I really want to like this game! The art is great, the setting is original (scifi + fantasy), and Alisia is a very cool protagonist. Unfortunately it's let down by almost every ability/mechanic in the game being just a little off.
In Alisia dragoon you attack by shooting lightning bolts that automatically direct themselves to enemies in the direction Alisia is facing. If you wait a while for the energy meter to fully charge up, the lightning sweeps across the whole screen and does more damage. Alisia can also jump and duck. That's it as far as control goes, but there are also a number of "pets" that can help Alisia out. There's a dragon, a bird, another dragon, and a fireball. Each have their own ability that can be levelled up. It's really cool to have them floating about and they do a lot to help in some situations.
Now for the problems.
The lightning attack has to be charged up. This is fine, it means the game becomes about managing the remaining energy and timing attacks to conserve it. But sometimes that charge isn't *quite* fast enough, particularly during boss fights where you need to use the fully powered sweep to clear enemies or projectiles that have just spawned in, and then strike at the boss while they're exposed. The timing can be pretty strict, with only just enough time to stay out of trouble, especially in those parts of the game where enemies spawn in close to where Alisia is standing/walking.
Speaking of trouble, don't expect ducking to help you get out of it! There are numerous times in the game where it looks like the appropriate way to avoid an attack, but Alisia will get hit anyway. It's especially frustrating during one of the boss fights, where you can be hit by projectiles that visibly go over Alisia while she ducks. Instead she must jump over all three projectiles, with near perfect timing, but the jump isn't great either. If you hold the button long enough for a full jump (ie: normally) Alisia will pause briefly upon landing. During this time she is vulnerable and can't jump again. This means that in order to repeatedly dodge by jumping, the button has to be given lightning fast taps. It feels more like a bug than intended behaviour, but of course this rapid jumping is required to get past another of the game's bosses.
The last two problems are much more minor niggles. First, while there are upgrades to be found in the game world, motivating some interesting exploration, they are actually mandatory. Without upgrading the lightning attack, enemies take far too long to go down and quickly overwhelm the player. I'm not sure if the upgrades for the pets are necessary, but the pets can be a bit useless when things get tricky anyway. They float behind Alisia, and aren't very smart about avoiding enemy attacks. Whenever the player changes direction, the pet will snap to it's resting position over Alisia's shoulder, even if that means taking collision damage from an enemy. It's a bigger problem during bossfights because the bosses are bigger themselves, and so it's extremely likely for the pets to get in the way. Luckily they can be put away during boss fights, and there are plenty of opportunities to heal or revive them.
Even though the above add up to make the game a bit painful to play rather than fun, there are some redeeming factors. Besides the general coolness, this is one of those games that manages to somehow feel bigger than it is. The outdoor levels feel spatious and connected, part of a big fantasy world. The levels feel pretty big too, with different routes and little corners containing the upgrades and healing items. The main antagonists bring with them the futuristic elements, which really makes them seem out of place and threatening. But they also have this sort of...native american look to them (I think?) so they still have some ties to the rest of the setting. It's always nice to see fantasy and scifi mixed together with more subtlety than "orcs but with laser guns". It's a shame there was never a sequel, because I think it'd be really interesting to see the world fleshed out more on a more powerful console like the Saturn or Playstation.
Overall Alisia Dragoon is a curiosity and not something I'd really recommend playing to completion, but it is worth a try to experience what is both a good representative of Mega Drive games, and a unique entry in its library.