Dragon Spirit and Dragon Saber

[Despatche]

Previous threads: 1 2
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-Settings for both versions of arcade Dragon Spirit should be: 3 lives, 2 life bars, extends at 80000 and 180000, difficulty rank at "A".
-Settings for X68000 Dragon Spirit are: 3 lives, Normal difficulty. Notice how New gives you 3 life bars!
-Settings for Namco Museum Vol.5 Dragon Spirit are (iirc): 3 lives, 2 life bars, extends at 100000 and 200000 (!), difficulty rank A.

-Settings for Japan version of arcade Dragon Saber are: 3 lives, 1 life bar (!), extend setting B (?), difficulty rank B.
-Settings for "World" version of arcade Dragon Saber are: S (1) lives, 1 life bar, extend setting D (?), difficulty rank B. Sounds cruel.
-Settings for PC Engine Dragon Saber are: 3 lives, 3 life bars, Normal difficulty.

No idea about others. Not sure if I want to group NMs with arcade or not, there may be other differences.

FOR THOSE WITH OTHER NMs, HELP ME FIGURE OUT SUPPOSED SPIRIT/SABER VERSIONS. You can tell which is which by:
-Spirit old has stage 1 intro like the other stages. There should be a fire powerup when the stage properly starts. Spirit new has faster movement and removes a funny trick in area 9.
-The world version of Saber has 1-hit the entire game, and apparently some different extend setting which could just be no extends. All needs more research. It's likely that all NMs are based on the Japan version, considering.
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Post scores in this format:

Code: Select all

GAME - PLATFORM - VERSION
NAME - SCORE - AREA - AUTOFIRE - DETAILS

VERSION is replaced with CHARACTER for TNL (I hope...), and AREA is replaced with STAGE for Dragon Saber. DETAILS is for what console/emulator, what region release, etc; did you use JP PCE version, Aratanaru Densetsu, or JP NMV5?
__________
DRAGON SPIRIT
Arcade version
Old version

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New version

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1.  Neo_Antwon     -   549,400 - ALL - Yes - MAME 0.206
2.  Kollision      -   519,430 - ALL - Yes - PS2  (Namco Museum 50th (!))
3.  Jaimers        -   517,420 - ALL - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
4.  Aquas          -   465,850 - ALL - No  - MAME
5.  Dumple         -   456,460 - ALL - No  - WolfMAME v0.250
6.  BareKnuckleRoo -   293,580 -  8  - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2
7.  Jeneki         -   187 110 -  6  - Yes - PS4
8.  RGC            -   149,240 -  6  - ??  - ???  (Unknown version)
9.  roadrunner     -    41,840 -  2  - ??  - ??? 

PC Engine version counterstops plz

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1.  Mero           -   802,230 - ALL - Yes - PC Engine Mini
2.  Luciole        -   704,010 - ALL - ??  - Real PC Engine?
3.  tinotormed     -   644,780 - ALL - Yes - CoreGrafx
4.  UGO            -   501,630 - ALL - Yes - CoreGrafx

X68000 version
Old version

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New version

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PlayStation version
Old version

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New version

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1.  Kollision      -   519,430 - ALL - Yes - PS
2.  azmun          -   367,770 -  9  - Yes - Disc+PS

新たなる伝説 (The New Legend)
Gold dragon

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Blue dragon

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1.  God            -   372,450 - ALL - No  - US cart+Retron 3
2.  Damocles       -   355,240 - ALL - ??  - ??? 
3.  Xeno           -   334,450 - ALL - Yes - US dump+Nestopia
4.  Kollision      -   278,210 - ALL - Yes - US cart+US NES
5.  DJ Incompetent -   266,280 - ALL - ??  - ??? 
6.  Kaiser         -   261.430 - ALL - ??  - ??? 
7.  Andi           -   217,180 -  9  - ??  - ??? 
8.  Ed Oscuro      -   212,200 -  8  - ??  - ??? 
9.  roadrunner     -    81,870 -  3  - ??  - ??? 

