DragonStomper Review by: Eirinn - 9/10
Let's stomp some dragons!When you think of retro RPG's, what systems come to mind? PSX? SNES? Genesis? NES? How about the Atari 2600? Well, shocking as it may be, Dragonstomper is indeed, just that: an RPG for the Atari 2600! Hard to believe that a system as limited as the Atari 2600 could support a full length RPG, isn't it? A fully functional, full length, in depth RPG, on the Atari 2600, in 1982? Suddenly I can no longer excuse other games on the console, like Spider-Man, or even Asteroids, and Pac-Man, for their shallow gameplay and lack of real variety. Sure, the genres were vastly different, and those games were fun, but we see from this one game, that depth was far from unattainable in a game on this system.
So what exactly is the goal of dragonstomper? Well, it's to...stomp...the dragon. Huh, stupid simple, no? You begin your journey on a screen with a few buildings, some trees, a body or two of water, and a handful of enemies. It's your job to find the ID required to get past the guard and across the bridge, to the next town, where you may buy items that you need, and sell items that you've obtained, and eventually enter the dragon's lair. Again, simple, right? I may have left out one teensy tiny little detail though, nothing big, just that the lair is absolutely jam packed with traps, so take plenty of healing items, because you will be hit, poisoned, and otherwise injured, time and time again. Also, much like in real life, there are no continues, so watch your health closely, and always be more than prepared to heal.
Along the path, you can stop by churches, where you can pray, donate a small amount, or donate a larger amount, but here's a tip for those who read this review: be generous, ALWAYS be very, very generous, and donate the max amount. You will get the best reward that way, also, never donate to the same church more than once, as it does you no good; donating is also pointless after praying, and vice versa, as only your first action counts for anything.
There are also locked buildings which you can only enter if you defeat a monster who drops a key. Another tip? Always fight every enemy that appears on the map. They seem to appear randomly, but their appearance is actually triggered by you, when you step on a certain spot. The good news is that, unlike later RPG's that felt it was a good idea to have a never ending supply of recurring random battles, once you kill all of the enemies on the screen in dragonstomper, they don't regenerate, so killing them all is very much feasible, and doing so will gain you the maximum amount of treasure and useful items. Remember that, as it will be extremely helpful.
The controls: The joystick moves you around the screen (shocker, I know), and pressing the action...fire...whatever-it's-called button brings up a list of options. From there, you simply look at the bottom of the screen for a legend that explains what to press for various actions.
But enough with the long winded introduction to what was quiet possibly the first ever RPG in the video game world. Let's get on to the ratings, and see how it stacks up against the competition.
Graphics: 5/10
Average.
Yes, this is dragonstomper's weakest point, and it does honestly deserve this rating. Even compared to other games on the Atari 2600, dragonstomper lacks detail graphically. Your character is just a small white dot on the screen; not exactly impressive, I know. However, the rest of the graphics aren't bad (they aren't exactly great either), and the enemies can actually be identified, but only after the initial encounter with them, as they are not always recognizable as the creature or being they represent (see: white dot), but they do have enough distnction in their designs to allow you to tell them apart from each other. So the monkeys don't look like the maniacs, and the snakes don't look like the beetles.
There is a decent usage of color here, and the colors were
selected well, in that they used plenty of colors, but no bright and cheery shades. We're here to slay the dragon, not skip through meadows, holding it's paw (do dragons have paws?), while licking lolipops, right? And so we have earthy tones, and no rainbows. Good call, devs.
The backgrounds are done well, and, unlike most of the character sprites, can be made out quiet easilly. I actually enjoy them a lot, as they manage to make the game feel more real to me, showing off pixelated scenery, rather than the typical one or two colored background.
Highlights:
-Nice 4 bit scenery for your little white dot to walk around in.
-The Beetles don't look like the Monkeys (not all rock bands are created equal).
Sound: 10/10
Incredible.
While the sound effects aren't exactly going to blow you away, they are present, and for a game on this system, they aren't bad. There aren't alot of them, but they are there, and play when appropriate.
The music here is what I love about the audio in this game. It has several tunes that play, depending on what happens. For example, when you die, you'll hear the taps, or my personal favorite, when you gain loot from a dead enemy, it plays "I'm in the money". Good stuff, that 4 bit humor and cheesy sound effects.
