Just from the name alone, you could easily guess what kind of game you are going to get from The King of Dragons. If you at least know that the game is a beat-’em-up, you can easily assume it would just be another game similar to both Golden Axe and the later released Knights of the Round: a simple beat-’em-up put in a medieval setting, fighting orcs, enemy soldiers, dragons, and what have you. So, with that being said, you could easily just write this game off as being yet another generic arcade beat-’em-up, and yeah, I can honestly understand that, as I didn’t play it for years for that same reason. However, now after having played it, I have discovered that… yeah, it is pretty much exactly what I would’ve expected from the title, but at the same time, it does have a lot of additional elements going for it, making it somewhat stand out from others, and which ultimately lead to me having a great time with this game. It doesn’t offer much from what it initially presents you, but for what you are given, it is still a well put-together, entertaining little title that I am glad I checked out.
The story is as basic as it gets, being “monsters are here, go kill them”, which I can excuse, the graphics are pretty good, which is to be expected from Capcom arcade brawlers at this point, the music is also pretty good, which, again, is to be expected from a Capcom arcade brawler, the control is solid, which is- yeah, you get it at this point, and the gameplay is your usual beat-’em-up affair, except taking the leveling up system that Knights of the Round would later use, but here, it would be used better.
The game is yet another 2D sidescrolling beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of five different characters (or “classes” for those who get giddy for that term), go through many different stages and locations, beating up plenty of orcs, creatures, and baddies as you venture forth, gather plenty of gold, health items, and strikable special attacks along the way, and take on typical, yet fun bosses that halt your progress. Much similarly to Knights of the Round, this is the type of beat-’em-up that doesn’t introduce too many new elements to the formula, but it thrives in being yet another solid combination of all these elements that can provide some good for a good hour or so, especially if you have friends along for the ride.
However, unlike Knights of the Round, this game manages to improve in several areas where that game unfortunately fell flat in. When it comes to the characters, despite them all being the generic swordsman, warrior, wizard, etc., they all actually feel like unique, separate characters, rather than just having three dudes who are knights. Yes, they all still have simple actions that are performed using the same buttons, but the actions do feel different and unique for each character based on what class they are, which is pretty appreciated.
In addition, the RPG-like progression system feels a lot more impactful in this game then there. Whenever you gain points throughout the game, whether by defeating enemies or getting gold, you do level up, and you can see how you actually get stronger, not only with the visible health bar going up in length, but also with you being able to deal more damage. Also, throughout the game, you will get numerous upgrades to your primary and secondary gear, making them much more improved both visually and physically, giving the feeling that you are actually getting stronger and getting the upper hand in taking down opponents. Yeah, it may not sound like much of a big deal, but that feeling of growth is really important with these types of gameplay systems, which Knights of the Round didn’t deliver on, but this game fully delivered on.
With all that being said, while this game does fix those issues I had with the similar Knights of the Round, it did also have problems of its own. The game doesn’toffer all too much to make it stand out from others, which could cause players to ignore the game for other alternatives, so that’s an issue. In addition, the stages in the game are REALLY short. It feels like you just walk forward for about a couple minutes or so, beating up dudes that get in your way, and then you are immediately onto a boss. It doesn’t really feel as gratifying when the game is just like “Welcome to the stage, and welcome to the boss straight away!”, and thus, the stages feel pretty lacking as a result. Sure, to make up for it, the game does feature 16 stages, which is a lot for a game from this era, but then it faces the same problem that a game like Sonic Forces has (yeah, bet you didn’t expect that comparison). I would rather have fewer, yet more lengthy and involved stages rather then having a bunch of shorter, less exciting stages to a game.
Overall, while having short levels and not too much to make it stand out from the crowd, The King of Dragons is still yet another solid beat-’em-up from Capcom, one that I am glad that I gave a try, and one that, if you enjoyed Final Fight or Knights of the Round, you will not be disappointed in. I would definitely recommend it for fans of the genre, and for those who just need to kill some time, and to have fun while doing it. Trust me, it’s short enough to where you could do that.
Game #276
The story is as basic as it gets, being “monsters are here, go kill them”, which I can excuse, the graphics are pretty good, which is to be expected from Capcom arcade brawlers at this point, the music is also pretty good, which, again, is to be expected from a Capcom arcade brawler, the control is solid, which is- yeah, you get it at this point, and the gameplay is your usual beat-’em-up affair, except taking the leveling up system that Knights of the Round would later use, but here, it would be used better.
The game is yet another 2D sidescrolling beat-’em-up, where you take control of one of five different characters (or “classes” for those who get giddy for that term), go through many different stages and locations, beating up plenty of orcs, creatures, and baddies as you venture forth, gather plenty of gold, health items, and strikable special attacks along the way, and take on typical, yet fun bosses that halt your progress. Much similarly to Knights of the Round, this is the type of beat-’em-up that doesn’t introduce too many new elements to the formula, but it thrives in being yet another solid combination of all these elements that can provide some good for a good hour or so, especially if you have friends along for the ride.
However, unlike Knights of the Round, this game manages to improve in several areas where that game unfortunately fell flat in. When it comes to the characters, despite them all being the generic swordsman, warrior, wizard, etc., they all actually feel like unique, separate characters, rather than just having three dudes who are knights. Yes, they all still have simple actions that are performed using the same buttons, but the actions do feel different and unique for each character based on what class they are, which is pretty appreciated.
In addition, the RPG-like progression system feels a lot more impactful in this game then there. Whenever you gain points throughout the game, whether by defeating enemies or getting gold, you do level up, and you can see how you actually get stronger, not only with the visible health bar going up in length, but also with you being able to deal more damage. Also, throughout the game, you will get numerous upgrades to your primary and secondary gear, making them much more improved both visually and physically, giving the feeling that you are actually getting stronger and getting the upper hand in taking down opponents. Yeah, it may not sound like much of a big deal, but that feeling of growth is really important with these types of gameplay systems, which Knights of the Round didn’t deliver on, but this game fully delivered on.
With all that being said, while this game does fix those issues I had with the similar Knights of the Round, it did also have problems of its own. The game doesn’toffer all too much to make it stand out from others, which could cause players to ignore the game for other alternatives, so that’s an issue. In addition, the stages in the game are REALLY short. It feels like you just walk forward for about a couple minutes or so, beating up dudes that get in your way, and then you are immediately onto a boss. It doesn’t really feel as gratifying when the game is just like “Welcome to the stage, and welcome to the boss straight away!”, and thus, the stages feel pretty lacking as a result. Sure, to make up for it, the game does feature 16 stages, which is a lot for a game from this era, but then it faces the same problem that a game like Sonic Forces has (yeah, bet you didn’t expect that comparison). I would rather have fewer, yet more lengthy and involved stages rather then having a bunch of shorter, less exciting stages to a game.
Overall, while having short levels and not too much to make it stand out from the crowd, The King of Dragons is still yet another solid beat-’em-up from Capcom, one that I am glad that I gave a try, and one that, if you enjoyed Final Fight or Knights of the Round, you will not be disappointed in. I would definitely recommend it for fans of the genre, and for those who just need to kill some time, and to have fun while doing it. Trust me, it’s short enough to where you could do that.
Game #276