Dragon Force Review - Sega Saturn

[@gameshack1985]

*A truly brilliant game that I feel didn't get the recognition it deserved at the time!* For reference, over here in the UK, Dragon Force scored *86%* in Gamesmaster magazine upon release, a superior score to both Panzer Dragoon Saga and Burning Rangers *[both 80%]* and Shining Force 3 with a lowly *70%!* What are your thoughts on Dragon Force?

[@SPac316]

Sega should re-released this game for modern consoles, including the sequel we never seen outside Japan.

[@gameshack1985]

@@SPac316 I just can't see it happening!

[@Satiator123]

I don't think it's possible. I'm pretty sure since Working Designs owns the game and no longer exists that it can never be re-released. I would love to see this game with some difficulty options, though. Like letting defending armies choose which unit battles which, and making it impossible to exit a fortress quickly to capture a retreating army.

[@oratank]

@@Satiator123 you can capture a retreating army by exit a fortress right after the fight ended your unit will hit it instants if you ain't fast enough then use pause

[@Jarrych83]

I immediately thought of this game when Unicorn Overlord came out. Not the same, but I could see an update not getting too complicated but adding some of those sorts of elements in to expand on the strategy and complexity a hair without being too much.

[@kennethcogdill3022]

As well as shining force 3

[@pbpraga3963]

My favourite game on the saturn. Epic game!

[@gameshack1985]

It's still so addictive even now!

[@feathertralia4703]

I currently have a Saturn with HDMI adapter just to play this game. Dragon Force is something, as a gamer, I cannot be without.

[@gameshack1985]

@@feathertralia4703 I fully understand!

[@DaMurph8219]

I still play this today. I bought a Saturn back in the day just for this game. In my top 5 list for sure.

[@gameshack1985]

@@DaMurph8219 It definitely is!

[@Satiator123]

So do I. I probably shouldn't be watching this video before I end up starting up another quest.

[@FinnMcCool-b3e]

Same, I bought a Saturn, dragon Force, shining force, and street fighter alpha 2 for like 30 bucks

[@gameshack1985]

@@FinnMcCool-b3e A bargain you will never get again!

[@gameshack1985]

@@Satiator123 😂😂

[@feliciavale4279]

Dragon Force is absolutely amazing. My cousin and I used to play it together and it was fun learning all the intricacies of the systems in a time before the internet was a thing.

[@gameshack1985]

@@feliciavale4279 That is the best way to play it, and exactly how I played it! No guides, trial and error, top stuff!

[@Zero_Tester]

Junon is one of my favorite in the game,i remember one of my vassal got capture by enemy and he never returned to my sides again for the rest of the game lol

[@yohannvilla2445]

Simply my favorite game on any platform. So, thanks for the great video... One thing, most people don't know the game, if I were you I would have avoided spoilers. Also, a little anecdote, the music was composed by the same person as those of Skies of Arcadia ;). Otherwise, for your Saturn top 10, it would be good to put a link to your full ranking, so that we know the games tested and those that could enter it. Yoh, whose top (except for DF and SF3) is clearly different from yours (- Sonic Jam, Darius Gaiden,... + Guardian Hereos, Story of Thor 2, Burning Rangers,...)

[@gameshack1985]

I simply put my top 10 at the end of a video because I do not compile a list of every game I've ever reviewed from bottom to top...imagine the stress trying to put 93 [I think so far] games in order from worst to best! My reviews are split into playlists though, so you can easily look through that list to see what games I've previously covered! Thanks for feedback!

[@jareddoucette7193]

I’ve been playing this game since 1997. It’s superb and I’ve never found another game like it. I would love a modern remaster

[@briantaylorcloe7725]

Has been my fave game of all-time for nearly three decades .... do not see how it can ever be dethroned!!

[@justincase43]

thanks for reviewing, i remember seeing this as a kid and being so impressed with having so many sprites/troops on the screen at one time

[@gameshack1985]

@@justincase43 Yeah, it's great with 200 troops raging war!

