Alisia Dragoon
A lightning-wielding heroine and her four beasts battle evil in this 1992 Genesis platformer.
Alisia Dragoon is a side-scrolling platform game released in 1992 for the Sega Genesis, developed by Game Arts and published by Sega. Players take on the role of Alisia, a young woman seeking to avenge her father's death and prevent the world's destruction. She fights by firing lightning bolts from her hands and can call upon four loyal monster companions to assist her. The game has since been re-released on the Sega Genesis Mini and the Nintendo Classics service. The gameplay mixes action and platforming across eight levels. Alisia must jump over gaps and defeat enemies, with each stage ending in a boss fight. Her lightning attack automatically targets nearby foes but weakens with each use as her energy drains. When she stops attacking, her power recharges; a full charge lets her hit every enemy on screen at once. This system forces players to carefully manage her energy for critical moments. Alisia is accompanied by four pets, each with a unique attack: the Dragon Frye spits fireballs, the Boomerang Lizard throws boomerangs, the Thunder Raven unleashes a screen-wide thunder blast, and the Ball O' Fire burns enemies on contact. Only one pet can fight at a time, but the player can switch between them (or choose none) at any point. Power-ups hidden throughout the first seven stages can heal Alisia and her pets, increase their maximum health, improve attacks, or grant temporary invulnerability. If a pet loses all its health, it is removed until a "Revive" power-up is found. If Alisia dies, she can restart the level using a continue; the game ends when all continues are exhausted. There is no save feature, but a final screen tracks the player's performance based on kills, attack power, and pet usage. The plot is straightforward, with most backstory in the manual. Alisia is the daughter of a sorcerer who was tortured to death by the evil prince Baldour. Now an adult with magical abilities matching her father's, she sets out to destroy Baldour's dormant cocoon before he can awaken, aided by his aide Ornah's return to Earth. Development involved a collaboration between Game Arts and the Japanese animation studio Gainax.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Alisia Dragoon
- Developer
- Game Arts
- Publisher
- SegaJP · Game Arts
- Programmer
- Naozumi Honma · Osamu Harada
- Writer
- Yoshimi Kanda
- Artist
- Masatoshi Azumi
- Composer
- Fumihito Kasatani · Nobuyuki Aoshima · Mamoru Ishimoda · Yoko Sonoda · Mariko Sato
- Released
- NA · March 1992 · JP · April 24, 1992 · EU · June 24, 1992
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Sega Genesis
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Alisia is the daughter of a sorcerer who attempted to stop the prince of all things evil, Baldour. As a child, her father was tortured to death in front of her eyes by Baldour. Although the world has not fully recovered from the devastating effects of Baldour's last visit, Baldour's aide Ornah manages to transport his dormant cocoon back to Earth.
Reader's Guide
The player controls Alisia in her quest to save the world by defeating the evil forces that killed her father. The game consists of eight levels of side-scrolling environments; Alisia has to jump across gaps and kill the enemies that stand in her way. Each stage is completed by defeating the boss at the end. Alisia attacks by shooting streaks of lightning from her hands. The attack automatically targets enemies in range but gets weaker with each volley as Alisia's power is depleted. Her power recharges when she stops attacking; when fully charged, it allows her to unleash a multi-target attack, hitting every enemy on the screen. Helping Alisia are her pet monsters: Dragon Frye (spits fireballs), Boomerang Lizard (hurls boomerangs), Thunder Raven (emits a thunder blast), and Ball O' Fire (burns enemies on contact). Only one pet can fight alongside Alisia at a time, but the player can select any of the four (or none) as the active companion at any time. Over the course of the game, Alisia and her monsters can improve their abilities by collecting power-ups placed throughout the first seven stages, mostly in hidden locations. Power-ups can heal, increase maximum life bars, improve attacks, or grant invulnerability. Life bars are lost by taking damage. When a pet loses all its life bars, it is removed from play and cannot be brought back until a 'Revive' power-up is collected. If Alisia loses all her life bars, she can restart the level by expending a continue. The game ends if all the continues have been used. Alisia Dragoon has no features for saving the player's progress.
Did You Know?
- The game was developed by Game Arts in collaboration with Japanese animation studio Gainax, which handled the artistic end of the production.
- The influences of Hayao Miyazaki's 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind are evident in certain levels.
- The soundtrack was composed by Mecano Associates, who also produced music for Fire Hawk: Thexder 2 and Silpheed.
- For the Western market, Alisia was portrayed as a golden bikini-wearing barbarianess on the box covers, unlike the big-eyed anime-styled heroine in Japan.
- Todd Ciolek of Anime News Network called Alisia Dragoon 'the best video game Gainax ever touched'.
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