DRAGON SABER AFTER STORY OF DRAGON SPIRIT
Arcade version
Japan board

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1.  maximo         -   123,030 -  5  - ??  - MAME v0.161
2.  ALFARABI       -   107.580 -  4  - ??  - PCB

"World" board

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1.  DEL            -   256,890 -  9  - ??  - ???  (Unknown version)
2.  CHI            -   161,270 -  6  - ??  - PCB  (Unknown version)

PC Engine version

Code: Select all

1.  UGO            -   160,700 - ALL - ??  - Real PC Engine
2.  Ex_Mosquito    -   153,480 - ALL - No  - Unknown card + PC Engine

[Despatche]

Okay, I lied, it looks terrible. I blame Namco, and me for caring way too much.

[trap15]

What looks terrible, Dragon Spirit? Dragon Spirit is the fucking bomb, one of my favorite Namco games

[Aquas]

Dragon Spirit - MAME - Arcade
Aquas - 465,850 - ALL - No - New



Hopefully youtube video coming soon. Otherwise my run can be viewed as a highlight from my twitch.tv archive, here.

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-C3j45G5h8

I'm a real man not using autofire, suck it, Kollision.

[Kollision]

Aquas - 465,850 - ALL - No - New

I'm a real man not using autofire, suck it, Kollision.

That's awesome, buddy!

aaaand I won't man up
my wrists have been damaged too much from past "no autofire" games

[Aquas]

Heheh I understand... I practiced with autofire, at least, so I wouldn't hurt a lot.

[Kollision]

Dragon Spirit New Legend
Blue Dragon

Kollision - 278,210 - ALL - YES - US cart/system

[God]

Dragon Spirit - NES - Blue Dragon
God - 250,550 - ALL - No - NES

Woo! I'm in the Top 5!

[God]

Make that:

Dragon Spirit - NES - Blue Dragon
God - 294,790 - 9 - No - NES

Hell yeah!

Real NES?

Kinda. It's one of those knock off systems that also plays Genesis and SNES games. But it's a real cartridge, NES controller and TV.

Died fighting the last boss.

[Despatche]

Thanks for pointing that out. Do you know what it's called? Don't suppose it's the Retron 3 or anything?

[God]

Thanks for pointing that out.

No problemo.

Do you know what it's called? Don't suppose it's the Retron 3 or anything?

That's the one! It's not any easier on that thing is it?

[God]

I think I can stop spamming your thread with my scores now.

Dragon Spirit - NES - Blue Dragon
God - 372,450 - ALL - No - NES clone

Picture.

Fought the very last boss with only one head, two health and the normal blue dragon (not the green kick ass powered up one or anything like that). He's worth 20k, so if I lost I would still be in #2. During, I got hit once and that cost me even more firepower. Very close and tense fight!

The following are indisputable FACTS:
A) The NES is awesome.
B) Dragons are awesome.

[Despatche]

Very nice! I don't see anyone beating that for a while...

And thank you. I hope not, but I am always worried about weird differences in regional versions of a game (speaking of which...) and/or compilation and Virtual Console-type rereleases, differences in versions of a console and clones of that console (and the differences between all those clones), differences in emulators and point versions, so on and so forth.

From what I understand, the FC in particular is strange hardware that contains a lot of "randomness" that no emulator dares with; clones are (generally?) "systems-on-a-chip", which are (generally?) treated as emulators. I don't think anyone of them bother with it either... I'm not even sure how you'd go about simulating any of it without just using all the actual FC parts.

I'm especially concerned about the second model FC and NES (as well as the potential differences between those), for the same reason I'm concerned about the slim PS2.

edit: Hmm... I seem to recall having a very good reason for not using the original subtitle for The New Legend... and that reason appears to have never existed? Oh well, romaji spam.

[Perikles]

Dragon Spirit, PCE



Perikles – 536,450 – ALL – Yes – HuCard + PC Engine Duo-R

Refrained from milking the spider boss and managed to beat the game without dying. Hated the final stage with its downgrades, spikey walls and pricky final boss by the end, aside from that this conversion is great.


Dragon Saber, PCE



Perikles – 161,200 – ALL – No – HuCard + PC Engine Duo-R

Dragon Saber has autofire even without the turbo switches unlike Dragon Spirit. Excellent port, it's overall harder than Dragon Spirit but without an overly frustrating last stage this time around (it's still tricky, though!). I only wish they would've set this game in a pure fantasy setting like the predecessor, for those modern elements really don't fit too well with the game's atmosphere in my opinion. That's just a nitpick, however.