[@420haxx]

Great review of a really underappreciated game! I got a Saturn just for this game after playing it a friends house back in the late 90's, and to this day it is probably still my fave game on the Saturn, even though now I have played all of the Shining Force 3 games which I never managed to get hold of back in the day. I always like playing as Gongos(Katt is awesome!), but I think the most powerful leader is probably Junon.

[@gameshack1985]

The Shining Force 3 trilogy of games are all great titles still and I really enjoyed them, just like Dragon Force! My personal favourite is Wein as then I get to have Rudger from the start! 😅

[@marmosetfreund8506]

Lovely review, I always appreaciate your reviews mate.

[@gameshack1985]

@marmosetfreund8506 thanks a lot! 😄

[@keithseratt5926]

I just found your channel, this is the first video I've watched. Near the end when you said you're 91 games in I immediately exited full screen hit the Subscribe button, liked your video and finished it. I'm looking forward to what I find next. You did a very good job here.

[@gameshack1985]

@keithseratt5926 Thanks a lot! Be warned: some of my earlier Saturn reviews had a worse mic, worse display and worse sound editing!!

[@keithseratt5926]

@@gameshack1985 oh really😕?? Nevermind! Your channel is repugnant to the point of nausea. Unsubscribed🧐

[@KinaQuinquina]

I completed it with all leaders. My favorite was Juon. There was a general you could get that was a succubus. She had some great troops. The fun part if the enemy retreats from a castle, you can deploy your troops and intercept them. I leveled this general alot with this tactic.

[@gameshack1985]

Yeah, run down those poor suckers who retreat!

[@rfdsdf1]

Crazy story, I bought a saturn off ebay to buy and play this game. When the console arrived I opened the disc bay and found a copy of dragonforce in it, it's the one with the goddess on the label.

[@gameshack1985]

@@rfdsdf1 about as lucky as it gets! 😂

[@rfdsdf1]

@@gameshack1985 I felt like I won the lotto mate!

[@jasonmiller3543]

This game is the reason I bought a Saturn. It's absolutely incredible. I had to buy a second copy because I wore out the first one. Wish it was ported to a more modern console

[@gameshack1985]

@jasonmiller3543 So many games are locked to old systems unfortunately.

[@jsayther]

Definitely my favorite Saturn game by far! Still have my Saturn and this is the only have i own for it.

[@thehumbleone1983]

One of the Saturn great game and your detail review of this gem is great top video 👍🏻

[@gameshack1985]

@@thehumbleone1983 when it's a great game like this, I try to cover as much as I can without going on too much! 😂

[@thongngo6438]

Like you said Best game on the Sega Saturn! Only reason I owned the Sega Saturn over the original PS1 at the time.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Sega did everything in their power to make sure the Saturn was destined to be the underdog, so most people are wholly unaware of its better offerings, like this game. I believe this is Sega Lord X's all time favorite overall Saturn game.

[@gameshack1985]

I think SLX has only mentioned 4,567 times it is his favourite Saturn game ever! 😂

[@SomeOrangeCat]

@@gameshack1985 Its one of the few games I've seen where I'm like "Yeah, the PS1 would have trouble replicating this." Saturn was a 2-D beast, the N64 a 3-D beast, the PS1 did both reasonably well enough to be a good all-rounder.

[@costumeninja1914]

⁠Panzer Dragoon Zwei - infinite planes- would also be highly difficult for the PS to pull off.

[@neosildrake]

Great game. Bought it decades ago. At first I found it difficult to manage the troops, generals, castles etc. I'm bad at this part of the game, but the overall package, the many choices you can make, while intimidating in some way, also make it appealing with quite a bit of replay value. And yes, I startedwith probably the most vanilla character: pretty boy Wein. 😅

[@gameshack1985]

I, too, started with the iconsic Wein! lol I always go the for standard knight type guy on games! lol

[@DaMurph8219]

Also there’s is a untranslated PS2 version of this with updated graphics.

[@gameshack1985]

@@DaMurph8219 Yeah, it was a Sega Ages line release.

