Dragon Stomper was programmed by Stephen Landrum and published by Starpath for the Atari 2600 in 1982. It may very well deserve the moniker of the very first role playing game created for consoles. We did play Adventure which was developed for the Atari Video Computer System in 1980 (later renamed Atari 2600) however I consider Adventure to be more of an action-adventure. Adventure can have the distinction of being the first console fantasy game but it is Dragon Stomper that seems to be the first console role-playing game.
The story driving the game is standard RPG fare. A Druid completed the enchantment of a powerful amulet that would allow him to subdue and control a dragon. The Druid, controlling a fierce dragon, would become invincible. So, amulet in hand, the Druid entered the dragon’s lair. And fell into a trap. The amulet skidded out of the Druid’s hand and into the dragon’s claw. Slowly the magic powers of the amulet flowed into the dragon adding cunning, intelligence, and great magical powers to it’s physical strength. As the dragon gained power, it became increasingly evil and turned it’s newfound powers against the once happy kingdom. From it’s cave, the dragon cast spells that caused crops to wither and die. Hidden pools of quicksand suddenly engulfed travelers on their way to market. Savage creatures – maniacs, scorpions, demented monkeys, and worse – suddenly appeared and attacked without warning. In steps a dragon hunter ( YOU! ) who is given the quest by the king to defeat the dragon and reclaim the magical amulet.
There are four different sections in this game. Once you leave one part of the game and move on to the next section there is no way to return to the previous section.
The first part of the game is a wilderness area that you’re meant to explore. This comprises much of the game as you use it to collect as much gold and items as you can so that you can purchase equipment in town which you’ll need for the dragon’s lair. You will also need to find identification papers so that you can use them to cross the bridge to get into town.
The wilderness area is an overland map that isn’t terribly large. There are churches, castles, temples, swamps, trees, and huts found on the map. The bridge which takes you into town is on the eastern edge of the wilderness map.
Monsters which you’ll encounter in the wilderness are knights, monkeys, slimes, maniacs, spiders, scorpions, ghouls, snakes, beetles, and demons. These creatures occur as random encounters.
When you encounter these creatures you have the option to move, fight, use an item, or check your status.
Combat involves you and your opponent exchanging blows and damage until one of you dies. You can see in a display window the amount of damage being dealt to you and the amount of damage you’re dishing out as well. I found it to be a bit difficult to stay alive in the very beginning of the game. There are churches on the overland wilderness map where you can purchase healing for 200 gold pieces. When my hit points would get low I would go to the church for healing. I found that my attributes soon increased enough where the random encounters became much easier affairs.
When you defeat your enemy you’re randomly awarded gold pieces or a special item. Special items can include charms, rings, keys, staves, potions, gold, a shield, a hand axe and identification papers. The hand axe you need as a melee weapon so you want to find this right away otherwise you’re using your hands as weapons. The shield makes it harder for your opponents to hit you. Keys are used to enter locked castles and temples. Special encounters and items can be found within. The charms, rings, staves, and crosses all work to either increase or decrease your attributes of strength and dexterity. Each game their roles are different but within a particular game they continue to do the same thing. For example if in the game you’re playing the charms serve to increase strength and dexterity then they will always do so in that game. If the staves decrease your strength and dexterity then they will always do so throughout that particular game. If you begin a new game the roles of these special items will randomly change and you’ll have to experiment with all of them.
Once I felt my attributes were high enough and I had my identification papers I made my way across the bridge and into town.
This was my first mistake and I discovered that I “soft locked” the game and was unable to complete the quest. Let me expound upon this.
The town depicted above is the second section of the game. Once you cross the bridge and enter the town there is no going back into the wilderness area. The town has three different shops which allow you to purchase equipment, healing potions, and lastly spells. There are also patrolling warriors which you can hire and are absolutely necessary in order to survive your ordeal with the dragon. Lastly you can reach the Dragon’s Lair from town. My mistake was that while my attributes were appropriately high enough, and I had my identification papers, what I didn’t have was enough gold to purchase the items that I needed in order to defeat the dragon.
