The King of Dragons | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Capcom |
Publisher(s) | Capcom |
Director(s) | Tomoshi Sadamoto |
Composer(s) | Yoko Shimomura |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Super NES |
Release | Arcade versionSuper NES |
Genre(s) | Beat 'em up, action role-playing |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Arcade system | CP System |
The King of Dragons [lower-alpha 1] is a 1991 beat 'em up game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It follows players as they control characters through the kingdom of Malus to defeat monsters led by the dragon Gildiss. It features a level advancement system, allowing character attributes to be upgraded as players progress through the game. The game's music was composed by Yoko Shimomura.
The King of Dragons was ported to the Super NES in 1994. An emulated version of the game has been released as part of Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 , Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded , Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium .
The game has 16 levels, though many are quite short. The King of Dragons features a role-playing video game-like level advancement system. Points scored for killing monsters and picking up gold count towards experience, and the character gains levels at regular intervals. With each level, the character's health bar increases, other attributes such as range improve, and the character also becomes invulnerable for a few seconds. Along the way, different weapon and armor upgrades for each character may also be picked up.
The King of Dragons features a simple control system that consists of a single attack button, and a jump button. By pressing both buttons, the character unleashes a magical attack that strikes all enemies in screen (its strength varies according to the character used) at the expense of losing energy. The fighter, cleric and dwarf can also use their shield to block certain attacks by tilting the joystick back right before the impact.
This is one of the many Capcom games to feature the yashichi power-up item (a "boost power-up" icon resembling a shuriken). There are three such power-ups hidden throughout the game, each giving the player an extra continue.
The five playable heroes each have their own traits and fighting skills in the game. The Fighter is good with melee attacks and defense but lacks magical ability. The Dwarf is able to dodge and block attacks, is the most agile character that has decent melee attacks albeit the shortest range and little magic ability. The Elf has good agility and great range with archery but is not physically strong. The Cleric has great defense, decent magic (with the ability to heal his comrades) and melee attacks but bad agility. The Wizard has poor defense but good magical attacks and quick melee attacks.
The game was ported to the Super NES in 1994. This port reduces the number of simultaneous players down to two. The sprites' size was also reduced moderately. It is also possible to assign the magic attack and shield defense to different buttons and analyzed samples FM-styles soundtrack. [1] [2]
The arcade version is part of Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 , which was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in November 2006. This was also in Capcom Classics Collection: Reloaded for the PlayStation Portable. The game is included as part of the Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows. It was also included in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium which launched in July 2022 for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Windows.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2020) |
In Japan, Game Machine listed The King of Dragons on their October 1, 1991, issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Street Fighter II: The World Warrior . [3]
Doris Stokes of British magazine Zero reviewed the arcade game, rating it four out of five. She called it "a good, nicely addictive" beat-'em-up game. [4]
In 2023, Time Extension included the game on their top 25 "Best Beat 'Em Ups of All Time" list. [5]
Final Fight is a 1989 beat 'em up game developed and published by Capcom for arcades, being the seventh title released for the CP System hardware. Set in the fictional Metro City, the player controls one of three street fighters: former pro wrestler and city mayor Mike Haggar, expert brawler Cody Travers, and modern-day ninja Guy. The trio set out to rescue Jessica when she is kidnapped by the Mad Gear Gang.
Double Dragon is a beat 'em up video game series originally developed and published by Technōs Japan. It began with the release of the arcade game Double Dragon in 1987. The series features twin martial artists, Billy and Jimmy Lee, as they fight against various adversaries and rivals.
Kung-Fu Master, known as Spartan X in Japan, is a 1984 beat 'em up game developed and published by Irem for arcades. It was distributed by Data East in North America. Designed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game was based on Hong Kong martial arts films. It is a loose adaptation of the Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao film Wheels on Meals (1984), called Spartan X in Japan, with the protagonist Thomas named after Jackie Chan's character in the film. The game is also heavily inspired by the Bruce Lee film Game of Death (1972), which was the basis for the game's concept. Nishiyama, who had previously designed the side-scrolling shooter Moon Patrol (1982), combined fighting elements with a shoot 'em up gameplay rhythm. Irem and Data East exported the game to the West without the Spartan X license.
Hyper Dyne Side Arms (サイドアーム) is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed and released by Capcom as an arcade video game in 1986. The player takes control of a flying mecha fighter who must battle an alien army. Side Arms uses a two-directional attacking system similar to Capcom's previous shoot-'em-up Section Z.
Alien vs. Predator (エイリアンVSプレデター) is a 1994 beat 'em up video game developed and released by Capcom for the CPS-2 arcade game system. It is based on the science fiction franchise of the same name. Introducing an original fighter to the game: Lt. Kurosawa, the players take control of up to three from the selection of four cyborgs and Predator characters in a battle against the Xenomorph hordes and rogue human soldiers.
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara is an arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1996 as a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Mystara.
