Alisia Dragoon
From Sega Retro
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Alisia Dragoon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Nintendo Switch Online | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Game Arts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Game Arts, Gainax, Mecano Associates (music, sound) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alisia Dragoon (アリシアドラグーン) is a 1992 platformer for the Sega Mega Drive developed by Game Arts, with Japanese animation studio Gainax (famous for classic franchises such as Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water and Neon Genesis Evangelion) providing art and story, and Mecano Associates providing music.
Contents
Story
In the Japanese version, Alisia is the daughter of a sorcerer killed by evil Baldour's followers after her father banished Baldour in a cocoon to outer space, which has since crashed back to Earth, leaving Alisia to defeat Baldour and his followers.
In the Western versions, Alisia is a female adventurer who is the only one who can destroy the evil delivered by a silver star that has returned to Earth (implied that Earth had managed to deal with it once before).
Gameplay
The player controls Alisia Dragoon in side-scrolling platforming environments. She moves with and
, jumps with
, and crouches with
. Alisia can attack by summoning bolts of lightning from her hands with
. Her lightning attack automatically targets enemies in the direction she is facing and splits itself as necessary. The shot lasts for as long as
is held, but its power diminishes as Alisia drains her attack power. Her power replenishes when she is not attacking; when fully charged, it allows her to unleash a multi-target rolling bolt attack, hitting every enemy on the screen. Alisia is often swarmed with enemies from all sides, and the energy system encourages the player to manage Alisia's power judiciously to have her able to defend herself at critical moments. Alisia can attack while jumping or crouching.
Besides enemies, stages also contain conventional platforming challenges, such as gaps that must be jumped across, environmental hazards such as fireballs launching from the ground, and branching paths. Stages contain numerous hidden areas, often containing level-up items, encouraging exploration. Stages sometimes have scripted sequences or cutscenes. Each stage is completed by defeating the boss at the end.
Helping Alisia in her quest are her pet monsters. These creatures fly around the heroine on their own, attacking her foes, and blocking enemy attacks from hitting her. There are four pets, each with its own type of attack. Only one pet can fight alongside Alisia in her quest, but the player can select any of the four (or none) as the active companion at any time by pressing (which also pauses the game) and pressing
or
.
Over the course of the game, Alisia and her monsters can find items to increase the size of their health bars and level up their attacks. Health bar segments are lost by taking damage from enemy attacks and traps. When Alisia's pets lose their entire health bars, they are removed from play and cannot be brought back until a Revive power-up is collected. If Alisia loses her entire health bar, she can restart the level by expending a continue. The game ends if all the continues have been used. The player does not start with any continues but can find them hidden in the levels. The game has no features for saving the player's progress. After the game ends, a screen is shown, charting the overall performance of the player based on the last stage completed, the number of kills, the power level of Alisia's attack, and the frequency the pet monsters are used.
Companions
Dragon companions follow Alisia throughout the game. Alisia's monsters have a health bar and an energy gauge. They are controlled by the computer and attack automatically when the energy bar is full. Each one can be leveled up twice by finding a Level Up item when the companion is selected. Every level increments the companion's health bar by one segment, increases its attack damage, and changes its appearance.
The dragon can become exhausted by depleting its health bar. The appearance of dragon companions changes as they take damage. They can be rejuvenated by finding a Revive item. When revived, companions start over at level 1.
Dragon Frye (ファイヤー・ドラゴン) | |
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Shoots one, two, or three fireballs (depending on its level). The fireballs do good damage but cover a small area. Most useful against a small number of formidable foes. | |
Ball O' Fire (バーニング・スフィア) | |
Attacks by touching enemies. Meager damage output but the most durable companion; any damage inflicted against it drains its power gauge first and only impacts its health bar when its energy gauge is empty. The only companion that attacks with less than a full energy gauge. | |
Thunder Raven (サンダー・バード) | |
Attacks all enemies on screen simultaneously with its lightning flash. This is the slowest attack, but it does fair damage and has the best area of effect. An excellent companion against a large number of foes. | |
Boomerang Lizard (ブーメラン・リザード) | |
Shoots one, two, or three boomerangs (depending on its level). The boomerangs fly around and return to the dragon, hitting targets along the way. Attacks very quickly. Good when there are a large number of foes all around. |
Items
Items are contained within winged receptacles, which Alisia can break open with her lightning power. The item then falls out and can be collected by moving over it. Sometimes the receptacle is hidden until Alisia approaches or hits it with her lightning attack.
