Dragon's Descent - Atari 2600

The Story Thus Far...

In a time forgotten by all save the oldest of wyrms, a cruel dragon by the name of Molobros achieved heights of greed reviled even by his avaricious kin. Gemstones in particular were prized by him, second only to the power he hoarded and the lives he consumed. His enemies did not defeat him by strength in battle, but ensnared him in a trap built to imprison a god: the Labyrinth.

When unleashed, the Labyrinth surrounded this greatest of dragons, feeding on the boundless hate and ambition of Molobros. Corridors and chambers acted as chains, and grew like wicks of flame even as he tried to escape. The maze encompassed and fused with the dragon's body, then his treasure, then his mind and wicked dreams. The dragon's treasure scattered throughout the twisting passages, and his power seeped into the very walls. Monsters appeared within, extensions of his bound wrath. Molobros could not escape, but the Labyrinth still posed a danger to the wary and a lure to the greedy.

In the ages since, the Labyrinth has served as a prison and a prize. Tales tell of the dead and enslaved guarding the interior, and despite this you will join the many who still brave the mazes within in search of power, or wealth, or freedom...or Molobros himself.

How to Play

Depending on your game settings, you may find an end to the Labyrinth on the 7th level, or the maze can continue until you are defeated as you attempt to attain the highest score!

Each level of the maze is made up of several rooms - you can leave through any exit on the boundaries of the screen you find to enter a new room. The maze layout is persistent, so a good memory or making a map can help.

When enemies appear in rooms, you will first see a mist warning you of their emergence. You can pass through this mist if you’re quick, but you only have an instant before the enemy fully forms and becomes dangerous.

To make progress in the maze, find the key on each level and then the level's exit. The exit, a door with a blinking key imprint, will only activate if you touch it while you have the key located on the same level. Upon each new level you will face more dangers but also potentially increased power and scoring!

Avoid touching walls, enemies, or enemy projectiles - doing so will deplete your hit points, and eventually terminate your game!

Increase your score by collecting gems and defeating monsters. You receive more points for defeating monsters in deeper levels, and a slightly higher score for each shot you use with higher fire breath power.

In addition to a key and exit, each level of the Labyrinth has a treasure room, which allows you to pick one of three power ups: Gem (adds 500 points to your score), Heart (increases your total hit points and refills your health to maximum), and Lamp (increases the power of your fire breath and refills its supply).

Gameplay Video

Game Options

• Left Difficulty A - Game will play until a player loses all health.
• Left Difficulty B - Game will end after you complete level 7.
• Right Difficulty A - You will start in a randomized maze.
• Right Difficulty B - Maze will be the same layout each play session.
• Game Select - This will allow you to set the random “seed" when starting the maze, enabling you to revisit mazes. Move the joystick left/right to select the left or right seed. Each can be set to a value between 1 and 255.

Screenshots

Get a Dragon's Descent Box!

If you'd like a boxed copy of Dragon's Descent, please select "Box Upgrade: Yes" at the top of the page before adding Dragon's Descent to your cart. Our boxes are professionally printed and include a box insert to hold your Dragon's Descent cartridge in place. We want you to play our games, so we have not sealed or shrinkwrapped the boxes in any way, allowing you easy access to the game cartridge and manual.

These boxes are the same size as boxes Atari produced for their games "back in the day". They look great sitting on a shelf with your other boxed homebrew games, or alongside games from the classic Atari 2600 library. We only have a limited number of boxes for each game, and there is no guarantee they will become available again once our supplies are exhausted. Click on the images to the right to see larger photos of the box.

Additional Information

Dragon's Descent includes game cartridge and full-color, 12-page manual. You can optionally purchase a professionally printed box (see above). Dragon's Descent is an NTSC-only game.