Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

For the Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear versions, see Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (8-bit).

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Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment (US), Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Europe)
Developer: Acclaim Entertainment
Distributor: SF Interactive Media (SE rental)
Licensor: Universal City Studios
Sound driver: GEMS
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad, Team Player
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-3
Release Date RRP Code US 1995 $69.9569.95 T-81496 EU 1994-10 T-70286-50 PT 199x UK 1994-10-28 £44.9944.99 T-70286-50 FI 199x SE (Rental) 199x AU 1994-11 $119.95119.95 FDRA04SMC BR 199x 046980
Non-Sega versions Jaguar Super NES

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story is a Sega Mega Drive versus fighting game based on the 1993 film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

Story

The game follows the events of the film, a semi-fictionalized account of the life of renowned martial artist and actor Bruce Lee.

Gameplay

The game is a versus fighting game where the life story of Bruce Lee is told through several fight scenes in different locations and time periods. Bruce uses a variety of martial arts moves to defeat his opponents in a manner similar to fighting games such as Street Fighter. Fights are usually one-on-one, though Bruce occasionally fights two opponents at once. The game supports up to three simultaneous players, though Bruce Lee is the only playable character, even in the multiplayer modes.

Bruce moves with or , crouches with , and jumps with . He flips with or , which can pass through opponents and evade attacks. He punches with (fast) or (hard) and kicks with (fast) or (hard). When using a standard three-button control pad, he performs a fast kick with , a fast punch with , and a hard kick or punch with (with  START  toggling between the two), and  START +++ pauses the game.

Blocking is done by holding the D-Pad away from the opponent. He can throw a nearby opponent by pressing the D-Pad away from the opponent while pressing the fast punch button. While being thrown by an opponent, he can perform a counter throw by pressing the D-Pad away from the opponent while pressing the hard punch button. If Bruce is knocked out, he can be revived by pressing buttons repeatedly. He can perform a recovery kick while downed with the hard kick button.

His techniques vary depending on whether he is standing, crouching, or jumping or whether he is near or far from his opponent. Repeated attacks can be chained together to perform combos. He can stomp a downed opponent by pressing at the peak of a jump when over the opponent's chest. He performs a roundhouse kick by pressing the hard kick button twice, a reverse kick by holding the D-Pad away from the opponent and pressing the hard kick button twice, and a sliding grasshopper kick with and towards the opponent while pressing hard kick.

Bruce has three fighting styles: Mantis, Fighter, and Nunchaku. Bruce builds up a chi meter throughout the game, representing his inner strength, which is carried over between stages. The meter is marked with two notches, one for Fighter mode and one for Nunchaku mode. When the meter reaches the corresponding mark, Bruce can switch into Fighter or Nunchaku mode.

Mantis is Bruce's standard fighting style. It has the highest tolerance to injury and lowest chance of being stunned. Fighter mode is the fastest fighting style, but he cannot throw, stomp, or block in this mode. Pressing the attack buttons rapidly performs "ultra fast" punches and kicks in Fighter mode. He can also leap much farther. Nunchaku mode arms Bruce with a pair of nunchaku that increase his attack distance, but he cannot punch or kick in this mode. His throw is replaced by the "Neck Tie," a choking technique.

Landing attacks on opponents while in Mantis mode increases the meter, while missing attacks in any mode or using special moves in Fighter or Nunchaku mode decreases the meter. Extra chi can be earned by getting the first hit in a fight or performing well in the bonus stages. When the meter falls below the mark needed for a special mode, Bruce reverts to his Mantis style.

Bruce switches into his Mantis mode with  MODE +, into his Fighter mode with  MODE +, and into his Nunchaku mode with  MODE +. When using a standard three-button control pad, he switches into his Mantis mode with  START +, into his Fighter mode with  START +, and into his Nunchaku mode with  START +.

Modes

Bonus stage

Continue

There are multiple game modes:

• 1-Player Story Mode: One player controls Bruce Lee in ten fights against different opponents, interspersed with short cutscenes. Fights are a single round with no time limit against one opponent, but two fights take place against two opponents simultaneously. The player starts with three mirrors (continues), and losing a battle costs a mirror. When all of the mirrors are lost, the player must fight the Phantom in order to continue. The final fight is also against the Phantom, and the game cannot be continued if Bruce is defeated here. There are three bonus stages where Bruce strikes pads on a target dummy to build up more chi. The pads spin faster when Bruce hits them and award more chi the faster they are spinning when they are hit.
• 2-Player Story Mode: The story mode can also be played by two players, with the second player playing as a second Bruce Lee with different colored pants simultaneously. The players can hurt each other, and the stage is not finished until the computer-controlled opponent is defeated and only one human player is left standing. In stages with more than one opponent, the computer-controlled opponents only appear one at a time, so there are never more than three combatants on screen at a time. Both players have three mirrors (continues) and lose a mirror whenever they are defeated in a battle, with the game ending for a player who runs out of mirrors.
• 1-Player Battle: A one-player mode where the player fights as Bruce Lee against a computer-controlled Bruce Lee. The player can set a handicap and the number of rounds and choose the stage.
• 2-Player Battle: A two-player mode where both players fight each other as Bruce Lee. Players can set a handicap and the number of rounds and choose the stage.
• 2-Player Battle Vs CPU: A two-player mode where two players and a computer-controlled opponent fight. All three combatants are Bruce Lee. Players can set a handicap and the number of rounds and choose the stage.
• 3-Player Battle: A three-player mode where all three players (using a Team Player) fight to determine a single champion. All three combatants are Bruce Lee. Players can set a handicap and the number of rounds and choose the stage.

