Software:Rise of the Dragon

From HandWiki
Short description: 1990 video game
For the book, see The Rise of the Dragon. For other uses, see Rise of the Dragon (disambiguation).
Rise of the Dragon
Home computer cover art
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Director(s)
  • Jeff Tunnell
  • Alan McKean
Designer(s)Jeff Tunnell
Programmer(s)
  • Dariusz Lukaszuk
  • Richard Rayl
  • Kevin Ryan
Artist(s)
  • Randy Dersham (art director)
  • Robert Caracol (concept art)
Writer(s)
  • Jerry Luttrell
  • David Selle
Composer(s)
  • Don Latarski (original score)
  • Christopher Stevens (music)
  • Noriyuki Iwadare (Sega CD)
Platform(s)Amiga, DOS, Mac OS, Sega CD
Release
  • DOS
  • Q4 1990[1]
  • Amiga
  • 1991
  • Mac OS
  • September 1991[2]
  • Sega CD
Genre(s)Graphic adventure, action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Rise of the Dragon, released in 1990 by Dynamix, marks the company's venture into the cyberpunk genre, distinct from its usual portfolio of action and flight simulators. This graphic adventure game is set in a future dystopian version of Los Angeles, circa 2053, and follows the story of detective William 'Blade' Hunter as he investigates the death of the mayor's daughter, linked to a dangerous new drug, MTZ. The gameplay combines detective work, strategy, and action. Players must solve puzzles that influence the storyline, interact with characters who remember past choices, and tackle action sequences. If players fail these sequences multiple times, the game may offer to automatically complete them.

Originally launched for DOS, Rise of the Dragon was later ported to the Mac OS, Amiga, and Sega CD, with the Sega CD version introducing voice acting and making alterations for a MA-17 rating, including changes in content. The game's reception was generally positive, with critics noting its effective capture of a cyberpunk atmosphere, detailed graphics, and the non-linear approach to puzzle-solving. It garnered awards for artistic achievement but received some criticism for its control scheme and user interface.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Rise of the Dragon is similar to that of Dynamix's other 1990s adventure games, The Adventures of Willy Beamish and Heart of China. The screen shows the current room roughly from the protagonist Blade's perspective. Movement occurs with the cursor, which becomes an arrow to proceed to another room or a magnifying glass to get closer to a part of the current scene.

The game has a time meter that reflects the passage of time in the game. Each of Blade's actions takes up a certain amount of time. Some game events will only occur at particular times. The player must find a way to delay the plans of the game's villains, or the game will end after only three days and Blade will not have time to save the day. Travelling between locations can take up a lot of in-game time, so players must plan their moves strategically.

Several puzzles in Rise of the Dragon have multiple possible solutions. Blade's activities can influence the plot of the game later on. Game characters remember his earlier behavior, and if he says the wrong thing to key characters they will refuse to help him with his work, which can render the game unwinnable.

Rise of the Dragon features two action scenes and an aim-and-shoot scene. It is possible to beat the game without playing through all of these scenes. If the player tries and fails to complete the action scenes several times, the game will offer the chance to automatically win the sequence and move on to the next scene.

Plot

In 2053, William 'Blade' Hunter is a former Los Angeles Police Department officer turned private detective. When the mayor's rebellious daughter Chandra is found dead and horribly mutated after experimenting with a new designer drug called MTZ, Blade is called upon to track down those responsible. Blade makes contact with a streetwise friend of Chandra's nicknamed "the Jake", who indicates Chen Lu as the dealer who supplied Chandra with the lethal drug. Blade goes to Chen Lu's apartment only to find Lu assassinated with an overdose of MTZ, as punishment for attracting public attention by causing the death of a politician's daughter.

As Blade tries to reconcile with his girlfriend Karyn, who works at the Crime Records Bureau, he enlists her help to track down Lu's accomplices and discover the mutagenic nature of the MTZ drug. It is revealed that the MTZ business is part of an underground Chinese Mafia operation led by Deng Hwang, a megalomaniacal drug kingpin intent on world domination. Blade also meets an old fortune teller, who tells him the present year coincides with that of the foretold coming of Chinese dragon Bahumat.

Blade disrupts the MTZ production schedule by blowing up the local drug plant, but in doing so he is spotted by Hwang's men. Hwang has the Jake captured in an attempt to lure Blade into a trap, but Blade manages to rescue the Jake and later sabotages the Triad's plans to poison the Hollywood reservoir with MTZ and exterminate the population of Los Angeles. In retaliation, Hwang has Karyn kidnapped and strapped to a chair, threatening to inject MTZ into her system.

Blade infiltrates Hwang's headquarters and, depending on the player's actions, either manages or fails to rescue Karyn. He eventually comes face-to-face with Hwang himself, who suddenly transforms into the dragon Bahumat. In a climactic final battle, Bahumat is defeated by Blade. Outside the headquarters, Blade is greeted by the mayor but angrily punches him for using Blade as a pawn in his covert drug bust and endangering his life and Karyn's. Blade then walks away either with Karyn, if she has survived, or alone.

Ports

The Sega CD version adds voice actors to the game (including Cam Clarke in the main role as William 'Blade' Hunter) and was given a MA-17 rating by the Videogame Rating Council. Unlike the ESRB rating system, VRC ratings do not indicate the reasons why a game received a particular rating, but mature content in the game includes profanity, references to a fictional illicit drug, cross-dressing, prostitution and partial female nudity. A scene with a French kiss and implied sex was removed from the Sega CD release.

