Play Dragon Strike on nes Online

Game Overview

DragonStrike on NES is this weird, cool mix of RPG and arcade-style dragon combat. You start off as a knight riding this bronze dragon, and right away you're diving into these chaotic dogfights against evil dragons and floating eyeball monsters (yeah, beholders—D&D fans will recognize them).

The controls take a second to get used to—you’ve got a lance for jousting-style attacks, but the real fun is lining up breath weapon shots or swooping close enough to claw enemies. Mess up your altitude, though, and suddenly you’re getting peppered with arrows from the ground.

What’s neat is how your dragon upgrades: complete missions, and you can trade up to silver or gold dragons, each with different strengths. I stuck with bronze for way too long before realizing silver dragons handle way better in tight turns. The endings change a bit depending on your choice, too, which was a nice touch for an NES game.

It’s janky in that classic late-80s way, but there’s nothing else quite like doing barrel rolls while blasting magic fireballs at a manticore.