Alisia
Winged Receptacle | |
---|---|
Attack to break the item free. | |
Thunder Level Up | |
Increases Alisia's attack level, up to level 8. | |
Potion | |
Replenishes one segment of Alisia's health bar. | |
HP Up | |
Permanently adds one segment to Alisia's health bar, up to 6 segments. | |
1 Up | |
Gives the player an extra continue. | |
Invincible | |
A fairy that protects Alisia and makes her invulnerable to attacks for a duration. | |
Thunder Power Max | |
A fairy that grants Alisia a full power bar and removes the cost from her attacks for a duration. | |
Platform | |
Two fairies that create a platform for Alisia to reach otherwise inaccessible heights. |
Companions
Level Up | |
---|---|
Increases the level of the currently selected companion, up to level 3, which increases its attack power and gives it another health bar segment. | |
Beef | |
Replenishes one segment of the currently selected companion's health bar. | |
Revive | |
Revives all exhausted companions. Revived companions start over at level 1. |
Stages
Stage 1 | |
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Stage 2 | |
Stage 3 | |
Stage 4 | |
Stage 5 | |
Stage 6 | |
Stage 7 | |
Stage 8 | |
History
Legacy
The game was re-released internationally on the Mega Drive Mini in 2019.
Production credits
- Main article: Alisia Dragoon/Production credits.
- Main Programer: Naozumi Honma
- Assistant Programer: Osamu Harada
- Main Graphic Designer: Masatoshi Azumi
- Assistant Graphic Designer: Meiko Wada
- Music Programer: Mister Tom, Ari Kamijoh
- Assistant Music Programer: Ken-ichi Kunishima
- Story Concept Designer: Yuzo Sunaga
- Scenario Writer: Yoshimi Kanda
- Character Design of Monsters: Hajime Satoh
- Character Design of Alisia: Hiroyuki Hataike
- Technical Support: Toshimichi Masubuchi
- Art Work: Mariko Uemura
- Music Composer: Mecano Associates
- Music Producer: Kass
- Musicians: Nobuyuki Aoshima, Mamoru Ishimoda, Youko Sonoda, Mariko Satoh
- Special Thanks: Takeshi Miyaji, Kazuyuki Ohata, Gainax, Takami Akai, Toshio Okada, Yasuhiro Takeda, Takeshi Sawamura, Kazuhiro Nakazawa
- Special Test Player: Masahiko Ikeya
- Test Players: Akio Matsuda, Ken-ichiroh Ohmi, Nobuo Horii, Naotsugu Honma, Hideto Masubuchi, Hidetomo Tanaka
- Executive Producer: Yoichi Miyaji
- Special Thanks: Takahiro Okano
- Original Concept: Satoshi Uesaka
Digital manuals
Magazine articles
- Main article: Alisia Dragoon/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
- Main article: Alisia Dragoon/Promotional material.
Physical scans
80 | |
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Based on 34 reviews |
Mega Drive, SE (rental) |
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Mega Drive, AU |
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Technical information
- Main article: Alisia Dragoon/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ GamePro, "February 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 38
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 GamePro, "May 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 40
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 MegaTech, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-04-23), page 94
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-06-22), page 15
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 MegaTech, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-20), page 38
- ↑ Sega Power, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-02), page 31
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Supergame, "Junho 1992" (BR; 1992-06-xx), page 23
- ↑ https://topics.nintendo.co.jp/article/866c0993-5a1f-4d90-9f9d-bfe80770506e (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoAmerica on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoEurope on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ @NintendoAUNZ on Twitter (archive.today)
- ↑ File:Alisia Dragoon US credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Alisia Dragoon JP credits.pdf
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 18
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1992" (JP; 1992-04-08), page 33
- ↑ Consoles +, "Février 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 26
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 288
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 10, "" (RU; 2003-10-08), page 8
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 19
- ↑ Famitsu, "1992-05-01" (JP; 1992-04-17), page 39
- ↑ FX (UK) (+0:00)
- ↑ GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 9: August 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 10
- ↑ Hippon Super, "May 1992" (JP; 1992-04-04), page 42
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Julio 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 32
- ↑ Joypad, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-05-1x), page 68
- ↑ Joystick, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 112
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 90
- ↑ Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 19
- ↑ Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 87
- ↑ Mega Force, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-06-05), page 80
- ↑ Mean Machines, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-27), page 68
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 137
- ↑ Player One, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-06-10), page 84
- ↑ Sega Power, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-02), page 30
- ↑ Sega Pro, "June 1992" (UK; 1992-05-21), page 64
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 64
- ↑ Sega Force, "1/92" (SE; 1992-xx-xx), page 13
- ↑ Sega Force, "August 1992" (UK; 1992-07-09), page 56
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
- ↑ Supersonic, "Juillet/Août 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 5
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 7
- ↑ User, "Aprílios 1993" (GR; 1993-0x-xx), page 48
- ↑ Video Games, "6/92" (DE; 1992-05-29), page 49
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