Dragon Quest (video game)

This article is about the NES video game Dragon Warrior. For the series, see Dragon Quest. For the similarly named role-playing game, see Dragon Warriors.

Dragon Warrior
North American box art
Developer(s)	Chunsoft
Director(s)	Koichi Nakamura
Producer(s)	Yukinobu Chida
Designer(s)	Yuji Horii
Programmer(s)	Koichi Nakamura
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Series	Dragon Quest
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo, Game Boy Color, mobile phones
Release	May 27, 1986 'NES'MSX Super Nintendo Game Boy Color Mobile phones
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Dragon Warrior, known as Dragon Quest (ドラゴンクエスト, Doragon Kuesuto) in Japan, is the first role-playing video game (RPG) in the Dragon Quest media franchise. It was developed by Chunsoft for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was published by Enix in Japan in 1986. Dragon Warrior has been ported and remade for several video game platforms, including the MSX, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo, Game Boy Color and mobile phones. During the game's course, players control a hero character, who is charged with saving the kingdom of Alefgard and rescuing its princess from the antagonistic Dragonlord. Dragon Warrior'} story later became the second part in a trilogy that encompasses the first three games in the series. Several anime and manga were created, which centered around this overarching plot. Two of the manga take place between the events in Dragon Warrior and its prequel Dragon Warrior III.

Fan-made ROM hacks were released to apply substantial changes to Dragon Warrior. Several albums contain musical pieces composed for the game. Additionally, its sound effects have been orchestrated, and its music has been performed at numerous concerts. Dragon Quest was well received when it launched in Japan; in contrast, its release as Dragon Warrior in North America initially garnered less favorable reception. It was one of the first experiences that North American players made with console RPGs. Later, Western critics noted the game's shortcomings but acknowledged its importance to the genre. Its original pseudo-Elizabethan English script has been praised in many of these reviews. Although the original Final Fantasy is considered more important due to its popularity in the West, Dragon Warrior has been credited with establishing the basic template for the Japanese RPGs that followed.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of Dragon Quest

Dragon Warrior is a role-playing video game. It uses mechanics that have been described as simplistic –or even Spartan and archaic – years after its release. Players control a young hero, who sets out to defeat a being known as the Dragonlord. Before starting the game, players are presented with a menu, which allows them to begin a new quest (a game), to continue a previous quest, or to change the speed in which messages appear on the screen. The North American Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version also has options to delete or duplicate a saved quest. If players choose to start a new quest, they may give the hero any name they wish, as long as they use no more than eight letters in the NES version or four kana characters on the Japanese version. The hero's name has an effect on his initial ability scores and their statistical growth over the game's course.

Dragon Warrior provides players with a "clear objective" from the start and uses a series of smaller scenarios to build up the hero's strength in order to achieve it. The game begins in King Lorik's chamber in Tantegel Castle, where the hero receives information about the Dragonlord and the stolen Balls of Light. After receiving some items and gold, the hero sets out on his quest. Much of Dragon Warrior is spent talking to townspeople and gathering information from them, leading to additional places, events, and secrets. Players are advised to take notes on these hints for future reference. In addition to information, towns contain shops that sell improved weapons and armor; general stores, where the player may buy other goods; inns that allow the hero to recover his health and magic; and places that offer keys for purchase. Players may sell items at half price to any shop that provides weapons, armor, or general goods. The status displays present information and statistics to the player. The hero's status window is shown whenever he stops moving, and it displays his current experience level (LV) and the amount of hit points (HP), magic points (MP), gold (G), and experience points (E).

Battling a Slime in Dragon Warrior for the NES

To progress to the next areas in the game, players must build the hero's strength. They need to accumulate experience points and gold by defeating enemies outside of towns – in the overworld and in dungeons. With the exception of a the Dragonlord's castle, there are no physical restrictions on where players can roam. Instead, monsters increase in difficulty as players venture further from Tantegel castle. As the hero's level increases, players can explore further afield with less risk. Enemies appear randomly and the hero fights one opponent at a time. Battles are turn-based and are fought from a first-person perspective, while the hero remains off-screen. His objective is to defeat the enemy by reducing its HP to zero. During combat, the player has four commands: "fight", "run", "spell", and "item". The "fight" command causes the hero to attack the enemy with a weapon (or with bare fists if no weapon is available) in an attempt to inflict damage. With the "run" command, the hero attempts to escape from a battle, which is recommended if his HP are low. The "spell" command casts magic that may, for example, heal the hero or damage the enemy. The "item" command uses herbs in a battle, replenishing the hero's HP.

