Blast from the Past
Retro publishers Hamster has chosen a neat shmup classic for this week’s Arcade Archives release: Jaleco’s super-cyber shmup Saint Dragon, which is now available to download on PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Launched in arcades back in 1989, before receiving a run of slick conversions on various home computers, Saint Dragon was one of a number of dragon-themed shmups that blew up in the late ’80s/early ’90s, (see also Namco’s Dragon Spirit and Irem’s Dragon Breed).
Saint Dragon is very similar to R-Type in visual style, control, and design, but features a unique mechanic where your vessel’s tail acts as a shield, and thus strategic movement can have savvy players shooting down throngs of enemies while defending themselves from returned fire. Saint Dragon was notable in its day for both this mechanic and its menagerie of cybernetic animals.
You can check out Saint Dragon in action below, courtesy of YouTuber RedSevenNine:
Saint Dragon is available to download now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch worldwide, priced at around $8. Also worth noting, the North America/European PSN store has finally been updated with previous releases Tecmo Bowl, Bells & Whistles, and Penguin-Kun Wars.