[Xeno]

Aratanaru Densetsu
Xeno -334,450 - ALL - Yes - USA V+NESTOPIA

[azmun]

Started playing a month ago and had to stop for about a week. This game is brutal and has me almost burned-out and broken. Perhaps this is typical of those STGs made in the mid to late 80s? Progress is slow but coming. I've gotten to the last stage 9 only once on a single credit. Shinji Hosoe's sound composition has kept me coming back and eased the pain of the countless hours to my 1cc journey. YM2151 was made for these compositions. I've got three versions of Dragon Spirit. The PC Engine port is quite competent but isn't getting much play and headway since I don't have a joystick to use on that console. Currently mixing between PS2 Namco Museum 50th Anniversary and PS Namco Museum volume 5.

It's too bad the emulated version in PlayStation 2 is glitchy. Music balance is a bit off and the controls loose and laggy. It gets frustrating at times. The PlayStation port on the other hand is a much smoother and a pleasant experience but the colors don't seem to match the arcades as closely. Still, the BGM is top-notch and with true low-res graphics, much more detail can be appreciated. It's also easier to dodge those kamikaze enemies and bullets.

My high score so far which I hope to update if and when I finally beat the game is as follows:

Dragon Spirit - PlayStation - New
azmun – 367,770 – stage 9 – Yes – Namco Museum Vol. 5 running on real hardware default settings

[Despatche]

nah, dragon spirit is just an infamously hard game, particularly the old version. the new version is more lenient.

nm5 is based on the old version. afaik there's no version select in nm5... i remember looking, at least. it'd be odd if it was a code.

[azmun]

nm5 is based on the old version. afaik there's no version select in nm5... i remember looking, at least. it'd be odd if it was a code.

There's definitely an option to choose between the two versions in PS NM5 (at least the Japanese version as that's the one I have). Press triangle, highlight and select option, then press right. Select version and choose between new and old.

[Despatche]

aaaaaaaa

i have no idea where my previous information came from, then.

[Perikles]

Arcade version – New version



Perikles – 506,430 – ALL – Yes – MAMEUIFX32

Superb game! Fumbled around quite a bit during the end, but managed to get through the important parts, thus saving princess & kingdom on my very last life. This will definitely go on my top 25, I had a ton of enjoyment out of it.

I had to use MAMEUIFX32 because neither ShmupMAME 2.2 nor ShmupMAME 4.0 seem to like it very much. I either got error messages (4.0) or bizarre glitches (2.2) which are inadmissible in a game of this caliber.


Will try to go after Dragon Saber next, but that one is so much harder that I don't know if I'm ready for it just yet.

[Aquas]

Congratulations on the Dragon Spirit clear Perikles! It's quite a satisfying journey. I am a big fan of the dark stage for how evil it is for being late in the game.

Dragon Saber is a real party pooper though, despite being just as classy, if not more than DSpirit. I don't think it's that fun if you play on the default which is 1 hit for death instead of 2 like D-Spirit. You desperately need to be able to take a hit during the St. 4 boss I believe it is (spinning rock guy) and that has held me back from advancing for years. Haha

[Perikles]

Congratulations on the Dragon Spirit clear Perikles! It's quite a satisfying journey.

Thanks! And my sincerest congratulations on your clear as well, I never would even think of playing this game without autofire.

I am a big fan of the dark stage for how evil it is for being late in the game.

I found a highly strategical solution for the second half of that stage. It can be seen here (please excuse the terrible quality, I don't know anything about video editing yet and hope to re-release the video in a more representable shape). I had so much fun with the game that I cleared it again while recording the run. The score is significantly lower (no deaths on the final stage and not as much luck with the golden orbs) and mistakes are aplenty, but it's still nice to have a video.

You desperately need to be able to take a hit during the St. 4 boss I believe it is (spinning rock guy) and that has held me back from advancing for years. Haha

That should be the fifth boss (the fourth one is the demonic tree that sometimes unleashes very nasty patterns if I'm not mistaken). Indeed, Dragon Saber takes a lot of stage/boss concepts from Spirit and makes them decidedly tougher while at the same time turning the dragon more vulnerable. Doesn't help that I can't seem to get savestates to work for proper practice (game always freaks out and becomes unplayable due to some graphical errors).