During combat, the hero loses HP as he sustains damage, and the display turns red when his HP is low; if his HP goes down to zero, he dies and is taken back to King Lorik, where he is resurrected and loses half his gold as punishment. If the hero succeeds in defeating an enemy, he gains experience points and gold; if he gains enough experience points, his experience level increases, giving him greater strength, agility, and speed, as well as the ability to use magic spells. Every time a spell is used, the hero's MP decreases; the amount consumed depends on the type of spell that is cast. Both HP and MP can be restored by resting at an inn. Additionally, a non-player character can replenish the hero's MP in Tantegel Castle. As the hero earns more gold, he can purchase better weapons, armor, and items. However, players has limited inventory space to hold items, so they need to manage their item collection conservatively. In the NES version, they can return to King Lorik at any point to save their quest (known in the game as "recording their deeds on the 'Imperial Scrolls of Honor'"). Because the Japanese version does not have a battery backup, players receive a password to return to a quest at a later time.

The control pad may be used to move the hero in any direction and to navigate the flashing cursor in menu displays. Additional buttons confirm and cancel commands. In the NES version, players use menu commands to talk to people, to check their status, to search beneath them, to use items, to take treasure chests, to open doors, and to go up or down stairs. However, in some of the game's later remakes, certain commands were assigned to buttons, and navigating stairs became automatic. In the Japanese version, all characters face forward, so players must choose a command and then a direction in which to perform that action.

Plot

Backstory

Dragon Warrior's plot is a simplistic medieval "rescue the princess and slay the dragon" story. The story's background goes back many generations, when the kingdom of Alefgard was shrouded in permanent darkness. The brave warrior Erdrick then defeated an evil creature and restored light to the land. In his possession were the Balls of Light, which he used to drive away the enemies who threatened the kingdom. He then handed the Balls of Light to King Lorik, and Alefgard remained peaceful for a long time. The Balls of Light kept winters short in Alefgard and helped maintain peace and prosperity for the region.

However, there was one who shunned the Ball of Light's radiance and secluded himself in a mountain cave. One day, while exploring the cave's extensive network of tunnels, the man encountered a sleeping dragon who awoke upon his entrance – he feared that the dragon would incinerate him with its fiery breath; instead, the dragon knelt before him and obeyed his commands. This man, who is later discovered to be a dragon, became known as the Dragonlord, whose soul became corrupted by learning magic. One day the Dragonlord attacked Tantegel Castle and the nearby town of Breconnary with his fleet of dragons and set the town on fire. Riding a large red dragon, the Dragonlord descended upon Tantegel Castle's highest tower and stole the Balls of Light. Soon, monsters began to appear throughout the entire land and destroyed everything in their path; much of the land became poisonous marshes, and some towns and villages were completely destroyed.

The following day, the battle-ridden Erdrick arrived at Tantegel Castle to speak with King Lorik and offered his help to defeat the Dragonlord. After searching the land for clues to the Dragonlord's whereabouts, Erdrick found that he resided on an island that could only be accessed via a magical bridge that only a "Rainbow Drop" could generate. After arriving on the island, Erdrick was never heard from again. Many years later, during King Lorik XVI's reign, the Dragonlord attacked the kingdom again and captured Princess Gwaelin in the process. Many tried to rescue the princess and recover the Balls of Light from the Dragonlord's castle, Charlock, but none succeeded. The prophet Mahetta made the following prediction: "One day, a descendant of the valiant Erdrick shall come forth to defeat the Dragonlord." However, when he arrives, many had forgotten the story of Erdrick, and almost all those who did remember it considered it a myth; few believed in his prophecy. King Lorik then started to mourn the decline of his kingdom.

