"Old School gaming at its best!"

Way back when I was but a wee age of 6 years old (I'm 15, almost 16 now) my cousin in ontario gave me a magazine, not just any magazine but a Nintendo Power magazine. Back before Nintendo Power was biased and evil in its review department! Anyways, it had a very large section devoted to a complete walkthrough of Dragon Warrior III, one of the first and greatest RPGs ever created. Though a bit weak in the story line and at an amazing high in difficulty, like most old school RPGs (For more old school fun, check out Final Fantasy Origins for the PS1). I'm happy to say that DW3 has retained its glory and has come back better than before...err...I think (you see, i never played the first version, but I'm sure this is better than the original aesthetically)

Graphics (System-Wise) 10/10

Take note, graphics hounds will not turn their heads at this game. They can stick to consoles for graphics. Considering this is game boy, however, the graphics themselves are remarkable. When before, on NES, there were blue people, there are now realistic looking people. I also beleive that the creator or head artist of Dragonball Z (the original Dragonball was SO much better though) is head artist of this game. (The portraits of the heroes of the story, male and female, look like gohan and videl of DBZ respectively.) Graphics are great for the GBC, hands down!

Sound (System-Wise) 8/10

Beats the living crap out of Pokemon. All, and i mean ALL the different types of weapons have different sounds, and, although this should be mentioned in graphics, every weapon attack looks different too. Music is damn memorable, although some of the happy town musics are annoying and some dungeon themes can get monotonous.

Gameplay (Genre-Wise) 9/10

It's OLD SCHOOL, MAN! OLD SCHOOL! Just like it was back in the beginning, the battle would be seen from the eyes of your party, with the monsters in front of you. You would select your plan of action and who and how would execute what, then you would battle it out with the enemy party in a text-based battle. One cool thing about this game is that from the beginning to the end of the game, the simple attack command matters! something that was lost sight of in games like FF7 (late game, most standard attacks didn't pack the punch of a good spell) and Golden sun (dominated by summons late game). Two of the classes learn no spells or abilities at all! they just attack! Ah classes, Like i reviewed spyro 3, I will review classes individually as i did the character of that game as each class plays slightly differently. Of the 3 characters you can choose to bring with you on your quest, they can be any of the classes listed below except for hero (A class unique to the character that represents YOU) and sage (which must be attained using a special item later in the game).

Hero 8/10
The uber-class and by far the most balanced and versatile class. Why only a score of 8? Because his/her spells are seriously limited along with his/her MP. You'll spend most of the game using standard attacks with this character. The hero learns the most powerful, but most costly spells in the game, including the godly HealUsAll spell, which costs 60 some mp! You better master using the hero, because he/she will be in your party for almost the entire game and won't leave your party until late after the core story of DW3 is over.

Warrior 6/10

A warrior is a MUST for your party if you want to deal big damage. When equipped with the right weapons, this monster of a party member can deal catastrophic amounts of damage to a single enemy team member. Sadly, though, he/she never learns any spells and is forced to do nothing but attack all game. They also have the second highest hps in the game next to the hero.

Fighter 5/10

A really ballsy warrior. The fighter vaguely ressembles a Dragon Ball Z character. Unlike the Warrior, the fighter is very fast and actually LOSES attack points when equipping standard weapons. The only weapons that power up the fighter are claws, and chances are you won't encounter more than three varieties on your first go-through of DW3. They are, however, by far the cheapest characters in the game, due to their inexpensive armor and few weapon upgrades. The fighter has no spells

Theif 7/10

Though not necessarily a must, the class that was actually ADDED to DW3 is huge fun to have in your party. The theif will often steal things from the enemy party and they are also very fast and powerful. They also level up at a godly rate. By the time you reach the second castle-city, your theif will be at least 3 levels ahead of your hero. The theif's skills aren't realy used in battle, but rather, are a great way to find secrets and hidden items outside battle.

Mage 7/10

A mage is a MUST for any beginner. He/she learns the most powerful offensive spells in the game, with the exception of the hero-only spells. Though weak early on, the mage's spells will be invaluable to your success. A gamer must learn to master the mage's skills in order to complete the game, otherwise, that gamer is dead. Though fast and wielding high mp, the mages have both pitiful hp and laughable defence and attack ratings.

Cleric 9/10

You may be wondering why I gave the cleric a higher rating than the hero. That, my friend, is because without a cleric, you would die. The cleric should be in EVERY party unless you are a seriously hardcore RPGer at which point you will try to beat the game a la DW1 style using only your hero. the cleric is the healer of the game and is vital to your success. S/he can also hold his/her own in physical combat as well as pack a punch with a few offensive spells, making the cleric far mre vital than the mage. The cleric is the only class other than sage that learns the instant death spells.

Jester 1/10

WArmly referred to as the ''goof-off'' in the first version of DW3, the jester is almost completely useless. For comic releif only, the jester will do goofy things in battle like juggle rocks and damage your party by dropping said rocks on the party.

Sage 8/10

Though not as physically powerful as the hero or the attack-only classes, the sage is a combination of a cleric on steroids and a mage that goes to sunday mass. Boasting combat-worthy attack ratings and the ability to learn all the spells given to mages and clerics, the sage is a must for your party when you can get one.

Okay enough with the characters, they're only part of the game. Thankful to say, every person has something useful or entertaining to say, making the NPC experience of DW3 overall enjoyable.
Items, unfortunately, pay a very small part in this game, being really effective only early on. There is also only one way to regain mp away from an inn and that is wizard rings, which are very rare and dont usually restore more than 40 mp before crumbling away. Even still, DW3 is extremely entertaining and gives you hours and hours of play time.

Story (Genre-Wise) 6/10

Once again, OLD SCHOOL! The story goes like this, you are the son/daughter of the hero ortega who set out to fight the demon lord baramos when you were two years old or something...now on your 16th birthday, baramos still lives and your father has never been seen since his left. You must follow in the footsteps of Ortega and kill Baramos once and for all. But once you finish of baramos, the game continues on, because baramos was a lacky. AGH! There is very little plot advancement outside of certain boss battles, making this game as old school as ever. Characters almost never talk.

Replayability 10/10

Chances are, once you finish this game, you'll have played the hell out of it cuz it takes DAMN LONG to finish! But after the story comes to an end, your journey is far from over, 2 HUGE post-game sidequests come after that as well as monster medal gathering to finish the 2nd of these sidequests. Then you'll wanna go through with different party members, or with an entire party of JESTERS! OR EVEN WORSE! SOLO! HOLY!

Overall 9/10

Though extremely old-feeling, you just can't shake the greatness of old school classic Dragon WArrior 3. Rent if you like. Some gamers may be wary of the difficulty yet simplicity of the battling and MUST rent before buying. don't be naive. Hardcore RPGers will have big fun with this.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/03