Dragon Slayer (video game)
1984 video game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dragon Slayer[a] is an action role-playing game[3][4] developed by Nihon Falcom and designed by Yoshio Kiya.[5] It was originally released in 1984 for the PC-8801, PC-9801, X1[1] and FM-7,[6] and became a major success in Japan.[7]
| Dragon Slayer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Nihon Falcom |
| Publishers |
|
| Designer | Yoshio Kiya |
| Series | Dragon Slayer |
| Platforms | PC-8801, FM-7, PC-9801, X1, MSX, Super Cassette Vision, Game Boy, Sega Saturn |
| Release | |
| Genre | Action role-playing |
| Mode | Single-player |
It was followed by an MSX port published by Square in 1985 (making it one of the first titles to be published by Square),[8] a Super Cassette Vision by Epoch in 1986 and a Game Boy port by the same company in 1990. A version for PC-6001mkII was in development but was never released.[9] A remake of Dragon Slayer is included in the Falcom Classics collection for the Sega Saturn.[10]
Dragon Slayer began the Dragon Slayer series, a banner which encompasses a number of popular Falcom titles, such as Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, Sorcerian, and Legacy of the Wizard. It also includes Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, which would later spawn over a dozen entries across multiple subseries.
Gameplay
Dragon Slayer is an early example of the action role-playing game genre, which it laid the foundations for.[3] Building on the prototypical action role-playing elements of Panorama Toh (1983), created by Yoshio Kiya and Nihon Falcom,[11] as well as Namco's The Tower of Druaga (1984),[12] Dragon Slayer is often considered the first Japanese action role-playing game.[3][4] In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes, Dragon Slayer was a dungeon crawl role-playing game that was entirely real-time with action-oriented combat,[4] combining arcade style action mechanics with traditional role-playing mechanics.[12]
Dragon Slayer featured an in-game map to help with the dungeon-crawling, required item management due to the inventory being limited to one item at a time,[8] and featured item-based puzzles similar to The Legend of Zelda.[3] Dragon Slayer's overhead action-RPG formula was used in many later games.[7] Along with its competitor, Hydlide, Dragon Slayer laid the foundations for the action RPG genre, including franchises such as Ys and The Legend of Zelda.[8][13]