Dragonstomper

"Great for it's time, but a Mediocre RPG at Best by Today's Standards"

Dragonstomper for the Atari 2600, is one of the earliest RPGs ever created (I am 99% sure). It has everything that you would expect an early RPG to have, and maybe a bit more, which I find quite impressive for a system like the 2600. In the game you do stuff ranging from buying magic scrolls, to recruiting villagers to help you in your quest. So, without much further ado, lets start the review.

Story - 7/10: Just you average run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG story. It goes something like this: A magician creates an amulet to destroy a dragon. While heading to the dragons lair, the magician drops the amulet into the lair on accident, which somehow increases the dragons cunning and power. After that, the dragon begins to terrorize an unnamed kingdom, which is where you come in. After that your quest to destroy the dragon begins...

Gameplay - 9/10: I'll have to admit, for a 2600 game, there is actually a good amount of elements to the gameplay. Most of the game focuses on gaining strength and money by killing "enchanted creatures" throughout the game map (which isn't too big). Eventually you get strong enough to become a "dragonstomper" and fight the dragon. When you are ready to fight the dragon, you go to the village, and do a number of things that will aid in the fight against the dragon. Those things include buying potions, recruiting villagers to help you, buying elixers, equipment, etc. After you kill the dragon, the game's over, and has an anticlimatic ending of "peace throughout the kingdom."

Graphics - 6/10: Nothing special. The graphics are exactly what you think an RPG would be on the 2600, but at least it's not text based. The graphics are somewhat reminiscent of ET The Extra Terrestrial. But despite that similarity, the game isn't as bad as ET was. Anyways, the graphics are simple. Your character, and other characters look just barely like humans. The environment is bland. The grass is just a solid green rectangle on the screen. The trees and dragon don't look very much like trees or dragons at all, just a pixalated mess.

Sound - 1/10: Sound!? What sound? Oh, you mean the repetitive music and annoying beeps? The sound is an abomination. Think of the sound of pong, mixed with the sound of ET... Now you have an idea (at least I hope so). The walking and attacking sound effects are the same. The music is a repetitive, lame, piece of (insert bad word here). I had to turn my volume down after the 100th time the lame track played...

Overall - 7/10: While good for it's time, it really sucks by today's standards, but considering that it still playable, and that it still has some positive values, I am going to give it a seven. So, look on ebay for this, game and if you are an RPG fan, or just a fan of the classics, get this game!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/08

Game Release: Dragonstomper (US, 1982)