Retro Dragon Force II - an underated and forgotten Sega Saturn gem that would be loved by many famiboard members

[Tailzo]

I finished Dragon Force for the first time yesterday. I’ve had it for ages, but I found it to be a bit too hard. I read a few beginner guides, and after a while I was doing great. It’s an extremely satisfying rpg / real time strategy game that oozes of 90s anime style and charm that also uses Sega Saturns biggest strenght, displaying a ton of animated sprites at once.

I knew about the sequel, but it wasn’t before reading that the Fan translation was done that I had any real hope of ever playing it. But now I have played it, and it is such an addictive game, much like the first game. Except now I can mix and match more than one troop type in my army and the story picks up 500 years after the first. Just look at this:

 

[Tailzo]

I can’t get over how awesome it is to see 100 vs 100 armies clash against each other. Swordsmen, horses, mages, archers, zombies and more. Plus your generals can level up and use super skills. If all else falls, you can also duel between them.

I love, love this!

 

[uncleoptimus]

I've also got it for Saturn, but I never played it!

Always heard it was amazing. TIL there is a sequel. I am guessing you played it emulated? I also didn't know Saturn emulation was a good state!

I can’t get over how awesome it is to see 100 vs 100 armies clash against each other.

For sure, this is why I like the direction they are taking Fire Emblem, its more epic to see large armies clashing.

 

[Tailzo]

This is the sequel.

I have a sega saturn, and recently got 2 new controllers for it. But now I’ve switched over to play everything on xbox series x. The emulation seems 100% perfect for me, and now several of the games I bought in Tokyo in 2013 have beeb translated. Grandia, Shining Force III chapter 2 and Shining Force III chapter 3 are next on my to play on Saturn list. Those were still cheap in Japan in 2013

 

[Tailzo]

I've also got it for Saturn, but I never played it!

Always heard it was amazing. TIL there is a sequel. I am guessing you played it emulated? I also didn't know Saturn emulation was a good state!



For sure, this is why I like the direction they are taking Fire Emblem, its more epic to see large armies clashing.

Yes! I fully agree!! I look forward to the next fire emblem too

And the kind of sprites seen in sega Saturn and Playstation games are so charming in my eyes. And Ogre Battle 64 too

 

[uncleoptimus]

And the kind of sprites seen in sega Saturn and Playstation games are so charming in my eyes. And Ogre Battle 64 too

This is why I need to go buy Live A Live, Tactics Ogre Reborn and any other remake project Square-Enix puts out.

I need to personally convince them to get to an Ogre Battle remake. I'm going to do it!!!

(Side thought: I liked OB64 but I'm really curious what Matsuno thinks about it since he was not the director by that point. I assume story-wise they did just use his overall script)

 

[bixente]

Looks very cool.

Imagine if Switch got a Saturn app.

 

[Clix]

Never got to play the sequel. but I love, love, love the original.

I still have my original copy CIB and everything. Gonna have to pony up for a radfx cable so I can hook it up to my HDTV.

 

[Tailzo]

Looks very cool.

Imagine if Switch got a Saturn app.

How can I give a post a triple thumbs up?

 

[Tailzo]

I love these sprites!! I hope a thread just spamming screens and love for a game is ok, I just think the world needs more Dragon Force

 

[MisterSpo]

I had a Saturn a few years back and hoped to get the Dragon Force games, but never managed. A Sega Ages Saturn range on Switch sure would be grand, especially if they gave us both Dragon Force games...

 

[DunningSmith]

I only played the first one (chose the route with the masked blonde warrior), but I loved it.
I think I started the second one, but dropped it like 1 hour in. All I remember is that I didn't like the visual downgrade of DFII, like the special attack looked worse than in the first.

 

[Tailzo]

I only played the first one (chose the route with the masked blonde warrior), but I loved it.
I think I started the second one, but dropped it like 1 hour in. All I remember is that I didn't like the visual downgrade of DFII, like the special attack looked worse than in the first.

It’s different, yeah. More muted colors, and less super deformed characters. But in my opinion, it’s different, and just as good as the first. They also vary the tine of day sometimes it seems. Like this fireball throwb in a battle in the sunset:

 

[DunningSmith]

It’s different, yeah. More muted colors, and less super deformed characters. But in my opinion, it’s different, and just as good as the first. They also vary the tine of day sometimes it seems. Like this fireball throwb in a battle in the sunset:

Yeah, it's not bad at all, just prefered the style of the first one. But I'll definitely go back to it (think I dropped it because I started it at a bad time).
But yeah, Dragon Force is rad and I wish Sega didn't kill it...like they did with so many other beloved IPs

 

[Tailzo]

Yeah, it's not bad at all, just prefered the style of the first one. But I'll definitely go back to it (think I dropped it because I started it at a bad time).
But yeah, Dragon Force is rad and I wish Sega didn't kill it...like they did with so many other beloved IPs

Sega the killer of great franchises. They used to work like this «we made something awesome, let’s forget about it this time too!»