Main story

The game begins when the player assumes the role of a stranger, who appears at Tantegel Castle. He learns about the princess' capture and that a dragon holds her captive in a distant cave; other characters task this hero to rescue her. Determined to rescue the princess and defeat the Dragonlord, he discovers an ancient tablet inside a cave in a desert; carved on the tablet is a message from Erdrick that outlines what the hero needs to do to follow in Erdrick's footsteps and defeat the Dragonlord. He eventually rescues Princess Gwaelin but realizes that, in order to restore Alefgard, he must defeat the Dragonlord at Charlock Castle. After the hero has collected a series of relics, he creates a bridge to reach Charlock and, after fighting his way through the castle, confronts the Dragonlord. At this point the hero is given a choice – to side with the Dragonlord or to fight him. If players choose the former, the game ends, the hero is put to sleep, and the game freezes; however, in the Game Boy remake, the hero wakes up from a bad dream. If players choose to fight, the hero then fights the Dragonlord.

Once the hero defeats the Dragonlord he triumphantly returns to Tantegel Castle, where King Lorik offers his kingdom to him as a reward. The hero turns down the offer and instead opts to find his own kingdom elsewhere. He then sets off in search of a new land. If the player has rescued Princess Gwaelin, she joins him on his journey; this sets the stage for the events in Dragon Warrior II, which take place many years later and where players take control of three of the hero's descendants.

Characters

In Dragon Warrior the hero and the Dragonlord are the two main characters. Other major supporting characters include King Lorik; his daughter, Princess Gwaelin; and the sages the hero meets along his journey.

Hero

The hero, who comes from a land other than Alefgard, is a descendant of the legendary Erdrick. Upon his arrival, he does not appear to be a warrior – he arrives without weapons or armor – and ignorant of the situation. The populace thinks his claims to defeat the Dragonlord are preposterous; however, King Lorik saw something to give him hope and aided him on his quest.

Dragonlord

The Dragonlord is a dragon from Charlock Castle whose soul became evil by learning magic. Rumors say that, through a spy network, he knows everything that happens in Alefgard. He seeks "unlimited power and destruction", which results in a rising tide of evil throughout Alefgard. The Dragonlord's intention is to enslave the world with his army of monsters that are guided by his will. He rules from Charlock Castle, visible from Tantegel Castle, the game's starting point.

Development and release

Yuji Horii and his team at Chunsoft began Dragon Quest's production in 1985. It was released in Japan in 1986 for the NES (known in Japan as the Family Computer or Famicom), the MSX, and the NEC PC-9801. Dragon Quest has been released on multiple platforms since its initial release, including the Sharp X68000 in 1992 in Japan, and for mobile phones in 2004 with updated graphics similar to those of Dragon Quest VI.

Horii's earliest influence behind Dragon Quest was his own 1983 visual novel Portopia Serial Murder Case – a murder mystery game in which 1-up described as "equal parts King's Quest and Sam Spade" and bore similarities to ICOM Simulations's 1985 point-and-click adventure Déjà Vu. He wanted to advance the game's storyline by using dialogue. Portopia was originally released for Japan's NEC PC-6001 and was later ported to the NES in 1985. Horii reworked the interface for the NES port, including usage of the directional pad and the buttons used to navigate the menus – to accommodate for the console's limited controls. While Portopia did not directly result in the game's creation, according to 1-up, the murder mystery "served as a proving ground" for the latter.

The original idea for Dragon Quest came at a Macworld Conference & Expo when Horii came across Sir-Tech's Wizardry and liked the game's depth and visuals. Afterwards he wanted to create a game for Chunsoft similar to Wizardry, attempting to expose the mainly Western-exclusive RPG genre to Japan. Along with Wizardry, he cited Ultima as another inspiration for Dragon Quest's gameplay, specifically the first-person random battles in the former and the overhead movement in the latter. During this time, the RPG genre was predominantly Western and was limited to PCs; however, alongside Western RPG ports, Japanese gamers enjoyed "home-grown" games such as Henk Rogers' The Black Onyx and Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer series. According to Horii: "There was no keyboard, and the system was much simpler, using just a [game] controller. But I still thought that it would be really exciting for the player to play as their alter ego in the game. I personally was playing Wizardry and Ultima at the time, and I really enjoyed seeing my own self in the game."

