And personally, I don't think Dragon Spirit is anything to write home about.
Dragon Spirit is great! Do you not like the game in general or do you not like the PCE port?
Both. The game itself, as originally designed for the arcade, is not all that good to begin with. It's just... not very fun. Huge hitbox, poorly designed stages, etc... The Turbo port further mars things with decidedly poor visuals. The Turbo port could have been much, much better. The instrumentation on Dragon Spirit (Turbo version) is pretty good, but the musical compositions don't excite me.
The followup, Dragon Saber, addresses virtually all of these issues with superior stage design, no long boring stretches, smoother gameplay that doesn't make the big hitbox as much of an issue, and superior visuals. Also, more interesting compositions.
Well, that explains it! Our views on Dragon Spirit (arcade version or otherwise) are diametrically opposed
.
This actually is a good thing to find out, because now I understand where you are coming from.
I won't try
* to sway your opinion (since you are repulsed by Dragon Spirit
), but here's my scoop on the Spirit vs. Saber:
*I will try to sway other folks here on the forums, though. I can't let them think that Saber is the better game! (1) Perhaps a bit sluggish when directly compared to Saber, Dragon Spirit
totally holds its own. Dragon Spirit is a solid game in the arcade and the PCE version is
solid. I mean
solid. Hit box? It's fine! You gotta have skills! You gotta dodge! I think the trend toward smaller (1 pixel!) hitboxes over the past 15+ years is sad. We need some gargantuan hitboxes that require skillz
.
(1 1/4) I'll grant you that there are segments of Dragon Spirit where the action slows down, but this isn't necessarily a problem: it's nice to have a respite to take a deep breath before the action heats up again. I like the air and ground enemies that must be destroyed (I wipe out every last one, I hate it when I miss a ground enemy). It keeps things interesting. Cyber Core copied this to its benefit. Now, since I like to listen to the music in Dragon Spirit whilst playing, I don't put up the turbo switches and hold down the I & II buttons for the whole game. I don't use turbo and I give my thumb a break whenever I can. I think this is an important consideration (thumb fatigue) that I did not even consider in the other thread (about arcade ports on consoles and how lame it is to exploit rapid-fire unless the arcade featured it as a standard function). I don't expect everyone to agree with my philosophy, but I enjoy it
.
(1.6) The only thing that is maddening about Spirit is that the SHITTY SFX (air-to-ground bombs) have priority over the soundtrack, IRREPARABLY ruining the many glorious PSG tunes in the game. Not all the songs are great, mind you, but a majority are. SFX should NEVER have priority over soundtrack, IMO. I know you aren't a big fan of the soundtrack. This makes me sad
(2) So, Dragon Saber is NOT superior to Spirit. Saber features mosquitoes. Where are the
dragons? Now, Saber has some slick! graphical effects with the background (i.e. the earth ripping open and exposing lava!) which really WOWS! the player and makes Spirit's stages appear static and dull. THIS IS A LIE. Saber's stages are not fundamentally better (design or otherwise) when it comes to challenge and enjoyment. And isn't this the most important thing? Dragon Spirit provides an entertaining romp that is not inherently weaker than Saber.
(3.5) It's true, Saber has slicker graphics (for the
levels/stages), but the mosquito-sized sprites in the game totally negate this improvement!
(4) The music in Saber is mild at best. Spirit's music is extra spicy. I prefer the latter.
(5) Having said all of this, I enjoy both games. I just have to defend Spirit's honor.
And also just got a new Turbo Stick. Very disappointing. Horrible for shmups(tough to pull of diagonal movement), and can't pull of Ryu's shoryukens 
The U.S. TurboStick (which I'm assuming is the version you bought) is an "economy" version of the JP TurboStick. The JP original is bottom-weighted which makes controlling with it much, much better. It's otherwise almost virtually identical except for color and the size of the connector. It's amazing how much difference that bottom-weight makes, though.
I was always wondering about the difference(s) between the US and Japanese Sticks, thanks for the scoop.
The NES Advantage had a decent bottom-weight and really felt solid. I haven't used one since I was a kid (late 80's), but the TurboStick felt so flimsy and insubstantial compared to the NES Advantage.
