''Draconus'' is an action-adventure platform game developed and published by Zeppelin Games in 1988. It was released for the

Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

, and ZX Spectrum. ''Draconus'' is similar to ''

Metroid is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirate (Metroid), Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the powe ...

''.

Gameplay

The player assumes the role of the hero, Frognum, whose task it is to reclaim his kingdom from the Tyrant beast. The game style is principally a platformer which finds the player running and jumping through various screens, numbering around a hundred. Many of the rooms include enemies, which generally follow fixed paths but may also swarm and chase the player. The player starts the game with two weapons: fire breath which is limited but may be replenished by collecting items, and a punch which is unlimited. Once destroyed, enemies do not respawn except in the

C64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness Wo ...

version, where they can respawn if a room that was only partly cleared is revisited. The main task is to find four special abilities and then face the final battle. Enemy contact reduces Frognum's life energy, which may be refilled by collectible symbols. On loss of all life energy Frognum loses one life and restarts from the last Record slab. These slabs occur throughout the game world and serve as checkpoints. Impacting upon water whilst in a humanoid form generally results in immediate death, as does falling large distances or touching spikes.

Reception

The game twice placed #1 in the Readers' Top Ten of the German ''Atari Magazin''.Atari Magazin issue 05/89, S. 98; 07/89, S. 74. ISSN 0933-887X.

References

External links

* {{Eutechnyx games 1988 video games Atari 8-bit computer games Commodore 64 games Metroidvania games Platformers Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games