ULTIMATE GUIDE: DRAGON SPIRIT
After the success of Namco’s horizontally scrolling shoot-’em-up Xevious, a range of spaceship-themed games predictably flooded the arcade market. Eventually, Namco itself was inspired enough to create something that combined the gameplay ethic of its previous hit with the fantasy genre that was fashionable following the phenomenal popularity of Atari’s dungeon-delver Gauntlet. The result, even by arcade standards, is a videogame of incredible, almost perverse difficulty, despite its ostensibly powerful protagonist.
As with Xevious, Dragon Spirit takes place over two planes of action as the draconic hero faces off against enemies both on the ground and in the air. Across the sky, the flying lizard shoots lethal fire, while a similar
