Dragon Spirit

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Dragon Spirit

Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Designer(s)	Ojisan Trio Plus 1
Release date(s)	1987
Genre(s)	Vertical scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Up to two players, alternating turns
Platform(s)	Arcade, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum
Input	8-way Joystick, 2 buttons
Arcade cabinet	Upright, cabaret, and cocktail
Arcade system(s)	Namco System 1
Arcade display	Vertical orientation, Raster, 224 x 288 resolution

Dragon Spirit is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1987. It runs on Namco System 1 hardware, and was later ported to the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, Sharp X68000, ZX Spectrum and TurboGrafx-16 platforms.

After a millennium of captivity, an ugly serpent demon named Zawell escapes imprisonment and kidnaps Alicia, princess to the kingdom of Mitgult. A young, crafty soldier Amul is selected to rescue the princess and destroy Zawell. In praying to the gods for strength and courage, he points his sword high toward the heavens. Suddenly he is transformed into an all-powerful blue dragon, bestowed with special powers. Though gifted with a lethal air and ground attack, this is not enough. He must locate and obtain extra powers along the way. The demon has instructed nine of the mightiest beasts to stop Amul before reaching his goal.

Despite the game's storyline saying that Amul was transformed into an "all-powerful" blue dragon, he is also transformed into the biggest sprite on the screen (except for the bosses) and dies after three hits. The powerups that give the player extra heads may give double or triple the firepower, but they also give double or triple the exposure to enemy fire which, at times, becomes intensely difficult to avoid.

In most players' opinions, the game is next to impossible, completing level 9 "The Temple of Evil" is seen as an incredible challenge.

The English arcade cabinet has several mistakes. The correct levels and bosses are as follows:

Level 1: Valley of the Spirits, Sea Dragon Level 2: Volcanic Region, Firebird Level 3: Jungle, Mammoth Flower Level 4: Desert, Bone Dragon Level 5: Cave, Giant Spider Level 6: Glacier, Blue Dragon Level 7: Ocean Floor, Deep Sea Angler Level 8: Deep Sea Trench, Monsterous Gateway Level 9: (Part 1) Temple of Evil, Stone Guardians Level 9: (Part 2) Temple of Evil, Pit Hydra Final Boss: Temple of Evil, Zawell

Upon completion of the game, the credits appear followed by a list of Namco games up to this point along with their release dates (some of which are incorrect). Case in point, it says 10 (October) /1984 for Grobda but Grobda's own ending screen says "This game is presented by Namco, 1st Nov. 1984."

An altered version of this game appeared on the Nintendo Entertainment System under the title Dragon Spirit: The New Legend. A sequel named Dragon Saber was released in 1990, which allowed two players to play simultaneously.

Additionally, Dragon Spirit was released for TurboGrafx-16. This version retained most of the original arcade graphics and sound quality.

An accurate emulation of Dragon Spirit appears in Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Collection.