Highlights:
-Good music, when it actually plays music.
-Sound effects that actually make sense for the action they represent. Take that, pac-man!
-No explosions (couldn't resist)!
Story: N/A
Yeah, a story in an Atari 2600 game? You're not likely to find one of those, and Dragonstomper isn't one of the few that have one. It's par for the course, really. There's a dragon, and you want to kill it. The end. The story can be found on the RGR's game page for it, but there's nothing in the game to tip you off to any hint of a story.
Depth: 10/10
Incredible.
I can't believe how much depth there is to this little Atari game. Dragonstomper was definitely ahead of it's time, to say the least. It has so much to do for an Atari 2600 game, from battles, and finding items you need to progress (like an id. Stupid guard!), to finding stat boosting items, and using keys to unlock chests and buildings to see what's inside. Oh, and let's not forget the ability to buy new items, or sell items that you found in battle, or through exploration. Dragonstomper has all of the basic things you would expect from an RPG from the 8 bit era, and this is a 4 bit system; that's a whole generation ahead of it's time. I would have loved to see this game on a more powerful system, even the NES or SMS (how often do you hear those systems referred to as "more powerful systems"? Maybe this review was worth reading after all), but I'm really impressed with what it managed to pull off on this one. Who knows, maybe if it'd been an 8 bit game, it would have lost part of what made it so great. One thing is for sure: Dragonstomper set an incredibly high standard for depth among Atari 2600 games, that was never met by any other game, that I personally know of.
Highlights:
-A ton of in-game features and abilities, for a game of it's time.
Addictiveness: 10/10
Incredible.
Out of all of the categories we rate, this has to be the most important. I mean, flashy graphics are nice, good music and sound effects are cool, and depth is important, but in the end, those things can only go so far in entertaining us. A good game all boils down to addictiveness: how much fun am I going to have while playing this, and will I ever want to play it again, or is it a one-time play through that I'll never miss? That's why I think that instead of looking at the overall rating of a game in a review, what a prospective gamer should be looking at, is the addictiveness rating. That alone tells you how much fun the game is, the rest is just flash and pretty lights.
That said, Dragonstomper is an absolute blast, and extremely addicting, as Atari 2600 games go. It's a game that I am definitely going to come back to, and I will certainly be playing it again soon (I've actually played it a few times while writing this review). And the great thing is, I found this game months ago, so it isn't just that it's a new-to-me game that makes it so addicting, but rather, the depth and great gameplay that makes it that way.
Difficulty: 7/10
Difficult.
With item drops from enemies being random in order, it can be tough to make it past the bridge, since you may get the ID from the first battle, or you may have to fight every foe you face to get it. Also, when strength raising items ("Strength" in this game is what would be known in later RPG's as "HP") aren't being dropped, and you keep facing battle after battle, you may find yourself dead rather quickly. If this happens, just try it again (and maybe use save states next time).
One notable issue is that many of the items may have a different effect than you would expect. For example, unlike...well...every other RPG I've ever played, "Potions" don't raise your strength (HP). So learning what does what, may be a challenge initially, but it shouldn't prove too difficult.
Overall: 9/10
Excellent.
This is easily one of the best overall ratings I've ever given a game in one of my reviews, but Dragonstomper earns it with it's solid gameplay, great sound, excellent depth, and extreme addictiveness. In fact, my personal rating is a solid ten. It's definitely one of the best games to ever grace the Atari 2600, and it's that breath of fresh air that you need when playing through the extensive (and most often, clone filled, and bland) game library that is the Atari 2600. This system had some real gems, and I'd say Dragonstomper is one of them.
All things considered, I highly reccomend this game to all fans of this console, as well as all hardcore RPG fans, as this will offer you a glimpse at the very heart of RPG gaming. Even with all of the new processor power, the high-end cpu, the hi-res graphics, and pretty flashy add-ons that we have in modern RPGs, if you play this one, you'll still clearly see the foundation and basis of all of those modern RPGs, all wrapped up in a simple 4 bit package.
Dragonstomper is easily one of the greatest games on it's system, and is definitely worth a shot. Give it a try, I doubt you'll be disappointed.
Graphics
5 Sound
10 Addictive
10 Depth
10 Difficulty
7
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