Posted by: Weltall - 10th February 2003, 11:27 PM - Forum: NES Reviews
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Dragon Warrior Reviewed by Ryan Usher (Weltall)
<blockquote>Quite possibly the first console RPG ever (I'm not completely sure), Enix's Dragon Warrior was certainly my first, and the first installment in this long-running series. It set me on the path to becoming the full-fledged RPG whore that I am today. :) You are the Son of Erdrick, the one who defeated the Dragonlord many years ago. The Princess Guenevive has been kidnapped by the Dragonlord's minions, and his monster armies pillage and plunder the kingdom of Alefgard. It's up to you alone to find your father's sword and armor and strike the final blow to the Dragonlord and end his evil reign forever! </blockquote>
Graphics: 5/10
<blockquote>The graphics for Dragon Warrior are about as bland and generic as can be expected for a game of it's age. Map graphics are fairly varied but small and lacking detail. However, the shortcomings of appearance are mostly overcome by some rather creative map designs. There's nothing flashy about them but they do the job. The battle screen is in a first-person perspective, with you looking at the monster you're battling. Monster graphics are okay, but there is a wicked amount of pallette-swapping going on here. I'd say there's perhaps three color variations of about a dozen enemies. Again, they're hardly anything special, and certainly outdone tremendously in the NES's later years, but one might call this function over form. Unfortunately, there is almost no animation in battles whatsoever, the action is told to you via the text screen, which is a big minus.</blockquote>
Sound: 6/10
The music in this game is simple, but kind of memorable. There's a grand total of ten different tracks in the game, but most of them aren't that bad. The dungeon music will probably get on your nerves after awhile though. What really drags down this score is the horrible sound effects. Text is spelled out accompanied by noise, which is a no-no. Most of the sound effects are heard in battle, and this is where it goes south. The effects used in battle are just plain wierd, and sound very little like battle ought to sound.
4.5
Gameplay
This game is the hallmark of RPG simplicity. Battles are always mano-a-thingo, one-on-one. It's a very easy game to learn, especially for seasoned RPG veterans. It's not that the gameplay hasn't aged well, but rather that RPGs have evolved so exponentially beyond this, that for RPG fans of today, it may be hard to get into this game. If you love a good retro RPG and are willing to look past its age, it's a solid pick. It's better than Final Fantasy was, as the battles are usually quick affairs.
6.5
Modern Appeal
If you want to see the game that gave birth to the console RPG genre, and can overlook the flaws (of age mostly) that affect Dragon Warrior, then grab a copy.
Purchase Price
I don't honestly know. I've seen it at FuncoLand for about $25-30, which isn't really too bad as long as the battery still works.
Did you know Cartoon Network was already airing this? I was intrigued when I heard about the game a couple years ago and never expected it to make it over here. But you gotta love a game that is about a game! I only saw 7 minutes of the show last Saturday, but it sounded like it could be good. There was a really deep thought as well. One of the characters was talking about playing rpgs when he was a kid, and he said that it always involved saving the universe from some evil. When he got to a hard place, he would always reset and try again. But what happened to the people in that world? Since he abandoned them, were they left in an evil world forever? Did anyone ever save them?
It's strange and of course it's just a game, but it's an interesting take on things. Kind of reminds me of the parallel world theories and all that stuff. Anyway, that's all.
Commercial opens with several seconds of in-game clips.
Camera zooms out and you see a kid sitting on a couch playing Zelda.
The kid's brother walks behind him and looks at what he is playing.
Kid's brother: Ha! That game looks like a Saturday morning cartoon!
Kid is having too much fun playing Zelda to hear.
Kid's brother begins playing a super realistic game. He tries to get his guy to move to avoid some monsters, but is killed becuase the controls are very unresponsive and his guy is really slow.
Super realistic game: Ha ha ha! You are a loser! Ha ha ha
Kid's brother: Did you see that! My guy totally...
Kid is too engrossed in playing Zelda to notice.
Kid's brother: Uhh...can I play Zelda when you're finished?
Screen goes to Zelda: WW logo with in-game clips in the background.
Narator: Who needs ultra realistic graphics when you have one of the greatest gaming experiences of all time? [Or something to that effect]
Someone tell me that commercial would not be a perfect way to advertise Zelda. Sure it doesn't have very many in-game shots, but it hypes up game.
Does anyone here know of any good sites with TONS of ROM hacks on them? I need some crappy ROM hacks for the Crappy Game site (yes, a site on crappy games) I'm working on.
NES Rom hacks would be good. Like the ones on I-Mockery.com.
Welcome to Tendo City, the rather nude version. We're still working on getting all of the rest of the page up, but at the very least, we have a nice looking home page (nicer after I spruce it up some). But anyway, enjoy this for awhile. If you wish to post news here, send me a PM and I'll set you up, and give you instructions. :)
In a completely arbitrary chang of events, I just got accepted to my college tonight...and I'm still excited, and I'm posting this as a place for everyone to praise me! I'M IN BABY!
