Dragon Warrior
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| Dragon Warrior | |
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| Developer(s) | Chunsoft |
| Publisher(s) | JP Enix Corporation NA Nintendo of America |
| Series | Dragon Quest |
| Platform(s) | NES/Famicom, MSX, NEC PC-9801, Super Famicom, Game Boy/Game Boy Color (hybrid cartridge), Mobile phone |
| Release date | JP May 27, 1986 NA August 1989 |
| Genre(s) | Console role-playing game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: E (Everyone) (GBC) |
| Media | NA 640-kilobit NES cartridge JP 512-kilobit Famicom cartridge GBC/SFC/MSX cartridges |
Dragon Warrior, also known as Dragon Quest (ドラゴンクエスト Doragon Kuesuto?) in Japan, is a role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and originally published in Japan by Enix Corporation (now known as Square Enix Co., Ltd.) for the Famicom console.[1] It is the first game in the Dragon Quest series (also known as the Dragon Warrior series in North America).
Dragon Warrior has been ported and remade for several platforms including the MSX, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, and mobile phones.
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[edit] Gameplay
Dragon Warrior uses very basic console role-playing game mechanics. Battles are fought in turn-based format and experience points are awarded after every battle, which allows the main character to level up and become stronger. Progression consists of traveling from location to location, fighting monsters along the way.
[edit] Plot
The protagonist of the story is a warrior who is a descendent of the legendary hero Erdrick (known in some versions as Loto). Starting in the chambers of King Lorik, the player is made aware that the Dragonlord has stolen the Ball of Light which must be reclaimed to restore peace to the land. Although this minimalistic story presents itself at the beginning, the player will find more minor story elements to the game as it progresses. These mostly occur through dialogues with NPCs that detail rescuing the Princess Gwaelin, the destruction of the town of Hauksness, and the hints about relics needed to reach the Dragonlord.
Although this is the first title released of the Dragon Warrior franchise, Dragon Warrior I is actually the second, chronologically, of a three game series which share a storyline. The story is preceded by that of Dragon Warrior III and followed by Dragon Warrior II.
[edit] Characters
The Warrior
Little is known about the hero besides his ancestry, being a descendant of the legendary Erdrick.[2][3][4] The only hints of personality for the character are a somewhat forced relationship with Princess Gwaelin and the yes or no answers the player can select to certain questions proposed by certain characters throughout the game. The user can name him however he or she wishes, within the limits of the naming system (8 letters in the North American NES version, 4 hiragana characters in the Japanese Famicom version). The Hero's name has an effect on his statistical growth over the course of the game. [5]
The Dragonlord
A dragon from Charlock whose soul became evil from learning magic.[6] He sought "unlimited power and destruction,"[6] which resulted in a rising tide of evil throughout Alefgard. He rules from Charlock Castle[2][3] to the south-east, where surrounding swamps and a destroyed bridge to the mainland have rendered his castle inaccessible. Inside Charlock, a complex maze of turns and monsters further protects his throne.[3] The Dragonlord's origin is unclear, but his motives are to enslave the world with his army of monsters.
King Lorik
Father of Princess Gwaelin and the king of Tantegel Castle, where the hero's quest begins.
Princess Gwaelin
The princess of Tantegel Castle. The hero must save Gwaelin from the clutches of a dragon early in his quest.
[edit] Development
[edit] North American Localization
The game was localized for the North American release in 1989, but the title was changed to Dragon Warrior to avoid infringing on the trademark of the pen and paper role-playing game, DragonQuest (although in fact there was another pen-and-paper role-playing system called Dragon Warriors). The North American version of the game featured improved graphics and a battery-backed RAM savegame, whereas the Japanese version used passwords.
Many differences may be noted in comparing the original Dragon Quest and Dragon Warrior:
- The map graphics and character sprites were enhanced, with better definition and multi-directional facing (in the original version, sprites only faced forward regardless of which direction they were moving, and the player had to choose in which direction to interact with objects and NPCs from a menu)
- Spells went from having nonsensical names in the Japanese version to straight-forward one-word names.
- Many locations were given names relating to the Arthurian legend, and dialogue was written in a quasi-Early Modern English style.
- Regarding the Japanese version, in the town that the hero first buys keys, a woman offers to provide "puff-puff" to the Hero. This was changed in the American release as the woman asks if the hero would like to purchase tomatoes.
[edit] Nintendo Power Bonus
Nintendo Power provided three feature articles on Dragon Warrior from May/June 1989 - Sept/Oct 1989.[7][8][9] The Nov/Dec 1989 issue provided a Strategy Guide.[10] In March/April 1990, the magazine provided a map/poster of Dragon Warrior/Super C, and it featured a Dragon Warrior text adventure.[11] During that year, Nintendo Power gave away free copies of Dragon Warrior to new (and old) subscribers, along with a card explaining the equipment, monsters, levels, and locations. Brief mention of the subscription bonus appears in volume 80 of Nintendo Power.[12]
[edit] Super Famicom
- See also: Dragon Quest I & II
Dragon Quest, along with Dragon Quest II, was remade as a one cartridge compilation known as Dragon Quest I & II for the Super Famicom on December 18, 1993.[13] This remake was marketed exclusively in Japan (due to the absence of Enix America Corporation), and was changed from the original, which included enhanced graphics and sound, as well as enhancements in their game play, including a vault added in Mercado, a wandering item salesman added in Rimuldar, the Flame Sword can now be used as an item in battle, and some monsters (Dragon guarding Laura and the Golem guarding Mercado) had their HP and rewards increased.
