Dragon View, for SNES

Rating: 7.5/10; Good

Highly recommend for anyone looking for a Zelda like adventure.

Dragon View is an action RPG that uniquely combines elements from multiple genres for a very fun adventure. Like most RPGs, the protagonist gains xp by defeating enemies and leveling up. Levels improve attack and defense, and the combat mechanics directly compare attack and defense values so that if you are under leveled you will inflict pitiful damage and take massive damage. However, the combat is quite skill based and it is possible to win with a huge disadvantage.

Combat takes place in a 2D side view and plays out similar to a beat em up, having a few different lanes along the ground and simple controls. A large part of battle strategy is changing lanes so as not to be in the same lane as an enemy when it attacks, though many enemies have special abilities to make this more difficult. You have a variety of tools to help in battle starting with a sword and later a mid range boomerang. Both have power attacks that can be learned to inflict more damage at a cost to your health, and this is one way to mitigate the pitiful damage from being under leveled. You can also spend money on bombs and arrows, and use magic that completely ignores defense and wrecks enemies that are weak vs that element. Magic is a great way to defeat strong enemies and can be upgraded to room clearing area effects.

If you are getting some Legend of Zelda vibes so far that is because the game is overall most similar to that series. All weapon, armor, magic, health and mana upgrades are found in the world and the hero's appearance changes with each armor or weapon upgrade. Dungeons and caves often have hidden paths to find these upgrades and some even require backtracking later in the game when you get the appropriate ability (such as fire magic to melt ice). The game does not have many puzzles though. The ones that are present are either very simple or slightly obtuse; don't expect the intriguing puzzles of A Link to the Past.

Outside of towns and dungeons, the overworld is experienced from a 1st person perspective. Despite being technologically impressive it does not really add anything to the game. The world is larger than it needs to be, relatively empty, plain looking and a bit tedious and slow to move around in. There are random battles that move around as clouds but they are usually easy to avoid and less efficient than grinding in dungeons. Your map is abstracted as multiple pieces of paper and it can be a little difficult to find your way around, especially if you wander into an area for which you do not have the appropriate map item. Add to this a confusing fast travel system using teleporters. I actually preferred to get around on foot rather than try to figure out how to use them.

The positive features of the game far outweigh the flaws and when combined with the well written (if cliche) story, the result is a solid and enjoyable adventure.