Play Adv. Dungeons & Dragons - Dragon Strike Online

Dragon Strike came out on the NES in 1990, developed by Westwood Associates. It was part of that wave of games trying to bring a more complex, tabletop feel to the console, a time when developers were experimenting with how to translate pen and paper adventures into something playable with a d-pad.

You control a knight riding a dragon, flying over a top-down map of the fantasy land. Your main goal is to defeat the evil wizard and his army by clearing each screen of enemies. The signature mechanics are your dragon's fire breath, which you aim with a targeting cursor, and direct melee attacks where you ram into foes. The game is methodical, almost slow, requiring you to carefully manage your position to avoid getting swarmed. It feels like a strategic aerial brawl, a unique kind of pressure as you weave through enemy fire.