Dragonstomper (cassette)

How to play Dragonstomper online

Almost everything is done with the joystick and one button, through menus shown in the message area at the bottom of the screen.

• Walk across the map: arrow keys (when the message area says “USE STICK TO MOVE”)
• Open the action menu: Space bar
• Pick a menu option: press the arrow key that matches the arrow next to the option
• Start again after dying in the first part: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
• Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it

Gameplay

A druid enchanted an amulet to control a dragon, but he dropped it in the dragon’s cave. The dragon’s power grew, and it turned the kingdom into a wasteland full of traps and savage creatures. As the Dragonstomper, you must get the amulet back. The adventure has three parts, which the original tape loaded one after another:

• The Enchanted Countryside: you start with 400 gold pieces and must fight creatures to gain the gold, spells and weapons you need to get past the guard at the bridge.
• The Oppressed Village: you visit the Magic Shop, the Trade Shop and the Hospital, and try to persuade the village’s few warriors to join you.
• The Dragon’s Cave: a final descent full of traps, snares and guardians. Once you enter, there is no way back.

Monsters appear at random. Fights are turn-based: from the action menu you can move away, fight, or use an item or spell, and the message area reports each blow and how much strength you lost. Your status screen shows your gold, strength (STR), dexterity (DEX) and inventory. When your strength runs out, the game is over. In the countryside the effect of each item is shuffled every game, so the same object might make you stronger in one game and weaken you in the next. Items in the village always work the same way.

Tips

• Rest when you are weak. Strength comes back slowly over time, so avoid fights until it recovers. A donation at the church gives a bigger boost.
• Try the back door. Some castles have traps at the front entrance.
• Don’t fight the bridge guard. He is too tough. Pay him plenty of gold, or show him a scroll as identification.
• Think about the ending. You don’t have to kill the dragon. A clever player can steal the amulet and let the dragon be reformed instead.

The story behind Dragonstomper

Stephen Landrum worked at Arcadia, later renamed Starpath, from 1981 to 1983, and also made Communist Mutants from Space and the Supercharger version of Frogger. He began this game under the name Excalibur, because he felt nobody had yet made a real fantasy role-playing game for the 2600. The music includes “Rule, Britannia” when you win, “Taps” when you die and “We’re in the Money” when you find gold.

Reviewers were surprised to find this much depth on a console rather than a home computer. Games magazine put it on its list of the best new games of 1983, and Video Games Player named it adventure game of the year in its Golden Joystick Awards. Some critics found it slow and its graphics plain. Starpath went out of business and was bought by Epyx by early 1984. In the 1990s, fans reissued Dragonstomper on the Stella Gets a New Brain CD of Supercharger games.