One of those games that a lot of hipsters will tout as a "hidden" gem, and while it does have some great ideas (such as the dragon companions and light RPG elements) and a decent story for the time (you're basically out for revenge for the death of your father) it's very janky. I still enjoy running through the game on normal from time to time, but the lock-on shooting mechanic has never felt comfortable and level 6 has never not felt like a matter of damage racing because it is legitimately easier to just go fast and tank hits than lose all of your health trying to fight everything.

It's worth playing, but please don't go in expecting the level of quality that games such as Shinobi III have.

Eleventh GOTW finished for 2022. Started out thinking I was going to hate this game. The controls and attacks were a bit confusing, and it just didn't click. Came back to it after a bit, and burned through the whole game in a tidy 1.5 hours. You play as a sorceress who shoots lightning, and you have a small selection of beast companions with different abilities that accompany you. The game is pretty hard, but the upgrades to both you and your beasties help it feel a little more fair. The platforming sometimes felt a bit clunky, but it's an older Genesis game. Didn't hate it by the end.

Oh yeah, and Yoshimi Kanda of Gainax fame was the Game Designer.

more like alisia midgoon

This had potential to be a hidden gem, and there is alot i like about it, but goddamn did they fuck up on the gameplay.

Really, my only problem is with the difficulty. This game is HARD. Alisia Dragoon just adores spamming enemies at you left and right, and while you do have a homing lightning attack, its not infinite. Using it for too long will make it need to recharge. leaving you vulnerable. Yeah, there ARE the pets, but i didn't find any use for them apart from the yellow circle guy, and he died pretty early for me. This isn't helped by the fact that you get a SINGLE life to beat this game with.

After dying a few times on Stage 6, I gave up, went to the beginning of the game, and turned on the immortality cheat. You could say that I didn't beat the game then, but to that I say "idgaf". Didn't enjoy my time with this one tbh.

Due cose da dire:
1 - Il publisher di 'sto gioco è Gainax, lo studio di Evangelion (uno dei founder stessi è Anno). Si sono occupati degli artwork promozionali e, presumo, di diverse cose legate al concept e al character/monster design

2 - Difficile in culo, praticamente impossibile salvare il gioco e ti lanciano in faccia trecento mostri contemporaneamente, anche belli resistenti. Vero è che, in modo abbastanza atipico, si è particolarmente potenti sin da subito: con l'attacco standard ben potenziato si è in grado di ammazzare in un secondo una buona parte dei nemici. Però non lo accetto ziopera, sono troppo veloci e muoversi in modo paziente mi è risultato spesso più controproducente che altro

Ah, è presente un sistema di progressione più o meno permanente che si realizza in un aumento di livello (sia per sé che per i propri companion) e in un relativo aumento di HP e di danni effettuabili. Questo, amici miei, è quel che basta ai giapponesi per definire un gioco un GDR (si scherza)

Very good and fun action platformer with some annoyances. To start off the lives and continue system is atrocious. Similar to comix zone this game has no continues and only 1 life to start. It’s a huge problem and if it wasn’t for the level select code (that’s already kinda annoying to input) this game would be so annoying. Thankfully cheats are there and it can help you get around some outdated forced difficulty.

What you get however is a fun fantasy side scroller with some occasional futuristic environments. I’ll admit going from mountains and forest to a zeppelin and literal space ship is a bit weird but it helps give this game a unique feel compared to other fantasy games and helps ramp up the intensity in scenarios each level. I all around really like the levels here and the gameplay is pretty fun. It plays differently from most action games giving you a big lightning attack that will attack anything in front of you however it has a meter you have to keep a look out for. Balancing having an op attack vs limitations is pretty fun and it makes for a rewarding experience. The bosses can also be very enjoyable offering new ways to use your powers. I guess my biggest issue is really the health bars. For yourself it’s a bit too short and while yes part of the fun is to stay on top of it collecting power ups and health pick ups keep in mind the punishment here can potentially leave you starting the entire game over just with a handful of deaths so it’s an experience that disencourages trial and error despite being heavily designed around it. Also some bosses just go on for way too long. So overall it’s quite good and very unique but the difficulty balancing is pretty bad and does hold this back from being great but it’s still damn good.

