The stars that this game gets from me are for the charming artwork and the concept. And maybe for the fact that this game allows you to bind your keys, when nobody else thought to do that in its time, yet. However, everything else - controls, mission design - is utterly terrible. The difficulty curve is all over the place, up unto the point where the game pits you against multiple enemy dragons at once, all attacking you at once - an unwinnable scenario, as it's impossible to evade multiple dragons circling you and breathing at you consecutively. For that you'd need some situational awareness, and this game won't grant you any. Some examples: The mission you get for joining the Order Of The Rose pits you against several enemy dragons strewn all over the map, two of them approach you right away from two opposite directions, before several more join in - unwinnable (except with a whole lot of pure luck). Another example is the mission you get while in the Order Of The Sword, where your rider decides to go after several blue dragons alone - unwinnable, because multiple dragon's breath attacks are simply not evadable for long without a whole lot of luck. Skill plays no part in this game. Controls are slow and clunky, to the point where keyboard controls are the most precise ones. Mouse is second, joystick is absolutely useless. The low resolution isn't an excuse for that, either. I've played flying sims of that age before, and all of them are perfectly playable with a joystick to this day. I'd never think of playing any of the Wing Commanders, the old X-Wing etc. with a keyboard. Here, there's hardly another choice, if you want to be able to actually target something. Oh yeah, before I forget: You have only few healing salves for you and your dragon, and entering another order forces you to give them away, unless you want to lose whatever protective gear you've earned up unto that point. What bull... This game spits in the player's face on top of everything else!
