Dragon Spirit: The New Legend is a vertical shooter that plays similarly to 1942, 1943, and Tiger-Heli.[3] The player controls a dragon who must use fireballs to destroy various enemies.
There are two different kinds of games: the golden dragon game (easy difficulty level) or the blue dragon game (normal difficulty level).[4] A story is told between levels as the player progresses.
The "easy mode" that will become available if the player dies during the opening level offers a very different gameplay experience from the standard mode.
Major differences in gameplay aside from the color of the dragon include differentiation in powers. The gold dragon is much faster by default, both in movement and attack speed. Additionally, power-up transformations are far more destructive and effective, often wiping out most enemies in a single strike, and sweeping across the entire screen, in some cases leaving no enemy alive.
In addition to enhanced powers and speed, many of the more difficult levels are removed from this mode, shortening the total game and story. The golden dragon also takes more damage and will face slightly different enemies and bosses. The story for Prince Lace is very different from that of King Amru's tale should the player successfully activate the standard difficulty game.
The player has 360° control within the screen on display, with most enemies appearing at the top of the screen. Hitting enemies on-screen damages (and ultimately kills) the main character.[5] Players have two kinds of attacks; shoot directly in the air with fire or bomb the ground with bombs.[5] There are nine worlds in the game, ranging from the Paleozoic Era to a parallel universe known only as the Evil Palace, where the final boss awaits the player in his lair.[5]