Dragon Master Longplay (Arcade) [4K]

Game Info --------------------------------------------------- Developer: Unico Publisher: Unico Year of Release: 1994 Game Review & Impressions --------------------------------------------------- The USA and Japan might have been the East and Western hubs of coin-op design and manufacture during the early 90s, but Korea had something of a thriving, if perhaps under-recognised presence in the sector as well. I've played several Korean arcade titles over the years, and it's not uncommon to see design influences, artwork and assets from other games show up in their domestically produced titles. Dragon Master, created by Unico in 1994, became of interest the moment I noticed the similarities to Capcom's Street Fighter II, and I was curious to see how this compared to the greatest 1-on-1 arcade fighting game of all time. From the outset, it's obvious Unico wasn't too bothered about Capcom, or indeed anyone, knowing where they got the bulk of ideas for this game. Unico didn't just stop at copying the character design templates, but they went as far as copying the graphical style, not to mention many of the character animations and combat moves. In fairness, the graphics are actually quite good, but there's an air of the uncanny valley about Dragon Master; it's almost as if you're watching a version of Street Fighter II from some parallel dimension within the multiverse, one which feels oddly familiar, but also looks nothing quite like you remember. What's perhaps even more surprising is that the gameplay doesn't actually suck. The hitboxes, control inputs and general mechanics are surprisingly robust. It lacks the refinement of Street Fighter II, but in the grand scheme of things, I have no major complaints. My only real gripe is the decision to implement SF2's light, heavy and medium attacks, but to use four input buttons instead of six. Executing heavy punch and kicks means you have to press two buttons at once, which is a bit clumsy. The combination of inputs required to pull off some of special moves is also less than intuitive than it should be; I found myself constantly executing Garcia's weird teleport punch, instead of his off-brand Shoryuken. It's hardly a ringing endorsement, but Dragon Master isn't awful. There's no way I'd want to play this in preference to Street Fighter II, or indeed many other fighting games, but taken on its own merit, it's a half-way decent arcade fighter. If you saw this in the corner of an arcade, the presentation and production values might just sway you to insert a coin or two. There's probably more fun to be had in multiplayer, and if you have a willing player two available, I reckon you might just have some fun with this. Chapters --------------------------------------------------- 00:00 Attract mode 00:30 Gameplay