It may seem like a simple task to single out what is considered a good or bad product when it comes to the various elements it implements, but there are several external factors that can make judging a product fairly more challenging. Aspects such as the time of release, competition at the time, its overall financial performance, and how well the product has aged over time are taken into consideration time and time again when looking back on a product to determine how good or bad it is in the modern day. One external factor that does often get in the way of this would be a product’s cult status. There have been many, MANY examples of pieces of media released over the years that, at the time, didn’t quite reach the same height of success or popularity as others, and as such, gains a small, yet passionate following over the years that will typically defend the product to no end, despite what the actual quality of the product may entail. One example of a product with a cult status that has received this fate would be with Alisia Dragoon.

Before I had played this game, I had heard plenty of times from plenty of places that this was apparently one of the most underappreciated games on the Sega Genesis since it was a commercial failure. I had been interested in checking it out, and I liked the name, but I had put it off for sometime simply because it just didn’t catch my eye as much as other games. Eventually though, I decided to finally check it out, and I will admit, the game is pretty good… but definitely not as good as many of its fans would hype it up to be. There is a lot to love about the game, and if it had less issues, I would probably be one of those people who would hype it up to no end, but as it stands, those issues are still there, and they are enough to drag it down for me.

The story is typical for a game of this era, where an evil force kills Alisia’s father and takes over the world, and when she gets old enough, she goes on to stop him, so the story isn’t anything all that special, but it was clear that the story wasn’t the primary focus, so that is fine, the graphics are pretty great for the Genesis, having a lot of fantastic effects such as with your main lightning attack, and there being plenty of vibrant environments to travel through, the music is also pretty good, with there being plenty of tracks that go very well with the action taking place on screen, the control is decent, giving you enough options to maneuver around and take down enemies, while not being too frustrating to get a handle of, and the gameplay is typical of a Genesis action platformer, but with several additions that make the game stand out from others.

The game is, again, a 2D action platformer, where you take control of Alisia, fight through a set of eight stages, take on many different strong monsters and foes using your volatile lighting attacks and other skills, gather plenty of health potions, as well as several items that will help level you up, increasing both your health bar and the strength of your lightning ability, and take on plenty of bosses that will definitely put your reflexes and skills to the test. From the start, you already feel extremely powerful, given this lighting shot that can decimate many foes early, and as you keep going, it just gets better and better, making you feel a true sense of progression and satisfaction. Not to mention, this type of leveling up and getting stronger wasn’t that common in platformers at the time, so it was nice to see.

Alongside your regular attacks are also your pet monsters, which can assist you in battle at anytime throughout the game. There are four of them to choose from, and each of them have a unique skill that can greatly help you out, such as a dragon that shoots fire, a lizard that throws boomerangs, and a bird that launches thunder that nukes everything on screen. These are already pretty cool and helpful as is, but you can also upgrade these monsters as well, increasing their health and power alongside you, and trust me, you will need this, as some of these powers are quintessential to even standing a chance against some of the later games foes. I love these monster partners, as they helped me out of a jam numerous times throughout my playthrough, and I made sure to always upgrade them to make them stronger whenever I got the chance so I had an easier time. Other then that though, there isn’t that much making this game stand out from the rest, but that is ok, because there is more then enough here to where any fan of old-school platformers can have themselves a pretty good time.