At the time I first made Dragon Quest, computer and video game RPGs were still very much in the realm of hardcore fans and not very accessible to other players. So I decided to create a system that was easy to understand and emotionally involving, and then placed my story within that framework.

Yuji Horii on the design of the first Dragon Quest

In order to create an RPG that would appeal to a wider audience who were unfamiliar with the genre or video games in general, Horii wanted to create a new kind of RPG that didn't rely on previous Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) experience, that didn't require hundreds of hours of rote fighting, and that could appeal to any kind of gamer. He wanted to build on Portopia and place a greater emphasis on storytelling and emotional involvement. He developed a coming of age tale that audiences could relate to and made use of RPG level-building gameplay as a way to represent this. The game featured elements still found in most console RPGs, such as the ability to obtain better equipment, major quests that intertwine with minor subquests, an incremental spell system, usage of hit points and experience points, and a medieval theme.

Horii believed that NES was the ideal venue for Dragon Quest because, unlike arcade games, players did not have to worry about spending money if they got a game over, and they could continue playing from where they left off. Horii wanted to include multiple player characters but was forced to use only one due to memory constraints. He was aware that role-playing video games had a higher learning curve than other video games of the time, and to compensate for this he implemented quick level-ups at the start and gave players a clear final goal that is visible from the world map's starting point: the Dragonlord's castle. He also provided a series of smaller scenarios in order to build up the player's strength to achieve the final objective. He created an open world that is not blocked physically in any way except by monsters that can easily kill unprepared players – something in which Gamasutra described as one of the earliest examples of nonlinear gameplay. Horii used bridges to signify a change in difficulty and a level progression with a high starting growth rate that decelerates over time, in contrast to the random initial stats and constant growth rates in the early D&D editions.

Manga artist and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama produced Dragon Quest's artwork. As with Dragon Ball, Toriyama's artwork featured characters "whose strength and cunning transcend generations", but also featured humorous elements such as a chibi style. Koichi Sugiyama composed the game's classical score – the second video game he had composed for after Wingman 2. Dragon Quest was amongst the first RPGs to offer more sophisticated music compared to earlier NES games, featuring three synthesizer channels. He said it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme. Sugiyama noted the difficulty in adding a personal touch to the short jingles, but his past experiences with commercials helped; according to 1-up Sugiyama said, "because the most important musical part of any TV ad is the three to five seconds the brand name's onscreen." The theme and his other jingles for the first game have remained relatively intact in the Dragon Quest's sequels.

North American localization

Dragon Quest (left) and Dragon Warrior (right) had noticeable graphical differences.

Dragon Quest's North American localization coverage first appeared in a preview in Nintendo Fun Club News' (the precursor to the company's house organ Nintendo Power) Winter 1988 issue – where the title changed to Dragon Warrior. The title was changed to avoid infringing on the trademark of the pen-and-paper role-playing game DragonQuest, although there was another pen-and-paper role-playing system called Dragon Warriors. The article featured images from the game's Japanese version as well as the protagonist's original name "Roto", the main villain's original name "Dragon King", and the original name of the game's starting location "Radatome Castle". The preview also mentioned the password system used to save games and how players needed to obtain the "Mantra of Resurrection" in order to get passwords. It briefly explained the backstory and basic gameplay elements, comparing the game to The Legend of Zelda. The game would be later mentioned in Nintendo Power's "Pak Watch" preview section in March 1989, mentioning Dragon Quest III' Japanese release in the magazine's premiere July 1988 issue. It again mentioned the rename from Dragon Quest to Dragon Warrior, how it inspired the two Japanese sequels, and how its release was "still a ways off".

