bigbee99 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 (edited) Dragon Spirit (New Version) Dragon Spirit is a 1987 vertical scrolling shooter arcade game released by Namco and Atari Games (in the US). It runs on Namco System 1 hardware, and was later ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, Amstrad CPC, Commodore Amiga, Commodore 64, DOS, Atari ST, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16 and ZX Spectrum platforms. -wiki Game Information Game Name: Dragon Spirit Released By: Namco 1987 MAME ROMset: dSpirit Dip Switches: Life 2, Internal Defaults Chosen By: roadrunner ROM Location: http://romhustler.ne...rit-new-version AtariAge Arcade/MAME HSC Record: Competition ends Sunday, March 25th @ 12PM EST Leaderboard 106,280 Cynicaster 102,530 onmode-ky 95,810 M.A.M.E Offender 55,640 bigbee99 54,520 kane 46,250 roadrunner 25,120 acelkin 18,550 LarcenTyler 830 jblenkle Season Standings Calculations through round 26 1. M.A.M.E Offender 411 2. bigbee99 406 3. Cynicaster 369 4. patbb 240 5. mr. toast 166 6. kane 137 7. roadrunner 104 8. acelkin 94 9. LarcenTyler 81 10. richard stewart 78 11. Barra 66 12. JohnnyBlaze 55 13. kojr 39 13. keilbaca 39 15. retrorussell 27 16. mightymage 23 17. rmaerz 16 19. jblenkle 9 18. NE146 8 20. Raygunn 6 21. onmode-ky 5 22. Kurt_Woloch 3 23. Fres 1 23. jblenkle 1 Edited March 25, 2012 by bigbee99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Yep, this is another game not for the faint at heart. 75,720 I'm not done with this one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Tyler Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 18,550 GamePro described this during their review of Namco Museum Vol. 5 as 'A medieval era version of Xevious.' I can see why they said that, but it's still got its own unique charm. I still remember when I saw the machine in person, I was surprised to see Atari Games had the right to it. I hadn't known that Midway was terminated as a manufacturer at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 GamePro described this during their review of Namco Museum Vol. 5 as 'A medieval era version of Xevious.' Yeah, it's kind of an obvious comparison to make, especially since Namco created both games. If your dragon was replaced by a new-and-improved Solvalu fighter and the theme of the graphics were tweaked a bit, this could easily pass as a sequel to Xevious. Two things I like about this game over Xevious are the way in which you can fire bombs rapidly, and of course the upgradeable weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onmode-ky Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 102,530. Reached Area 3 (the game even uses the same "Area" terminology as Xevious). I first played this game a few years ago, as a part of Namco Museum Essentials on the PS3. onmode-ky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbee99 Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 This could be a bad week for me. I've never been to fond of the Xevious style top down shooters. 39810 B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbee99 Posted March 19, 2012 Author Share Posted March 19, 2012 Two things I like about this game over Xevious are the way in which you can fire bombs rapidly, and of course the upgradeable weapons. The rapid bombs are nice but I miss the cross hairs. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 21,560 Yeah, the cross hairs would be great for this game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.A.M.E Offender Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) I am going to have to disagree with this game being a possible sequel to Xevious. There are 2 games I find it is closer to: this game is a blend of Terra Cresta and Ajax. Big time. It has the feel of both the above said games, but I find it leans more towards Terra Crestas. It reminds me of Ajax because of the bombing; both have multiple bombing capabilities, don't contain crosshairs, and are upgradeable. There is also a graphic that looks very similiar in Cresta and Ajax. It reminds me of Terra Cresta because of some certain graphics (I will show you side by side comparisons) and overall feel. For instance, you can upgrade your weapon to a "fireball" in Dragon Spirit. The way that weapon performs, I could swear that I am playing Cresta. I am referring to weapon number 4 on Terra Cresta, you know, the really powerful one? While they differ in looks, they play exactly the same. Also, there are many graphics on Spirit that look identical to Cresta. Photographic proof of the graphical similarities: The Dragons - Dragon Spirit---------------------------------------------Terra Cresta Small Ships - Dragon Spirit----------------------------------------------Terra Cresta and finally, the Firebird. DS----------------------------------------------------------TC ...and this is the graphic I was referring to that is found in AJAx. Conclusion - I think the programmers of this game are ripoff artists!! Nevertheless, it is still an awesome late 80's shooter that is lots of fun to play. Edited March 21, 2012 by M.A.M.E Offender 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 (edited) Cool screenshots M.O! :thumbsup: I never played Ajax, i'll have to try that one out. Edited March 21, 2012 by roadrunner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I am going to have to disagree with this game being a possible sequel to Xevious. There are 2 games I find it is closer to: this game is a blend of Terra Cresta and Ajax. Big time. It has the feel of both the above said games, but I find it leans more towards Terra Crestas. It reminds me of Ajax because of the bombing; both have multiple bombing capabilities, don't contain crosshairs, and are upgradeable. There is also a graphic that looks very similiar in Cresta and Ajax. It reminds me of Terra Cresta because of some certain graphics (I will show you side by side comparisons) and overall feel. For instance, you can upgrade your weapon to a "fireball" in Dragon Spirit. The