Edit: uploaded the video anew, this time in a much better shape. Already changed the above link accordingly.

[Kollision]

Dragon Spirit, NEW version

Kollision - 519,430 - ALL - YES - PS1

[ALFARABI]

Mode: Arcade - Japan version (default)
Score: 107.580 points
Stage: 4
Support: PCB
Position : 1ère



Message généré depuis hiscores.shmup.com.

An old score made at the "Mad Mouse" ( Tokyo ) nearly a year ago with a cup of europeans shmuppers ( Erhune, Icarus ) and many japaneses ( Tathea, Kamui, Sps... ) making demos at this incredible shmup meeting

[Perikles]

Dragon Saber, Arcade, Japan board



Perikles - 1,321,610 - ALL - Yes - ShmupMAME v4.2

Video

I actually got a lot to say about this one. I've put a handful of technical notes in the video description as per usual, but I'm not even going to bother with a full run-down of the stages this time as it would take forever to do and no one cares about this game, anyway.

I love this game. How could you not? (Partly eerily) beautiful stages with lush, vibrant colours and an outstanding visual design for the enemies, a magnificent soundtrack (just listen to it!) and an equally felicitious stage design. Great mixtum compositum of memorization and improvisation, static elements and RNG. A lot of the hazards feel very natural despite their innate cheapness, like the zombie dragon and his counter attacks. Most checkpoints are certainly doable with a lot of practice, the game has a pleasant length and a tautly structured pace. Seems like a perfect package.

But Jesus Christ, it also made me sick to the stomach. So much ridiculous bullshit, mainly that gigantic asshole of a final boss. If you get there on your first attempt but power down thanks to the myriads of skulls from those awful moths he'll spam boomerangs until you die. If the rank is low and he decides to sit low on the screen then lawlz you gonna die regardless. You have to perform some multitasking that is simply not feasible. One or two skull dragons pop up at the wrong spots, the wraithlike slime rains on you and a face hugger chases you at the same time? You're dead. A bad ectoplasm spawns during the seventh boss? You're dead. One enemy survives your electric discharge for some unknown reason? You're dead. I'd describe myself as fairly calm and composed, but I had several moments where I wanted to throw my controller against the nearest wall.

This is my second clear of the game, by the way. On my first clear the final boss screwed me over six times (!) in a row before he finally gave in. I was so mad that I played again to get at least a halfway decent score (I believe you get 250,000 points for every excess life at the end of the game). Could've ideally made it with one less death, but I'll take it. Not sure what to ultimately think of Dragon Saber. Gradius III's crystal stage will also make you livid, but this one was much worse for me to be honest. Still grudgingly adore Dragon Saber, though.

[BIL]

Sounds like a Ninja Spirit scenario. Ever since that tragic gem I can never fully trust an arcade game to not go full bullshit at the eleventh hour.

I need to get my hands dirty with Dragon Saber. For years I've been blasting its OST like a filthy casual. Do you know about its hidden Dragon Spirit redux soundtrack? That always blows my mind, both the quality and the fact it's even there. (I wonder what Cecil's up to these days, guy always had great taste in the VGMs)

[maximo310]

Dragon Saber Arcade
-Japan board
maximo- 123,030- 5- MAME 0.161

Aghhh, this game is fun, but I wanna do better. Run pretty much got killed at the canyon, which I haven't practiced at all yet.
Edit: slight update in score

Edit 2:
maximo-133,090-6- MAME 0.172
Well, i got to ice cave this time. Still wish there was a way to practice w/ save states.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Dragon Saber - PC Engine

Ex_Mosquito - 153,480 - ALL - No - PCE IFU + Real Hucard

Completed with a NoMiss and -1 damage. Score wise I shot myself in the foot having x4 lives in stock.. I think I need to work out a lucrative scoring area to suicide for those much needed extra points.

[Perikles]

Just for the hell of it:


Dragon Spirit, PCE



Perikles – 709,660 – ALL – Yes – PC Engine Duo-R

[Neo_Antwon]

Dragon Spirit (Arcade New Version)
Neo_Antwon - 549,400 - ALL - Yes - Mame .206

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/446630939