Dragon Warrior was localized for North American release in August 1989. Because the game was released in North America nearly three years after the original Japanese version, the graphics were improved. Instead of lengthy passwords with kana characters, the North American version featured a battery-backed RAM savegame. Akira Toriyama's artwork in the instruction booklets was also changed to reflect the more serious tone that Enix wanted to convey to the North American audience; while the characters maintained the same poses, they adopted a more serious and mature look than in the Japanese versions. The game's character sprites were changed in that they face their direction of travel; in the Japanese versions, the sprites were smaller and only faced forwards and players had to choose a direction for actions from a menu. Spells were given self-explanatory one-word titles instead of the made-up words in the Japanese version. Locations were renamed, and the dialogue was rewritten from its more whimiscal style comparable to Dragon Ball to a pseudo-Elizabethan English style. One of the more notable changes in the North American version involves a woman in the town where the hero must first buy keys; she sells tomatoes in the North American version rather than the sexually-explicit "puff puff" in the Japanese version – "puff puff" has been featured in the game's sequels as well as in Toriyama's Dragon Ball series.

Similarly, the video game's instruction booklet was revamped. While Toriyama would later become more widely known for the North American success of Dragon Ball Z, he was unknown outside of Japan when Dragon Warrior was released. In addition, Katsuya Terada did some of the early Nintendo Power artwork for the Dragon Warrior articles. Neither Terada nor those editing the artwork for the instruction booklet completely ignored Toriyama's work. They used the settings and character poses to create the alternate artwork with an "American flavor". While the Japanese hero was drawn in a super deformed manga style, the English version has him drawn in the "West's template of a medieval hero".

In June 1989 Electronic Gaming Monthly's (EGM) "Quartermann" announced that Dragon Warrior would be Nintendo's "big release" in North America that Christmas. He based this on the series' immense popularity in Japan especially after Dragon Quest III's sales. Nintendo Power provided three feature articles on Dragon Warrior during May to October 1989 and the November–December 1989 issue provided a strategy guide. In the March–April 1990 issue the magazine provided a map of the game along with a poster of Super Contra on the other side; the issue also featured a Dragon Warrior text adventure. Late that year, the magazine gave away free copies of Dragon Warrior to subscribers along with a card that explains the equipment, monsters, levels, and locations. Also included was a 64-page "Explorer's Handbook" that gave a full walkthrough of the game and an additional backstory that was not mentioned in the original instruction booklet. According to 1-up, Nintendo was desperate to get rid of unwanted copies of the game, so they gave them away for free to subscribers. The giveaway attracted nearly 500,000 new magazine subscribers and has ultimately led to the series' success in the Western market. Brief mention of the subscription bonus was made in the magazine's January 1996 issue, when Enix announced its closure of its American division.

Re-releases

Dragon Quest, updated for the Super Nintendo. The image shows the Hero's starting location of Tantegel Castle (center) and the Dragonlord's location in Charlock Castle (bottom-right).

Enix remade Dragon Quest, along with Dragon Quest II, for a one-cartridge compilation known as Dragon Quest I + II for the Super Famicom on December 18, 1993. The remake sold over 1.2 million copies in Japan. In 1998, Enix released BS Dragon Quest for the Super Famicom's Satellaview extension exclusively in Japan.

Dragon Warrior would be re-released, along with Dragon Warrior II, as part of a similar compilation for the Game Boy Color (GBC) titled Dragon Warrior I & II. It was developed by TOSE and was released by Enix on September 23, 1999 in Japan and September 27, 2000, in North America. It used an entirely new translation, discarding the pseudo Elizabethan English style and giving names closer to the Japanese version. In this remake, the Dragonlord's name was changed to DracoLord, and Erdrick was changed to Loto. Several conveniences were added, including a quick-save feature that can be used at anytime outside of battle, though the save is deleted upon resuming the game. The menu was streamlined and monsters yielded more experience and gold to reduce the amount of time needed to raise levels and to quicken saving up for purchases.

Both the Famicom and Super Famicom versions of this game, along with Dragon Quest II and Dragon Quest III, are scheduled to be re-released under the Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary Collection compilation for the Wii in Japan on September 15, 2011. The compilation will include original copies of the strategy guides for the games as well as original artwork and material on the games' development.

Related media

Dragon Warrior has spawned related media in the form of a manga series, which has been adapted to anime, and a symphonic video game soundtrack.

