Saint Dragon

Heavenly6 2023-01-14
(6/10)
Managed to get to Level 4, but too much Stutter, frame rate issues and difficulty in seeing the bullets plague this game on a real A500. Good attempt, but there are many others shooters which are far better including their own SWIV.
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Amy-Mor 2022-10-04
(7/10)
Reading the comments I perceive that not everyone is clear about the use of the tail, to be managed both as a defense and attack weapon, a kind of R-Type POD. Saint Dragon is a great conversion of a little-known arcade title in my part, all still retaining an AtariST flavor of the first AMIGA ports, but still a good game. Challenging, difficult and at times ruthless, you have to spend extra lives to understand where to better position yourself, a pure trial and error that leaves no way out at the first step. But once the enemy pattern has been assimilated, it slips away without major problems allowing you to reach the ultimate goal. Cult!
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lifeschool 2022-09-09
(9/10)
As a kid I always had a healthy respect for this, but never got further than level 2. It's actually possible to roll up into a ball and be protected from most hits. I finally got to (almost) complete it in the Lemon competition, and now I have an even greater respect for it! Just wish the final boss wasn't so hard to beat.
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AJB1980 2021-12-30
(9/10)
Very solid conversion. Great effort.
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ReTroViRuS 2021-03-20
(6/10)
I am another one of the players who struggled to get through the first level and then gave up in the second level. I was intrigued by the art style of the game and thought it controlled well. But Saint Dragon was just too difficult for me. I wish there had been some options to make the game a little easier.
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Zeb 2020-12-11
(8/10)
If this game wasn't so damned hard I'd have given it a higher rating than 7. I can clear level 1 but level 2 - don't think I can get even half way through it. The graphics and scrolling is very good considering how much is moving on the screen and as you'll never see me in an arcade, I've nothing to compare it to.
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Spider 2016-10-27
(3/10)
Good graphics, good gameplay but - MUCH TOO HARD. Already in level 2 normal players have no chance to survive. Another shooter game that's no fun at all, 'Saint Dragon' is only recommened to 'professional shooters'.
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Dottor_Psycho 2016-03-19
(7/10)
As far as Amiga horizontal shooters and arcade ports go, this is a good game. The original version is not particularly remarkable but has a good playability that has been retained in this incarnation. Technically wise, this version is a bit downgraded but still good compared to many other ports on the machine. Any shooter fan should check this out for a decent japanese arcade like experience on the Amiga (7/10).
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mike_tyson 2015-07-05
Normally I do not review arcade ports for the Amiga; with the availability of MAME, various arcade-perfect ports of most important arcade games on modern platforms, or even original PCBs, I simply do not see the point to go back to playing arcade ports on an Amiga. Where the Amiga excels is original games. However there are exceptions, if an arcade game is very obscure, technically an achievement, or just very dear to my heart, I review the Amiga port. Saint Dragon ticks all three boxes.

This game is fast. Tons of enemies! Large variety of enemies with very original design. I absolutely love the setting, it's so far out and original. The colors are very garish but the graphics and design just work! The gameplay is fast and hectic, it's unbelievable how much is going on at some moments.

This game is a technical achievement and utilizes a very interesting multitasking technique, the graphics (enemies) are loaded on-the-fly during play. This means that the disk drive is running constantly and there is some stutter, but it does not distract from playing. As a result, there are almost no noticeable loading times.

Like so many shooters of this time, Saint Dragon works with checkpoints. When you die, you start from a little bit earlier in the level. I absolutely hate this mechanic.

Music and sound effects play at the same time.
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doolittle 2015-06-10
(10/10)
Great game, no loading time, a lot of action, but very hard.
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PortugueseWarrior 2012-05-23
(7/10)
Interesting variation on the tried-and-tested shoot'em-up genre. Quite a nice arcade conversion as well. Everything has a nice touch to it including graphics, sounds, music, animation, etc...
As a game it's sort of monotonous and repetitive after a short while, but even so it will provide a few moments of fun to any SHMUP appreciator.
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judasEZT 2012-04-09
(7/10)
Good game, important to avoid slowdowns by loading it in NTSC mode.

Not a classic, but a different addition to Amiga softlogy in the shoot'em ups department.
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vpiezsak 2011-02-15
(1/10)
OK. Prefer the Turbo Grafx version. Amiga really wasn't cut out for this sort of game.
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Dim001 2009-07-29
(9/10)
By the programmer of Ninja Warriors, the touch is easily recognizable.

Really cool game even if for me the reference in this style is Silkworm
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a_three_headed_monkey 2006-12-24
I really liked this game! It was one of the first games I ever owned on the Amiga & I definatley prefer it over the R-Types.
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Kai 2006-12-04
Great shmup! Very good parallax scrolling and nicely designed enemies. Sound is good, the gameplay amazing! Play it!
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Arsace 2006-07-25
(7/10)
One of the nice conversions on Amiga, and it has the same "load-while-playing" systen of S.W.I.V.
I imagine if all the shoot em up coin-ups were converted by Storm and Arc-Developements... (Rodland, Silk Warm, Dragon Breed, R-Type II)
We could have had some more decent conversions...
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Guybrush Threepwood 2006-03-03
(8/10)
Remember this game as quite hard but hey it was a good game at the time, the GFX weren't great but it made up in plenty of hours of constant gameplay
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Micks256 2005-12-29
(9/10)
Ah, the hours spent on this one. Difficulty curve like no other, but the reward for playing it through was superb. Loved it to death.
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stooart 2005-12-01
(6/10)
So-so arcade game converted nicely to the Amiga. Nothing groundbreaking here but it's a playable enough shoot em up.
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Zagrebo 2005-09-06
(7/10)
Very competent conversion of an above-average arcade shooter. The indestructable dragon's tail that can be used as a shield is a nice touch.
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Jello 2005-08-25
(7/10)
Another great conversion from The Sales Curve/Storm. If only the most important coin-op licences were not in the infernal hands of U.S. Gold...
The game in it self is an average shooter with some nice ideas, but too damn hard.
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turricantom 2005-08-24
Pleased to say I've completed this without cheating, but only ONCE, and boy was it hard. There are parts of the game that are very unfair. If you are a diehard shootemup fan you will enjoy it.
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Maff Rignall 2005-05-19
(6/10)
I've never played the arcade original, but I can't imagine that it's much different from this conversion. It's technically competent enough (though if I remember correctly it suffered from some pretty drastic slowdown issues when things got busy), but at the end of the day it's just another horizontally scrolling shooter with little to distinguish itself from the glut of R-Type clones which were around at the time. It's not bad, it's just not that great. Worth checking out if you're a shmup fan. 6/10.
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LeeT 2005-03-23
(7/10)
A great looking arcade conversion which is spoilt by one aspect - it's too bloody hard! Plus the player is sent back to the beginning of the level, which is REALLY annoying. It's a pity, as otherwise this would be an excellent game. Give it a try if you have a PhD in gameplaying.
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Inferno 2005-02-14
(7/10)
A nice conversion of a very good coin-op, this retained most of the original's better features and thus provided an excellent arcade experience. Not perfect, but an enjoyable shooter nonetheless.
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Shunichiro 2005-01-28
(7/10)
A nice shoot 'em up. Graphically a bit unpolished but still a good conversion of the arcade original. The music, while monotonous, stucks in your head. Argh!
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Trantor 2004-12-08
(8/10)
Fun, fast paced action game.
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