Reception

Magazine ad.
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
DragonStarStarStarStarStar (DOS)[4]
The One92% (Amiga)[5]
89% (DOS)[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly7.6/10 (Sega CD)[7]
Award
PublicationAward
Computer Gaming WorldSpecial Award for Artistic Achievement (1991)[8]

Rise of the Dragon was a commercial hit; Craig Ritchie of Retro Gamer later called it "very successful".[9]

Computer Gaming World stated that Rise of the Dragon more effectively depicted a cyberpunk atmosphere than other games. The magazine liked the story, non-text parser interface, audio, and the fact that completing the arcade sequences was optional, and concluded that the game "is not only an outstanding product in its own right, but points the way for the future of graphic adventures".[10] Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars.[4]

The One gave the Amiga version of Rise of the Dragon an overall score of 92%, noting "evident" stylistic influence from Blade Runner, and praising the game's graphics, stating that "Rise of the Dragon has probably some of the most detailed artwork yet seen in an adventure". The One calls Rise of the Dragon a "very entertaining futuristic tale, with plenty of challenge" and praises the game's plot twists, and the game's multiple endings. The One also expresses the need for lateral thinking in regards to the game's puzzles, stating that the player must "put a lot of thought into what [they're] doing". The One criticises the controls and UI, calling the controls "a little limiting", and expresses that they require getting used to.[5] The One's review of the DOS version of Rise of the Dragon echoed the opinion of the Amiga version, giving it 89%, and praising its graphics and "near-faultless" design.[6]

Jim Trunzo reviewed Rise of the Dragon in White Wolf #30 (Feb., 1992), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "Rise of the Dragon mesmerizes the gamer, drawing him into the story within the first half hour of play. And once in the claws of the Dragon, there really is no way out. Unless you can destroy him."[11]

In 1991, Rise of the Dragon won a Special Award for Artistic Achievement from Computer Gaming World.[8] In 1996, the magazine ranked it as the 83rd best game of all time, stating: "So good that a rival publisher tried to steal it, this cyberpunk game used rotoscoping, hot spot mapping, and cinematic cuts long before they were standard",[12] and the 12th most innovative computer game for pioneering of "using a dynamic, hot-spotted map as the game world travel interface".[13] In 1991, PC Format named Rise of the Dragon one of the 50 best computer games ever. The editors wrote: "When you do finish marvelling at the excellent on-screen graphics, you'll want to get right into the action too".[14]

Electronic Gaming Monthly deemed the Sega CD version "an almost perfect translation of the PC title". Though they criticized the absence of replay value, they approved of the gritty tone and "atmospheric" graphics, and scored it a 7.6 out of 10.[7]

A Computer Games Strategy Plus retrospective in 2000 summarized Rise of the Dragon as "an underrated classic [...] way ahead of its time".[15]

References

  1. ↑ "New software". The Fresno Bee: pp. 15. September 29, 1990. https://www.newspapers.com/image/706286294. "Sierra On-Line, the entertainment software company, said it and its subsidiary Dynamix will release 12 games for Christmas, with "King's Quest V" heading the list. Other games include...the action games "Rise of the Dragon"...also will be released." 
  2. ↑ Turian, Joseph (August 28, 1991). "'Rise of the Dragon'". https://www.newspapers.com/image/706173882. "[Rage of the Dragon]'s made for IBM, Amiga, and in September for Macintosh systems." 
  3. ↑ "MEGA-CDディスク（セガ発売）". https://sega.jp/history/hard/mega-cd/software.html. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (June 1991). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (TSR Inc) (170): 55–58, 118–119. ISSN 0279-6848. https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine170#page/n57/mode/2up. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Presley, Paul (October 1991). "Rise of the Dragon". The One (emap Images) (37): 58–60. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-37/page/n57. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Scotford, Laurence (February 1991). "Rise of the Dragon". The One (emap Images) (29): 71–72. https://archive.org/details/theone-magazine-29/page/n69/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ed Semrad; Danyon Carpenter; Al Manuel; Sushi-X; Mike Weigand (June 1994). "Review Crew: Rise of the Dragon". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Sendai Publishing Group) (59): 38. ISSN 1058-918X. https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_59/page/n37/mode/2up. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Staff (November 1991). "Computer Gaming World's 1991 Games of the Year Awards". Computer Gaming World (Golden Empire Publications) (88): 58. ISSN 0744-6667. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_88/page/n57/mode/2up. 
  9. ↑ Ritchie, Craig (September 2010). "From the Archives: Dynamix". Retro Gamer (Imagine Publishing) (80): 54–58. 
  10. ↑ "Dark Future - Apocalyptic Cyberpunk in Dynamix's Blade Hunter: Rise of the Dragon". Computer Gaming World (Golden Empire Publications) (79): 40–41. February 1991. ISSN 0744-6667. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_79/page/n39/mode/2up. 
  11. ↑ Trunzo, Jim (February 1992). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine (30): 37-38. https://imgur.com/a/9AMLECw. 
  12. ↑ "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World (ZDNet) (148): 76. November 1996. ISSN 0744-6667. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_148/page/n79/mode/2up. 
  13. ↑ "The 15 Most Innovative Computer Games". Computer Gaming World (ZDNet) (148): 102. November 1996. ISSN 0744-6667. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_148/page/n105/mode/2up. 
  14. ↑ "The 50 best games EVER!". PC Format (Future Publishing) (1): 110. October 1991. https://archive.org/details/pc-format-001/page/16/mode/2up. 
  15. ↑ Bauman, Steve (January 29, 2000). "10 Essential Graphic Adventures". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus Inc. https://www.cdmag.com/articles/025/186/adventure_feature.html. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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