Publisher City Connection has just announced that it will be releasing the classic arcade shoot ‘em up title Dragon Blaze for the PC via Steam. The game, which was originally released in 2000, was developed by Japanese developer and publisher Psikyo. Psikyo was also known for other popular arcade shooters such as the Strikers 1945 series, Gunbird, Tengai, and Sold Divide: Sword of Darkness.
Dragon Blaze follows the adventures of four heroes aboard their fearsome dragons. Each of the four characters has their own special dragons with unique skills and abilities. First is Quaid, the Soaring Dragon Knight equipped with the Holy Lance, Burst Lance, Fire Breath, and Chaos Flare. Next is Sonia, the Ocean Girl who can use Freeze Arrow, Diamond Dust, Aqua Blast, and Trident Rush to her advantage. Rob, the Guardian of Forest, has Plasma Hammer, Lightning Hammer, Giga Wave, and Thunder Break at his disposal. Lastly, Ian the Necromancer is equipped with Magic Sword, Death Crash, Hell Spin, and Dark Stinger.
Dragon Blaze is played mostly like any other typical 2D vertical shooter, with enemies populating the top half of the screen and the player’s character situated in the lower half. Players can navigate their character to any point on the screen, but is only advisable to get close to enemies when there are specific pick-ups or power-ups to be had. The game is divided into stages, each with a final boss that has transformations and unique attacks that almost fill up the screen. Similar to the Strikers 1945 games, Dragon Blaze is more of a bullet hell type of game than a shooter.
Dragon Blaze's Steam release includes the addition of new features such as seven levels of difficulty, changing the orientation of the screen, assigning the number of lives for each session, and hot keys for each of the character’s special skills.
Dragon Blaze will launch for PC via Steam on July 30. The game is just one of many Psikyo-developed shooter titles that are being re-released for the PC. So far, we’ve already had Striker 1945 I, II, & III, Gunbird & Gunbird 2, Tengai, Samurai Aces, and Samurai Aces III: Sengoku Cannon.
