Skip to content
Dom Robinson reviews
Distributed by
Sega 
Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pernis a game based on the apparently-famous 16-book series of novels writtenby Anne McCaffrey. Sadly, the only thing I actually read on a regularbasis is the TV guide and TV Quick‘s weekly whimsy is a far cry fromher fantasy fiction.
As you run around the game tends to look a lot similar in termsof textures and colour to Thief II: The Metal Ageand given that it reminds you how much of a shame it is that the console didn’tget the chance to scale the heights it should have done and could easily havemanaged Half Life had it been a viable platform on which to releasethat game.
However, the control system is an absolute dog. Rather than the expected “movein the direction of the analogue joystick”, you turn with the left and rightdirections and go forward or backward by moving the joystick in thosedirections. In other words, exactly like the D-pad and not what the joystick’sfor and it’s very difficult to control your character.
As you run around there’s an effective and slightly haunting score, not tomention, especially at the start, sound effects of dripping water leaking intoyour cave.
The main problem is, though, that to take on a series of novels in one gameis no doubt a very ambitious project and not having delved into McCaffrey’sliterary world puts me at a disadvantage… which means I haven’t got theslightest idea what’s going on and it’s not easy to get involved when youcan’t move your man where he’s meant to go.
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ORIGINALITY
ENJOYMENT
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.