Dragon Quest was released in 1986
for the Famicom (the 8bit Nintendo). You played the descendant of
the hero Roto and set out on a quest to prove your heritage and defeat
the Lord Dragon who was terrorizing the kingdom.
Dragon
Quest II was quickly released one year later in 1987. You played
yet another descendant of Roto and his two cousins. The wizard Hargon
started to attack the surrounding kingdoms and you're picked to defeat
him. The world is twice as large as DQ, there are more enemies, and
the surrounding lands can be explored by ship.
DragonQuest III came out in 1989 and fans flipped out over it. In
this massive game, you play as Roto himself as he travels the world with
his companions to find out what happened to his father. In this installment,
you got to chose what type of characters you wanted, travel day and night,
and explore a world twice the size of DQII.
DragonQuest
IV was released in 1990 and started up the Heaven trilogy. This game
was broken up into five chapters and introduced AI instead of controlling
your characters. It features day and night and a more animated overworld.
A favorite of many players.
DragonQuest
V came out in 1992 and was the first DQ game for the Super Famicom (the
Super NES here). It was a continuation of the Heaven series and you
could enlist the help of the monsters you run into. This was the
first DQ game where you could sic slimes on your foes!
DragonQuest
VI was released later in 1995. Like DQ III, this game is a prequel
to DQ IV. The game features drastically improved graphics and a more
interesting story. The game is fairly popular and features a class
change system similar to DQ III. This game's a favorite of mine.
Back
in 1993, Enix decided to update the graphics on the first two DQ games
and release it on the Super Famicom. With improved graphics and gameplay,
these classics were hits once again.
On
the tenth anniversary of Dragon Quest, Enix released a stunning update
to DQ III. It won best game of 1996 in Japan. It featured the
best graphics and music ever created on the Super Famicom, but it was never
released in America. My favorite DQ game!
DragonQuest VII is in development for the PlayStation with the same creative
team. Screen shots and character info has just been released.
Expect Enix to release this game around the same time as Final Fantasy
VIII. Information is avalible at RPGamer
and PSM Online.
Enix has also
just released a game called Dragon Quest Monsters, using the characters
from DQ VI. It is the only Dragon Quest game for the Game Boy. |