Seems like they always wanted to create new stuff. Nowadays they have learned by improving Yakuza sequel by sequel.

But they killed Alex kid, Phantasy Star (offline), sega rally, outrun, Skies of Arkadia, Shining Force, Seaman, Dynamite Cop, Beyond Oasis, and so on.

Imagine a new Dragon Force game! I’d be so happy if we see a new one in the future.

This is what I’ve always wanted!

 

[Crusters]

I've also got it for Saturn, but I never played it!

Always heard it was amazing. TIL there is a sequel. I am guessing you played it emulated? I also didn't know Saturn emulation was a good state!



For sure, this is why I like the direction they are taking Fire Emblem, its more epic to see large armies clashing.

Haven't played this on an emulator yet, but Saturn emulation on my 640 based smart phone is running things like panzer dragoon saga and shining 3 at full speed. (But not through RetroArch, I don't know the state of RetroArch Saturn on Android)

 

[Tailzo]

Haven't played this on an emulator yet, but Saturn emulation on my 640 based smart phone is running things like panzer dragoon saga and shining 3 at full speed. (But not through RetroArch, I don't know the state of RetroArch Saturn on Android)

I need to research this more, but as far as I know, you must use a standalone sega saturn emulator to get decent speed on most android phones. I’m hoping to switch to android (from iphone) this year, and if possible I would prefere sega saturn on retroarch with the beetle core, as it is perfect on xbox and pc.

The beetle core will not allow higher resolution or widescreen patches as far ss I know, but in games like Dragon Force with lots of sprites, I much prefere just the original look.

 

[GamerJM]

I always forget this game existed for some reason. I know of the Shining Force III Scenario 2 and 3 despite those also being Japan only but the fact that there was a second Dragon Force game always skips my mind.

Those sprites are gorgeous though.

 

[Tailzo]

I always forget this game existed for some reason. I know of the Shining Force III Scenario 2 and 3 despite those also being Japan only but the fact that there was a second Dragon Force game always skips my mind.

Those sprites are gorgeous though.

Yeah, hence my thread title. I just wish Sega would release some sega saturn rpg ports for switch. Think about it

PD saga
Shining force III chapter 1 (the only one we got in the west)
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Albert Odyssey
Beyond Oasis
Magic Knight Rayearth
Shining in the holy ark
Dark savoir
Sakura Wars 1&2
Lunar 1&2
Princess Crown
Linkle Liver story
Guardian Heroes
Dark Savoir
Feda
Dragon Force / DF2

Most of these either have official english versions or fan translations. Sega Saturn has so many lovely sprite based rpgs. One of the reasons why I thought famiboard members would love Dragon for is that Sega Saturn is like a super Nintendo turned hyper. It continued the tradition of great sprites, but turned it up to 11.

 

[Tailzo]

I am continuing my delightful playthrough of Dragon Force 2. I find it a bit harder than the first, but I love the challenge. I’ve met some ennemy generals with multiple 100 solidier strong armies early, while my troops average at about 20 troops. I get so close to victory by using some characters as fodder, wearing down the ennemy, retreating and continuing with a fresh general and troops.

They did capture 2 of my generals though.

 

[julian]

I love 1 but never got far in 2. To be fair, there was no fan translation at the time so maybe it’s time to give it another shot. I played 1 soooo much. Eventually had a bunch of cheap methods to better my odds. Like splitting my forces until the enemy was in the center of the map and then melee. Or hitting start the moment the enemy tried escaping to replenish troops and send out my generals to get the fleeing enemies. I always had so much trouble actually beating the game. I could get to the final boss a lot but I think I only beat it fully once.

 

[Tailzo]

I love 1 but never got far in 2. To be fair, there was no fan translation at the time so maybe it’s time to give it another shot. I played 1 soooo much. Eventually had a bunch of cheap methods to better my odds. Like splitting my forces until the enemy was in the center of the map and then melee. Or hitting start the moment the enemy tried escaping to replenish troops and send out my generals to get the fleeing enemies. I always had so much trouble actually beating the game. I could get to the final boss a lot but I think I only beat it fully once.

Thank you so much for replying

I would be very happy to have someone to discuss the game with, so I really hope you play it some day. Since you loved the first game, you’d love this too. Some of the same tactics can be used here too, but it has some qol features like auto fortifying castles, auto searching for recruitable generals at end turn and a little symbol to the right of general names to show who deserves an award.