The dragon is actually an EXTREMELY difficult encounter. You’re going to need to purchase a lantern so that you can see through the gloom of the dragon’s caves, you’re going to want to purchase rope so that you can climb down into the dragon’s lair otherwise you have to jump down in which you take some damage, and you have to purchase a bow so that you can attack the dragon from a distance for a bit. You see defeating this particular dragon involves some strategy. You are also going to want to hire the three warriors that are marching throughout the town. It will cost you roughly 250 gold pieces for each warrior that you hire. In addition to the equipment and warriors you’re also going to want to go into the magic shop and purchase some Blast and Stun spells to help deal with the dragon and Vision spells to deal with all of the traps. All of these purchases are going to require roughly 1500 to 1800 gold pieces in totality. I was crestfallen to discover that I had miscalculated what I would need to complete my quest so badly. I had to start the game completely over and then grind to raise my attributes and collect enough gold pieces so that I could afford all of the equipment I needed.
Once I felt I had a sufficient supply of gold I made my way back to town, purchased equipment, bought Blast and Stun and Vision spells, and hired my three warriors. I then made my way into the Dragon’s Lair.
The dragon’s lair is a linear series of caverns with all kinds of various traps. You can reveal these traps using the Vision spells which you purchased in the magic shop.
There are a lot of poison arrows that you have to avoid which shoot from the walls and there is somewhat of an arcade sequence where you have to avoid quite a few obstacles which move quickly back and forth.
Once you make your way past all of the traps and obstacles you come to a pit. If you bought rope from the equipment shop in town you can descend safely into the pit. If you did not purchase rope you can jump into the pit but doing so will cause damage and you want to reserve as many hit points as you can for the dragon.
Once you finally reach the dragon in it’s lair you are in for quite a battle. The amulet that the dragon is guarding can be seen just behind the dragon. It took me multiple tries to defeat the dragon and I had to experiment with different strategies but the bottom line is that the only way you’re going to defeat the dragon is to strategize and use tactics.
I was able to finally defeat the dragon only after sending the warriors in to do combat with the beast. While they engaged the dragon I stayed back and I hurled Stun spells, which paralyze the dragon for a couple of rounds, Blast spells which do great amounts of damage to the beast (caution sometimes the spells will not work and they are dispelled by the magic of the dragon’s amulet) and then I shot arrows from the bow that I purchased. Near the end of combat you’ll finally have no choice but to engage the dragon and exchange blows. You’ll want to hope that between the warriors, blast spells, and arrows that you’ve whittled down the dragon’s hit points enough to finally finish it. It is not an easy task.
Once you defeat the dragon you move to the back of the lair and retrieve the amulet. It is then that you’ve completed your quest in vanquishing the dragon and reclaiming the amulet and the game is over.
Dragon Stomper took me completely by surprise. I had never heard of it growing up and my expectations were that it would be something resembling 1980’s Adventure for the Atari. I couldn’t have been more wrong. You have a character whose attributes approve through combat. You find items to help aid you in your quest. There are four different sections of play that involve buying equipment and magic for your expedition through the dragon’s caves and you also have to hire warriors to lead through them. The last part, in which you face the dragon, requires strategy and tactics to win.
I enjoyed my time with it. It took me roughly 4 hours to beat as there are no save game features and it is meant to be played in one sitting albeit it’s a long sitting. This is no Ultima or Wizardry or even a Fracas by Stuart Smith but it’s about as fun and as close to a true role-playing game as you’re going to get on an Atari 2600.
Next up on the list is Goodcode’s Caverns. I have a vacation and some travel plans with my wife on the docket for next week so I will be on hiatus for a good week but then I’ll be back and ready for new adventure. Until next time…
Yes, I wouldn’t describe Atari’s Adventure cartridge as an CRPG – “graphic adventure” is probably the most appropriate term. As such, Dragon Stomper may well have the distinction of being the first console CRPG.
It never ceases to amaze me what programmers managed to accomplish on the VCS. Considering all the limitations in their way – having to draw the screen’s graphics in real time, code access limited to 4K at a time, 127 bytes of RAM storage – many of the games that were written (particularly the late era games, such as this one) are stunning!
Have a great vacation!
I agree completely. I was quite taken aback by the game and how much they were able to do with it. I love pleasant surprises like that when encountering many of these games for the very first time.