Dragon Slayer (video game)
Dragon Slayer | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Nihon Falcom |
Publisher(s) | |
Designer(s) | Yoshio Kiya |
Series | Dragon Slayer |
Platform(s) | FM-7, NEC PC-8801, MSX, X1, Super Cassette Vision, Game Boy, Sega Saturn |
Release |
PC-8801
PC-9801 & FM-7
X1 MSX
Super Cassette Vision
Game Boy
Sega Saturn
|
Genre(s) | Action role-playing game |
Mode(s) | Single player |
Dragon Slayer (ドラゴンスレイヤー Doragon Sureiyā) is an action role-playing game,[2][3] developed by Nihon Falcom and designed by Yoshio Kiya.[4] It was originally released in 1984 for the PC-8801, PC-9801, Sharp X1[1] and FM-7,[5] and became a major success in Japan.[6] It was followed by an MSX port published by Square in 1985 (making it one of the first titles to be published by Square),[7] a Super Cassette Vision by Epoch in 1986 and a Game Boy port by the same company in 1990 under the name Dragon Slayer I (ドラゴンスレイヤーI Doragon Sureiyā Wan). A remake of Dragon Slayer was also included in the Falcom Classics collection for the Sega Saturn.
Dragon Slayer began the Dragon Slayer series, a banner which encompasses a number of popular Falcom titles, such as Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, Sorcerian, and Legacy of the Wizard.
Gameplay
Dragon Slayer is regarded as an early example of the action RPG genre, which it laid the foundations for.[2] Building on the prototypical action RPG elements of Panorama Toh (1983), created by Yoshio Kiya and Nihon Falcom,[8] as well as Namco's The Tower of Druaga (1984),[9] Dragon Slayer is often considered the first true action RPG.[2][3] In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes, Dragon Slayer was a dungeon crawl RPG that was entirely real-time with action-oriented combat,[3] combining arcade style action mechanics with traditional RPG mechanics.[9]
Dragon Slayer featured an in-game map to help with the dungeon-crawling, required item management due to the inventory being limited to one item at a time,[7] and featured item-based puzzles similar to The Legend of Zelda.[2] Dragon Slayer's overhead action-RPG formula was used in many later games.[6] Along with its competitor, Hydlide, Dragon Slayer laid the foundations for the action RPG genre, including franchises such as Ys and The Legend of Zelda.[7][10]
References
- 1 2 Falcom Chronicle, Nihon Falcom
- 1 2 3 4 Kamada Shigeaki, レトロゲーム配信サイトと配信タイトルのピックアップ紹介記事「懐かし (Retro) (Translation), 4Gamer.net
- 1 2 3 "Falcom Classics". GameSetWatch. July 12, 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- ↑ John Szczepaniak. "Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier Retro Japanese Computers". Hardcore Gaming 101. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-03-29. Reprinted from Retro Gamer (67), 2009
- ↑ "Dragon Slayer". Oh!FM7. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
- 1 2 Kurt Kalata, Xanadu, Hardcore Gaming 101
- 1 2 3 Kurt Kalata, Dragon Slayer Archived 2011-08-05 at WebCite, Hardcore Gaming 101
- ↑ Sam Derboo (June 2, 2013), Dark Age of JRPGs (7): Panorama Toh ぱのらま島 - PC-88 (1983), Hardcore Gaming 101
- 1 2 Jeremy Parish (2012). "What Happened to the Action RPG?". 1UP. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
- ↑ John Szczepaniak (2016), The Untold History Of Japanese Game Developers, Volume 2, pages 42-49