This remake has since been unofficially translated into English and Brazilian Portuguese by the online fan translation group RPG-One in 2002. Like the Gameboy Color version, the Early Modern English language was not used in the unofficial translation. [14]
BS Dragon Quest was also released for the Satellaview extension for the Super Famicom exclusively in Japan in 1998.[15] This game is based on the Super Famicom remake of Dragon Quest. In this game, players would download a portion of the game over the period of a month. There would be special quests taken from the original game, which needed to be completed in a certain time period. This game included tiny medal collection as a new feature from previous releases.
[edit] Game Boy Color
- See also: Dragon Warrior I & II
The Game Boy Color September 2000 release of Dragon Warrior I + II in North America, was based on the Super Famicom release of Dragon Quest I + II.[16] It used an entirely new translation, discarding the Early Modern English style and giving names closer to the Japanese version's. In this remake Dragonlord's name was changed to DracoLord, and Erdrick was changed to Loto.
Several conveniences were added, such as a quick-save feature and a streamlined menu system. Monsters yield more experience and gold after being defeated to reduce the amount of time needed to raise levels and save up for purchases.
[edit] References in the Final Fantasy series
In the United States, Erdrick was referenced as early as the original NES Final Fantasy, where one of the tombstones in Elfland says "Here lies Erdrick." (The Japanese version read, "Here lies Link", a reference to the Legend of Zelda series main character.) That was the first cross-reference. Loto's Sword is used during an optional boss fight against Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy XII. This also marks the first time the mix of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest has happened in the light of both Square and Enix merging to be noticed in the western world. (Technically speaking, the crossover has happened previously in Itadaki Street, a video board game exclusive to Japan.)
[edit] Mobile phone version
Dragon Quest was released for cellular phones in Japan in 2004, with updated graphics that are similar to those of Dragon Quest VI.[17]
[edit] Soundtrack
As with every other game in the Dragon Quest series, Koichi Sugiyama composed the music and directed all the associated spinoffs. The Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite was bundled with the Dragon Quest II symphonic suite and a disc of original compositions called Dragon Quest in Concert. Dragon Warrior tracks include the following:
- Overture March (3:59)
- Château Ladutorm (3:25)
- People (3:36)
- Unknown World (2:07)
- Fight (2:12)
- Dungeons (3:40)
- King Dragon (3:08)
- Finale (2:40)
[edit] Reception and legacy
Dragon Quest was wildly popular in Japan, and became the first in a series that now includes nine games with several spin-offs, including Dragon Quest Monsters. The release of Dragon Quest is regarded as a milestone in the history of the console RPG, a popular genre that also includes the Final Fantasy series. It was the first console RPG to use a top-down perspective, a staple of 2D console RPG's, and has since been cited by Gamespot as one of the fifteen most influential games in the history of video games.[18] Seemingly primitive by today's standards, Dragon Quest features one-on-one combat,[3] a limited array of items and equipment,[3] ten spells,[3][19] five towns, and five dungeons.[3] Nintendo Power critics ranked the NES Dragon Warrior an average of three on a scale of zero to five.[6] It was rated the 140th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[20]
[edit] References
- ^ Dragon Quest Series (Japanese). Dragon Quest Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
- ^ a b (1989) Nintendo, Enix Corporation Dragon Warrior Instruction Manual (in English).
- ^ a b c d e f g (1989) Nintendo of America Inc., Tokuma Shoten U.S. Edition, Enix Corporation Licensed exclusively to Nintendo of America Inc., Nintendo Power Strategy Guide Published by Nintendo of America Inc. and Tokuma Shoten Dragon Warrior Strategy Guide (in English).
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power July - August, 1989; issue 7 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 40.
- ^ http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/563408/18342 Dragon Warrior name quide on GameFAQs
- ^ a b c Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power May - June, 1989; issue 6 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 52.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power May - June, 1989; issue 6 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 52-53.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power July - August, 1989; issue 7 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 39-50.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power September - October, 1989; issue 8 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 20-27.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power November - December, 1989; issue 9 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 5.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power March - April, 1990; issue 11 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 4, 51-54.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power January, 1996; issue 80 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 58.
- ^ Dustin Hubbard and Dwaine Bullock (unknown). Dragon Quest I+II at DQ Shrine. Retrieved on April 10, 2008.
- ^ ROMHacking.net search (2007). Retrieved on April 18, 2008.
- ^ Dustin Hubbard and Dwaine Bullock (unknown). BS Dragon Quest at DQ Shrine. Retrieved on April 10, 2008.
- ^ Dustin Hubbard and Dwaine Bullock (unknown). Dragon Warrior I+II at DQ Shrine. Retrieved on April 10, 2008.
- ^ GameSpot staff (2004). Dragon Quest for Mobile Phones. Retrieved on Oct 14, 2007.
- ^ GameSpot staff (2005). 15 Most Influential Games. Retrieved on Sept 1, 2007.
- ^ Editors of Nintendo Power: Nintendo Power July - August, 1989; issue 7 (in English). Nintendo of America, Tokuma Shoten Publishing, 44.
- ^ “NP Top 200”, Nintendo Power 200: 58-66, February 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official Dragon Quest site (Japanese)
- Dragon Warrior guide at StrategyWiki
- Dragon Warrior at MobyGames
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