What dragon needs claws when they can swing a sword?

U.S. Game Front

Oh No! A Dragon In The City!!

One of the fierce dragons of this game.

Have you ever wanted your own pet? Did you wish that your pet could be a dragon? If you answered yes to either of those, you may be in luck...maybe. The name of this one is Dragonseeds, and yes, it does deal with dragons. Before I go further, I just want to give a general overview of what takes place. You are placed within an unusual world. The world looked bleak and dreary, and for a while, the people of the world didn't really have much to go on. The majority of the world is submerged underwater. However, scientists have made a major breakthrough by manipulating the DNA of ancient creatures. The result gave birth to various kinds of "dragons"! Now, due to the scientists' research, the people have found a new way of life: dragon tournaments. Yes, people clone dragons and raise them to fight and become champions. The year is 201 of the "Sela" period and you must breed dragons and make them rise up the ranks to become supreme. While there is a little plot at very sporadic points throughout the game, the plot is very weak and not really the focus for this game.

The graphics of this game are fairly simple, but pretty cool too... It's not that the attacks don't possess some flair, but the effects are fairly limited. Dragons are fairly blocky but they do look cool and blocky 3D characters were all the rave in the 32-bit era. If you are more of a next generation gamer, then one look at this game will obviously tell you that most old 3D games don't age well. Still, I appreciate this because I've been playing both old and new games, so it doesn't effect me much. The music is the real highlight for this game though. Very atmospheric and appropriate. Cool jazz tunes and some rather upbeat battle themes too. The "Baby" class of the tournament brings back so many memories for me, and this is a game that I only reacquired not too long ago since it released a decade ago.

The gameplay is another case of hit-and-miss fever. You will "raise" several "dragons"...though I must ask: Jaleco, where did you develop your unique perception of "dragons"? They are more abstract then even Breath of Fire 4's idea of dragons! Golems, ghosts, and even giant bees? I would have never guessed! One of the only true to "ancient lore" dragon this game has is the Saurian, which you can see in the images below. Despite the uncharacteristic approach to creating a new age of dragons, that doesn't affect my opinion. However, the lack of different dragon species plays more of a role on it.

Also, contrary to what the manual may say, there isn't a whole lot of "breeding" or "raising" that takes place in this game. You have the cool feature to make "special" dragons using game data from various Playstation games...think of it as a very simplified Monster Rancher concept. The actual raising is pretty limited though. Choose a species, clone it, put it in the nursery for 24hrs, take it out, and train it until it dies. Getting excited yet? You can't play little games with your pet, feed it special food, and truly develop a real relationship with the dragon. Of course, you can TRAIN it however you like via the training center. The only real perk to that is meeting that chick Azami that has little to no interest in you, but rather, your dragon (though she claims to like Dragonsages). Thankfully, I found Aria (the battle arena girl) more upbeat and cool. So what makes this a cult classic to some? The price slowly rises and falls throughout the years and the game has become harder to find than you may suspect.

Well, it's the "Super Advanced Janken Game" or simply put, the fight sequences. It's like rock-paper-scissors on steroids. While simple on the surface, there is actually a little more strategy involved than actual luck. You use reflectors, magic, and swords. Those are the primary commands, though you can move forward and backward and you must make two actions in one turn. Sword beats magic (only at close range), magic beats sword (at a distance), reflector reflects magic (though it's limited). These basic principles will be put to the test throughout the entire game. Dragons can also dodge and do critical attacks which may change the tide of battle and sword vs sword or magic vs magic may result in both dragons suffering damage. If you are losing, you should surrender so your dragon doesn't get hurt or killed. You also have the option of waiting a battle out since they are timed. The game also has a versus mode to pit your dragon against a friend. I still like the game, but I will admit that it isn't for everyone and it has an acquired taste.

- Written by Vyse the determined -