Alisia Dragoon^[a] is a 1992 platform game developed by Game Arts for the Sega Genesis. The player controls Alisia, a young woman who is on a quest to avenge her father and save the world. She can fire lightning from her hands and summon four faithful beasts to aid her. Alisia Dragoon was published outside of Japan by Sega. Despite the acclaim the game received, it was not a commercial success. The game was later included on the Sega Genesis Mini and Nintendo Switch Online.

Gameplay

Gameplay involves action and platforming elements, as the player controls Alisia to jump onto platforms and kill enemies with the aid of her pets.

In Alisia Dragoon, the player controls the protagonist, Alisia, in her quest to save the world by defeating the evil forces that killed her father. The game consists of eight levels of side-scrolling environments; Alisia has to jump across gaps and kill the enemies that stand in her way.^[3] Each stage is completed by defeating the boss at the end.^[4]

Alisia attacks by shooting streaks of lightning from her hands. The attack automatically targets enemies in range but gets weaker with each volley as Alisia’s power is depleted. Her power recharges when she stops attacking; when fully charged, it allows her to unleash a multi-target attack,^[4] hitting every enemy on the screen.^[5] The energy system introduces an element of strategy, encouraging the player to manage Alisia’s power to have her able to defend herself at critical moments.^[3]

Helping Alisia in her quest are her pet monsters. These creatures fly around the heroine on their own, attacking her foes, and blocking enemy attacks from hitting her.^[6] There are four pets, each with its own type of attack. The Dragon Frye spits fireballs, and the Boomerang Lizard hurls boomerangs. The Thunder Raven emits a thunder blast that affects enemies across the screen, and the Ball O’ Fire burns enemies on contact. Only one pet can fight alongside Alisia in her quest, but the player can select any of the four (or none) as the active companion at any time.^[3]