Universal Videogame List - www.uvlist.net

Product Number: NES-D2-CAN
Dragon Warrior is called Dragon Quest in Japan. The Japanese version (1986) used passwords but the US version (1990) used battery backed save RAM
A pen and paper RPG called Dragon Quest had already been published in the United States. For copyright reasons, the name Dragon Warrior was used. However, it turns out there was also Dragon Warriors RPG in existence at the time.

The English version was translated and published by Nintendo and strictly uses Early Modern English. Often mistakenly called King James English or Shakespearian English, but those styles were in fact derived from the Early Modern style (King James style also borrows extensively from Middle English). Early Modern English is in fact a bit more understandable than King James or Shakespearian English, for those who understand the contemporary Modern English of today. The Japanese names for the characters and locations were changed into English names that better fit with the Early Modern English and a northern Europeanish location. The changes are influenced by the Arthurian Legends. The Nintendo version also made significant improvement in graphics and game mechanics. The number of menus was reduced. The protagonist could face multiple directions (instead of south only). Direction of talking and actions was automatically based on the direction the protagonist was facing rather than needing to be manually specified. Shorelines looked a bit like breaking waves instead of abrupt hard edges into sea water.

Original/English version:

Alefgard/Alefgard
Bubble slimes/Babbles
Garai/Garinhaim
Gira/Hurt
?/Healmore
Hoimi/Heal
Hiomi Slimes/Healers
?/Hurtmore
King Dragon/Dragonlord
Lora/Princess Gwaelin
Loto(Roto)/Erdrick
Maira(Maila)/Kol
Merukido/Cantlin
Pafu Pafu girls/Puff Puff massage girls (actually removed from the US version)
Radatome Castle(Ladataurm)/Tantegel Castle
Radatome Town(Ladataurm)/Brecconary
Domudora/Haukness
Chimeras/Wyverns

Zerothis - # 2007-01-01 11:43:24 - edit article

Dragon Quest has its roots in the Ultima series, but rumour has it that Ultima was too complicated and complex for the Japanese videogaming market. So Dragon Quest, with its simple but very addictive structure, was an instant hit and the start for the most successfull RPG series in Japan.
Personal Rating: 87%
Teran - # 2007-01-01 11:43:24