Part 2: "Now That I've Got A Dragon..."

We rejoin our heroes as they burst on to the scene in full late-90's 3D glory. Yeah, it looks dated as hell now, but this was positively gorgeous back when it came out, especially compared to most of the 3D fare on the Saturn.

I love the way Edge says this. It's like he was *expecting* to get a dragon after that crazy guy with the leather mouthpiece blew him off a cliff with a shotgun, like it happens all the time.

Parents of teenagers everywhere anxiously await the answer to this question.

Anyway, actual dragonback gameplay begins at this point. The most glaring difference between exploring on foot and on the dragon is the radar, which you can see in the upper right corner of the following screenshot. The radar gives you a lot of useful information: what direction you're facing (the line points north), how likely it is that you're going to be attacked (blue = safe, yellow = likely, red = more likely, flashing red = uh oh), your altitude (the red gauge on the right), your speed (the three dots to the left of the altitude gauge), and where items of interest are in relation to you. There are four categories of lock-ons while on the dragon:

Caution (yellow) - we'll get to that later;

Enter (blue) - shows where Edge and the dragon can go to transition from area to area;

Break (pink) - highlights objects the dragon can destroy, such as item boxes and other destructible objects;

and Access (green) - highlights objects that the dragon can interact with and/or examine further, like the odd hanging box in this shot or

the map station in this one. Finding the map station in each area is usually pretty useful,

as areas that you've been and haven't been are now clearly marked to make exploration easier.

As I fly through this area there are more of those white boxes strewn about, which give me items such as the Dinys Chip...

which is either money or not money. Thanks guys, that description really helped.

Aww...here's some harmless wild birds, native to the valley. Let's divebomb them!

WHO'S POOPING ON WHO NOW, MOTHERFUCKER?????

Finished with my wildlife harassment for the moment, I proceed further through the valley and happen upon an ancient device that allows me to save my data.

Just past the save point is a tunnel dug into the cliff wall. I highlight the entrance with the cursor, hit A, and Edge and the dragon fly on in.

On the other side of the tunnel is the excavation site that Edge and his friends were guarding. Between the monster's rampage and Craymen's attack, it's in pretty bad shape now. The dragon flies Edge over to the cliff, and fearing the worst, the young man gets off to see if anything remains of his former life.

Hmmm...

Uh huh...

"Aw man, I left my iPod in there..."

Whatever...

Gah!

In standard storytelling fashion, the dying captain knows the slightest bit more than Edge does - just enough to both whet our appetite for more information and not get us any closer whatsoever to finding out what the hell's actually going on.

?

Nope, he just wanted Edge to take his map.

Uh oh.

Edge's grief fades quickly, giving way to rage at Craymen for killing his mentor and destroying his life. Pulling his head back up, he sees the dragon waiting for him and feels the weight of the gun strapped to his back. He remembers the way the dragon's lasers pulverized the beasts who threatened him in the ruins, and his jaw sets with determination as he realizes he's been given two extremely powerful weapons.

It's now time to learn how to kill things with them.