[@brazilmugenteam]

Recently I made a fan game where some characters from this game appear in it :) it's called Pocket Dimensional Clash 2

[@krisslakin1544]

I remember renting this game as a kid and having no idea how to play it lol. Despite that, I have such a strong memory of it, playing with my brother, trying to figure it out and really enjoying it for what we got out of it before returning it. I wish I could play it now.

[@gameshack1985]

Indeed, it can be somewhat complex to start with, especially if you are a little kid, even more so!

[@jasonwismer2670]

It was a really great game. There was a pretty cheesy tactic you could do to win though. On retreat, enemies would run away quickly on the map. BUT, if you paused, moved your guy towards them, then unpaused, you would instantly engage in combat again with them when they were out of troops and low on health.

[@gameshack1985]

Yeah, pretty sneaky! 😂

[@cruelcynic]

I remember when I was a kid playing this the summer after it released. I played through every kingdom over that summer. It was that good.

[@gameshack1985]

@@cruelcynic It really is so great!

[@RPGStory]

This game looks fantastic and I've never heard of it!

[@gameshack1985]

@@RPGStory it's incredibly addictive!

[@joeboo8626]

I saw the thumbnail and thought, Finally! The game is getting re-released. Never saw the Sega Ages PS2 release over here.

[@gameshack1985]

Yeah, it's a shame the Sega Ages releases weren't worldwide! 🙁

[@Reglor]

I own a Saturn and only one game for it, Dragon Force. It is in storage right now but I bring it out and play it every once in a while.

[@gameshack1985]

@Reglor Get Shining Force 3 too!

[@Intrepimid]

I remember in my teens i would visit my friend and when her uncle would come over he'd bring his saturn. We'd play this and saturn bomberman! I now have it on emulator but i wish they'd port this or remake/remaster it!

[@gameshack1985]

@Intrepimid As great as it could be, I just can't see it happening!

[@ricardomanso3459]

As soon as i have seen a trailer of this game on a game's tv show , i felt in love with it And as soon as i get it and played it...oh boy...it didnt disappointed at all My favorite Saturn game

[@gameshack1985]

@@ricardomanso3459 I never saw a trailer for it here in the UK at all!

[@ricardomanso3459]

@@gameshack1985 it was not a real trailer We had these tv show here in Portugal caled "Templo dos jogos" where they show some games, made reviews and previews

[@ricardomanso3459]

@@gameshack1985 It was not a real trailer It was kind of a preview on that tv show about games (They just showed some videos about the game) The show was called Templo dos Jogos aka Temple of the Games Later on thy made a review of it

[@eggroll20xd6]

I got this and Shining Force 3 for Christmas when the games originally came out. It is a shame neither has seen a re-release or remake in modern times. I definitely beat this one back in the day and still have my copy, but no original hardware to play unfortunately.

[@gameshack1985]

It's a shame the Ps2 version of Dragon Force wasn't worldwide!

[@Zero_Tester]

I liked the series,one of my favorite despite it might not seem much these days,especially because im sucker for much under the radar type of games,and other series with same aesthetic but with sim raising genre is Queen Road,sadly it in Japanese only,and the other in translation community isnt interested to do the project yet for this period.

[@opaljk4835]

This was a super fun gaming experience. I just finished it maybe a month ago. It is no shining force 3. But it’s such a fun self contained game experience. It doesn’t have that epic story SF3 has, and that’s totally fine, but I’ve only finished it the one time as Wein. So I plan on going through it again eventually using the debug menu to speed things up, instead of the true blue way I did it last time. Honestly my only big nitpick is that sometimes it’s very unclear how to move the story forward. But after you get the hang of it, it’s so much fun.

[@cybrim1]

HD Remaster... please, I loved this game as a kid. The soundtrack was a banger.

[@gameshack1985]

@@cybrim1 We can hope!

[@starblaze27]

I have both played and own Dragon Force and I agree that it is perhaps the best (to me) Saturn game. I still play it a bit today and have told people often that I will not sell the game and no price will make me part with it.

[@gameshack1985]

@@starblaze27 I can only think of one game that could possibly dethrone Dragon Force in my Wordwide Top 10......

