I will never forget receiving my free copy of Dragon Warrior in the mail from Nintendo Power as part of a promotion. From that point on, I was totally hooked on RPGs. I'm reliving some nostalgia with these Dragon Warrior Nintendo Power Scans, from Issue #8 in 1989 (the year North America received Dragon Warrior)
Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest in Japan, launched in 1986 and features sprites that always face forward, a technique I used in Star Quest) boasts character design from the legendary Akira Toryama of Dragon Ball Z and Chrono Trigger fame. The game was so popular that release dates would disrupt Japanese society in the 90s.
Dragon Quest started one of the best gaming franchises around, and it's still going strong. Even some spin offs are solid games. Dragon Quest 7, 8, and 9 remain some of the best RPGs on their respective systems.
Nintendo Power scans draw near!
Command?
Check out the second set of scans as well!
I love that old serious hand-drawn art! (Nothing campy, kiddie or tongue-in-cheek about it, I mean).
ReplyDeleteI think games like this are more fun when you read the guides.
Do you have the mini Player's Guide they released in another issue?
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for scans of this manual for years. I remember spending way too much time as a kid entranced by its pictures and hints of adventure. I didn't own Dragon Warrior at the time. It's still a magical game to me. It's funny looking at it now and realizing just how simple the game is. But I guess that's why it was so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, do you know what book this image is from: http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/4308/photo38em0.jpg ? Is that the game manual that came with the game? I love the art in that, and would request a scan if you have it :)
ReplyDeleteI'll see what I can do; that's the bigger manual that came with the Nintendo Power edition of the game. (Called a "Warrior's Handbook" or something).
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