Review:
The second game in the "Dragon" series
from Namco is another fantasy styled shoot em up, Dragon Saber ~ After
story of Dragon Spirit is a hit in
Japanese coin ops back in 1990. Up
till now the PC Engine is the only console to have a conversion of this
game (1991). (It was released in a compilation of Namco arcade games
called Namco Museum Encore for Sony's Playstation in Japan 1997).
The scene of Dragon Saber shifts us this time very far into the future,
far away from the past events of Amul and Alisha. Since then mankind
has prospered, our world has ushered in technological advancement, with
this advancement... wealth and greed have reared their ugly heads.
Somehow mans egotism has lead in the violation of this world and the
wars resulting from it to which an evil spirit has emerged. The sun
goddess calls out for help and two humans Huey and Siria come forth to
assist her to combat the monsters that have been taking over the planet
in a last chance to free mankind of the evil spirit.
Game
Play: 6/10
The game play to Dragon Saber is very
similar to Dragon Spirit. The old
power ups are still there but there
are some new additions to collect for your arsenal. The biggest change
is that releasing the fire button for a second will allow your fire
power to build up, pressing the button will unleash the built up fire
blasts, this applies to all power ups. In addition Dragon Saber now
sports a one or two player simultaneous mode. Again like Namco's Dragon
Spirit conversion, the wave of enemies don't appear as much as they
do
compared to the coin op so there's less enemy bullets. Dragon Saber
lacks the difficulty of the coin op and its also much easier than the
first Dragon Spirit, still some of
the enemy attack waves and bosses
are quite difficult and some maps you will need to use eye and hand co
ordination to work fast!! although you can changed the difficulty in
the options screen. Also map areas seems to be smaller on the PC
Engine. I also think that Dragon Saber conversion lacks that certain
magic I got from playing the coin op and the first Dragon Spirit game.
Graphics:
6/10
This is one section I am definitely
disappointed with. The journey from coin op to PC Engine hasn't in my
opinion made it gracefully. Although the graphics are a step up from
Dragon Spirit. I wished Namco
put more money and time in this
conversion. The graphics have been downgraded and things like power ups
look less... Powerful and fail to make the impact on me that I felt
when playing the Coin op's and there are animation frames missing from
bosses, also some of the coin op's backgrounds had parallax scrolling
which is also lacking in this conversion so the sense of depth you felt
is gone.
The coin op uses effects like sprite rotation and scaling which are
understandably absent in this version and the screen resolution is
reduced too. As it is the 2D graphics are adequate and do the job.
Still Namco have been nice to leave in the Intro and continue screen
intact in this version and the bosses are big and interesting and
landscapes you fly over are unique and have different elements and
terrain.
Sound: 9.5/10
Another special mention should go to the
music score which again is composed and produced by Shinji Hosoe. I
have kinda a mixed feeling for this section.
In one way the music in its own right is simply fantastic and suitably
creates the right mood and evokes emotion when played along or just
selecting the option screen and listening to each track on it own its
own.
Namco has put the PC Engine sound chip to great use! In another way
some music tracks appear much downgraded from the coin op parent (mind
you the coin op uses a much more powerful sound chip than the PC
Engines') so it does sound less powerful and the adrenalin rush you
felt doesn't quite have the same punch. But strangely some of PC Engine
iterations of the music tracks appear more forceful and more moodier
than the coin op daddy's...
Only weak point to the sound is the sound effects.
Summary:
Overall Dragon Saber is a good game. The PC Engine conversion lacks a
certain magic to be classed a classic. Its fun to play but it just
lacks that adrenalin rush I got from playing the coin op especially the
2D graphics. Still sonically, Dragon Saber's musical score really does
elevate it above many games, its passionate and involving. A good
addition to add to your PC Engine... just could have been much better!