way that weapon performs, I could swear that I am playing Cresta. I am referring to weapon number 4 on Terra Cresta, you know, the really powerful one? While they differ in looks, they play exactly the same. Also, there are many graphics on Spirit that look identical to Cresta. Photographic proof of the graphical similarities: The Dragons - Dragon Spirit---------------------------------------------Terra Cresta Small Ships - Dragon Spirit----------------------------------------------Terra Cresta and finally, the Firebird. DS----------------------------------------------------------TC ...and this is the graphic I was referring to that is found in AJAx. Conclusion - I think the programmers of this game are ripoff artists!! Nevertheless, it is still an awesome late 80's shooter that is lots of fun to play. Nice analysis! Still, we probably shouldn’t over-think the similarities because overhead shooters are inherently a rather incestuous lot, shamelessly borrowing from each other in all aspects of game design. I mean, when you sit down and really think about how many different titles over the years have used the exact same dodge-bullets-and-enemies, fire-with-button-A-bomb-with-button-B gameplay mechanics, it’s really quite staggering. The fact that Dragons and Phoenixes appear as enemies in multiple games isn’t too surprising, considering they’re kind of generic mythological creatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblenkle Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Dragon Spirit - 830 (wow!!!) Never played this before - more practice!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 I tried out Ajax. That's alot like Xevious, a bit more difficult tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbee99 Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 A little better 50,100 B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acelkin Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 OK, I am officially horrible at these types of games. 11,530 I'm sure I can get better at it, but I am not sure I even want to-lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acelkin Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 OK, I am officially horrible at these types of games. 11,530 I'm sure I can get better at it, but I am not sure I even want to-lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onmode-ky Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 I thought maybe I had too many lives (2 in reserve, 1 active at start) for this competition, so I tried changing the DIP switches but never got only 2 lives total. What exactly does "Life 2" mean in the first post? Anyway, setting all the switches back to the original "Off" position, I tried a few more runs at the game. I got farther this time, into Area 4, but my 95,190 score wasn't as good as my previous best. onmode-ky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbee99 Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 The "Life 2" stands for how many you start with in reserve. So really it's 3 men total, plus what ever extra lives you pick up from points. I'm not sure what MAME you are using but under wolfMAME.106 it look something like this .106 seems to be standard on many sites so I use it mostly. I am not sure if the DIP Switch screen of other MAMEs will look the same for this ROM. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schuwalker Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 I don't have a horse in this race but this was one of my favorite arcade games bitd! How are you guys liking the audio - some of the best tunes I have ever heard (level 6 to note). If you're a fan of this game, you should check out it's sequel 'Dragon Saber". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.A.M.E Offender Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 No doubt, this is a gritty shooter that takes a little vertical shooter skill.... Dragon Spirit - 76,000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.A.M.E Offender Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Cool screenshots M.O! :thumbsup: I never played Ajax, i'll have to try that one out. Thx!! Ajax is a really fun vertical shooter! Awesome sound too, for its time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynicaster Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 106,280 This game had a really weird learning curve for me. I got my previous score after 5 or 6 games, and tonight it took me what felt like forever to hit 60k. After I did, the scores started ramping up quickly because I was getting better at that brutal volcano/phoenix sequence on the 2nd board, where I was constantly getting roasted by volcanos, and lured into impossible traps by the promise of power ups. For those yet to attempt it, know that the second boss is going to be a white-knuckle battle if you don't have a decent weapon. The third boss was surprisingly easy, I think I beat him on my first try. This is one of those games that I find excruciatingly frustrating but somehow it keeps me playing. It's just so unforgiving--you collect all the shit to power up with a bad ass weapon, then you lose it with a few small mistakes and go back to the pathetic single shot. Another peeve of mine is how sometimes you bomb those eggs and your power-up floats off the side of the screen where you can't get it--stupid. Anyway, I like it. I'll be playing it more in the future for sure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kane Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Was not doing any good on the keyboard on this one, had to move over to the MAME cab to get in the 'spirit'. 54,520 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acelkin Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Well, improved a bit but the gamepad is brutal trying to constantly fire on this one. 25,120 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 46,250 I made it to the second boss. Woo Hoo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.