Dragon Force: An awesome game that you probably didn’t play

 A lot of games are released each year and sometimes, great games fall into obscurity. In this series of post we’ll explore of gaming’s forgotten gems. None of the games appearing in these posts are imports. Also, these are based on my impressions of the game, which can be different from other people so feel free to comment your opinions of the game. Our first entry features Dragon Force, the real time strategy-game released by Working Designs in North America for the Sega Saturn in 1996.

The game takes place in the land of Legendra, the evil god Madruk is escaping his 300 years imprisonment and is up the members of the Dragon Force to stop him. After a really cool animated intro that explains the background story, you pick a kingdom. Each kingdom has a ruler, generals and a type of troops, later in the game you can ally with other rulers, hire generals and acquire other troop classes.

The game is divided into 3 parts: the map (where you can move your forces and invade or defend territories), the administration screen (give awards, recruit new generals, search for items and fortify castles in your kingdom), and the combat section were two armies fight (you can choose from various army formations) until one is defeated or retreats (if the units from both sides are killed, the generals have a duel). The game is over if your main ruler is killed.

Ah, 90's character design, where have you gone to?

Dragon Force is really simple to get into but has enough depth in its game mechanics. The troops work in a “rock paper-scissors” kind of way (Soldiers are effective against Mages but are weak against Harpies, and Harpies are weak against Mages). It is really important to study how effectives are your troops. You can reward your Generals with special medals that allow them to use other Unit Classes. It is important to keep your generals happy. If they win a fight, give them an award, an item or a weapon. If you don’t, they may leave your kingdom.

Why not?

Dragon Force has a really good story that will have you at the edge of your seat. The graphics were amazing (for it’s time) and the character design is gorgeous (with that 90’s anime flavor). Also, the music is fantastic and very memorable. Sadly, it was only released on the Saturn (it’s a Sega game after all) and at time, people were nuts for the Playstation or waiting for the N64 to be released. A sequel was released in Japan but never made it overseas. After Sega quit the console business, both Dragon Force games were released (only in Japan as of this article) for the PS2 and the PSN. The only way to play the game (legally) is buying a used copy, which can be expensive or using a Japanese account and PSN point card to buy the Digital-Only PS3 version (it will be in Japanese). Hopefully, the translated version makes it to Region 1 consoles. Sega should also consider releasing it for mobile since most of the actions are performed by menu. Dragon Force is one game that should get a second chance.

Sadly, I don't have a way to capture screens from the game. The one used for the tablet picture was taken from here.