Episode 689: Dragonstrike
Added 2025-05-05 11:00:12 +0000 UTCNadia: Here be dragons, dragons, and more dragons. It's time to talk about 1990's DragonStrike for the PC, which means it's also time to talk about the strange top-down NES adaptation of TSR's flight sim/combat game! This week, Dragon Highlord Nadia Oxford is joined by two fellow dragon enthusiasts: D&D computer game whiz William SRD and Retronauts' very own Greg Melo! This might be your first time hearing Greg's voice, but no doubt you recognize the epic covers he makes for so many episodes.
But this is no time for flattery. Krynn's War of the Lance is at its lowest point and its last hope just might be you – a young Knight of Solamnia mounted on the back of a bronze dragon. Will you be able to find the skill and resolve to take on the Queen of Darkness herself? The Dark Lady has five breath weapons and she's not afraid to unload them all at once.
Edits by Greg Leahy. Art by Nick Wanserski.
08:39 - DragonStrike (PC-98): Demo | DragonStrike (NES): Title
16:11 - DragonStrike (MS-DOS): Introduction
21:44 - The Lion King (SNES): The Stampede
35:06 - DragonStrike (NES): Mission BGM 1
43:47 - DragonStrike (PC-98): Ending
54:25 - Eye of the Beholder (GBA): Main Theme | DragonStrike (MS-DOS): Missions 1
1:04:19 - DragonStrike (MS-DOS): Missions 3
1:11:16 - DragonStrike (MS-DOS): Cutscenes
Closing - DragonStrike (NES): Final Boss
Comments
Also very happy to see more classic computer games covered! And an SSI published D&D title at that! (Now do Pool of Radiance darnit! Even Ruins of Myth Drannor has some defenders... assuming you've patched it and it didn't erase your hard drive. I realize the classic 8- and 16-bit era CRPG might be the most misunderstood genre though - maybe excepting wargames - and I've accepted that my faves will never be as respected as JRPGs of the time.)
A.B.
2025-05-13 05:30:46 +0000 UTCI bought the Eye of the Beholder GBA port back when it was new and while it had some major issues I still adored it for the simple fact that the developers clearly would rather have remade one of the Gold Box games and basically slapped together a D&D 3e version of the Gold Box engine for it. It doesn't quite scratch the Eye of the Beholder itch since it uses tactical combat (though much lacking compared to the real Gold Box games, which still have some of the best D&D combat ever imo), but it was a D&D game on a Gameboy darnit!
A.B.
2025-05-13 05:06:44 +0000 UTC