[@starblaze27]

@@gameshack1985 if you are thinking panzer dragoon saga, I am not sure I can agree. Then again I was one of the unlucky ones to have never played it. If not that (or is) I will have to see it. I also need to make time to try Panzer Dragoon Saga myself one day.

[@gameshack1985]

@@starblaze27 It was Dragon Force that knocked Panzer Dragoon Saga out of my PAL Top 10! 😂

[@starblaze27]

@@gameshack1985 Oh snap. Now I am curious on what may dethrone Dragon Force.

[@Ragingspoon]

Hear this game mentioned a few times now and its getting pushed higher up my list.

[@gameshack1985]

@@Ragingspoon It's still great to play even now!

[@randomdrifter]

Enjoyed the game, but if language isn't a barrier, I did enjoy the sequels' mechanics more (translation patch is out if you know where to look tho) Much easier to get into and less time investment needed compared to the Shining Force 3 scenarios IMO

[@MrVariant]

10:42 Nobody mentioning the spam skills when enemies are close to archers/mages for free attacks (others do not attack when either general uses a skill, which undermines the whole Pokémon style disadvantages), and sandwich the immobile commander a space away to easily win? I was surprised I figured that out in dragon force as a kid (even disperse to avoid sonic wave). That is compared to needing to be an old man to break FFT’s bs with bravery, invigoration 4 shotting anyone while draining life at the fastest non instant speed, and broken area of effects like mimic Darlavon/job unlocks. Both have good stories and replay value I admit. I do hope that unreleased DF2 fixed their battle system to not be the general sandwich DF1 is.

[@AccountName-gv5ie]

Nice Review

[@AlecTheCanadianGamer]

Looks like a interesting game to play and awesome video man give you a like and full watch time keep it up

[@gameshack1985]

Thanks! 😄

[@planexshifter]

Loved this game!!! Played through with every kingdom

[@gameshack1985]

@@planexshifter It's still a brilliant game now!

[@andyreichert499]

I played this game way way way back when it was released. I remember the basics, and I love how creative they were with the mechanics of the game. But it's been so long that I don't remember much of what happens i the game. I never played the sequel, but I'm curious

[@gameshack1985]

@@andyreichert499 I'll be playing the sequel at some point soon!

[@fazares]

Very good game..just like its, japan exclusive, sequel!

[@gameshack1985]

@@fazares That's next on my hit-list!

[@DrKaku01]

I always wanted to play this game since i saw it once like 10 years ago, finaly got an emulator to play it, played the second one cuz it the same as the first with more stuff,but i dunno if it was the emulator or the Game doing some weird stuff like sometimes some trops didnt atack and many other bugs,reached the final boss without leveling the main character soo i had to level up him a bit not too much just a few levels since the real strenght are the trops, can someone tell me if the game was Kinda buggy or maybe was just me

[@gameshack1985]

@DrKaku01 I've heard the second is not as good as the first, but I am yet to play it myself.

[@DrKaku01]

@@gameshack1985 oh nice, i used a translated iso, lets see if the game is has that many bugs or just the emulator 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@HelloMisterJAMWAH]

Only ever rented this. Played it so much over 2 nights that I got a migraine.

[@gameshack1985]

@@HelloMisterJAMWAH 😂😂😂

[@1thru8]

my favorite game on the saturn. always hoping there be a remaking of this game. closet game i was able to find to something like this is langrisser on the mobile phone.

[@gameshack1985]

@@1thru8 There's plenty of games that deserve remakes......but we'll never get..☹️

[@TBoneTony]

Is this the game that had all those Multiple Segata Sanshiro's battle in the advertising of this game???

[@gameshack1985]

@@TBoneTony no idea!

[@richfan10]

great game really enjoyed this when it came out; heard the second game wasn't as good for reasons? :/

[@gameshack1985]

@richfan10 I'll be playing it soon so I'm sure I'll find out! 😄

[@opaljk4835]

It certainly looks a lot different. But I’ve really only heard it’s slightly less good, but has a ton of really cool new mechanics.

