PrinceWatercress plays Dragon Fighter - Part 1 of 6

I've seen this game a couple of times, and now I've gotten the chance to play through it myself. Looks like a game that would feature on Nick Arcade, although it actually didn't.

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Eons before, when the elders were still children, the fabled land of Baljing was home to a cheerful and trusting race. The Baljing people were generous and looked after each other throughout their lives. Everyone prospered, and hunger and homelessness were unknown. The great Dragon Spirit that protected and nurtured this land was so pleased with this enlightened attitude that it presented them with a splendid dragon statue for their town square. The word of the wondrous statue, and rumors of its magical properties, spread to other kingdoms, and its fame soon established it as the very symbol of Baljing.

Now to the north of Baljing, high atop Mount Gia, there lived an envious and malicious warlock named Zabbaong. And it came to pass that Zabbaong was jealous of the thriving community, since he governed only the monsters and worthless wretches who inhabited Mount Gia and its surrounding area. Nothing but evil reigned in Zabbaong's domain.

Spurred on by his jealous hatred and malevolent passion, Zabbaong and his monstrous armies attacked Baljing and set the city ablaze. Many lives were lost and the land was left in ruin. All hope was gone, and despair settled upon the inhabitants of Baljing. Enraged by Zabbaong's attack, the Dragon Spirit filled the skies with dark and foreboding storm clouds.

Through the thick, black clouds, the Dragon Spirit sent a gigantic lightning bolt to strike the legendary statue in the town square. Wondrously, the statue was transformed into a great warrior who began to strike back at Zabbaong's murderous hordes. In response, the warlock's armies retreated fearfully back to Mt. Gia with the warrior in hot pursuit, determined to vanquish all its evil forces. YOU are that valiant warrior, and your mission is to defeat Zabbaong's sinister crew, stop his reign of terror, and return Baljing to the protection of the great Dragon Spirit.

Stage 1

Left and Right moves left and right, Down ducks, A jumps and B attacks. If you hold B, you'll be able to charge up a fireball that you can then toss at enemies, but you'll have to hold the button down for a few seconds before you can let the fireball loose.

There are two gauges in the upper-left corner. The top one is your health, and it's pretty small (for now). The bottom one is your Dragon Energy. You'll need to find blue jars to fill up your health whenever you get hit. As for the Dragon Energy, you'll fill it up as you defeat enemies. 

There are two enemies prevalent in this stage. There are the green beasts that will run around, jump around and throw the occasional snowball at you. Sometimes they will take one hit, while other times, they will take two. There are also the snowballs that come down from the top of the screen and slowly home in on you in a stop-start fashion. While the green beasts will fill up the Dragon Energy meter, the snowflakes do not.

Your best bet to go through this stage without dying is to rely more on your sword and only attack with the fireball from far-range. You only have three continues to beat the game with, and when you lose them all, it's back to the beginning for you.

The boss is a white creature similiar to the green ones that you've faced the entire stage. He will spawn green enemies, jump high in the air and roll into a snowball while creating projectiles that get knocked upwards into the air that you'll also want to avoid. If you press Select when your Dragon Energy gauge is flashing, you'll turn into a dragon, and your Dragon Energy will slowly decrease. While in dragon form, you can fly in any direction with the D-Pad while shooting out projectiles with B, and you'll want to hammer the boss with a ton of projectiles to take him and his minions down. Charging up your attack also gives you a more powerful attack, and in this face, you'll shoot out a three-way shot.

Usually, while in dragon form, the game turns from a platformer into a shooter, and you'll move to the right automatically, but if you're fighting the boss, the screen doesn't move at all, as you've reached the end of the area. As a result, I usually save the Dragon Energy for the end.

When you beat a boss, they will drop a sorcerer's staff. Picking it up will increase your health, making it easier to survive...if you can fight the enemy!