Anime and manga

The manga series, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章, Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto), was written by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi, while Kamui Fujiwara did the artwork. Monthly Shōnen Gangan published it from 1991 to 1997. Enix compiled the series into 21 volumes, which was later released on CD in 1994. It was released on December 11, 2009 for the PlayStation Store as part of the initial launch of Sony's digital comic distribution. In 1996, an anime movie based on the manga was released on video cassette. Square Enix published a sequel series, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō ~Monshō o Tsugumono-tachi e~ (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 ～紋章を継ぐ者達へ～, Dragon Quest Retsuden: Emblem of Roto – To the Children Who Inherit the Emblem), starting in 2005. Jun Eishima wrote the first four volumes, while Takashi Umemura wrote the last five; Yuji Horii supervised all the manga, while Kamui Fujiwara contributed the artwork.

Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto is meant to take place between Dragon Warrior III and Dragon Warrior. The plot follows a storyline in which, after monsters had possessed Carmen's king for seven years, the kingdom fell to the hordes of evil. The only survivors were Prince Arus and an army General's daughter, Lunafrea. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Loran, a child is born and is named Jagan per the demon lord Imagine's orders. Arus and Lunafrea set out to defeat the monsters and restore peace to the world. The sequel, To the Children Who Inherit the Emblem, takes place five years after the events in Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto. The world is once again in chaos and a young boy, Arosu (アロス), sets out to gather companions to help him save the world from evil.

Soundtrack

Koichi Sugiyama composed and directed the music for the game. The soundtrack included eight tracks, which have been described as "the foundation for Sugiyama's career". The pieces have been arranged and incorporated into later Dragon Warrior games' soundtracks. The music has been released in a variety of different formats. The first was as a Drama CD, released by Enix on July 19, 1991, which incorporated a spoken story with the music. Super Famicom Edition Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I, published by Sony Records on January 12, 1994, followed; the soundtrack featured orchestral versions of the tracks played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the original versions of the tunes. The game's classical score was considered revolutionary for console game music. The soundtrack's "eight melodies" approach set the template for most RPG soundtracks released since then, hundreds of which have been organized in a similar manner.

The orchestral albums for Dragon Warrior I and II were combined in Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I•II, released by SME Visual Works on August 23, 2000, King Records reprinted it on October 7, 2009. The orchestral tracks were again released in the Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest I album, including orchestral versions of the game's sound effects. Numerous live concerts have featured performances of the game's music; many performances were later released as albums such as Dragon Quest in Concert and Suite Dragon Quest I•II.

Reception and sales

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
	GBC	NES	SNES
GameRankings	84.36%

Review scores

Publication	Score
	GBC	NES	SNES
Famitsu			35 / 40
GameSpot	8.0 / 10
IGN	9.6 / 10	7.8 / 10
Nintendo Power	8 / 10	3 / 5

Dragon Quest was extremely popular in Japan and became the first in a series that, as of 2011, includes nine games with several spin-off series and stand-alone titles. The NES version sold 1.5 million copies, while the Dragon Quest I & II remake for the SNES sold 1.2 million copies. The game's release has been regarded as a milestone in the history of the console RPG. GameSpot named it as one of the fifteen most influential titles in video game history. IGN listed it as the eighth best all-time NES game. In 2005, they listed it as the 92nd-best all-time video game, and in the list's 2007 version, they listed it as the 29th best.

Dragon Warrior debuted at No. 7 on its bimonthly "Top 30" top NES games list in November 1989. It climbed to No. 5 in January 1990 and remained there for 4 months; it then dropped to No. 11 in May, No. 14 in July, and No. 16 in September 1990 before it dropped off the list. In the "Nintendo Power Awards 1989", the game was nominated for "Best Theme, Fun" and "Best Overall"; it failed to win in either category.

Dragon Warrior's initial NES version was met with average results overall. Nintendo Power ranked it as third out of five upon its original release; later rating it the 140th-best game made on a Nintendo System in their Top 200 Games list in 2006. IGN reviewed the game years later and gave it a 7.8 out of 10, RPGamer's Bill Johnson gave it a 4 out of 5 overall score. In response to Japanese youth's being arrested while waiting for its release, Quartermann, reviewer for Electronic Gaming Monthly, noted that the game wasn't "that special at all". He compared Dragon Warrior to the NES's Ultima III: Exodus and told others to play that game instead. The NES's localization has received considerable praise for adding extra characters and depth to the story. The stylized dialogue's removal in the GBC remake has similarly been lamented.

