Ahhh, Dragon Warrior II...I can't tell you how much I wanted this game when I heard about it. I didn't wind up getting it until about 2 years ago at FuncoLand and it cost me about $30...Dragon Warrior has become my favorite RPG series of all time, although most newer gamers won't like it. Dragon Warrior II was released in the US in 1990.

The game itself takes place several generations after the first one. The decedents of Erdrick of Alefgard have ruled since then and now also rule in other lands such as Moonbrooke. The game starts off with the Castle of Moonbrooke being attacked by the forces of the evil wizard Hargon. One of the soldiers escapes and warns your father, the king. You are then sent on a quest to find the two other descendants of Erdrick that will help you to defeat the evil wizard Hargon.

The main difference between Dragon Warrior 2 and the original is that you play as three characters instead of one. Unlike Final Fantasy, however, you need to find the other two characters. The main character is basically just a soldier, he is strong and has a decent amount of HP. He can equip most weapons and armor. The second character you meet is the Prince of Cannock. He has average strength and can cast both attack and healing types of magic. The Prince, unlike the main character, can't equip the heavier types of armor and some stronger weapons. This guy is probably the most well-rounded of the three. The Princess of Moonbrooke is the last character you will meet. However, you still find her fairly early in the game. You will have to find a special item before you she can join your party... She is extremely weak (seems like all the girls in older RPG's were), but she can cast very powerful magic. Most of it is healing magic, but she has some good attack spells too. She can equip mostly very weak weapons and armor as well. Do whatever you can to keep her alive in important fights because she is very helpful in the end. Neither of these characters is extremely difficult to find (The prince is very easy), but once you find them the game starts to get hard...VERY hard. The main problem is that the main character will probably be high in levels and they will be quite low, which means they may die a lot at first. Just keep resurrecting them and fighting until they're at a reasonable level.

The original Dragon Warrior was confined to a rather small area. But, once you get the boat you will see how big the world is. It is at least 4 times the size of the land in the original Dragon Warrior. The problem is you get the boat very early in the game, and it is extremely easy to get lost. Because of this it is very hard to figure out which town you have to visit next, or where it even is. The people in the towns don't seem to help much, and a lot of your time is spent walking and sailing around trying to figure out what to do next. (It probably would've helped if my copy of the game came with maps...after all I bought it used :P).

Graphics: The Dragon Warrior series was never really known for its graphics. There are some areas in which this game is better than the original and some where it is not. All of the graphics are very crisp, and it is easy to see everything. The over world is slightly more detailed than the original, but the over world character graphics are missing something. For some reason a few of the characters just don't look as nice as the one's in the original (the merchants are a good example). The monsters in the battle scenes are more detailed, but all of the backgrounds in the fights are black (in the original there was a different background when you fought outside). It's not to say that the graphics are bad...they are very clear, just not as detailed as a Final Fantasy.

Sound: I've always liked the music in this series. Remember this is NES, and don't expect something like you'd hear on the SNES. But, the music is all composed very well, and is very memorable. Some of the music was even included from the original, although it seems a little updated. One thing the Dragon Warrior series never really used though was sound effects. There are very few in this game, and they are al exactly the same as in the first game. You get a little beeps when you select things, that annoying high pitched buzzing when words are being printed on the screen, and just a few different sounds in the battles. The sounds are effective though, they're just not very impressive.

Control: The control is perfect as far as RPG's go. The characters and cursors move as soon as you push the button, and it is all very responsive. This really isn't important in this game. (Has anyone ever noticed that when you hold down the "Select" button the game pauses? But as soon as you let go it resumes. I don't know why this was included, it seems very useless...It's in every game in this series. If anyone knows anything about this let me know).

Theme and Fun: Even though I seem to complain a lot a bout this game it is still a lot of fun. I find myself coming back to it, although after playing it for a day or two again drives me nuts because of its difficulty. The story is basically the same as every Dragon Warrior game: kill the evil bad guy at the end, but it is still enjoyable. I recommend it less then the other three in the series, but it is still a very good game in the RPG genre. The fact that it continues off the original is pretty cool. Hardly any RPG games do that anymore.

Replay Value: Almost nonexistent. Sure, you will play this game a lot, but very few will ever get to the end. And if you ever do, will you ever want to play it again? Maybe if you're bored. You won't see anything new, and so there really is no reason to play it again.

Challenge: The difficulty when this game starts is pretty average. But, after you get the boat the challenge skyrockets. There aren't a lot of random battles, but the ones you get in are very hard. This game expects you to fight a LOT in order to get get stronger. If you don't fight until you get very high in levels, you'll find most of the boss fights will be almost impossible. There is no luck in this game. The challenge of the over world areas also goes up a lot once you get the boat. Before you find it the game is fairly straight forward, and easy to figure out. But, once you get it the game becomes extremely frustrating. The game becomes so vast and non-linear that it will drive you nuts figuring out what town or dungeon you are supposed to go to next. I find myself in areas which I am not even supposed to be in yet quite often, mostly because no one gives you any idea on where the hell you are supposed to go to next. This game also revolves around finding several very obscure objects. Near the end end of the game you need to find the 5 crests. Needless to say this is a very hard task. There is not much information on their locations and you will find yourself walking around aimlessly until you are lucky enough to search in the right place (the flute isn't much help) .

Overall: This is a decent game, and its good points out-number its flaws. I recommend it if you like the other Dragon Warrior games, or if you are an extremely hard-core RPG gamer. If you aren't you will get extremely frustrated with it. It certainly isn't a game that you should play to introduce you to RPGs.