Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's Adventure

"Absolutely brilliant. Well done, Enix."

Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's Adventure is a RPG game created by Enix for the Gameboy Color. It's a sequel to the game, also by Enix for the Gameboy Color, Dragon Warrior Monsters. It has a sort of 'brother game' called Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Cobi's Adventure. Getting back on topic [I ramble too much. :P], I think DWM2:TA is a brilliant game.

STORY - 8/10

In the beginning of DWM2:TA, Tara and her family are on a boat headed to their new home of Great Log, an island with a giant, bored-out tree that serves as places of residence and other services. Tara's father is a farmer, but he doesn't farm ordinary crops or livestock. He raises monsters. When the family settles into their new home, Tara and Cobi's mother asks the two siblings to go to the Vault, where a homemade nut pie from Grandma is waiting as a gift. As they leave their new homestead, they're met several times by Prince Kameha [Why do I want to write Kamehameha? -_-] and Warubou, the island's elemental spirit. Despite the odd antics of the prince and Warubou, Cobi and Tara manage to retrieve the nut pie. Prince Kameha and Warubou are blocking the way back home, so Cobi and Tara go the other way. They meet up with Prince Kameha and Warubou AGAIN, but this time Warubou smells the nut pie. He and Prince Kameha struggle with Cobi and Tara over it, and it falls into a nearby well [Don't worry, there's no water in it.]. The four run down to retrieve it, and another struggle ensues. However, Prince Kameha knocks loose a nearby object. It's the Log's Navel. Energy starts to flow out of it, and Warubou quickly plugs it up with himself. Prince Kameha has ran off so Warubou asks if Cobi and Tara would find a Monster Master. However, no one believes them. They've been fooled enough by Warubou. Warubou has no other choice, so he asks if Cobi or Tara would go into other worlds to find a plug for the Log's Navel. Tara agrees, and with Slash the Slime, she sets off to Oasis World.

The beginning plot is quite simple, and I probably would've given it a 7. However, in the other worlds, there are sub-plots that you do to 'beat' that world. They're usually pretty simple, but they're still fun. ^-^

MUSIC/SOUND - 5/10

The background music often gets a bit repetitive, but a lot of it is rather catchy. The Starry Shrine music is my favorite. :P The sounds in battle are pretty simplistic. Oh well, there's always CD players with headphones.

GRAPHICS - 8/10

For Gameboy Color, the graphics are pretty darn good. The monsters are drawn very well and are colored nicely. The maps could use a bit of work but all in all, I think they're fine.

DIFFICULTY - 8/10

The game is pretty difficult if you don't know what you're doing. It's not a brainbuster like some of the other RPGs[Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, etc etc...] but it can be pretty difficult. The bosses are evenly spaced in levels between worlds so you're going to probably have to do additional leveling. Also, breeding your monsters will make the offspring stronger than their parents. Breeding is a complicated progress so it's best you use a FAQ.

FUN - 10/10

For me, this game was a godsend. I adore it. It's a heck of a lot of fun to play, because after you beat the game's normal levels, you can find additional keys to go to new worlds! It's really great.

REPLAYABILITY - 10/10

The replayability factor is totally great. In fact, you don't even have to restart a new game. After you beat the normal worlds, you can find keys to other, totally new worlds. In fact, they're a bit random so in one game, you could go to one world, but in another, go to a totally different world. It's all in the luck of the draw.

RENT OR BUY - BUY!!!!

This game is fantastic. Does it need another reason? Now for the score... It all averages out to an 8!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/04/03, Updated 07/04/03