Dragonsden

Dragonsden

Game No.	57
Voting	6.14 points, 21 votes
Developer	Andy Finkel
Company	Commodore
Musician	Andy Finkel
HVSC-File	Dragons_Den.sid
Release	1983
Platform	C64
Genre	Arcade
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (in turns)
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

You -as a knight, equipped with the flying horse Pegasus- were assigned the task to show the local dragon its limits, which took the liberty of burning half of the country to ashes. This evil beast resides in the centre of a mountain, which was equipped fortress-like and is guarded by its helpers. To fulfill your mission, you need to pass some tests.

First you need to get into the mountain. The entrances are blocked by big birds, which first need to be roused. (As soon as a bird changes its colour to red, it needs to be touched from above by the hooves of Pegasus). After you roused all the birds, a lance appears in your hands. Use it to kill all birds in the given time. After that you get into the mountain and to the second section of your mission.

You need to get through the tunnel to the centre of the mountain into the dragon's lair. On your way you will meet different monsters and traps. Attention: Only bats can be killed, every other fiend or item need to be avoided. Again you have only limited time to reach the Golden Door and with this the third section.

You have now entered the dragon's lair and you see the dragon which is still protected by its egg-shaped shield. This shield receives its energy from the flying red bats. Every time you kill a red bat, a part of the shield gets feeble and red. As soon as the whole egg-shaped formation is red, it collapses and the dragon is unprotected. This gets you to the last part.

To kill the dragon, you need to hit it with the lance four times. With every hit it changes its colour. After the fourth hit... Just at the moment you want to celebrate your heroic victory, you recognize with horror, that an even more evil relative of this beast was hidden in this lair. So you turn tail and run, oil your armour at the entrance of the mountain and get prepared for the next heroic deed...

Design[edit | edit source]

Pegasus and the enemies are suitably animted, the knight, unfortunately, only sits stiffly on his horse with his lance. The different levels use many colours, when fighting against the dragon it changes the colour several times while at every hit the background flashes. Other enemies also glow after a hit and then vanish into thin air. During the travel to the dragon cave a background music is played, for hits and the wing beats of Pegasus there are adequate sound effects.

After every successful round a funny sequence is shown...

Sequence 1

Sequence 2

Hints[edit | edit source]

Steering Pegasus[edit | edit source]

Move the joystick into the desired direction, into which you want Pegasus to move (left or right).When you move the joystick against the flying direction, Pegasus will slow down and then turn back.

Press the fire button to let Pegasus flap its wings. To get a stronger flap, move the joystick at the same time upwards, to get a weaker flap move it downwards.

If you leave the screen on one side, you will reappear on the opposite side.

Special keys and functions[edit | edit source]

During the demo mode you can choose whether one or two players will take part in the game by moving the joystick in port 1 to the right. (Display on the upper right changes from "High" to "Pl 2")

By moving the joysticks upwards you can set the difficulty level (level 0-3, indicated by the number of stars in the lower right corner)

By moving the joysticks downwards the flap strength of Pegasus can be set (displayed next to the points, N = normal, S = strong, W = weak)

RUN/STOP = pause, leave pause mode by moving the joystick

RESTORE = cancels the current game, you are back to the title screen

Other informatiom[edit | edit source]

You start with three knights. If one knight should meet its maker, his resurrection will happen at the place he died.
Bonus knights are awarded at 10.000, 50.000 and 100.000 points.
In the 2-player mode you play by turns. It is shown in the screen which of the two knights is now called for his heroic deeds.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Tipps:

Touch the birds at the entrance to the mountain only with the hoofes.

In the tunnel only bats can be eliminated, spears and other animals need to be avoided.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
6.14 points at 21 votes (rank 770). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	6	4th August 2008 - "good" - 1498 downs
Lemon64	7,6	4th August 2008 - 18 votes

Reviews[edit | edit source]

H.T.W: "Although the game does not exhibit filed graphics and pompous sound -due to its year of origin- it leaves a good impression due to its unusual controls (flapping wings with fire button) and the lovingly designed, funny sequences."