Dragons of Flame (video game) explained

Dragons of Flame
Developer:U.S. Gold
Atelier Double
Publisher:Strategic Simulations
U.S. Gold
Composer:Hitoshi Sakimoto, Takeshi Yasuda
Series:Dragonlance
Released:1989
Genre:Action adventure
Modes:Single-player
Platforms:Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, Famicom, MS-DOS, PC-9801, ZX Spectrum

is a video game released in 1989 for various home computer systems and consoles. It is a sequel to Heroes of the Lance.

Gameplay

Like Heroes of the Lance it is arcade oriented, with few RPG elements.[1] The style of the game is very much like its predecessor, horizontally scrolling fighting controlling one character at a time.

Plot

It is based on the second Dragonlance campaign module, Dragons of Flame, and the second half of the first Dragonlance novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight. The plot is a faithful representation of the books it is based on.

Development

Dragons of Flame was adapted from the Dragons of Flame printed adventure module.[2] [3] The game Shadow Sorcerer is a sequel to this game's storyline, but has quite different gameplay.

Reception

Dragons of Flame was successful for SSI, selling 55,711 copies.[4] According to GameSpy, "while the number of characters was increased to 10, the gameplay remained the same moderately competent, hack-'n-slash, side-scrolling action, marking this as another less than stellar entry on SSI's resume".[5]

ST Action magazine reviewed the Atari ST version, giving it an overall score of 73%: "When U.S. Gold announced they were going to produce an Advanced Dungeons and Dragons range I thought we were going to be in for the usual graphic-lacking role-playing games. ... I've been proven very wrong. This latest game seems to offer more of a challenge than its predecessor, Heroes of the Lance. ... The thing I noticed about Dragons of Flame was the playability. Although the game uses complex menus, they have all been set out in a friendly, easy-to-use manner". ST Action also praised the variety of monsters, graphics, and "well implemented" gameplay.[6]

Reviews

Notes and References

  1. Dragons of Flame . . 59 . 23 . March 1990 . 0954-867X . 2007-03-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071224143219/http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/dragoffl.htm . 2007-12-24.
  2. Web site: Dragons of Flame . . 2007-03-26.
  3. Web site: Dragons of Flame . . 2007-03-26.
  4. Web site: Opening the Gold Box, Part 5: All That Glitters is Not Gold . Maher . Jimmy . 2017-03-31 . The Digital Antiquarian.
  5. Web site: Allen . Rausch . August 15, 2004 . A History of D&D Video Games . GameSpy . November 15, 2012.
  6. Dragons of Flame Review. January 1990. ST Action. Gollner Publishing. 21. 58–59.