Dragon Warrior III

"A classic RPG, with cool new features? Do I believe in miracles?!? YES!!!"

Dragon Warrior III is the 2001 rerelease of a classic NES Role-Playing Game. In this game, you play as the son of Ortega, a hero of Aliahan who went out to destroy the Demon Lord Baramos and never returned. It's now your 16th birthday, and guess what? It's your turn to go after the Demon Lord! Yay! To insure that you don't meet the same fate as your father, you can take up to three companions with you.

Graphics: 8/10- The graphics are quite nice. Some of the art was drawn by one of the Dragon Ball Z artists (Not being an anime fan, I don't recall his name), and it shows at times. Nonetheless, you still get pretty much that trademark Dragon Warrior look, I.E. characters that are one square block big with two frames of animation. They do, however, manage to cram quite a bit of detail into that one block.
Background wise, the graphics have been improved somewhat from the NES version, as the mountains and forests now have different densities, as opposed to being solid ''grids'' of trees. In battles, the enemies animate when they attack you, and you can likewise see your weapons hit your foes, as opposed to just having them flash when you deal damage.

Sound: 8/10- It's essentially the same soundtrack as the NES version, though some of the themes are mixed slightly differently (The battle theme for instance--you can hear more of the bass in the GBC version). There are, however, some new themes for nighttime. These slower mixes of the town themes kind of soothe you as you cruise around the town at night. It's also pretty much the same as far as sound effects go, though the trademark ''Bonk bonk bonk'' of you hitting mountains is gone. Oh well.
Overall, the music fits the medieval theme of the game well, rather than detracting from it. Besides, for what's essentially NES music, it's pretty good, though the battle theme took time to grow on me.

Control: 10/10- Woo-Hoo! Most of the quibbles about the NES game have been fixed. For starters, whenever you're not on the world map, your characters walk about twice as fast as in the NES version. In addition, you no longer need to access a menu to open locked doors, provided you have the key needed to open it. You can also place any unequipped items into a handy-dandy bag, which is quite cool.
The battle system is your basic turn-based system, nothing revolutionary, though when this game was first released pretty much ANY battle system was revolutionary. And for a menu-driven game, it controls very well, never feeling cumbersome like some games do.

Gameplay: 10/10- It's basic RPG Gameplay: You walk through a world fighting enemies. After awhile, you find a specific destination and either rest up or fight enemies there. Lather, rinse, repeat. But it works so well, for several reasons. One is that you can create your party, with options ranging from the big and beefy Warrior who casts no magic to the Mage who commands powerful spells but can't really fight physically. If the ''Classic RPG Choices'' don't suit you, try the Merchant, who can squeeze more Gold out of battles, or the Jester, who's incredibly lucky but tends to lose his concentration in battles. NES gamers will welcome the new class, the Thief, who is quite agile and can steal items at the end of battles.
In addition to that, there've been some things added to the game since its NES days. One is Medal Collection of two types: Monster Medals, which you get randomly by killing monsters, and Tiny Medals, which are found throughout the world and can be exchanged for cool prizes. There's also a Pachisi track, where you can win more items, and the Battle Arena, where you bet on which monster will emerge victorious in a battle to the death. It's almost enough to make you forget about your quest to kill the Demon Lord.

Story: 6/10- Some cool plot twists, especially toward the end, but for the most part it falls in the cliched ''Avenge your father and save the world from the Evil Meanie(TM)'' plot. But story is probably not the reason you're playing a 10 year old game, after all.....

Challenge: 8/10- The game is easier than its NES counterpart, for several reasons. One is the increased walking speed, which reduces the time spent trudging through dungeons. Another is that you can carry up to 99 of an item, in Final Fantasy fashion. Finally, there's the fact that some weapons now hit multiple enemies, making it possible to wipe out large groups of enemies in a single round of combat. If that annoys you, however, you can always make the game harder or easier by taking different party members along with you, or even trying a solo quest in the style of your father Ortega.

Replay Value: 10/10- It's a long, involved quest. Add in the Medal collection element, the side games, and the non-''forced'' party, and you get a game you'll come back to again and again.

Overall: 10/10- I'll be honest. Being a big fan of the NES version of Dragon Warrior III, I probably would have bought this game even if it were just a straight port. But it took that game and somehow improved upon it, adding cool new elements and increasing the walking rate to bring it ''up to speed'' with the RPGs of today. All in all, this is a portable RPG that must not be missed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/06/01, Updated 08/06/01