BATTLE SYSTEM INTERACTION ORIGINALITY STORY MUSIC & SOUND VISUALS CHALLENGE Moderate COMPLETION TIME 15 - 25 Hours OVERALL 3.0/5 Rating definitions

   Dragon Quest II was released in 1987 on the heels of the successful Dragon Quest. Across the pacific, North America received Dragon Warrior II for the NES in 1990 and the remake for the GBC in 2000. Dragon Warrior II is a direct extension of the first game. The hero of the first game married the princess and founded several new lands. Dragon Warrior II takes places in these new lands, as well as the original territory in the first game, Alfegard.

   The story is definitely improved over the previous game. The game starts out with the evil Hargon attacking the kingdom of Moonbroke. A lone soldier survives and makes it to Lorasia, Midenhall in the NES version, to warn them about Hargon's attack. The king dispatches you, the prince, with the task of dealing with Hargon. You must round up your two cousins, fellow descendants of the hero from the first game, and set out together to defeat the evil wizard. The world is much bigger now and there are new areas to explore. As always the main goal of the story for a Dragon Quest game it to focus on the sense of adventure and exploration. There is however some minimal development your cousins characters. An average story overall.

This game introduces Travel Doors

   Koichi Sugiyama's score for this game has more variety of tracks than the first game. The famous overworld music returns, but only when you are exploring the part of the world from the original game. The shrine theme is introduced in this game as well, a track I quite enjoy. The soundtrack overall is mostly average.The graphics on the NES version were slightly improved over the original game. On the GBC version the graphics are virtually the same as the original.

   Dragon Warrior II uses what is roughly the same battle system as it's predecessor. The battle system is your most basic turn-based system. The big difference is that you now have allies. You have up to three members in a party. You still have the cast a spell, use an item or run away options. The ability to parry(defend) is added. There is also the additions of a ship and travel doors as modes of transportation.

A dying soldier warns of an imment threat

   The game is definitely longer and slightly more enjoyable than the original game. However, it is not a very original title employing almost the exact same conventions as the first game, but for a few small additions. Overall the game is average. And with the backward compatibility of the GBA, players who have never played the original may wish to pick up the GBC version for the chance to play a classic with a little polish on it.