Dragon Quest I & II (Super Famicom) - Retroview

Review Breakdown
Battle System	9
Interface	6
Music & Sound	10
Originality	N/A
Story	7
Localization	N/A
Replay Value	9
Visuals	9
Difficulty	Easy
Completion Time	14-20 Hours
Overall
Talking to the King.

   A few of us are quite familiar with the Gameboy Color remakes of the first two Dragon Warriors, what with their improved graphics, music, interfaces, and so forth, but few know that before, the games had been previously remade for the Super Famicom, Japan’s equivalent of the SNES, bearing similar improvements.

   Always the same, of course, are the stories of both games. In the first, you play a descendant of Loto, who must retrieve the fabled Ball of Light, stolen from Chateau Ladutorm (a.k.a. Tantagel Castle) by the evil Dragon King (Dragonlord or Dracolord). Princess Laura, too, was kidnapped in the process, and it’s up to you to venture across the land of Alefgard, searching for items to help you in your quest to rescue the Princess and defeat the Dragon King.

   In the second game, the dark priest Hargon levels Moonbrooke Castle, and you, the Prince of Lauresia, alongside your cousins, the Prince of Sumaltria (a.k.a. Cannock), and the Princess of Moonbrooke, all descendants of Loto, must seek revenge.

   One will immediately notice when playing that the graphics are far better than in the Gameboy Color versions, what with gorgeous battle backgrounds, a larger view of your surroundings, pretty colors, and so forth, despite small character sprites.

   The music is also superior to that of the Gameboy Color ports, which truly astonished me, and forced me on occasion to just stop and listen. Not only was the music extended like in the GBC versions, it sounded like a real orchestra was performing it, and lacked that blippety-bloppety feel of the NES and GBC versions.

   As for the interface, it bears the same improvements as the Gameboy Color versions, although the command menu floats above the field like in the NES versions. Still, a few buttons on the controller allow you to perform most functions, such as talking, searching, opening chests, and opening doors, all in one, with no need to resort to the command menu.

   However, both games are full of glitches that really hinder your gaming, one of the reasons the remix was never released in America (alongside Enix of America being closed at the time). Sometimes the music would suddenly freeze, and all would become quiet; I therefore would need to save my game somewhere and reset, running away from battles along the way if necessary, since winning them in this situation would mean the game itself would freeze.

That Red Slime's going down!

   The battle systems of both games, next of all, are quite simple, the first game’s still being one-on-one, of course, and the second game bearing its slight improvements, such as no more wasted attacks against dead enemies. Furthermore, in the second game, my allies typically performed all their commands before the enemy party did, just like in the Gameboy Color version, surprising me a little, and giving me more hope for healing struggling allies. In addition, enemy gold and experience has been increased, shortening, yet not ending, those old days of extensive gold hunting and level building, and allowing for swifter completion of both titles.

   Overall, the Super Famicom remix of the first two Dragon Quests is undoubtedly a gorgeous pair of classics reborn. Though a complete translation has been done of the remix, I’d probably recommend the Gameboy Color versions if you’re intolerant of constant glitches; they’re pretty much the same games, anyway, with slight tweaks.