Dragon's Fury review - Sega Megadrive

For centuries people believed that the Devil liked nothing more than listening to the tortured screams of sinners in eternal pain. As it turns out, he would rather destroy souls via pinball. No machine from Soho to Brighton can compare with pinball in hell!

In Dragon's Fury (previously known as Devil Crash), players pit their skills against Beelzebub and his demonically possessed pinball table! This Megadrive sim is no ordinary pinball game, so challengers should expect a few breaks from convention. To begin with, the table is vast, and no end of nasties stalk its surface. There are three sets of flippers, but only falling through the bottom set loses the ball.

While scoring points is the ultimate objective, the game has some diverting ways in which to do this. Should your sphere disappear inside certain holes, the game opens up to a bonus stage where the task is something wholesome like desecrating a coffin protected by bats, or demolishing a five-headed serpent.

The action moves fast and total concentration is essential if a player is to take advantage of all the points up for grabs. Even the pinball wizards out there might need an extra helping of intuition if they want to get one up on old Nick!

What the Mean Machines staff thought

Featuring a superb, surprise-packed playfield, heaps of bonus screens and the most realistic pinball "feel" I've experienced in a videogame, Dragon's Fury (or Devil Crash as it's called in Japan) is the finest silverball simulation yet seen! There's loads to discover and I came back to it time and time again to see whether I could find new ways of boosting my score - it's incredibly addictive in that respect! The graphics and sound are both outstanding, but really it's the gameplay that makes this very original and highly unusual game well worth checking out.

There were a few things worrying me when I set about playing this macabre pinball sim. Firstly I was worried that the inertia of the ball would be unrealistic, and secondly I feared that the table would only contain static obstacles. I'm happy to report that all of my fears were quickly dissipated. The inertia effect captures the weighted effect of the ball perfectly, and the flurry of activity kept my eyes glued firmly to the screen. The graphics are state of the art, with all of the sprites expertly drawn, and some mesmerising effects on the bonus stages. All of these elements go to make the gameplay very entertaining and realistic. The only thing I didn't like about this game was the music. There is nothing wrong with it as such, the sound quality is superb in fact, it's just that my tastes veer away from the dramatic rock opera guitar solos, and the whines of a satanic organ. But despite this fussy criticism, it's true to say that Dragon's Fury sure makes a mean pinball!

Retrospective comments

Three major factors were always going to influence my opinion of Dragon's Fury (nay Devil Crash) for the Megadrive. First, I love pinball; I even have a KISS machine in storage, waiting for the day I move into a bigger place. Second, when I was younger I was obsessed with the world of demons, zombies and monsters, and this continues through my penchant for horror movies. Now chuck in the fact that the Megadrive is my favoured 16-bit console and you've got a pretty potent recipe for Potential Awesome bubbling away. So with all that in mind, does this game actually deliver?

You bet your rotting, shambling arse it does! Dragon's Fury is still one of the most playable, addicting and polished silverball cartridges ever. Right from the off you're treated to some pretty spiffy graphics, with pummelling synthesised codpiece-metal helping to set the tone. Fire a ball into the playfield and you'll instantly discover what the world of Dragon's Fury has to offer. There are hordes of nightmare beasties roaming around, all waiting to be hit with the ball. You'll find plenty of varied and interesting ways to score points on the three-screen-high table, with the most iconic of these being the maiden's face that slowly transforms into a lizard (kind of like an ex-girlfriend of mine).

But where this game really scores is in the extra areas you can access. If you manage to shoot your shiny orb into the correct hole, you will be whisked away to some of the most beautifully drawn screens, ready to do battle with all sorts of bats, dragons and other deadly denizens. The imagination and visual flair of this game is still impressive even today, and it all helps to draw you into the ghoulish pinball atmosphere.

The physics of the ball itself are great, with the gravity and deflections all spot on. Movement is silky smooth and sometimes very quick, making for some frenzied flipper sessions. Because of this the game can be a tough nut to crack, but the whole experience is so enjoyable that you'll always find yourself having another go, even if you've just lost all your balls (shush) for a meagre score. There's also a password system to help you in your quest to conquer the creatures of hell.

If you've got a Megadrive and you don't own this cart, you are quite the sinner indeed. This is heavenly pinball action swathed in dark demonic robes, ready to devour your spare time without mercy. It's a must-have for your collection, and is certainly a lot better than Dragon's Revenge, the questionable sequel that followed.

- Cal 'buzz_clik' Skuthorpe

Have your say about this review

Pachara Chaya - 05 Sep 2009, 17:19 GMT

This scared the crap out of me when I was younger...I hated it every since my father got it for me as a gift.

Judging by the review...I suppose I really should have put my childish fears aside and just played the damn (pun?) thing!

Greg - 06 Oct 2009, 01:57 GMT

A unique and intriguing game. Pinball was never something I was particularly interested in and were it not for the fact that I happened to see someone else playing this game, I would never have considered buying it. But when I saw the atmospherics of the title - the 'horror' style creatures that move around the table amongst bizarre demonic structures - and heard the music, I was hooked. The pinball table is not some static, dull part of this game, rather it feels like a moving, thinking opponent. This feature keeps the player coming back for more and such is the quality of the graphics and the perfection of the 'feel' of the pinball itself that this game is a great way to pass the time and holds its own even today. In fact, I can't think of any better pinball game on any system.

Mark - 10 Apr 2011, 17:12 GMT

Enter technosoft as the password to start with 10 balls

Dragon's Fury review - Sega Megadrive

What the Mean Machines staff thought

Retrospective comments

Have your say about this review

Leave a comment