[@pbpraga3963]

Actually the second game its better almost in every way. Try it yourself.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Its a case of: They got it so right the first time that they couldn't figure out how improve upon it.

[@opaljk4835]

@@SomeOrangeCat there were definitely really tedious and silly things that could and did end up getting improved

[@densha63]

Hello, just my humble opinion. I think there are a lot of good classic games that I think needs a remaster without changing the essence too much on the gameplay mechanics or upgrading them a bit. I love both DF I and DF2 to be honest. SF3 was I think given a low score maybe it is because it is in an incomplete state and only Disc 1 was officially released for the US leaving disc 2 and 3 as JP only. And admittedly, SF3 did not aged well compared to SF2.

[@gameshack1985]

@densha63 I think all 3 parts of Shining Force 3 have aged well in terms of gameplay as they are still great, with a deep story. The pre-rendered sprites though....not so much. 😅

[@makavelimusolini1036]

This game was my shit. Finished it when I borrowed it from a friends (along with his saturn and lots of great games, he borrowed my neo cdz with around 60 games). Used the cheat from start of the game. Don't remember what it did, I remember a lot of extra text being on screen.

[@gameshack1985]

@makavelimusolini1036 the debug cheat I imagine!

[@makavelimusolini1036]

@@gameshack1985 Yea, that's the one, lol. Also had vampire hunter, and a couple of action rpg's, with one asymetrical one like viewpoint. both rpg's were famious back then, with blond male mc's. Shame he didn't have guardian heroes, though.

[@gameshack1985]

@makavelimusolini1036 Sounds like Dark Savior! 😄

[@makavelimusolini1036]

@@gameshack1985 Yes, and another one with g, iirc, grandia maybe? Been so long, lol. Both were pretty good, but not dragon force good. I mainly played df and vh honestly (fighters are my favourite genre, snk/capcom, along with racing, especially good arcade racing from sega).

[@masiczobe6074]

Great game!

[@gameshack1985]

@masiczobe6074 yes it is!

[@freewithadsmovies5236]

after watching this I pulled out my dusty sega saturn and tried to play it but it doesn't look good as your video.

[@gameshack1985]

Maybe you don't have a scart lead?

[@scott2394]

I can not overstate how much I loved this game in 96. And I was always envious that it was only for the Saturn. I only owned a ps1 until 98.

[@gameshack1985]

Imagine though, how envious Saturn owners were of Gran Turismo, FF7 and Metal Gear Solid.....

[@The_Badseed]

Great game. I really loved my Saturn, too bad Sega's idiotic decisions and the PS1 killed the console 🪦

[@gameshack1985]

@@The_Badseed indeed!

[@gheretmaaar7652]

This game appears quite similar to Suikoden

[@gameshack1985]

In terms of collecting memebers for your team I suppose it does have similarities!

[@gheretmaaar7652]

@@gameshack1985 and the on field army battles - very much like Suikoden 2 also

[@ubercomrade]

Better game on emulator where you can speed shit up.

[@gameshack1985]

@@ubercomrade 😂

[@patrickbender3624]

Only one Game on Saturn has a Chance to beat Dragon Force in the Rankings... Panzer Dragoon SAGA😏

[@gameshack1985]

@@patrickbender3624 That was knocked out of the Top 10.....by Dragon Force! 😂

[@patrickbender3624]

@@gameshack1985 It`s just my Opinion its a close call between the 2. I wonder why Burning Rangers didn´t make it on the List

[@gameshack1985]

@patrickbender3624 I haven't covered it yet lol.

[@Nickbro1234]

I put over 1000 hours on this

[@gameshack1985]

@@Nickbro1234 don't think I'm at that yet!

[@alegomanYTPs]

I still don't understand how a game where you just press a couple of buttons and then watch sprites move around can be fun and 'addictive'. Let me button mash, and move around with a d-pad, that to me is what a video game is. I'm sorry but I just don't get it and it's a shame cos theres hundreds of these games types and I'm desperate to enjoy more games on the saturn. This is also like those interactive point and click games I hate

[@gameshack1985]

I would definitely not say this is like an interactive movie game...lol 😂