/19/2006, 03:26 AM

I was pretty impressed with Dragon Saber. First of all, I was a little disappointed that it didn't come out on CD considering at the time the CD system was doing pretty well. Of course after I got it, it didn't matter since it was such a great game. I kinda like Dragon Spirit better because I have fonder memories of that game. DSaber did add in some nice additions like more weapons, charge weapon, more kinds of dragons and 2P simul mode.

The music is better in DSpirit IMO. In the arcade version (or Namco museum on PSX) of DSaber, you can play most of the stages with remixed DSpirit music (insert credit, hold down shoot and bomb buttons and press start). The remixed music is simply awesome. Some tunes I like the original better, but overall it's a nice touch.

pixeljunkie · 03/20/2006, 03:37 PM

It looks like there are only 6 levels in Dragon Saber...is this right? I got to level 6 this weekend...pissed me off so much. You barely come close to those crystal spike things and your dead....VERY frustrating. I got to the boss though....if I play it again I will probably beat it. Just curious if there is more after level 6??? [I hope so]

Digi.k · 03/21/2006, 07:27 AM

I love Dragon Spirit! although its old and retro it has aged well probably because of the great playability and music, the difficulty is rock hard!

Personally I think the PC engine version plays better than the arcade. Playing DS on MAME I find those power-up gels fly off the screen way too fast! I was able to complete this on the pc engine long long ago.. Since I built up another pc engine collection and acquired this again I can't seem to get to the last level anymore but I remember after you defeat Zawell you transform back into human form and meet up with the princess, as you both kiss the screen stretches to the point where everthing distorts (at that time I was mightly impressed with that piece of programming) I can't remember if there's any end pictures but after that the credits roll.

Dragon Saber I was dissappointed with at first mainly because I played the arcade version first and I wasn't happy when I saw namco had scaled the graphics down to fit on a 4megabit HUcard.. (woulda been nice if namco made this either a 6meg or 8meg HUcard like some other companies did ^__^). But anyway.. after the dissappointment I couldn't help but fall in love with the BGM and thankfully although the music arrangements sound different to the arcades, Namco did a fine job and I love the bass and sampled drum beats. I like Dragon Saber but I can't help but wish Namco tried to push the pc engine more with this title..

There should be more than 6 levels. I think the last level looks futuristic.. annoying spike things that shoot out from the side and some really annoying rotating tiles that I can't remember if you can shoot these down..

Slightly going off topic but does anyone like phelios?? I'm sure its done by the same team behind "Dragon" series.

esteban · 03/21/2006, 03:43 PM

Quote from: "Digi.k"I love Dragon Spirit! although its old and retro it has aged well probably because of the great playability and music, the difficulty is rock hard!

Personally I think the PC engine version plays better than the arcade. Playing DS on MAME I find those power-up gels fly off the screen way too fast! I was able to complete this on the pc engine long long ago.. Since I built up another pc engine collection and acquired this again I can't seem to get to the last level anymore but I remember after you defeat Zawell you transform back into human form and meet up with the princess, as you both kiss the screen stretches to the point where everthing distorts (at that time I was mightly impressed with that piece of programming) I can't remember if there's any end pictures but after that the credits roll.

Dragon Saber I was dissappointed with at first mainly because I played the arcade version first and I wasn't happy when I saw namco had scaled the graphics down to fit on a 4megabit HUcard.. (woulda been nice if namco made this either a 6meg or 8meg HUcard like some other companies did ^__^). But anyway.. after the dissappointment I couldn't help but fall in love with the BGM and thankfully although the music arrangements sound different to the arcades, Namco did a fine job and I love the bass and sampled drum beats. I like Dragon Saber but I can't help but wish Namco tried to push the pc engine more with this title..

There should be more than 6 levels. I think the last level looks futuristic.. annoying spike things that shoot out from the side and some really annoying rotating tiles that I can't remember if you can shoot these down..

Slightly going off topic but does anyone like phelios?? I'm sure its done by the same team behind "Dragon" series.

None of the arcades in my area had Dragon Saber, but most of them did have Dragon Spirit. So, PCE Dragon Saber was my first exposure to it. Man, I wish Dragon Saber was in the arcades back then!

Was Phelios on the MegaDrive / Genesis? If so, then I had that shooter back in the day. I have yet to re-acquire it, but I had a lot of fun with it. There are a bunch of shooter fans here, so feel free to bring up games in the genre

.

Digi.k · 03/21/2006, 07:49 PM

Yea Phelios was on the megadrive but its quite different to the arcade. Personally I prefer the Megadrive version although I hate the sampled voices in the intermissions.

Keranu · 03/21/2006, 11:53 PM

Phelios is awesome, one of my favorite Genesis/Mega Drive shooters.

Digi.k · 07/05/2006, 05:29 PM

this is an old thread but I made some new dragon spirit pce videos if anyone wants to watch em XD
area 2

area 3

area 4

area 5

area 6

areas 7& 8 although I couldn't reach the end of no.8 just watch as I fail!

btw has anyone ever played the original dragon spirit arcade or NES versions?? I wonder why the PCE is a much slower pace.. although its just as hard.