There are five difficulty levels for computer-controlled opponents (Piece of Cake, Easy, Normal, Tough, and Arcade).

Stages

A bonus stage is played after the second, fourth, and sixth stages.

	Lantern Festival, Hong Kong
	While in Hong Kong, Bruce gets into a fight with a rowdy British sailor who is harassing a Chinese woman at a dance. The sailor fights with a chain.
	Gussie Wang's Kitchen, San Francisco
	Now living in the United States, Bruce gets into a brawl with the cooks at the Chinese restaurant where he works (and in the alleyway behind the restaurant). The cooks are armed with cleavers.
	University Gymnasium, Seattle
	Bruce enrolls at the University of Washington and gets into a fight with another student named Scott at the gymnasium.
	Secret Location, Oakland
	Bruce establishes a martial arts school in Oakland, but his Chinese peers rebuke him for training non-Chinese students. They decide to settle the matter in combat, choosing a kung fu master named Johnny Sun to challenge Bruce.
	Film Set, Hong Kong
	On a Golden Harvest film set in Hong Kong, Bruce fights a pair of female acrobats, who wield staffs.
	Bruce's Kwoon, Oakland
	Bruce once again fights Scott, who is angry that Bruce is taking his students.
	Long Beach Stadium, Long Beach
	Bruce speaks at an international karate championship at Long Beach and states that he can defeat any opponent with his techniques within 60 seconds. Johnny Sun is in the audience and challenges him to a rematch. This is the only bout in the game that has a time limit. The player loses if Johnny Sun is not defeated before time runs out.
	Film Set, Pak Chong, Thailand
	After the cancellation of The Green Hornet, Bruce is hired to star in the Hong Kong production The Big Boss. While on set, Luke, the brother of Johnny Sun, finds Bruce and wants to fight him to avenge his brother.
	Film Set, Hong Kong
	Bruce fights the "Claw Man" who famously antagonized him in the film Enter the Dragon. The fight takes place in the Claw Man's "museum" of weapons and torture devices.
	The Graveyard
	The final fight is against the Phantom, the personification of Bruce's fear who takes the form of a samurai carrying a guandao. After the Phantom's health meter is depleted, the player must defeated him using the Neck Tie hold in Nunchaku mode (while near the Phantom, hold the D-Pad away from him while pressing fast punch).

History

Development

Graphics for the Mega Drive version of Dragon were draw in Deluxe Paint Animation, a 1990 art package for IBM PC compatibles.

Production credits

• Executive Director: Colin Gordon
• Producer: Dan Marchant
• Asst Producer: Aron Phelan, Peter Hickman
• USA Coordinator: Ken Love
• Design Team: Ian Mathias, Dan Marchant, Peter Hickman, Ronald Pieket Weeserik, John Palmer
• Programmer: Dave Chapman, Ronald Pieket Weeserik
• Background Artist: Kevin Oxland
• Animation Artist: John Palmer
• Artist: Mark Smith, Stephen Cavalier, Mark Anthony, Paul Hallewell, Jonathan Green, Patrick Beirne, Simon Swift, Mark Bentley
• Music and Sound: Allister Brimble
• Lead Tester: Tony Hinds, Paul Welton
• Assistant Tester: John Martin, Michael Wenn, Tony Byus, Kevin Turner
• USA Testing: Paul Moore, Nick Camerota, Chris Nelsen, Chris Rausch, Chris Toft, Jeff Gordon, Jim Getz, Mitch Feldman
• Respect to: Bruce Lee

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

FI advert (1994)

Print advert in Supersonic (FR) #25: "Octobre 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Mega Force (FR) #32: "Octobre 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #156: "November 1994" (1994-10-15)
also published in:

• Ultimate Future Games (UK) #1: "December 1994" (1994-11-01)
• Computer & Video Games (UK) #157: "December 1994" (1994-11-15)
• Ultimate Future Games (UK) #2: "January 1995" (1994-12-01)

Print advert in Freak (IL) #26 (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in VideoGames (US) #80: "September 1995" (1995-08-22)
also published in:

• EGM² (US) #15: "September 1995" (1995-0x-xx)
• VideoGames (US) #81: "October 1995" (1995-09-19)
• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #75: "October 1995" (1995-xx-xx)

Print advert in Velikiy Drakon (RU) #60 (2002-09-05)
also published in:

• Velikiy Drakon (RU) #61 (2003-02-07)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 Cool Gamer (RU) 70 Computer & Video Games (UK) PAL 75 Digitiser (UK) PAL 79 Game Players (US) NTSC-U 55 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 65 GamesMaster (UK) PAL 90 Games World: The Magazine (UK) PAL 78 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 67 Mega (UK) PAL 89 Mega Fun (DE) PAL 73 Mega Power (UK) PAL 78 MegaTech (UK) PAL 85 Megazin (SI) 76 Mean Machines Sega (UK) PAL 77 Player One (FR) PAL 82 Play Time (DE) PAL 73 Power Up! (UK) 84 Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 87 Sega Power (UK) PAL 91 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 70 Sega Zone (UK) PAL 88 Sega Mega Drive Review (RU) 68 Sega Megazone (AU) PAL 63 Sonic the Comic (UK) PAL 90 Todo Sega (ES) 75 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 70 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 70

	76
Based on 28 reviews

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, FR
Manual

Mega Drive, PT
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (SF)
Cover

Mega Drive, FI

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story/Technical information.