Crimson Dragon: Side Story title update brings Windows Phone 8 compatibility

Crimson Dragon: Side Story, the sidescrolling shooter from Groundling, Inc. billed as a spiritual successor to Sega's Panzer Dragoon, is available today on Windows Phone 8 via a title update, according to a post on Play XBLA.

The game adapts Panzer Dragoon's gameplay to the touchscreen interface with on-screen controls that allow players to pilot their dragon and tap to target enemies. To unlock more than 170 dragon's skills, players collect jewels that they can unlock by playing the game, through in-app purchases and by using their phone's location services, which track daily real-world movement. The title update also fixed bugs and adds the number of Dark Phantom enemies defeated to the Achievements screen.

The $0.99 game was released for Windows Phone on Sept. 12 and is available for Windows Phone 7.5 and 8 from the Windows Phone store. A Kinect-focused XBLA game in the series, Crimson Dragon, was slated for release in June 2012, but missed the original target and hasn't received a new release date.

Update: As PanocideX points out in the comments below, although the app is available today, the Windows 8 compatibility update went live a few weeks ago. According to its listing in the Windows Phone Store, Crimson Dragon: Side Story was last updated on Dec. 22, 2012.