Odonadon · 07/06/2006, 12:52 AM

Guys, just a thought (and I hope Aaron doesn't mind), but I see a lot of threads like this here where the game is essentially reviewed several times over.

Well I'm in desperate need of new game reviews over at Turbo2k and was wondering if anyone wanted to submit a review of Dragon Sabre (or any other game for that matter) since PCEngineFX doesn't feature them. Anyone interested?

OD

pixeljunkie · 07/06/2006, 05:49 PM

Quote from: "Odonadon"Guys, just a thought (and I hope Aaron doesn't mind), but I see a lot of threads like this here where the game is essentially reviewed several times over.

Well I'm in desperate need of new game reviews over at Turbo2k and was wondering if anyone wanted to submit a review of Dragon Sabre (or any other game for that matter) since PCEngineFX doesn't feature them. Anyone interested?

OD

sure, I'm swamped at the moment....but will PM you soon when I see a break in the clouds and can write some for you. I used to write reviews for worthplaying.

esteban · 07/06/2006, 06:54 PM

Quote from: "Digi.k"this is an old thread but I made some new dragon spirit pce videos if anyone wants to watch em XD
area 2
area 3
area 4
area 5
area 6
areas 7& 8 although I couldn't reach the end of no.8 just watch as I fail!
btw has anyone ever played the original dragon spirit arcade or NES versions?? I wonder why the PCE is a much slower pace.. although its just as hard.

IIRC, there's an "arcade mode" available on the HuCard that squeezes the screen horizontally so that it is narrower. I don't think the difficulty level changes, just the resolution. I had fun playing it that way.

I frequently played Dragon Spirity in the arcade years ago. I honestly can't remember if it was paced differently than the PCE version. I've played the NES or Famicom version too, but I'm even foggier on the details of that game. I am getting too old!

Digi.k · 07/06/2006, 07:31 PM

yea I used to play it like that too but I just can't be bothered to press RUN & SELECT 57 times .. ><

Paladin · 07/06/2006, 09:29 PM

I don't remmeber the arcade being a whole lot faster, though it was noticable. The power ups on the other hand seemed to rush off screen and weren't nearly as accomadating as they are in the PCE verison. That and the whole game was streamed together I believe. That said though it was about the same difficulty depending, of course, on how many quarters you had. Dragon Spirit, TMNT 2, Ninja Gaiden, Double Dragon had probably consumed a small fortune in quarters from me before the arcade near my house went under. Its a shame really even though thats probably what allowed me to save up for a SNES.

On the Famicom verison I remember it being different and that it was much easier (as I had actually beat it once or twice). Thats about it as I never really got into playing it a whole lot and its been ages since I've touched it. The famicom was all about Captain Skyhawk and strangely enough Sky Shark for me. Sky Shark though was brutal and every bit as mean (i.e. cheap) as the PCE Dragon Spirit.

esteban · 07/07/2006, 12:13 AM

Quote from: "Digi.k"yea I used to play it like that too but I just can't be bothered to press RUN & SELECT 57 times .. ><

Crap, that's what you have to do? Good Lord! 17 times would be more than enough...

Digi.k · 07/14/2006, 06:21 PM

oh and Dragon Saber isn't so bad I think you need to press RUN and SELECT 37 times for vertical mode.

Some two player co-op vides of Dragon Saber.

stages 1 & 2

stages 3 & 4

stages 5 & 6

stages 7... although didn't make it to the last two stages. (stage 7 has an amazing amount of sprites moving around its almost like a Sega Saturn O_O)

esteban · 07/14/2006, 09:34 PM

dude, digi.k, good idea showing 2-player co-op play.

handygrafx · 07/22/2006, 06:02 PM

yep Phelios was on the MegaDrive-Genesis. it was somewhat different from the arcade. all the smooth hardware scaling from the arcade was gone, but instead, Namco made the parallax scrolling better on the Sega home version.

you really need to play both versions to get maximum enjoyment, to appreciate Phelios.

as for Dragon Saber, I remember being in awe of the screenshots in EGM's preview of the arcade version. I wish it had become a SuperGrafx game instead of a standard PC-Engine Hucard. I will give the PC-Engine and arcade versions another play this weekend.

Ninja Spirit · 08/01/2006, 09:56 AM

Quote from: "Paladin"On the Famicom verison I remember it being different and that it was much easier (as I had actually beat it once or twice). Thats about it as I never really got into playing it a whole lot and its been ages since I've touched it. The famicom was all about Captain Skyhawk and strangely enough Sky Shark for me. Sky Shark though was brutal and every bit as mean (i.e. cheap) as the PCE Dragon Spirit.

Yeah Famicom Dragon Spirit is definitely different. One exclusive stage, had cut cinemas, but the soundtrack was weak compared to the PCE.