Dragonfire (video game)

Dragonfire is a 1982 video game written by Bob Smith and published by Imagic.[1] The player grabs treasure guarded by a dragon while avoiding fireballs. It was originally released for the Atari 2600 then ported to the Intellivision, VIC-20, Commodore 64, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, ColecoVision, and TRS-80 Color Computer.

Dragonfire
Intellivision box art
Developer(s)Imagic
Publisher(s)Imagic
Designer(s)Bob Smith[1]
Platform(s)Atari 2600, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, VIC-20, Intellivision, TRS-80 Color Computer, Apple II
ReleaseMay 21, 1982: 2600
1982: Intellivision
1983: VIC, Spectrum
1984: Apple, C64, ColecoVision, CoCo
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)1-2 players alternating turns

The game's source code was put into the public domain by developer Bob Smith on May 24, 2003.[2]

Gameplay

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The player jumping over a fireball on the first stage, the castle bridge
 
The second stage: the treasure room

Each level of Dragonfire has two stages. The first stage is a side view of the character trying to cross a drawbridge to reach a castle. To traverse the bridge, the player must duck under high fireballs and jump over low fireballs. Upon success, the second stage begins, which has a more top-down point of view. The player guides the character around the room collecting treasure and dodging fireballs spewed by a dragon that patrols the bottom of the screen. Collecting every piece of treasure opens a door to the next level.

A single hit from a fireball in either stage takes one of the player's seven initial lives. In each level, the character and fireballs get progressively faster.

Reception

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Electronic Games in 1983 described Dragonfire as "especially useful as an introduction to fantasy gaming for younger players — while still having enough thrills to please the rest".[3] The game would go on to receive a Certificate of Merit in the category of "1984 Best Videogame Audio-Visual Effects (Less than 16K ROM)" at the 5th annual Arkie Awards.[4]: 42 

References

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  1. ^ a b Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  2. ^ Dragonfire_source
  3. ^ "The Players Guide to Fantasy Games". Electronic Games. June 1983. p. 47. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  4. ^ Kunkel, Bill; Katz, Arnie (January 1984). "Arcade Alley: The Arcade Awards, Part 1". Video. 7 (10). Reese Communications: 40–42. ISSN 0147-8907.
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