Dragon Warrior III

"MARVELOUS!! I have never seen a better RPG remix."

In the late 80s, Japanese RPG fans waited for several hours in huge lines for the NES game Dragon Quest III. A few years later, Americans got to experience this amazing game. After this, a SFC remix was released only in Japan. Yes, it sucked that it didn't come out here, but that doesn't matter at all anymore; now that amazing remake of an already amazing RPG is within our reach in the form of a GBC port, and how sweet it is!!!!!

Story: 9
The same story from the NES version. You are the son of Ortega, who tried single handedly defeating Baramos and disappeared (died?). At the age of 16, you set out (either alone or with up to three companions), to find him and defeat Baramos.

Gameplay: 10
Just when you thought this already spectacular RPG couldn't be improved upon, Enix once again outdoes themselves! This game plays exactly like DW games have been known to play ever since DWI. The difference here is the plethora of added extra features! These new extras combined with THE best 8 bit RPG ever means that you will not find a more blissful portable RPG experience.

When you first begin your game, you are spoken to by a strange being who asks you a series of questions. You are also presented with a special test. How you answer the questions and what you do in the test determine the personality characteristic the Hero character starts out with. If you choose to have other party members, they will have a personality of their own just like you. There are over two dozen personalities a character can have. Not only that, but the personality of a character can be changed during the game.

There are more things to collect in this game aside from the already huge amount of weapons, armor and items there are (not to mention there's more of those, too!). First of all, there are special Monster Medals that you can find by defeating as many types of monsters as you can. There are bronze, silver and gold versions for each monster in the game. You can also trade excess Medals to a friend. In the manual, it says that if you collect a lot of them, something ''happens.'' Hm...

Also new in this game is a feature that first debuted in DWIV...Tiny Medals. You can redeem these Medals at a special place and get highly rare (sometimes one of a kind!) items to help you in your quest.

Aside from the already cool and diversified character classes you can choose from when picking characters for your party, there is a completely new class. The Thief is able to steal from monsters in battle and also sense if your party has missed any treasure in a location.

The Hero has the ability to remember words that are said to villagers. If you just found out something that you think you will need to know later, just press Select after you are done talking with the person. To remember the words, go to your Hero's spell list and cast ''Recall.'' Yes I know, that doesn't sound like it should be a spell, but it is. Actually, the Thief and Dealer (Merchant) also have special abilities that are used like spells now, which is very interesting. Even the JESTER (Goof Off) has one!

There is an extra mini game aside from the Monster Arena. Now you can play a game of Pachisi. Your character walks across a huge game board where a slew of interesting things can happen to you. One has to wonder what kind of reward you get for winning...

Graphics: 10
Woah!! Enix sure knows how to tap out the power of the GBC!

If you played the NES version of this game, you remember how neat the graphics were in the intro battle. Well, let's just say that they ''redid'' that in this version, along with more Ortega history that the NES game didn't have. Don't even THINK of pressing Start when you first turn this game on! :)

The overworld graphics are so colorful, large and well detailed that they're almost at 16 bit quality (no, I'm not crazy! You'll notice what I'm talking about even before you begin the game!). In battle scenes, the enemies are EXTREMELY well animated! The enemy animation will knock your socks off so much that you might find yourself getting excited when you find a new type of enemy!

Sound/Music: 9
The sound effects are just fine, straight from DWI&II. The music is great for the most part! Almost all of the songs are faithfully converted from the NES version, except for the battle theme (no percussion) and the tower theme (off key). You'll be able to hear that adventurous overworld music once again!

Control: 10
The same scheme used in DWI&II. Since you have to juggle four characters around, a special Plan menu has been created. It houses some features that are staple in RPGs (such as changing party member order), plus has extra features which make managing your party even more convenient!

Replay Value: UNSURMOUNTABLE
You will literally NEVER run out of ways to play this game. Even if you've beaten the NES version backwards and forwards, there are even MORE things for you to do now. You can play the game alone, with only one extra member, etc. The combinations are endless. Searching for all of the items (old and new) will take you forever! These reasons don't even scratch the replay value's surface!

Bottom Line?
If there is one RPG game company that has stayed powerful during the rise of Square, it's Enix. Just when everybody thought that they would only be around in Japan for the rest of it's life, they begin rereleasing their epic RPG lineup here in the US, making them even better than they were before. First I&II. now III. This game is so good that it's worth buying the system just for this game if you don't have a GBC yet. Fans who have been with Enix since DWI will adore this game and people new to the RPG genre will be captivated by the old AND the new features. The first version of this game was already stellar and now it has been pushed to even newer heights, which is why I give it a 10.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/01, Updated 07/25/01