CONVERSION CAPERS
ATARI ST
This plays similarly to the Amiga version and at least replicates the exciting display of the arcade game, although the game’s music is absent save for a nice title ditty. Competent rather than amazing, it’s disappointing a little more wasn’t done with this 16-bit Dragon Spirit, although the levels are faithfully represented, save the missing cavern level.
COMMODORE 64
With quality shmups common on the Commodore computer, Domark needed something special to impress fans. Alas, dismal graphics and the cursed invisible bullet syndrome reduce this to a bit of a mess and the poorest of the 8-bit conversions. It is also lacking the night level – something its designers likely thought no one would notice.
AMIGA
The combined fire button makes a refreshing change here, in a game that could certainly use a little help in the difficulty stakes. The display is different from the other ports, with the status bar housed at the bottom of the screen, along with a nice dragon that unhelpfully obscures some of the action. Ultimately, it’s a port of the ST game.
PC ENGINE
Apart from the sudden blistering pace of the player’s dragon, this port is a near-perfect conversion – until level seven rears its head, that is. At this point, gone are the underwater and dark levels, replaced by a nondescript castle backdrop that evokes the final level.
The new level is a mite easier than the original game, but it’s still brutal.
AMSTRAD CPC
The colourful display of this 8-bit conversion is certainly eye-catching, even if it plays a little choppily. The main issue is the size of the player’s dragon which appears even bigger (relatively speaking) than in the arcade original, making this Amstrad game quite onerous to play. As with most of the home versions, the dark cavern stage is missing.
SHARP X68000
This is a lovely conversion of Dragon Spirit, complete with its catchy tunes, fine graphics and a slightly easier learning curve, assisted with a wider screen. Amul is much smaller and nippier, and even the dark cavern level is present. The player is also given the choice of either the first or second arcade versions, enabling easy exploration of later levels.
ZX SPECTRUM
How do you take an arduous game and make it even harder? What about changing the display to two colours, making the many projectiles even harder to see? Yet despite the frustrating difficulty, technically this is a good conversion that at least looks good and moves smoothly, although the infamous dark level is (mercifully, some would say) absent.
NES
Released three years after Dragon Spirit first debuted in arcades, A New Legend is a half-hearted attempt at a semi-sequel. While it goes to great lengths to engage the player more with cutscenes and background story, the game design is essentially the same as the original, with inferior graphics and a much more even level of difficulty.