Dragon Spirit/Gameplay

Controls

• Joystick: Use the 8-way joystick to direct Amul around the screen. The screen constantly scrolls forward on its own, but you can direct Amul to any currently visible location.
• Fire Button: Use this button to make Amul spit flames at the air-based enemies. He will shoot one blast for every head he currently has.
• Bomb Button: Use this button to make Amul drop bombs on ground-based enemies. He will drop one bomb for every head he currently has.
• 1 or 2 Player Buttons: Push these buttons to begin a 1 or 2 player game.

Amul

Amul is a prince who has the ability to summon lightning with his sword which transforms him into a giant blue dragon. He is on a mission to rescue his lover, Alicia, from the demon Zawell who has captured her and taken her prisoner. You control Amul in his dragon form throughout the game. Initially, Amul's dragon form only contains one head, and is at the lowest level of firepower. However, it's possible to collect a variety of power-up orbs that can increase the number of heads you possess, up to a maximum of three, or increase your fire power. See the Power-ups section below for more information.

Amul loses health whenever he collides with an enemy in the air, or is struck by any enemy projectile. Whenever he is struck, he is very briefly invulnerable, which is indicated by flashing. There is no way to recover lost health points. Once Amul loses all of his health points (usually 2 in the arcade, or 3 for home conversions), he will die, and you lose one life. If you have any remaining lives, you will continue from a designated checkpoint in the stage, with full health but at the lowest level of power. Amul can earn extra lives by attaining certain point levels, or collecting three Extend power-ups.

Power-ups

Power-ups are derived from two sources; eggs and flashing enemies. Eggs will always provide the same basic power-up orb that matches their color. Flashing enemies will provide a random power-up, which may be one of the basic power-up orbs, or it may be one of the special power-up orbs listed below.

Basic orbs

Dragon heads

The blue power-up orbs enables Amul to grow an additional head, up to a maximum of three heads. They are obtained by bombing blue eggs (shown right), or they may appear randomly after destroying a flashing enemy. Growing additional heads increases Amul's fire power as every head shoots flames or drops bombs simultaneously. However, it is important to be cautious when growing an additional head. The more heads you have, the larger you get, making you an easy target for the enemies to hit.

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Fire power

Amul has three levels of fire power. At level one, he can only shoot small bullet-sized flames. If he manages to collect these red orbs, either by bombing red eggs, or collecting them at random by destroying flashing enemies, one box of the FIRE meter in the lower right corner of the screen will fill in. When the meter is full, Amul will advance to a new level of fire power, up to a maximum of level three. At level two, Amul's fire is bigger and twice as powerful. At level three, Amul's breath gets longer and does three times as much damage as level one firepower. However, every time Amul is struck, his fire power drops one level, until he is down to level one. He does not lose any of the FIRE meter that he has currently stored up.

Magic eye

The yellow power-up orb is unique to the dark cavernous conditions of Template:~, and does not appear in any other stage. During this stage, Amul's eyesight is limited to a small section of the screen in front of him. However, if you manage to collect a yellow power-up orb, Amul's field of vision will extend quite far in front of him, for a limited period of time, before returning to the original distance. It can only be extended again by collecting another yellow orb.

Special orbs

Long fire

Upon collecting this orb, Amul will become green and shoot extended long flames. These flames behave like an otherwise unreachable level four fire power, and they follow along left or right wherever Amul flies on the screen. The ability will remain with Amul until he is hit.

Wide fire

Upon collecting this orb, Amul will become gray and shoot a spread of level 1 projectiles. When Amul has only one head, he will shoot a spread of three projectiles. He will shoot one additional projectile for every head he has. This ability will remain with Amul until he is hit.

Homing fire

Upon collecting this orb, Amul will become gold, and the breath that he shoots flies forward a short distance, before splitting up into many pieces and flying around the screen. These pieces will seek out and fly after any aerial target on the screen. This is an extremely powerful weapon, and as such, it only lasts for a limited period of time before Amul returns to his normal blue color and power.

Small dragon

Upon collecting this orb, Amul will shrink in size, making him far more difficult for the enemies to hit. If he had multiple heads, he will lose them, but he will keep whatever level firepower he has. This ability will remain with Amul until he is hit, or until you touch a blue dragon head orb.

Earthquake

Collecting this orb does not impact Amul's fire power directly. Instead, it causes an earthquake to occur for an extended period of time. Any enemy occupying the ground while the earthquake is in effect is instantly demolished, including eggs, freeing Amul up to focus on defending the sky.

Power wing

Upon collecting this orb, a shield is raised around Amul's wings. This shield protects Amul from nearly every attack, rendering Amul invulnerable. Projectiles bounce off of him and aerial enemies that crash into him are destroyed. The only thing which can still kill Amul is getting stuck at the bottom of the screen by some terrain like a wall. The shield loses power over time and changes color as it begins to wear out, turning red when it is almost depleted.

Extend

By collecting three of these orbs, it is possible for Amul to obtain an extra life. The first time he collects one, an egg is added to the right of his extra lives. The second time he collects one, the egg is replaced with the image of a hatching dragon. The extra life is fully granted with the third orb. The egg or hatchling do not count as extra lives, so your game will end if you die before collecting a full three Extend orbs.

Power down

This orb should be avoided at all costs. If you touch this orb, it has the same effect on Amul as if he were struck by an enemy or a projectile; he loses a head if he had more than one, and he goes down in firepower if he was above level one.

Diamond

Not so much a power-up as it is a bonus: collecting a Diamond awards you with 100 points. It takes a lot of these to truly make a dent in your score.

Gold

Gold is another bonus orb. However, unlike diamonds, gold orbs provide you with 10,000 bonus points, which can really make a difference when you're trying to obtain extra lives.