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, published in 1994, is the first of two arcade games created by Capcom based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game and set in the Mystara campaign setting. It is a side scrolling beat 'em up with some role-playing video game elements for one to four players. The game was also released on the Sega Saturn, packaged with its sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara, under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection, although the Saturn version limited the gameplay to only two players. In 2013, both games were re-released for modern platforms as Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
Trojan is a side-scrolling action game developed by Capcom, originally released as a coin-operated arcade video game in 1986, and published in North America by Romstar and Capcom. Directed by Takashi Nishiyama, the game includes beat 'em up and hack-and-slash elements. It is a spiritual successor to the beat 'em up Kung-Fu Master (1984), which was designed by Nishiyama at Irem before he left for Capcom, where he evolved its gameplay concepts with Trojan. It is also considered a spiritual successor to Capcom's Ghosts 'n Goblins (1985), which has similar side-scrolling action gameplay elements.
Legendary Wings is a fantasy-themed shoot-'em-up / platformer arcade video game released by Capcom in 1986. The player takes control of a young soldier equipped with magical wings who must save the world from a malfunctioning supercomputer. A home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released exclusively in North America in 1988. The original coin-op version is included in Capcom Classics Collection for PlayStation 2 and Xbox and in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed for PlayStation Portable.
Street Fighter is a 1987 arcade fighting game developed and published by Capcom. It is the first competitive fighting game produced by the company and the first installment in the Street Fighter series. It was a commercial success in arcades and introduced special attacks and some of the conventions made standard in later fighting games, such as the six-button controls and the use of command-based special moves.
Capcom Classics Collection is a compilation of arcade games released by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on September 27, 2005 in North America and in 2006 in Japan. It was developed by Digital Eclipse Software, Sensory Sweep, and its Japanese developer Klein Computer Entertainment. A second volume, Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2, was released on November 24, 2006 in North America, for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The second volume as well as the Xbox version of the first volume were not released in Japan.
Mighty Final Fight is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It is a spinoff of Capcom's 1989 arcade game Final Fight, which was previously ported to the Super NES. Unlike the CP System arcade classic and its SNES ports, the characters in this edition are depicted in a comical childlike "super deformed" or "chibi" art style in the same spirit as Famicom games such as both Konami's Kid Dracula and Namco's Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti.
A beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, while a number of modern games feature more open three-dimensional (3D) environments with yet larger numbers of enemies. The gameplay tends to follow arcade genre conventions, such as being simple to learn but difficult to master, and the combat system tends to be more highly developed than other side-scrolling action games. Two-player cooperative gameplay and multiple player characters are also hallmarks of the genre. Most of these games take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical, science fiction or fantasy themes.
Knights of the Round is a 1991 beat 'em up game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. Based loosely on the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, the game features an action role-playing video game-like level advancement system, with fighters automatically being upgraded to new weapons and armor as they advance through the game. An arcade edition of the game was included in Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle as one of seven titles released digitally for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows in September 2018.
Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy is a 1990 hack-and-slash arcade game by Capcom. The game casts the player as a hero who must fight his way through a mystical tower in order to save the world. The player can use a sword, axe or magic, and can also rescue and recruit potential allies of various character classes, each of which has its own special abilities.
Avengers, known in Japan as Hissatsu Buraiken and also titled as Avenger to avoid confusion of Marvel's Avengers, is a 1986 overhead-view vertical scrolling beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Capcom. The game was directed by Takashi Nishiyama, who previously designed the side-scrolling beat 'em ups Kung-Fu Master (1984) and Trojan (1986), and later designed the original Street Fighter (1987) and several early SNK fighting games.
Cadash is an action-adventure video game which combines elements of the platform game and role-playing video game genres. The game was originally an arcade video game released by Taito in 1989, then published for the TurboGrafx-16 in 1991 and the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1992. It is included in Taito Memories Volume 2 released for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and the Xbox and Microsoft Windows versions of Taito Legends 2 released in 2007. The 1989 arcade version was made available for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch via the Arcade Archives series in August 2023.
Night Slashers (ナイトスラッシャーズ) is a 1993 beat 'em up game developed and published by Data East for arcades. A remake for major platforms was licensed to Forever Entertainment and released in September 2024.
Captain Commando is a 1991 beat 'em up game originally developed and published by Capcom as an arcade video game, and later ported to several other platforms. It was the seventeenth game produced for the company's CP System hardware. The game stars the titular superhero who was originally conceived as a fictional spokesman used by Capcom USA in the company's console games during the late 1980s. The game was included in Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle compilation title, which was released digitally for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows on September 18, 2018.
Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle is a compilation of Capcom arcade beat 'em ups developed and published by Capcom. The collection was released digitally for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2018, with the game being released for Windows later in October. A physical release occurred in Japan on December 6 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.
The game was ported to the SNES, and other than the graphical downgrades and changing from three simultaneous players to two.