Dragon Warrior
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 Quest (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 Quest, 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. The gameplay is slow and simulates a very "Dungeons and Dragons" type speed. You adventure on, more for the story, and less for the action. 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.
Monsters
All monsters were designed by artist Akira Toryama 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
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 American Localization of the series.
Packaging
http://www.theoldcomputer.com/Libarary's/Pictures/NESGameCovers/D/Dragon%20Warrior%201.jpg
