Saint Dragon

Saint Dragon © 1989 Jaleco.

Saint Dragon is a horizontally-scrolling shoot-em-up in which the galaxy is under threat from a malevolent race of cyborgs. Half animal, half machine, the cyborgs have already conquered most of the galaxy and now have their sights set on the galaxy's last hope, 'The Planet of the Golden Dragon'. A lone mechanoid dragon, unhappy with the actions of his comrades, rebels and sets out to thwart their invasion.

The Dragon is initially armed with a plasma bolts and fiery breath but tokens - resembling bronze-coloured eggs - can be shot to release power-ups to upgrade the dragon's firepower, offering either pulse torpedoes, a laser, bouncing bombs, ring lasers or a turret.

Other tokens can upgrade the dragon's speed or initiate a hyper mode which temporarily gives the dragon maximum firepower and invulnerability. As well as the weapons, the dragon also has an armoured tail which follows the player's movement, allowing it to be used as a defensive shield.

The game consists of six stages, each culminating in a battle with a large end-of-level guardian.