Dragon Quest
1986 · RPG · NES / Famicom
Overview
Dragon Quest (1986) is Yuji Horii's Famicom role-playing game, drawn by Akira Toriyama and scored by Koichi Sugiyama, often credited with setting the template for Japanese console RPGs. North America got it in 1989 as Dragon Warrior.
Deep Dive
A lone hero sets out across the land of Alefgard to rescue Princess Gwaelin from the Dragonlord, who has stolen the Ball of Light and plunged the land into darkness. Only after the princess is saved does the game reveal its true objective. The world is open to explore, and its monsters grow tougher the further the hero travels from the castle. Battles are turn-based and seen in first person, with four commands: fight, run, spell and item. Nintendo's North American version replaced the Japanese password system with battery-backed saves.
Developer Story
Chunsoft developed the game for Enix, with Yuji Horii as designer and writer, Koichi Nakamura directing, Akira Toriyama on art and Koichi Sugiyama on music. It was released for the Famicom in Japan on 27 May 1986 and sold about 1.5 million copies there, and more than 2 million worldwide. It was later remade for the Super Famicom, the Game Boy Color and, in 2025, in HD-2D.
Did You Know?
- The North American title changed to Dragon Warrior to avoid a trademark conflict with the tabletop game DragonQuest.
- Nintendo Power gave the game away with subscriptions in 1990, bringing in nearly 500,000 new subscribers.
- It won several 1986 Famitsu awards, including Game of the Year.
Sources & further reading
- Dragon Quest (video game) — Wikipedia
