Dungeon Explorer
ダンジョンエクスプローラー1989Dungeon Explorer
ダンジョンエクスプローラーUp to five players explore a top-down world of dungeons together.
Dungeon Explorer is an action role-playing game in which up to five players explore the land of Oddesia. Its top-down view recalls Gauntlet. Atlus developed it, and it started a series of sequels.
| RELEASED IN JAPAN | 4 March 1989, published by Hudson Soft |
|---|---|
| RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA | 15 November 1989, published by NEC |
| DEVELOPER | Atlus |
| PLAYERS | Up to five |
Each player picks one of eight classes, and each class has its own magic and stats. A bishop's white potion heals nearby allies, and a bard's black potion can change the music.
Special classes such as the princess and the hermit unlock by password.
Players explore towns and fields to find dungeons, and each dungeon ends with a boss. The boss leaves a crystal that cycles through four colors and changes one stat.
Lives are shared across the party, and the game ends when they run out. Passwords save progress for each player.
Oddesia has been taken over by an alien race. The king hid the Ora stone in the dungeons, and the heroes must recover it.
The king then reveals himself as the alien ruler Natas and steals the stone. The heroes chase Natas down, kill him and take the stone back.
Co-directors Kazutoshi Ueda and Yōsuke Niino led a team that later worked on several Megami Tensei titles. Tsukasa Masuko composed the music.
PC Engine Fan readers gave the game 23.66 out of 30. Hobby Consolas praised the multiplayer mode, and Power Play noted that the game is harder when played alone.
The series grew to include Dungeon Explorer II in 1993 and a Sega CD version. It later added Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts in 2007.
Dungeon Explorer is one of the earliest action role-playing games on the console. It is an early example of cooperative play with up to five players on a home system.
- Reviews often criticize the password system.
- Wii Virtual Console versions came out in Europe in December 2006 and in North America in January 2007.
- Dragon gave the game a perfect rating in 1990.
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