Unfortunately though, there are several issues holding this game back from being great. First and foremost, the difficulty is pretty harsh, with there being MANY different things that can gang up on you and kill you so quickly in this game, so if you aren’t prepared for what comes ahead, then you will be screwed. Sure, you do have a lot of health, and attacks don’t do too much damage, but you are attacked so frequently that it doesn’t even matter how much health you have, because one second you have it, and the next it flies right out the window. This also isn’t helped by the fact that you get ONE LIFE at the start of the game. If you die at all, that is an instant game over, and you are sent back to the title screen. Sure, you can find continues to make the journey somewhat more manageable, but do you know how many of these I managed to find in the game? One. Just one. Fucking fantastic. And finally, this may just be a me thing, but I found traversing the terrain of a lot of the levels pretty annoying at times. There will be plenty of times where you have to go up and down slopes, which not only looks extremely awkward, but is also very awkward to maneuver around, giving you very little room to see whatever lies ahead of said slope, making it so that enemies can land an easy hit. There was times when I would just simply say “Fuck it”, and just run through the damage just so that I can make it to the next part, and I don’t like it when a game makes me want to do that.

Overall, despite some annoyances with the difficulty and the frustrating terrain of levels, Alisia Dragoon is a pretty good title for the Sega Genesis, and one that I do think should’ve gotten a lot more love and attention back in the day, but it is definitely not as good as many of its hardcore fans would make it out to be. I would recommend it for those who are fans of obscure Genesis titles, as well as those who are old-school platformer nuts like myself, but for everyone else, you don’t need to give it anymore love and attention that it has already garnered from its cult status. But hey, if you did want to play it, you can easily do that either on the Sega Genesis Mini or the NSO. But only with the expansion pass. You know, the one that costs like $60 a year just to play a bunch of shitty emulations of games that you most likely already own. Yeah, that one.

Game #367

Whatever did happen to Game Arts? As far as I can see looking around online they do still exist with 20+ employees but haven't released a new title in over 10 years. Shame as Grandia is one of my favorite RPGs ever but considering they also made Lunar Dragon Song maybe I shouldn't lament them too much.

Alisia Dragoon leans a little more towards Lunar Dragon song than Grandia in terms of my enjoyment sadly though it does do some interesting things. It's a 2D side scroller where you play the titular Alisia, a lightning wielding sorceress who commands a selection of familiars on a quest to avenge her father. The game plays over 8 stages with bosses and various enemies thrown at you. This is almost literal as they will drop down out of sight, come in quick swarms or teleport in and the issue is it just feels cheap. I took a lot of hits through these quick attacks and if not those by the projectiles they fire I simply couldn't see due to Alisia's lightning.

Speaking of lightning, it's pretty much your only ability outside of swapping between a few familiars that auto attack as their bar fills. The lightning itself has a charge bar for how much you can fire before it replenishes and when you leave it to fully charge it will do a much stronger attack. There is a degree of resource management with it I found interesting as a mechanic but unless you stay still to charge it between each encounter it will rarely be used that way as enemies come at you frequently if you keep moving that you will need to attack.

When not charged I found Alisia's attacks feel pretty weak. You can find level up upgrades for both her and the familiars throughout the levels which are permanent to make them stronger and you will need it, mostly for bosses. Their health pools are frankly, massive. Some of them took far too long to kill and the issue with that is they are also in most cases just kind of boring to fight. A couple of basic looking attacks on repeat that go on for too long just isn't enticing. Interestingly though beating a boss isn't always the immediate end to the level with small sections afterwards for some of them I couldn't understand the point of. Kinda unique but also pointless.

The thing is, I like a lot of the ideas here, they just don't gel well. The familiars feels more in the way visually than actually useful, level design isn't that fun to play through, lightning blocks sight of incoming attacks etc. but on the flip side the platformer RPG mix is good, a female protagonist with lightning hands and resource management for power are all great it just needed more time in the oven. I really do like the artwork though for both the Japanese release on backlog and the Western cover art. The latter is very Boris Vallejo.

+ Interesting Lightning management mechanic.
+ Good presentation and cover art.
+ Nice side scrolling and RPG genre mix attempt.

- Bosses have too much health.
- Lightning hides incoming attacks.
- Level and enemy encounter design aren't very good.

Alisia Dragoon is a really fun title. I'm surprised it took me so long to try this one. I think I tried it once but didn't feel like finishing it but playing it now I can't see why. It's very interesting action game.

