| Manufacturer: | Jaleco |
| Genre: | Shoot 'em up |
| Board: | Jaleco Mega System 1-A |
| Year: | 1989 |
In 1989 Irem released Dragon Breed, a horizontally scrolling shmup where the player controlled a huge dragon, whose tail could be used to shield basic attacks. Also in 1989 Jaleco released Saint Dragon, which was a horizontally scrolling shmup featuring a dragon, whose tail could be used to shield basic attacks. Whether this was a coincidence or someone plaguerised the other, I do not know; what I do know is that Saint Dragon is argueably the better game. The main reason I say this is that unlike Dragon Breed, in Saint Dragon you had complete control over the position of the tail. You could wrap it around your head, put it below you, above you, in front of you, whatever. This added a defininate layer of strategy to what is otherwise a twitch genre.
Saint Dragon also had a gorgeous art style, with lot shiny, metallic sprites and lots of layers of parallax scrolling. And what's a shoot 'em up without rousing music? St Dragon's opening ditty is as bombastic as the best of them.
If I had one criticism of this game it's the weapons. They are not very imaginative nor do they give you the sense of power that some shmups can muster. It's not a fatal flaw - otherwise it wouldn't be a Classic of the Month - but it is a bit of a let down.
MTW
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