Dragon Quest

1986 role-playing video game

Original description from the source, not translated.

YEAR 1986

GENRE RPG

PLATFORM Android, Wii, mobile phone, iOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 3DS, Game Boy Color, MSX, PlayStation 4, MSX 2, Nintendo Switch

ABOUT THE GAME

Dragon Quest, titled Dragon Warrior when initially localized to North America, is a 1986 role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was originally released in Japan in May 1986 and by Nintendo in North America in August 1989. It is the first game in the Dragon Quest video game series. Dragon Quest has been ported and remade for several video game platforms. As of 2019, it has been ported to MSX, MSX2, PC-9801, Super Famicom, Game Boy Color, mobile phones, and Nintendo Switch. The player controls the hero character who is charged with saving the Kingdom of Alefgard and rescuing its princess from the evil Dragonlord. Dragon Quest's story became the second part in a trilogy, with several spinoff anime and manga series. Dragon Quest was created by Yuji Horii, inspired by previous role-playing games such as Wizardry, Ultima, and his own 1983 game The Portopia Serial Murder Case. Horii wanted to create an introductory RPG for a wide audience. He emphasized storytelling and emotional involvement, and simplified the interface, to translate the mostly Western PC game genre of RPG to the Japanese console market. Manga artist and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama produced the artwork and Koichi Sugiyama composed the music. The North American version features numerous changes, including battery-backed RAM save games (rather than using a password save system), larger character sprites, and pseudo-Elizabethan English style dialog. Dragon Quest was commercially successful in Japan, but its later release as Dragon Warrior in North America was less favorably received. The original version of the game sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, with 1.5 million sold in Japan and 500,000 in the United States. Later, Western critics noted the game's shortcomings but acknowledged its importance to the genre. It inspired fan-made ROM hacks with substantial changes.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — Dragon Quest (video game) · retrieved October 19, 2026

Text is shortened from the original article; the full version is linked.

PROVENANCE

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