You can control this lightning that targets enemies and also has a meter for how much you can use it. You even have these monster companions that all have their uses. I like to use the one that has the screen flash the most. Though don't think it'll be easy as many enemies will come after you.

The level design for the most part is fun to me though there can be times where the enemy placement can be obnoxious. Later bosses can also be too much of damage sponges, to the point I was wondering if I was doing something wrong. It's not all bad though and it can feel satisfying once you got a pattern down. Though unfortunately you have limited continues which is LAME!

The game itself looks pretty nice and I really like the design of the main character herself. The monsters also look good too. Apparently Gainax worked on this? I assume its for the art used? Interesting to see seeing as they made some anime like the Re: Cutie Honey OVA. The music is also really good and I'll probably listen to it on its own sometime.

Overall it's a game you should give a try and you actually can thanks to it being on the Mega Drive Mini and even on NSO though behind a $50 paywall...damn you Nintendo. Sadly getting an actual cartridge for this is expensive nowadays. So if you want to use an emulator I won't judge. Hope you enjoy this awesome action game like I did!

It seems like Gainax, of Evangelion and Panty & Stocking fame, played a major hand in this one, which I thought was interesting and pretty much was the first thing to draw me in. Reminds me a lot of El Viento and Earnest Evans, has a very similar look right down to the sprites and definitely bears some gameplay similarities to the former.

They're both also...mostly pretty dull. The OST here is damn good though, and there are a couple very creative moments that stood out to me. Stage 6 for example is entirely slanted and looks really cool, especially all the shit going on in the background during the boss. It's also one of the cheapest levels though, in a very cheap game to begin with. A highlight nonetheless though.

Perhaps the most annoying part was that the bosses often take really long to kill. Your weapons kind of level up over time with upgrades you find floating around, and you'd better not leave any behind or you'll be on whatever boss comes next for 5 years. Even with a higher level they still take a while and are still really tedious. I wish they changed color over time to signify progress, like in Ristar or something.

Generally there are a lot of mildly interesting things about this game, but actually playing it isn't so captivating. It's alright nonetheless, but it's another one in the rapidly increasing pile of games I probably won't replay.

(review updated on 13 Feb 2021) I really enjoyed this when I was young, and it's held up remarkably well now that I've finally gotten around to replaying it. The soundtrack is great, and the level design is very adept, rewarding keen-eyed exploring with hidden power-ups and generally being very memorable visually (the highlight is the wreckage of an ancient battlecraft that you explore at a 45-degree angle). Each level is topped off with a boss fight that for me was tense and challenging but still fair. Perhaps the most memorable gameplay element are the four different AI monsters you can choose to assist you: a dragon (strong but a sitting duck due to his size), fireball (damages enemies by touching them, is nearly impossible to kill), boomerang lizard (agile and has good fire rate) and my favorite thunder lizard (abysmal firing rate but has the best damage and hits the entire screen). Being able to switch between these four monsters at will adds an extra dimension to the gameplay and picking the right one for the right situation can spell the difference between winning and losing.

I did have some gripes with the difficulty:
- Many fast moving enemies that spawn without warning. The slightly zoomed-in perspective doesn't help, giving you little time to react. While the game mostly gives enough power-ups for you to make some mistakes, I found that it adversely affected the pacing of the game since I was forced to inch forward to avoid being overwhelmed.
- The thunder effects are great but they sometimes 'cover up' enemy projectiles, making them very difficult to see.
- There's a strange quirk with the controls where sometimes you land from a jump and immediately can move, but sometimes when you land you have a couple frames of crouching, before you stood back up to move again. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what caused the delay or how to prevent it, which was quite an annoyance against the final boss which required quick jumps in succession to avoid one of his attacks.

Those gripes aside, I do have a threshold for a certain level of cheapness in older games and the minor frustrations didn't spoil my experience, especially since the controls were generally tight and responsive. For me this is one of the great hidden gems of Genesis action games.