Video Game Meta

Dragon Buster

Dragon Buster

Console: Arcade
TV Standard: Region Not Set
Developer(s): Namco
Publisher(s): Namco
Release Date: 1984-12-01
Players: 1
Co-op: No
Type: Platform
Dragon Buster screenshot

A 1984 arcade platformer with action RPG elements, Dragon Buster is notable as the first game to feature a double jump. It was also one of the first games to include a life meter (along with Flash Boy and Punch-Out), known as vitality in this game. The game featured side-scrolling platform gameplay and a hub "world view" map similar to the later Super Mario Bros. series. It also featured hack & slash combat, like the later Tritorn and Legend of Zelda series.

Dragon Buster was developed and published by Namco. The game is a side-scrolling dungeon crawler, where the goal of the game is for the hero, Clovis, to rescue Princess Celia. Dragon Buster was later ported to a variety of home consoles, notably the Nintendo Entertainment System and the MSX.

It runs on Namco Pac-Land hardware, modified to support vertical scrolling