Dragon Warrior 3 Game Boy Color Remake

Early NES gamers might remember Dragon Warrior (now called Dragon Quest in the US, to bring it in line with the Japanese nomenclature) as the game that introduced them to console RPGs. Copies of the first game were given out with Nintendo Power subscriptions, in addition to heavy marketing from Nintendo itself. Despite this early penetration, the series has not enjoyed the popularity and success in the US it has in Japan, where Famitsu readers ranked Dragon Quest 3 the 3rd best game of all time in a March 2006 poll.

Dragon Quest 3 (DQ3, hereafter), deserves praise for being a shining example of game design, replayable in a way most RPGs are not. Early game linearity ensures first time players won't be without direction to their next goal. The mid and late game allows for more free exploration, but comes at a time when even the least experienced gamers are familiar enough with the game world not to be lost. This freedom, along with a party that is customizable (excluding the main character, who is a robust enough character to fill several roles in your party configuration) gives every individual playthrough a unique set of challenges. All this while engaging players in a fast-paced, turn-based combat system that has proven solid enough many modern RPGs, even some real-time, are based off this gameplay.

Difficulty from the NES version has been reduced somewhat in the Game Boy Color remake. A new character class, additional game board-like dungeons, and a Small Medal scavenger hunt give players access to additional skills and equipment not found as early, or at all, in the NES version. This allows more casual players to speed through the main game, a must in any portable version. More dedicated gamers, particularly those looking for a challenge, will find it in the game's newly added dungeons. Two new-to-the-remake, increasingly difficult dungeons are available after the main quest is completed, though access to one requires significant time spent collecting rare Monster Medal drops for all of the games 150+ monsters. This turns the game from a 30+ hour saga, to an 80+ hour epic.

My only complaints are technical, with the GBC screen lacking some of the color of the NES version, the game is a bit less to look at, even with new, more detailed sprites. Animated monsters in combat is a plus , but for the time of the remake's release (2000-2001), this could have been developed for the Game Boy Advance given a bit more time, and we could have had the full detail of the Japanese Super Famicom's remake of DQ3 off of which this was based.

Nitpicks about graphics aside, this is one of the greatest console RPGs, worthy of all of the praise it has received over the years since its Famicom release in 1988, and if you have ever enjoyed the genre, or just want to see what all the fuss is about, you deserve to find a copy of this for yourself.