A Namco vertical shoot'em up with a mythological dragon. The extra-head power-ups are a delight. Polished visuals, well-measured challenge. An excellent overlooked shooter in the NES catalogue.
Your verdict
Category
Shooter1 player7+
Description
Vertical shoot-'em-up featuring a flying dragon breathing fire and lightning against enemy armies. Published by Namco, released in the USA in 1990. Dragon in top-down view breathing fireballs and lightning, transformation into larger dragon power-ups and massive bosses. Famicom port of Namco's Dragon Spirit arcade.
Dragon Spirit - The New Legend review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
3/5
Music
★★★★★
"Memorable"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Gameplay
"Solid"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Short"
Technical info
💾0,14 MB📅01/07/1990
Published by Namco
Dragon Spirit - The New Legend (NES) price, value & rarity
The US NES version of the Namco shooter, more limited than the Japanese Famicom release but without its exclusive additions. The loose grey cart stays accessible, but CIB in an intact box demands patience from Western Namco NES collectors. A piece valued mostly for the coherence of a complete US Namco set rather than as a true rarity.
Is Dragon Spirit - The New Legend still worth playing in 2026?
Dragon Spirit - The New Legend, also Aratanaru Densetsu in Japan, is Namco's mythological vertical shooter where you fly a dragon. The power-ups that grow extra heads are a delightful signature, the visuals are polished and the challenge sits well-tuned for the genre. The NES port slightly reorganises the arcade structure and stays approachable. Still an excellent overlooked shooter in the NES catalogue today.
