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| Dragon Buster | |
|---|---|
 Sales flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Namco[3] |
| Publisher(s) | Namco |
| Composer(s) | Yuriko Keino |
| Series | Dragon Buster |
| Platform(s) | Arcade,Family Computer,MSX,PC-8801,PC-9801,X68000,Mobile phone |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform,dungeon crawl,action role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Arcade system | Namco Pac-Land |
Dragon Buster[a] is anaction role-playingplatformvideo game developed and published byNamco forarcades in 1984.[4][5] It runs onNamco Pac-Land hardware, modified to support verticalscrolling. InJapan, the game was ported to theFamily Computer (Famicom),MSX, andX68000; the latter version was later released for theVirtual Console in the same region on November 18, 2008.Dragon Buster has been ported for the PSP and is available as part ofNamco Museum Battle Collection. It was followed by a Japan-onlyFamicom sequel,Dragon Buster II: Yami no Fūin, and was later followed by thePlayStation gameDragon Valor, which was both aremake and sequel.
The game hasside-scrolling platform gameplay and anoverworld map similar to the later platform games for home consoles and personal computers.[6]Dragon Buster was also the earliest game to feature adouble jump mechanic,[7] and one of the first to use a visualhealth meter.[4]
In an unnamed kingdom (known as Raxis inDragon Valor), legend tells of a brave warrior who will rescue the land from the wrath of a fearsome dragon.[8] Clovis, the son of the royal family's chief bodyguard, is a young swordsman who was sent to live and train with a monk in the forest as a youth due to mischievous behavior in his childhood. The kingdom's legend comes to light as a dragon and his minions raid the land and kidnap King Lawrence's 16-year-old daughter, Princess Celia. Clovis learns he is the hero foretold by the legend, and sets off for Dragon Mountain to rescue Celia, slay the dragon and restore order to the land.
The player must guide the hero Clovis through each round on to the Dragon Mountain[9] to rescue his beloved Princess Celia. Every few mountains, Celia is rescued and the game restarts. Celia wears a different outfit each time she is rescued. As the player progresses through the round, they must choose various paths to take on to the castle. There are many paths to choose from and the number of these increases as the player gets to the higher rounds. The paths take the player to the individual levels of the round. There are multiple bosses on each level and many less powerful enemies scattered throughout each level. The player must find the boss that contains the exit on each level to proceed through the round and finally reach the castle. Clovis's vitality restores itself by 25% after each level is completed. The game ends when Clovis' vitality reaches zero.
There are five different types of levels: The Cave, The Tower, The Boneyard, The Mountain and The Ruins. Each of these levels boasts more of a particular type of monster than the others. For example, The Boneyard contains more of the boss Skeleton. The Cave is a mostly linear type of level, with mostly descents and horizontal movement. It boasts many bats and snakes. The Tower is notable for having many floors, and the player must do a lot of climbing in this type of level. The Boneyard is probably the most difficult type of level for having many enemies and paths to choose, and the player will most likely end up defeating every boss in the level before finding the boss that contains the exit. The Mountain has the player descend from the top of the mountain. The Ruins is a standard type of level with a bit of everything the other four types of levels contain. Finally, there is the Dragon Mountain at the end of each round. Every Dragon Mountain is the same, starting with a very long drop that takes the player to the Dragon's room to fight the Dragon.
A port for theFamicom was developed byTose. When the game was ported to theNEC PC-8801 computer byEnix, the port featured an introduction to the game and an entirely new ending, featuring cinema screens depicting a battle-torn Clovis and a teary-eyed Celia.Dragon Buster was also included as a hidden mini-game inTales of the Abyss forPlayStation 2 andNintendo 3DS. It was included in variousNamco Museum compilations includingNamco Museum Volume 2 for the originalPlayStation,Namco Museum Battle Collection forPlayStation Portable, andNamco Museum Virtual Arcade forXbox 360. Japanese publisherHamster Corporation released an emulated version of the game for theNintendo Switch andPlayStation 4 as part of theArcade Archives line of digital releases in 2021.
Dragon Buster was a hit in Japan,[1] whereGame Machine listed it on their March 1, 1985 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[10]Computer + Video Games liked the game's ease to newcomers and colorful graphics, saying it stood out from other arcade games at the time.[1]
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