Developer: Atlus Publisher: NEC Released: September 1989 Genre: Action RPG
The Turbo Grafx-16 released right when my love affair with RPGs began. Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, and Phantasy Star all came out within the same time frame and I was hooked and looked for more. Sadly the Turbo Grafx was not the place to look unless you bought the CD add-on. At $400 you would have to pull a knife on your parents to get one and even that might not be enough. The few that released on Hucard were of mixed quality. Dungeon Explorer is one of the better Rpgs for the system although that categorization is stretching it a bit. It has its flaws but is a good way to kill an afternoon.
Long ago an alien race invaded the land of Odessia and wrested control. The King had the Ora Stone hidden for protection and now its power to bring light, life, and happiness is needed. As an unnamed warrior summoned by the King it is your job to find the Ora Stone and bring peace to the land by vanquishing the alien King Natas (not the least bit subtle there).
Dungeon Explorer does not have set heroes but a pool of character classes. There is a wide range: fighter, warlock, bard, thief, bishop, elf, and a gnome make up your character choices. All classes attack with a ranged weapon and have a black and white magic spell. Its sounds limiting but there is diversity even within this setup. The Bishop has the best spells but is the slowest character. The Fighter is your tank, with high HP and attack power. The most well rounded and almost game breaking is the thief. Thieves move the fastest, have decent starting attack power plus good spells; they can attack all enemies at once and heal themselves. In addition enemies shower you in item drops. There are three more characters to unlock as well for those inclined.
Dungeon Explorer has a lot in common with Gauntlet in its gameplay but also with multiplayer. You can play five-player coop which is ground breaking in my opinion. The one problem; it is on the wrong system. The Turbo Grafx-16 was not built with multiplayer in mind. For god sakes you needed a turbo tap just to play two-player coop! On top of that the chances of finding five people with the system were nil. I met a grand total of two people who owned the system growing up, that is how bad it sold.
The comparison with Gauntlet goes beyond just multiplayer. Monster generators populate every dungeon and spawn creatures infinitely unless destroyed. If you are not careful you can destroy precious power-ups as well. The comparison ends there however. Dungeon Explorer has a connected overworld and multiple dungeons/castles to explore. Each spans multiple floors and ends in a challenging boss battle. There is not much of a story but there is enough to propel you to your next destination. Anyone can see the twist coming a mile away but it is cute that they tried.
The RPG elements in Dungeon Explorer are slight. Although each class starts with differing stats in four categories (agility, attack, stamina, and intelligence) you can increase one after each boss battle. In addition you can find items such as crowns, rings, and boots that boost your stats randomly. You gain no experience from killing enemies which I have mixed feelings about. Generally stat increases have a noticeable effect. Put points in agility and you will notice your walking speed increase. With enough attack points your weapon will change; the thief’s daggers will bounce off walls at higher levels. The game is balanced so that you don’t need to constantly level up. But at the same time killing so many random enemies with next to no reward feels hollow.
While Dungeon Explorer is technically an action RPG it is not a long game. There are no maps for its dungeons because it is not necessary. Most are only a few straightforward floors long. There are only a few toward the end that become a maze of dead ends but even that is rudimentary for any novice gamer. Even if you die you have lives and can respawn instantly, reducing the challenge. Outside of a few tricky boss encounters most will have this licked on a chill afternoon, which seems the appropriate length for a game that is not very deep.
In Closing
Dungeon Explorer is a solid game with a few flaws but is fun while it lasts. I would recommend Neutopia or Ys first for those looking for a RPG however. That is not a knock against the game; those games are simply better.
