Backlog Game Reviews 41 Dragon Quest 1 (SNES)

 

Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

    Today we return to the world of Dragon Quest and take a look at Dragon Quest 1 on the SNES. It was originally made for the Famicom and got a remake on the Gameboy Color, which I already reviewed. You can check that review out here: Gameboy Color Dragon Quest 1 review. This SNES remake was released in Japan on December 18^th, 1993. Just like the Gameboy Color version, it's a compilation of the first two Dragon Quest games. Let's take a look and see how this version holds up.

 At the start of the game the King of Alefgard asks you to defeat the Dragon Lord.

     

     The Story

       The story section this time around will be pretty short, because there's nothing to say about it this time around. No changes were made to the story so it's the same as the Gameboy Color version. The Dragon Lord has kidnapped the princess of Alefgard and has waged a war against the kingdom with his army of monsters. The nameless hero of the story is the descendant of the legendary hero Erdrik and so is tasked by the king to save the princess and defeat the Dragon Lord.

 You get to name the main character at the start of the game. As far as I know he doesn't have an official name.

 

   And that's all there is to the story. A fun, but very simple story. The Famicom/NES, SNES, and Gameboy versions all share the same story, so you won't be missing out on anything story-wise by picking one version over another.

 The battle sprites have seen a nice upgrade in this version.

 

  The Gameplay

  

    Just like the story, the gameplay is the same as past versions. Your goal is to explore the world and find out how to enter the Dragon Lord's castle and defeat him. And to do that you're going to have to do a lot of grinding. To beat the game you're going to have to explore the whole overworld, and the farther away you get from the starting town the stronger the enemies get. The only way to get strong enough to defeat those monsters is to stop and grind. I would say you spend at least 30 percent of the game grinding.

 You'll be doing a lot of grinding in this game so get used to looking at the battle screen.

   The Presentation

    The presentation is what sets this version apart from the others. The music is now in 16 bit and so are the graphics. Out of all the versions, this one is the best-looking and best-sounding. If graphics and such are important to you then I recommend playing this version over the others.

 One thing I don't like about Dragon Quest 1 is that you need a torch to light up caves. It's annoying and doesn't add anything to the game.

    That's all I have to say about Dragon Quest on the SNES. It's a fun JRPG, but heavy on grinding. If you don’t like grinding in your RPGs then you should give this game a pass. If you don’t mind grinding then this is a game worth picking up sometime.

    Thanks for reading. For the next review we'll be taking a look at a game on the GameCube and continue the retro gaming marathon. The next review will be part 7 of this marathon, I'm planning on making this marathon 20 reviews long. Thanks again for reading, I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.