Dragon Warrior

Dragon Warrior
Publisher(s)	Enix Corporation (Japan) Nintendo of America (NA)
Developer(s)	Chunsoft
Designer(s)	Yūji Horii Koichi Nakamura Yukinobu Chida
Artist(s)	Akira Toriyama
Composer(s)	Koichi Sugiyama
Released	May 27, 1986 (Japan) August 1989 (NA)
Price	{{{retailprice}}}
Genre	console role-playing game
Mode	single-player
Platform	NES
Series	Dragon Quest
Rating	N/A
Media	512-kilobit Famicom cartridge 640-kilobit NES cartridge
Input	NES Controller

Dragon Quest (ドラゴンクエスト, Doragon Kuesuto), also known as Dragon Warrior in North America, is the first installment of the role playing series published by Enix. It was first released in 1986 on the Famicom and MSX in Japan but did not arrive in North America till 1989 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It has seen a few remakes on different console platforms, first on the Super Famicom in 1993, then 1999 on the Gameboy Color in Japan (2000 for North America), and finally on mobile phones in 2004.

Story

Dragon Warrior is the first installment of the "Erdrick trilogy". The trilogy follows the story of the legendary Hero Erdrick (known as Roto in Japan and later renamed Loto in the North American remakes) who freed Alefgard from Darkness.

In Dragon Warrior, you are the descendant of Erdrick, spoken of in prophecy. You, the Hero, are set in the world of Alefgard during times where a new evil is rising, Dragonlord (also known as Dracolord in the Dragon Quest Monsters series). The Hero is summoned by the King of Tantegel who requires your help. During a raid on Tantegel Castle, Princess Gwaelin and the castle treasure known as "The Ball of Light", were stolen by the minions of Dragonlord. Fearing for his daughters life and future of Alefgard, the King sends you off on the quest to both rescue is daughter and defeat the Dragonlord where he resides in Charlock Castle.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Dragon Warrior is what is now considered the "classic RPG" style. It is a simple tile movement system where you have to select options such as "search" or "door" from a pull down menu to utilize any actions. Battles are random and turn based. When you enter a battle you will be able to select one of four commands; Fight, Spell, Run, and Item. As you defeat monsters you gain experience points which gains you a level. As you increase your level your stats such as HP, MP, and strength increase allowing you to survive tougher battles and learn new magic spells. As you explore Alefgard you will come across many towns which have shops that will sell you items and equipment. The townspeople will generally give you hints on where to go or what to do. This type of gameplay became a staple for the Dragon Quest series (although it would see modifications along the way) and paved the way for later games such as Final Fantasy.

File:Dragonwarrior battle.jpg The hero in battle with a slime.

Monsters

All monsters were designed by artist Akira Toriyama with supervision of Yuuji Horii. Many of the monsters in the series are recurring throughout each game. Most of the monsters in the Dragon Quest series are featured in the Dragon Quest Monsters spin off series.

Monsters that make appearance in the first installment include: Slimes, Drakies, Ghosts, Skeletons, Knights, Scorpions, Golems, and Dragons. Like most Role Playing Games, Dragon Quest utilized the idea of pallet swapping colors to create the effect of stronger monsters than the previous ones you may have encountered earlier on in your adventures.

Version Differences

Since its original release on the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System three remakes have appeared on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Gameboy Color, and Mobile Cell Phones in Japan. All the remakes feature updated graphics and music as well as a few other new features. Originally Erdrick was the name of the legendary hero until the Gameboy Color release in 2000, where Erdrick was now known as Loto due to the new American Localization of the series. Spell names were changed in the game boy color version and attack animations were added as well.