There were many great games on the NES that sadly fell through the cracks for whatever reason. You can still find some of these hidden gems for a relatively decent price, but others have seen their prices rise to a high number. This is the case with Dragon Fighter, a unique game that merges the action platformer sidescrolling of Castlevania, with shmup elements. The game is the very definition of a hidden gem but sadly goes for quite a high price these days.
The game has an absolutely amazing soundtrack, with some of the best sounds on the NES. You will not be disappointed with the music here, and the nice variety of tunes will not get old quickly. The visuals are on par with the aforementioned Castlevania, but you will notice some flickering and slowdown at times. The level design is not repetitive and constantly throws new ideas at you in a way that manages to keep you interested.
The main components of the game see you as a side-scrolling warrior with a sword, but the game has a unique option that sets it apart from other Castllevanis clones. By building up your meter, you can turn into a dragon for a period of time, and the game shifts to a horizontal shooter. Depending on what color power-up you have, your dragon will have different abilities such as a spread attack for instance. Running out of meter turns the game back to the first style of gameplay, but you can also choose to shift out of dragon form as soon as you want.
Classic Favourite
I have enjoyed this game since I was a kid, and still have my copy today, which you can see a picture of below. There is something nostalgic about going back to this title and I will never get bored of it.
This is a game that needs to come to the Nintendo Switch Online NES game offerings, as more people deserve to have the chance to play it. I would also love it if it could be revived in some way, but as I understand, the rights issues are a bit tangled. If you want to play the game, your only choice is to shell out hundreds for a physical copy or emulate at this time. Hopefully, that will change in the future
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