Review written by Eric Pankoke

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My first impression of Atomic Battle Dragons was “hey, someone finally made a clone of Joust”. After having actually spent some time with this little beauty, however, I've come to realize that if this is what Joust had been, we'd probably still be seeing Joust sequels to this day.

Graphics
The graphics in Atomic Battle Dragons are excellent. The full screen cut scenes that appear from time to time are gorgeous, though the portrait of Lord Cain in the dialog sequences leaves a little to be desired. The in game graphics are superb, with highly detailed backgrounds and well animated characters. The effects used when picking up and using special items add a nice flair to the whole presentation. My main gripe was with the text, which while it looks pretty can sometimes be a bit hard to read.

Sound
The sound effects are also very well done. From the clanking of colliding lances to the patter of your dragon's feet running on the ground, everything falls right into place. There's nothing quite as satisfying as the sizzle an opponent makes when they fall into a pool of lava. The music is pretty good also, but like most background tracks tends to get repetitive after a while.

Gameplay
To say that the gameplay in Atomic Battle Dragons mimics Joust only describes a small portion of what's going on in this game. Sure you are riding a winged mount, and your objective is to knock your opponents off of their mounts with a giant lance. Atomic Battle Dragons goes far beyond that basic premise to bring you an exiting and challenging game that will keep you hooked until the end.

First of all, Atomic Battle Dragons actually has a plot. This is highly unexpected from this type of game, and the plot is actually quite interesting. Of course the basic premise is good vs. evil, but as you get further in the game and learn more about the land and what you are trying to accomplish, it actually sucks you into the game.

In addition to the evil riders, each set of levels has a unique adversary that has been worked into the plot. For example, the first world has you sparring against giant mosquitoes. The riders themselves come in various strengths, as indicated by red dots above their heads. The more dots, the more you must hit them before they fall off their mounts. This adds an interesting dynamic to the game, because neither you nor your opponents are “dead” just because your hit points have fallen to 0. You will be knocked off your mount, but if you can make it to a generation pad you can summon a new steed. Of course, when possible it serves you well to follow a fallen rider, because you can prevent them from reaching these pads. You have many options, such as eating them or stomping on them with your dragon, picking them up and dropping them into a boiling pit of lava, or simply jumping on them if you have lost your own steed.

Beyond the arcade elements of Atomic Battle Dragons, there is actually a hint of an RPG to be played. Your character has 3 statistics: Attack, Speed and Strength. As you defeat riders and monsters you will gain experience points, and as you go up in levels you will be awarded skill points. These points can be applied to the various statistics, which will in turn help you do things like fight better and jump farther. In addition to these three statistics you can use the skill points to boost your maximum health level. Scattered throughout many of the levels are gems, and each time you collect 20 gems you are given an extra skill point to use as well.

There are several other elements to the gameplay, such as levels played on foot, friendly riders that help you fight, and weapon upgrades and special items, but you'll learn more about these when you play the game. The last area I'll touch on in this review is the control scheme. There are actually several ways to control this game. My preferred method is to use the D-Pad for left / right movement and flapping the dragon's wings / jumping, and one of the hardware buttons as the action button.

All the hardware controls are fully customizable, and you also have several different options for using the stylus, including an onscreen control pad and the ability to divide the screen into hotspot sections that perform various movements. The onscreen touchpad helps every once in a while when you need to do something like make a sensitive jump, but I found the hotspot controls somewhat awkward to use. I would say that the controls are the weakest point of the game, especially when your speed attribute gets higher, but it's a minor point of contention at best.

Pros

• Excellent graphics and sound
• Addictive gameplay
• Nice interweaving of action and RPG elements

Cons

• Minor control issues
• Once it's over it's over (although there are rumours of an arcade mode)

Conclusion

As an action game Atomic Battle Dragons is already loads of fun, but throw in the plot and RPG elements and you have yourself a real winner. Fans of Joust will find this to be the game that Joust could have been, and everyone else will realize that it’s a new breed of game that they’ll want more of when it’s over. Atomic Battle Dragons receives a score of 9 out of 10.

Score-by-score breakdown

Gameplay:  90%
Graphics:  90%
Sound:  90%

Overall:  90%

Please note that the overall score is more than simply an average of the individual ratings.  Many thanks to Isotope244 for providing our review copy.

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