Dragon Buster

1985 · Action RPG · Arcade

Overview

Dragon Buster (1985) is Namco's side-scrolling action RPG, in which the swordsman Clovis fights his way to a dragon — the earliest game with a double jump, and one of the first with a health meter.

Deep Dive

Clovis, a swordsman trained by a monk, sets out to slay a dragon and rescue Princess Celia, the daughter of King Lawrence. Between rounds of side-scrolling platform action, the player picks a route across an overworld map of caves, towers, boneyards, mountains and ruins. Clovis's vitality is shown on screen, recovers by 25% after each level and ends the game when it runs out.

Developer Story

Namco released the game in Japan in January 1985, with music by Yuriko Keino, and it placed third in Game Machine's chart of table arcade units that March. Tose made the Famicom version, and Dragon Buster II followed in Japan.