Enix is bringing their NES classic,
Dragon Warrior III, to the Game Boy Color. At a burly 32 Megabits, the cartridge will be
larger than any other Game Boy title made so far. And the popularity of this title
warrants it – in its various incarnations, Dragon Warrior III has sold over 5.2
million copies, becoming the best-selling console RPG ever in Japan. Take that,
Squaresoft.
The last game in the "Legend of Loto" trilogy, Dragon
Warrior III tells the story of a 16 year-old hero who follows in the the footsteps of his
father’s warrior legacy. You’ll adventure through an enormous world, including
deserts, mountains, pyramids, towers, and dungeons. With more than 70 hours of play, and
still more if you bother with all the sidequests, this sucker ought to keep you busy for
awhile.
There’s a lot going on throughout the game, too. You can create your
character from 13 different classes, and you’ll go up against some 168 different
monsters. Depending on the time of day, different characters and monsters appear, giving a
hint of real-time to the title. And Enix has polished the game up since its NES days. The
sprites are now larger and more detailed, as are the rest of the graphics, and the game
now features a cinematic prologue. Better user interface, and a "memory system"
that will keep notes for you, will also make the game more fun to play. In addition,
Dragon Warrior III is planned (but not promised, yet) to include gamelink combat so you
can pit your party against your friend’s party. Plus, there are more sidequests and a
bonus dungeon and boss in the latest incarnation of the game.
Look for this one to be available on US shores July, 2001. In the meantime, get thee to
your local videogame store and catch up on the story with the Dragon Warrior I & II
cartridge for Game Boy Color.
