![Dragon's Earth [Model SHVC-DG] screenshot](images/game/61250_2.png "Dragon")
Dragon's Earth © 1993 Human Ent.
Dragon's Earth is a turn-based strategy RPG that stands out for its high-fantasy setting and unique unit-growth system. Unlike traditional strategy games that focus on generic soldiers, this title revolves around the recruitment and evolution of dragon-kind. Players manage an army of various dragon species, each with specific elemental affinities and tactical roles, navigating a grid-based map to secure territory and defeat rival factions.
GAME ID: SHVC-DG
BARCODE: 4959143600041
Released on January 22, 1993 (Friday) in Japan.
The Human Entertainment Strategy Formula: Human Entertainment was well-known for experimenting with the strategy genre on the Super Famicom. Dragon's Earth served as a technical exercise in managing large unit counts while maintaining distinct, balanced abilities for each "class" of dragon, a design philosophy that would influence their later, more complex tactical titles.
Dragon Evolution: The core gameplay loop centers on "breeding" and evolving dragons. By gaining combat experience, units don't just increase in numerical stats; they undergo visual and mechanical transformations, unlocking new attack ranges and elemental resistances. This added a layer of long-term planning, as players had to decide which dragons to prioritize for promotion to survive the later, high-difficulty missions.
Visual Presentation: The game is noted for its large, expressive sprite work during combat sequences, which were intended to showcase the different growth stages of the dragon units. It provided a sense of visual progression that was very satisfying to players who invested time into the more complex, higher-tier units.