Rise of the Dragon is a point-and-click adventure video game developed by Dynamix and published in 1990 by Sierra On-Line for MS-DOS. It was the first Cyberpunk game from Dynamix, distinct from its portfolio of action and flight simulators. Set in a future dystopian version of Los Angeles, circa 2053, it follows the story of detective William 'Blade' Hunter as he investigates the death of the mayor's daughter, linked to a dangerous new drug, MTZ. The gameplay combines detective work, strategy, and action. Players must solve puzzles that influence the storyline, interact with characters who remember past choices, and tackle action sequences. If players fail these sequences multiple times, the game may offer to automatically complete them.

Rise of the Dragon was ported to Classic Mac OS and Amiga. A Sega CD version added voice acting and some changes in content. The game's reception was generally positive, with critics noting its effective capture of a cyberpunk atmosphere, detailed graphics, and the non-linear approach to puzzle-solving. It garnered awards for artistic achievement but received some criticism for its control scheme and user interface.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Rise of the Dragon is similar to that of Dynamix's other 1990s adventure games, The Adventures of Willy Beamish and Heart of China. The screen shows the current room roughly from the protagonist Blade's perspective. Movement occurs with the cursor, which becomes an arrow to proceed to another room or a magnifying glass to get closer to a part of the current scene.

The game has a time meter that reflects the passage of time in the game. Each of Blade's actions takes up a certain amount of time. Some game events will only occur at particular times. The player must find a way to delay the plans of the game's villains, or the game will end after only three days and Blade will not have time to save the day. Travelling between locations can take up a lot of in-game time, so players must plan their moves strategically.

Several puzzles in Rise of the Dragon have multiple possible solutions. Blade's activities can influence the plot of the game later on. Game characters remember his earlier behavior, and if he says the wrong thing to key characters they will refuse to help him with his work, which can render the game unwinnable.

Rise of the Dragon features two action scenes and an aim-and-shoot scene. It is possible to beat the game without playing through all of these scenes. If the player tries and fails to complete the action scenes several times, the game will offer the chance to automatically win the sequence and move on to the next scene.

Plot

In 2053, William 'Blade' Hunter is a former Los Angeles Police Department officer turned private detective. When the mayor's rebellious daughter Chandra is found dead and horribly mutated after experimenting with a new designer drug called MTZ, Blade is called upon to track down those responsible. Blade makes contact with a streetwise friend of Chandra's nicknamed "the Jake", who indicates Chen Lu as the dealer who supplied Chandra with the lethal drug. Blade goes to Chen Lu's apartment only to find Lu assassinated with an overdose of MTZ, as punishment for attracting public attention by causing the death of a politician's daughter.

As Blade tries to reconcile with his girlfriend Karyn, who works at the Crime Records Bureau, he enlists her help to track down Lu's accomplices and discover the mutagenic nature of the MTZ drug. It is revealed that the MTZ business is part of an underground Chinese Mafia operation led by Deng Hwang, a megalomaniacal drug kingpin intent on world domination. Blade also meets an old fortune teller, who tells him the present year coincides with that of the foretold coming of Chinese dragon Bahumat.

Blade disrupts the MTZ production schedule by blowing up the local drug plant, but in doing so he is spotted by Hwang's men. Hwang has the Jake captured in an attempt to lure Blade into a trap, but Blade manages to rescue the Jake and later sabotages the Triad's plans to poison the Hollywood reservoir with MTZ and exterminate the population of Los Angeles. In retaliation, Hwang has Karyn kidnapped and strapped to a chair, threatening to inject MTZ into her system.

Blade infiltrates Hwang's headquarters and, depending on the player's actions, either manages or fails to rescue Karyn. He eventually comes face-to-face with Hwang himself, who suddenly transforms into the dragon Bahumat. In a climactic final battle, Bahumat is defeated by Blade. Outside the headquarters, Blade is greeted by the mayor but angrily punches him for using Blade as a pawn in his covert drug bust and endangering his life and Karyn's. Blade then walks away either with Karyn, if she has survived, or alone.

Ports

Developed by Game Arts, the Sega CD version adds voice audio to the game (including Cam Clarke in the main role as William 'Blade' Hunter). It was given an MA-17 rating by the Videogame Rating Council. A scene with a French kiss and implied sex was removed from the Sega CD release.

Reception

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