I like a lot of fighting games like Soul Calibur, King of Fighters, Super Smash Brothers, and etc., though there are some that I don’t like as much, like Street Fighter 2. I’m not saying it’s a bad game, but I don’t think it’s that great of a game, for the only reason of its complex controls and difficult AI. I understand it goes under the “easy to play, but hard to master” category, but when I pick up a game, I want to easily be able to play it, and make all the moves look cool. Recently, I picked up two games when I went to send a job application to my local game store. The first game was Goemon’s Great Adventure, and the other is the one I will be reviewing, Flying Dragon for the Nintendo 64.
Before I talk about the story of this game, I want to talk about who made it, since it is kind of interesting. Culture Brain developed this game, which is famous for a couple of different games like Kung-Fu Heroes for the Nintendo in 1988, the Super Chinese series, and some baseball games. It’s interesting that Flying Dragon is part of the Hiryu No Ken series, and is the 5th game in that series. Well, I think it’s interesting. Now, for the story of the game…well, I‘ll admit the game doesn’t have that much of a story. Don’t blame me! It’s not my fault that fighting games don’t need stories.
Basically, Flying Dragon is a 1-on-1 fighter, where you select your fighter and fight against the opponent. Like all fighters, you have your stereotypes, like the main hero who wears a martial arts uniform, a ninja, a main female character, and you get the idea. There are super moves like other fighters, but there is one thing this game has going for it that most fighters don’t have, another game inside this game. Let me explain if you are confused. Take Virtua Fighter 2 and Virtua Fighter Kids. Some say that Virtua Fighter Kids is a separate game, and yet some say it’s the exactly the same as Virtua Fighter 2 only in chibi form. Well, take those two games and put them into one, except there are different characters in the chibi version of Flying Dragon. This game also has a RPG element to it in the form of different clothes that can be upgraded by fighting. There are also other modes like versus and tournament.
Graphically, I think it’s impressive. It won’t blow your mind, but think of the looks of the graphics as Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon or Beetles Adventure Racing. I also like the music of the game. It’s typical fighting music, but I like it. I also like how this is one of the ONLY fighting games for the Nintendo 64. I wish there was more of them, but at least we have Super Smash Brothers and Fighting Destiny.
Now, let’s talk about the bad parts of the game. One of the few things I want to say that I don’t like about the game is that the characters’ movements seem stiff. I felt like a slug moving around. I also don’t like how the fighting engine is like Street Fighter where the super moves are hard to pull off. There isn’t that much to complain about though, which is odd since I usually like to find a few things to rant about. Oh well…
Overall, I think it’s a fun game. When I first picked this up, my friend and I just laughed and laughed, because of how much random fun we were having with this game. I would say if you can find a copy of this game, then I would recommend picking it up. Yeah, it won’t top anyone’s number 1 N64 or top fighting game list, but that’s okay. It’s a fun game that should be enjoyed by fighting game enthusiasts.
This game gets a 7.9 out of 10
Comments