Dragon Quest

[chrysologus400]

I can prove that classic gaming rules! The fact is that video games peaked in popularity in the U.S. with the release of the NES in 1985. Super Mario Bros. is the best-selling video game of all time at 40 million copies, excluding remakes and re-releases. According to the Guiness Book of Records, Super Mario Bros. 3 (1991) is the best-selling, non-bundled video game of all time at eighteen million copies. With the SNES and GBA remakes, it comes to 33 million. Even the humble Tetris for the Game Boy sold 30 million copies. To contrast this with modern gaming, the best selling modern video game is Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire for the Game Boy Advance, which sold fifteen million copies. Even a game as popular as Halo 2 for the Xbox only sold eight million copies. (Source 1 and 2) "That's not me talking--it's science!" (Bonus points if you know who said that.)

One of my favorite NES games as a kid was Dragon Warrior, a role-playing game. I preferred it to the more popular Final Fantasy. I got it for free for subscribing to Nintendo Power magazine. My dad was at first incredulous of this offer because it seemed too good to be true and wondered if all you got was the box, but no game! But I read all the fine print and knew that, indeed, I was promised a free copy of Dragon Warrior for subscribing, and that I received. It was a cool game and eventually I bought Dragon Warriors II-IV for the NES. I waited and waited for Dragon Warrior V, but, alas, it never made it to the U.S. even though it was an SNES game in Japan, along with Dragon Warrior VI (though they're called Dragon Quest in Japan, a name that was already trademarked in the U.S.). This was especially tragic given that Dragon Warrior IV began a new trilogy. This rest of this post is my tribute to Dragon Warrior.





Dragon Warrior (NES), 1989
-- Re-release: Dragon Quest I & II (SNES -- Japan only), 1993
-- Re-release: Dragon Warrior I & II (GBC), 1999



Dragon Warrior II [Pantheon of Evil Spirits] (NES), 1990
-- Re-release: Dragon Quest I & II (SNES -- Japan only), 1993
-- Re-release: Dragon Warrior I & II (GBC), 1999



Dragon Warrior III [Into the Legend] (NES), 1991
-- Re-release: Dragon Quest III (SNES -- Japan only), 1993
-- Re-release: Dragon Warrior III (GBC), 2000



Dragon Warrior IV [The People Who Are Shown the Way] (NES), 1992
-- Re-release: Dragon Warrior IV (PS1 -- Japan only), 2001



Dragon Quest V: Bride of Heaven (SNES -- Japan only), 1992
-- Re-release: Dragon Quest V (PS2 -- Japan only), 2004



Dragon Quest VI: Great Land of Illusion (SNES -- Japan only), 1995



Dragon Warrior VII [Warriors of Eden] (PS1), 2001



Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2, 2004)

Dragon Warrior Monsters

Dragon Warrior Monsters [Terry's Wonderland] (GBC), 2000
Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Cobi's Journey (GBC), 2001
Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's Adventure (GBC), 2001
-- Re-release: Dragon Quest Monsters 1 & 2 (PS1 -- Japan only), 2002
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (GBA -- Japan only), 2003
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (NDS), upcoming

Spin-Offs

Torneko's Great Adventure: Mysterious Dungeon (SNES -- Japan only), 1993
Torneko: The Last Hope [Torneko's Great Adventure 2] (PS1), 2000
-- Re-release: Torneko 2 Advance (GBA -- Japan only), 2002
Torneko's Great Adventure 3 (PS2 -- Japan only), 2002
-- Re-release: Torneko 3 Advance (GBA -- Japan only), 2004

Dragon Quest: Slime Morimori (GBA -- Japan only), 2003
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime [Slime Morimori 2] (NDS), upcoming

Dragon Quest: Young Yangus' Mysterious Dungeon (PS2 -- Japan only), 2006

Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen & the Tower of Mirrors (NDS), upcoming