Flying Dragon

"The BEST Fighter I have EVER played!"

And then, as it was released, and it was seen, most chose to ignore it... But then, the few that followed it could not stop following it...
~The book of Flying Dragon...

If you don't give this game even a rent, you're missing out on a lot. Flying Dragon is 2 games in one (Yes, 2!). The only thing I DIDN'T Like:

Memory Card Requirement = 47 Pages

Yeah, that's a lot, but that's nothing compared to SOME games...

Now, back to the actual game.

Flying Dragon comes in two modes. I'll describe them each in turn.

SD (Super Deformed) Hiryu - Just as the name suggests, the characters in this mode are slightly cutesy and super deformed - Large heads, hands, and feet, small bodies. The controls are simpler... And here comes the 20-second rundown.

Okay, SD Hiryu or Kid mode is played with cutesy anime-style characters. The biggest feature here is Equipment and Levels - As you go up Levels (From 0-4), your character can equip weapons and other equipment and can level up that equipment, making your character much stronger. Also, you earn more Secret Busters - the Super-Techniques that, for once in a fighter, are INCREDIBLY EASY to pull off (No more 20-button combos from Street Fighter for me!). The big challenge lies in this mode. There's 200 (I think) Items to collect, and to do it, you'll need to master all of the 10 playable characters. There's also Platinum versions of the characters you fight as bosses, each with their own special rewards... And *Sometimes* annoying abilities

SD Hiryu is where you'll probably spend the most of your time. Indeed, SD is where most of the action in the game will take place. So, of course, the majority of the game was put here. It's easy to learn, but hard to master, and it'll take a few hours before you can beat the game completely with a character

Virtual Hiryu is the other mode - Played with adult characters, and much more like the classic file, Virtual also uses easy-to-learn moves, although it's harder to control and a much more advanced level of fighter then SD Hiryu. Virtual mode boasts only 9 characters, 3 of which are more grown-up versions of the SD Characters, and almost all the rest of which you can probably figure out whom THEY'RE related too...

Virtual Hiryu, instead of having Equipment, has an in-depth Rating System that goes from 10 Kyu to 10 Dan (Which is nearly impossible to get!). It's going to really test your skills, you'll need to focus on this is you want to master both the 2D and 3D modes for each character.

This game will consume your time, give your eyes a rest with a light-hearted fighter (Unlike so many dark hard-to-see fighters that exist), give your ears a rest with the tunes that fit the characters so well and almost never seem to get old, and yet still manage to give you a challenge. Getting everything in this game will take longer then any other fighter I know of. If you're a pro looking for something you haven't mastered yet, this will consume a couple months of your time. If you're anything else, this game will catch your attention, even if you're not normally a fan of fighters.

Here's the breakdown.
Graphics - 9/10 - Although not perfect and somewhat childish, the graphics are a nice look over the normally dark and devilish fighters
Controls - 10/10 - Incredibly easy to learn. A simple move is just a couple button presses, instead of the 10-button fireballs from other games that made me dislike most other fighting games
Innovation - 10/10 - Let's face it - An in-depth ranking system helps you realize where you're lacking in Virtual, and a HUGE Item system in SD mode will take you a while to complete...
Overall - 10/10 - This game is great. Don't rent, buy. I GUARANTEE that you will fall in love.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/04/03, Updated 07/04/03