Genre: RPG

Platform: Game Boy Color

This is a remake of the first two games in the Dragon Warrior series (known in Japan as Dragon Quest). These two games (Dragon Warrior & Dragon Warrior II) were both on the NES. I believe that there were a total of four released in the US, although Japan (as usual) got all of them, which was
more than four.

Anyway, the storyline is a guy named DracoLord kidnaps the Princess (no, DracoLord is NOT related to Bowser). Anyway, that's only part of the story. DracoLord's monsters are roaming around all over the land of Alefgard. The only way to stop this (surprise) is to defeat DracoLord and use the Light Orb, which your ancestor Loto used many, many, many, MANY years ago to bring peace.

Dragon Warrior II occurs many, many, many, MANY years after Dragon Warrior I. Hargon (who's even more dangerous than DracoLord) is trying to conquer the world, and this time it's not just Alfregard. You (a descendant of the descendant of Loto in DWI) must go on a quest to defeat Hargon. Of course, you'll need to find your distant cousins and have them help you...

Both games are turn-based RPGs. However, Dragon Warrior II makes it more interesting by having multiple enemies and multiple people on your team, instead of just one character and one enemy.

The first score I give will be for Dragon Warrior, the second for Dragon Warrior II. This will be out of 5 stars, as always, 5 being magnificent, 0 being worse than pathetic, 2 1/2 being average.

Graphics: *** 1/2, *** 1/2

Not bad graphics. Both games are about the same in this category.

Sound and Music: ** 1/2, ** 1/2

I can't remember any especially good music, but I can't remember any especially bad music either. The sound is average, too, but that's common for most games.

Difficulty: **** 1/2, ****

Some people may be surprised, but I believe the original was harder than the second. RPGs tend to be pretty hard, and these aren't exceptions.

Controls: **** 1/2, **** 1/2

As with these kind of RPGs, getting the controls wrong will cause almost no problems. These would have gotten a perfect score if not for the fact that it's a little different than usual. For example, B is pause and Start saves, and I'm always used to having Start be pause.

Concept: ***, ***

There's nothing special about the concept, but it's not something that has been tried over and over and over again.

Story: ***, ***

It has a pretty simple storyline. Nothing complicated, but it's a little more than just the bare minimum of someone being kidnapped.

Bosses: **, **

There aren't really any 'bosses' in either game. Sure, there are some enemies you have to fight to gain access to things, but they just are not quite bosses. DracoLord and Hargon are the only real bosses.

Replayability: ** 1/2, ** 1/2

Unlike most RPGs, this doesn't have quite as much of a replayability as usual. Once you win, you probably won't want to replay it as much, as there aren't quite as many...

Secrets: **, ** 1/2

Unfortunately, the majority of "secrets" are required to beat the game, so this gets less of a score, lowering the replayability.

Fun Factor!: ****, ****

Both games are fun, at least in my opinion. They both provide equal enjoyment, although they are somewhat different in gameplay.

OVERALL: ****, **** 1/2

If I were to give a score for this game as a whole, I'd give it 4 1/2 stars. It's worthwhile getting for most RPG fans. I just wish they waited until Game Boy Advance game out and included Dragon Warrior III in the package, instead of releasing Dragon Warrior III seperately. One annoying thing is that it takes a while to save up gold to buy new equipment, and you have to spend a long time building up levels. However, it is still a good game despite that drawback.

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