Dragon's Fury 1992 By: Tengen

Overview:

Dragon's Fury is an awesome pin ball game, and there's just not much I like better than a cool pin ball game. The graphics are really amazing. I haven't found a pin ball game on any system that looks this cool (besides Sonic Spinball, which you should check out if you like this game). The jewel tones and textured backgrounds are real eye candy. Knock the ball into a vortex or open mouth and you'll be taken to a bonus round where there will be some foul creature (one of them looks like it has been turned inside out and one is a hydra... how cool is that?) that you'll have to destroy.
So, the music is terrible 80's rock. I'm willing to overlook it.... this time. This game is loads of fun and quite a challenge. All pin ball games are challenging, but with this one you get cool bosses to beat and not only do you have to have the skill to hit your target, but you also have to figure out where to hit to begin with. Animation is pretty smooth, though sometimes you can lose track of the ball with all the stuff going on on screen.
WARNING! Very, very addictive game!

Directions:

The first thing you probably want to do is to go into options and change the controls. I usually don't mess with this, but this game starts out set up kind of strange. The default has you using the B button for the right flipper, the A button to tilt and the D pad (down) for the left flipper. You might like having the flippers set up this way, but I found myself very uncomfortable with this configuration, so I changed it. You can go to Options and set the controls as whatever you like by highlighting each thing and then pressing the button you would like that function to be.
To begin with, you probably want to launch the ball all the way to the top. Just pull it back all the way and let it fly. This will put you in the center section of the screen. Here there is a head that can be changed by launching the ball into the red pentacle vortices (that's plural for vortex) and when it is changed fully (into a dragon head) you can enter the mouth to go on to a bonus stage. If a vortex (or any other likely place) has a yellow arrow in front of it, the bonus stages can also be gotten to through there. There's also a top section. Here there is a skeleton stretched out along the top, a clock in the center which little guys will march around occasionally, and several vortices. Hitting one of these vortices or going into the skeleton's mouth when there is a yellow arrow in front of them will take you to a bonus stage. Also there's a bottom section. Don't drop out of the bottom of the screen or you will lose a ball.
In the bonus stages you will have to face different monsters, for example:
Stage 2 Bat Pots
In this stage there will be three gold pots on the screen out of which fly bats. Bats explode when you hit them and can send the ball off in random directions. The object here is to break the pots by hitting them over and over.
Stage 5 The Wizards
In here you will have to hit wizards as they roam around the screen. If you hit them while they are over a black dot on the floor it will turn the dot red. The object on this level is to turn all of the dots red. This level will require a lot of flipper catching to wait for wizards to be where you need them as there are fewer and fewer dots to change. Bust open the doors at the top center of the screen and it will give you another wizard producer. The more wizards on the screen, the better your chances of changing all the dots.
Stage 6 Ewwww
This is the one that looks like an exploded person. Out of the head at the top center of the screen will come a blue snake-like thing. You must hit this snake-thing on the end (head?) 9 or 10 times. Then it will turn loose and begin to fly around. Now hit it 9 or 10 more times and it'll blow up. Now the head at the center of the screen will begin to spout smoke. It's very easy to lose track of the ball at this point so be careful. Now hit the head 9 or 10 times and it'll explode.
Getting to a bonus stage can be tricky. Some places will take you to random stages and some will take you to the same stage over and over. The Hydra at the bottom of the screen will always take you to the Hydra stage and going into the mouth of the helmeted dragon lady in the center of the screen will always take you to the "Ewwwww" stage. Dropping out of the bottom in a bonus stage does not cause you to lose a ball. This only means that you will be transported back to the first screen without having completed that stage. The object of the game is to complete all of the stages, but is 6 all there is?.....
Two players will alternate each time a player loses a ball. Extra balls are awarded by completing special tasks, not necessarily through points.