Dragon Spirit

The gameplay involves flying around and destroying everything in sight, with action taking place on two planes: the sky (where the dragon flies) and the ground. The dragon has two types of attacks: fire that shoots up the screen and fire that drops onto the ground. Enemies exist both in the air and on the ground, including those that can fly up from the ground.

Players can pick up power-ups or upgrades to aid them in their fight. These upgrades include extra heads on the dragon, health boosts, faster shots, and more. At the end of each stage is a boss that needs to be defeated. Having good upgrades will help players progress.

The NES version introduces an altered story and additional gameplay mode, titled "A New Legend". In this version, Zawell is already defeated, and King Amul and Queen Alicia have children named Iris and Lace. A new evil named Galda attacks the Earth, taking Iris captive. Lace must rescue her.

The NES version also features a new initial stage, which can be cleared to play as "Blue Dragon" or fail to start in "Gold Dragon" mode, with easier stages and extra hit points.

Notably, the TurboGrafx-16 version's seventh and eighth stages differ from other versions, featuring castle interior-themed levels instead of underwater and dark environments.