This is a game I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s been hard to get simply because it’s expensive. If I were to guess I think it might be because Dahna never made it outside of Japan. And that is part of why I’ve wanted this game. I enjoy experiencing games that were exclusive to Japan. I feel like I’m finally getting a taste of some of the things I missed out on.
I actually had this game back in the day on my Mega Disk which is how I knew about it. I really liked the game but the floppy I had it on failed and Dahna and I were parted before I was ready. Now so many years later I have it again; properly. 🙂
Dahna
Dahna is a platformer and it controls reasonable well. The only thing I have trouble with are her three stances. You can stand, crouch and go prone. From standing you can push down and she’ll crouch, push down again from a crouched position and she’ll go prone… and then pressing up will cycle back through the three positions. Sometimes when I’m smashing the joystick a bit much I get stuck in a position I didn’t want. But really this is not an issue I just need more practice.
Despite not doing anything really well you can do some cool stuff. Jumping is well done and you have an upward thrust attack, you have magic and you can ride various mounts like horses and giants.
It’s a good fun game but not worth the typical price tag that I’ve seen it for. Dahna cost me $50 (including shipping). I’ve been looking for a good long while and I’ve never seen it complete and in good shape for less than $40. For me this is one I’ll play and enjoy having in the collection.
Retro Megabit 
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Ah, finally! I’m glad you got this one complete, as it’s one of my favorite MD games despite the control issues. It’s never been released outside Japan and yes, it’s a bit of a rarity, thus the higher price point. I’ll also add that the cover art was absolutely what made me buy a copy some years ago, as it’s inspired by Barry WIndsor Smith’s run on Conan the Barbarian. I forgot what I paid for mine, but I think I got it as part of a huge MD games lot, so it averaged out pretty cheap all things considered. I still haven’t finished the game (I think I got to the fourth stage), but one day I’ll get back to it…
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I’m glad to hear you like Dahna so much too. I had remembered liking it from way back in the day but aftr reading about it recently before I bought it I got the impression that people didn’t have much love for it.
After I tried it again I found it really was a fun and cool game. It also looks like they put a lot of effort into the story too (for a 16-bit era game). Too bad I can’t read it.
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