Backlog Game Reviews 46 : Dragon Quest 1 (Famicom)

 

Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

    Today let's take a quick look at Dragon Quest on the Famicom. I've already reviewed the Gameboy Color and Snes versions, which you can check out here : Gameboy Color review and here : SNES review

    Dragon Quest first came to the Famicom in Japan in 1986 and made its North American debut in 1989 under the name Dragon Warrior. Dragon Quest sold very well in Japan, 2 million copies were sold worldwide and 1.5 million of those sales were made in Japan. Dragon Quest is also often credited as being the game that popularized RPGs on consoles, until this game's release most RPGs were primarily on PCs. Well then, let's take a look at the very first entry in the Dragon Quest series.

 Exploring the starting town.

The Story

The story here is exactly the same as the Gameboy color and SNES version. The evil Dragon Lord has kidnapped the princess of Alefgard and stole the kingdom's Orb of Light. Without the Orb of Light's protection, monsters have begun to overrun the kingdom, and with these monsters by his side, the Dragon Lord started a war against the Kingdom of Alefgard and its people.

 Battles in this game are one on one and in first person.

   The only one that can stop the Dragon Lord is the player character, the nameless descendent of the legendary hero Erdrick. Our hero has been tasked by the King of Alfgard to defeat the Dragon Lord, retrieve the Orb of Light and save the princess. And thus the first Dragon Quest begins.

 Battles are random. Walk around long enough and you'll encounter a monster.

   This being a Famicom game it doesn't have that deep of a story. And just like the other versions of this game, there is no in-game back story. It was all explained to you in the manual, so if you don't have the manual then you won't really understand what's going on. If you're looking for a retro JRPG with a decent story then you should pass this game up.

The Gameplay

    This game being one of the first JRPGs on the Famicom, it's as basic as a JRPG can get gameplay-wise. Your goal is to get to the Dragon Lord's castle and defeat him. To do that you're going to have to do a lot of level grinding, I would say about eighty percent of this game is just grinding. Dragon Quest can get pretty boring because all you do is level grind so you can move on to the next area. It's a good game for its time, but it doesn't hold up well at all today. I wouldn't recommend playing this game unless you're just really into retro JRPGs or want to see what the first Dragon Quest is like.

 You'll need a torch to see when exploring caves and dungeons. Later on in the game you'll learn a spell that lights up dark areas so you wont have to worry about torches anymore.

The Presentation

    The graphics aren't bad, it's an early Famicom game so it doesn't have the best visuals the system has to offer, but they aren't terrible either. The battle sprites stand out the most, since battles are in first person the enemy sprites are more detailed than the overworld sprites and look nice.

 You have to do alot of grinding in this game, so if you don't like the battle system then it might be best to pass this game up.

    As for the music, it's nothing to write home about. The music works as background music but the soundtrack is pretty forgettable. The title theme is an exception though. This was the game that introduced the world to the iconic Dragon Quest main theme, and this theme would be the title theme for just about every Dragon Quest.

    That's all I have to say about Dragon Quest on the NES / Famicom. It's a classic JRPG that hasn't aged well. This isn't a game I recommend playing, but if you're really curious give it a try.

Thanks for reading! Next time we're gonna take a look at a Famicom Disk System game. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews!