"An Underrated Color Dreams Game"

I recently picked up a copy of this game, and from all the things I've heard about the game, many people say the game is a horrible, broken mess. I simply do not agree. And no, I'm not bluffing. I seriously think this is a true classic on the NES. Maybe it's me playing so many bad games that I just accept them, but I really do think this is a great game. Here's my review of Challenge of the Dragon:

STORY: This is one of the few Color Dreams games that actually has storyline. At least they put a storyline in their game, be thankful for that. Only problem is that the story is a little cliched. An evil wizard has stolen your girl and you got to get her back. Okay, I change my mind, it's REALLY cliched, but still, at least the storyline is there, and it gives you a reason to want to play the game.

GAMEPLAY: One problem people have with this game is that your guy slips and slides. It seems a lot of people complain about that in games except...Super Mario Bros! Seriously! I don't get it...Why do people complain about your guy slipping and sliding when Mario does the same exact thing and nobody complains? Your guy doesn't even take a second to stop completely. Another problem people have with this game is that the hit detection sucks. Okay, I'll give them that, it's not perfect, but I've seen licensed Nintendo games that have worse hit detection, like Conan, or the Last Starfighter, both developed by Mindscape. Anyway, I'm getting off topic here.

GRAPHICS: Dan Burke did everything you see in the game, even the cool cover art. The graphics aren't perfect, but hey, you can't be Sunsoft all the time. The graphics are good for the most part. You can distinguish one thing from another and the enemies look like what they are supposed to represent. Okay, granted, the dragons aren't perfect, but still, at least they resemble dragons if nothing else.

MUSIC AND SOUND: The music's pretty good for a Color Dreams game. It's one of the few to actually bother using drums where in most Color Dreams games, it's just the two square waves. What most people don't understand is that you had to program the music. The NES didn't use MIDI files. Granted, the music doesn't necessarily fit with the theme of the game, but at least it sounds good. The sound effects aren't all that good though, there's not a whole lot of them, and the ones that are there aren't the best, but at least when you hit an enemy, it sounds like you hit them, but I could really live without the sound when you collect items. Overall, the audio department's like the graphics, not the best but definitely not the worst.

FINAL VERDICT: Overall, this game isn't the best game, but it's very underrated and I don't think much people bothered to try it to see for themselves because they heard the game sucked so they assumed it sucks. Well I'm here to defend this game and tell you to give it a try. Play it on an emulator, or buy the cart and see for yourself. If you have a grudge against Color Dreams games, then I've got news for you; this is definitely one of their better titles, and it's too bad it didn't say well. Give the game a try sometime.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/12

Game Release: Challenge of the Dragon (US, 1990)