Seemingly primitive by today's standards, Dragon Warrior features one-on-one combat, a limited item and equipment array, ten spells, five towns, and five dungeons. 1-up explained why the series was not immensely popular at first in North America; American console gamers were not used to the idea of RPGs, and they said that would take a decade for the genre to be "flashy enough to distract from all of those words they made you read". GameCritics' Chi Kong Lui commented on how the game added "realism" to video games, writing: "If a player perished in Dragon Warrior, he or she had to suffer the dire consequences of losing progress and precious gold. That element of death evoked a sense of instinctive fear and tension for survival." This, he said, allowed players to identify with the main character on a much larger scale. IGN writer Mark Nix compared the game's seemingly archaic plot to more modern RPGs; he said: "Noble blood means nothing when the society is capitalist, aristocratic, or militaristic. Damsels don't need rescuing – they need a battle axe and some magic tutoring in the field." While reviewing Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, GameSpy staff wrote that, for many gamers, Dragon Warrior was their first exposure to the console RPG. Recalling their past, one of the staff members commented:

"It opened my eyes to a fun new type of gameplay. Suddenly strategy (or at least pressing the "A" button) was more important than reflex, and the story was slightly (slightly!) more complex than the 'rescue the princess' stuff I'd seen up 'till then. After all, Dragon Warrior was only half-over when you rescued its princess."

Bill Johnson compared Dragon Warrior to modern RPGs by noting the complete lack of replay value, which is due as much to the requirement that almost everything in the game must be done to beat it as to its difficulty. Johnson still noted the game's historical importance; he said: "[Playing Dragon Warrior is] a tough road to walk, but reaching its end will instill [sic] a new appreciation of what today's RPG's are all about." In a column called "Play Back", Nintendo Power reflected on the game, naming its historical significance as its greatest aspect; it noted that "playing Dragon Warrior these days can be a bit of a chore". GamePro's Kat Bailey, Justin Haywald, Ray Barnholt, and special guest Tim Rogers commented about the game for its 25th anniversary public release. Their comparison of the Japanese version's graphics were that they were extremely poor and while they were improved for the English version, they were still simplistic. However, they mentioned that the MSX version was the worst. They also commented on the English version's box art that made it look like that the game was created entirely within the United States. Tim Rogers commented that his favorite aspect of the game was the English dialogue, and he was disappointed by its removal in the GBC remake; Kay Bailey mentioned that she found the game initially unapporachable because of the amounts of menu text.

Remakes

Famitsu gave the SNES compilation remake Dragon Quest I + II a 35 out of 40 rating. Dragon Warrior's English remake, as part of the dual GBC cartridge Dragon Warrior I & II, received better reviews than the original, garnering overall high praise. IGN and Nintendo Power gave it an 8 out of 10. IGN's Marc Nix noted that while "it's one of the only interesting RPGs on the Game Boy Color to actually make American shores", players will feel frustrated; those who played the original will lament the changes, while new players will feel that the game is too linear and simple. GameSpot gave it a 9.6 out of 10, citing the great improvements to sound quality and the appeal of playing both games in succession, and GameRankings reports an 83.46% overall score. It received the RPGamer's Game Boy Color Award of the Year for 2000. Comparing it to its NES counterpart, RPGamer's Derek Cavin gave it 3 out of 5, noting that the game is above average in all major accounts, particularly praising the visual elements. While he criticized the game's repetitiveness, he said that it is short enough that most players should finish the game before it becomes an issue. Combined, both the SNES and GBC remakes sold more than 1.94 million copies worldwide. With the remakes' good sales performances, Enix went on to release Dragon Warrior III for the GBC in 2001, which was based on a previously unreleased SNES update of Dragon Quest III' NES version.

