DragonHeart: Fire & Steel

Last updated
Dragonheart: Fire & Steel
DragonHeart Fire & Steel cover.jpg
Developer(s) Funcom (console & PC versions)
Torus Games (GB version)
Publisher(s) Acclaim Entertainment
Platform(s) PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows, Game Boy
ReleaseGame Boy
  • NA: May 1996
  • EU: October 1996
PlayStation, Saturn, PC
  • NA: November 13, 1996 [1]
  • PAL: December 1996
Genre(s) Hack and slash, platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Dragonheart: Fire & Steel (stylized as DragonHeart: Fire & Steel) is a video game loosely based on the 1996 fantasy adventure film Dragonheart . On most systems it is a 2D side-scrolling action game, but the Game Boy version is an adventure game with combat scenes, where adventure mode uses a first-person view and combat mode is a simple 2D fighting game.

Contents

Plot

Dragonheart: Fire & Steel follows the story of medieval dragonslayer Sir Bowen as he attempts to end the reign of a particularly evil king along with seven evil dragons that have ruled the world (the seven evil dragons never appeared in the film). On the way, he befriends the last dragon to exist, Draco. Sir Bowen and Draco must join forces to defeat the army serving the king and rescue a damsel in distress. It drops out some of the film's plot, but it is still a close match.

Reception

After its release, a Dragonheart spin-off was developed by Acclaim Entertainment as a 2D hack and slash game called Dragonheart: Fire & Steel for the PlayStation and Saturn. The game does not use the film's music, instead featuring an original score by Thomas Egeskov Peterson. [10] It was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews due to simplistic gameplay, [4] [7] [8] poor controls, [4] [5] [7] [11] and jerky animation. [4] [7] [8] [11] Though the graphics were praised, particularly the rendered backgrounds, critics agreed that the gameplay problems were an overriding problem. [4] [5] [7] [11] Acclaim released a PC port of the game in late 1996, which was given similar criticism. [6]

An original Game Boy game was also based on the film, titled simply Dragonheart. The four Electronic Gaming Monthly reviewers described the Game Boy game as rather simple as well as lacking sufficient challenge, noting especially the "anticlimactic" combat, and the reviewers concluded that the game offers fair entertainment and longevity for being a portable game. The reviewers especially praised the game for its storyline, with Sushi X calling it the main reason he continued playing the game. [12]

Reviews

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References

  1. ↑ "Online Gaming Review". 1997-02-27. Archived from the original on 1997-02-27. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. ↑ L. House, Michael. "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel". AllGame . Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ Thompson, Jon. "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel". AllGame. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Review Crew: Dragonheart". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 90. Ziff Davis. January 1997. p. 72.
  5. 1 2 3 Soete, Tim (9 January 1997). "Dragonheart Review". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  6. 1 2 Varner, Jim (February 4, 1997). "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel Review". GameSpot . Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel". Next Generation . No. 28. Imagine Media. April 1997. p. 118.
  8. 1 2 3 Nutter, Lee (May 1997). "Review: Dragonheart". Sega Saturn Magazine . No. 19. Emap International Limited. pp. 60–61.
  9. ↑ Bannert, Robert (2019-01-15). "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel - im Klassik-Test (SAT)". MANIAC.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  10. ↑ "Dragonheart: Fire & Steel: Grab Your Sword for a Wild Ride". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 88. Ziff Davis. November 1996. pp. 210–1.
  11. 1 2 3 "Saturn ProReview: Dragonheart: Fire & Steel". GamePro . No. 104. IDG. May 1997. p. 94.
  12. ↑ "Review Crew: Dragonheart". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 85. Ziff Davis. August 1996. p. 26.
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