DragonHawk was a video game for the Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 that was released in 1983

1983 in video gaming

-Events:* A major shakeout of the video game industry begins. By 1986, total video games sales will decrease from US$3.2 billion to US$0.1 billion.* MCA Universal files suit against Nintendo, claiming that the latter company's video arcade hit Donkey Kong violated Universal's copyright on King Kong...

 by Creative Software. It was developed by Mark A. Van Alstine and Steve Penners of United Microware.

DragonHawk is heavily based on the popular arcade game Joust

Joust (arcade game)

Joust is an arcade game developed by Williams Electronics and released in 1982. It is a platform game that features two-dimensional graphics. The player uses a button and joystick to control a knight riding a flying ostrich...

, but there are some significant differences. DragonHawk did away with the complicated arrangement of platforms

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 and lava

Lava

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

 that characterized Joust, opting instead for an open, scrolling

Scrolling

In computer graphics, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display. "Scrolling", as such, does not change the layout of the text or pictures, or but incrementally moves the user's view across what is...

 landscape. As in Joust, the player repeatedly pressed a fire button to flap the protagonist's wing

Wing

A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...

s, and enemies had to be destroyed by landing on them from above. Each enemy leaves behind a feather

Feather

Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds and some non-avian theropod dinosaurs. They are considered the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates, and indeed a premier example of a complex evolutionary novelty. They...

 when defeated, which can be collected for bonus points. The player faces several waves of increasingly faster and more maneuverable foes; after defeating them all, a huge fire-breathing dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

 is encountered. Similar to Jousts pterodactyl, this dragon must be defeated by striking its weak spot (which is located near the back of its neck). After defeating the dragon, the game returns to the first enemy wave, but with an increased level of difficulty. If the player takes too long to complete an attack wave, lightning

Lightning

Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...

will rain down from the top of the screen until the attack wave is completed or the player is destroyed.