Related media

Square Enix Music Online's Juan2Darien reviewed the game's symphonic scores: Dragon Quest Suite; Dragon Quest I Remix Symphonic Suite (London Philharmonic Orchestra); Dragon Quest I & II Symphonic Suite (London Phil. Orchestra Remastered); and Dragon Quest I Symphonic Suite (Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra). Comparing each of the symphonic suites individually, he gave them all 7 through 9 out of 10 ratings, however he still found the Tokyo Strings Ensemble recording superior to the aforementioned symphonic suites. While the music is flatter than he prefers, Juan2Darien acknowledged this is due to the source material and instead focused his praise on Koichi Sugiyama's and the orchestras' effort to compose an above-average piece despite the limitation. Gamasutra's Kurt Kalata also praised the symphonies' melody, commenting that "the overworld theme ... is pretty simplistic and grating, but actually sounds pretty beautiful when played by a live orchestra".

Dragon Quest Retsuden: Roto no Monshō – To the Children Who Inherit the Emblem has sold well in Japan. For the week of August 26 to September 1, 2008, volume 7 was ranked 9th in Japan, selling 59,540 copies. For the week of February 24 to March 2, 2009, volume 8 was ranked 19th in Japan, selling 76,801 copies. For the week of October 26 to November 1, 2009, volume 9 was ranked 16th in Japan, selling 40,492 copies for a total of 60,467.

Impact on the RPG genre

Bits and pieces of Dragon Warrior had been seen in videogames before, but never all sewn up together so neatly. DW's incredible combination of gameplay elements established it as THE template for console RPGs to follow.

William Cassidy, The GameSpy Hall of Fame: Dragon Warrior

Dragon Warrior's release has been marked as one of the few notable turning points in video game history. The game has been listed as a genre builder for RPGs, especially the console role-playing games sub-genre, which has influenced RPGs around the world. While the game's elements had been in previous RPGs titles, it set the template for all others to follow; almost all of its elements became the foundation for nearly every game of the genre to come, from gameplay to narrative. When Dragon Warrior was released, many of the techniques used were intended to make up for hardware limitations; despite advances in technology that render some of those unnecessary, many of them have become conventions still used in today's RPGs. Dragon Warrior introduced damsel-in-distress storyline many RPGs follow, and the 2D graphic style was used by most RPGs until the usage of 3D graphics. Dragon Warrior's top-down perspective has become "a dead giveaway to an RPG". Reviewers said that, while Final Fantasy has been considered more important due to its popularity and attention in North America, Dragon Warrior laid down the fundamentals on which that game was based. In survey response, Gamasutra cited Dartmouth College's Quinton Klabon as saying that Dragon Warrior translated the D&D experience to video games and has set the genre standards to levels that have not changed since.

In the Nintendo Power's November 2010 issue, in celebration of the NES' 25th anniversary in North America, Horii recalled the making of Dragon Warrior. A fan of basic RPG mechanics, he had sought to simplify the interfaces, saying that many other RPGs' interfaces at the time "were so complicated that they intimidated new users". He said that the simplified gameplay was what made the game appealing to people and was what made the franchise's success possible. Moreover, he heard from others at the time that the NES lacked sufficient capacity for RPGs, motivating him more to make one.

Legacy

Although this was the first title released in the Dragon Quest media franchise, this game takes place after Dragon Warrior III. Along with the game's sequel Dragon Warrior II, which tells the story's conclusion, the three stories comprise a trilogy with a shared timeline.

Several clones such as Glory of Heracles and Legend of the Ghost Lion were inspired by the Japanese version's success. In addition, Dragon Warrior, along with other NES titles, has spawned many ROM hacks in recent years – most of which can readily be found on the Internet. One notable hack includes Super Mario Remix II; the hack features a new plot and revised character sprites to reflect the Mario series, while the gameplay and layout remain the same.

Dragon Quest became a national phenomenon in Japan, inspiring spinoff media and other fan items such as figurines. The video game industry has called it as Japan's national game. In a Famitsu poll, the Japanese public voted Dragon Quest as their 7th most favorite game for the NES. Its popularity has become so prevalent in Japan, asking the common Japanese individual to draw "a slime" will lead them to draw a shape similar to that of the game's slime.

External links

• Official Dragon Quest site Template:Ja icon
• Template:StrategyWiki
• Dragon Warrior at MobyGames