What's the best top-down RPG on the NES?

[vdub_bobby]

So, of the non-first-person RPGs (released in the US) for the NES, which was best? I think that's all the US releases.

 

Kind of interesting to look back and realize that there were only three different series.

 

I've played Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, and a little bit of Dragon Warrior IV. Of those, I liked Dragon Warrior best, though Dragon Warrior IV was pretty cool.

 

Am I wrong or was the original Dragon Warrior the only one of those 8 games that had something other than a stark black background for battles?

[shadow460]

The best one I have played, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the action RPG Willow. I have Zelda but I have not played it. I also have not played Final Fantasy.

[vdub_bobby]

I left off the action RPGs; those are kind of a different category IMO.

Edited October 21, 2009 by vdub_bobby

[Emehr]

I've only finished the original Dragon Warrior. That was back when I had the time to grind through such a game. I have Final Fantasy from a thrift shop score about 9 years ago but haven't really delved into it. So I guess Dragon Warrior it is!

 

I still remember cringing as I walked the terrain hoping I could get to my destination before another random encounter popped in front of my face. And I can still recall the music. That grating battle music... I had (still have, actually) all of the maps and junk that came with it. Without those, I probably never would have finished the game. Thanks, Nintendo Power subscription!

 

I had a friend back in the day that had Ultima:Exodus but I never played it. Something about it seemed complicated. Maybe it was the interface...don't remember. Was too long ago. May have to fire it up on an emulator or the Mac.

[Christopher T Leach]

Hands Down...."The Best top down RPG on the classic NES is Dragon Warrior IV"! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

Dragon Warrior I (1986) was alright...Played it all the way through...good classic story..You are the descendant of Erdrick..You find his armor shield sword boots? maybe a couple other things as you play through the then seemingly pointless battles, but as you played you learned that the battle after battle system was something that hadn't really been done before, but you bettered your character after doing so.

At the time Dragon Warrior I was given away for free with the subscription to Nintendo Power, I was busy spending hours playing through something called Mega Man 2. Already spent hours playing Mega Man 1 (1987), but in # 2 (1989), I had to show Dr. Wyle what my Mega Man was all about, but then came the Dragon Warrior series. Turned my favorite style of gameplay from action adventure to Role Playing for the next 20 years.

Dragon Warrior 2 (1987)introduced the "morals system". Sure you could buy a sword from the blind arms dealer for 1 piece of gold, but then your honesty virtue was down...and then there were the portals that only came around when the moons were in a certain alignment...who was on dope when they made this system? Needless to say, never played that one more than maybe just to level my characters.

Dragon Warrior 3 followed closely to the gameplay of #2, therefore...didn't get much of my attention I was hooked on something else called Final Fantasy....

 

Then came October 1992....many kids were stuck on this Final Fantasy kick, but I was at the rental store every weekend renting this game called Dragon Warrior IV....each weekend I had only hoped that my game wasnt rented and that the game i put my initials on was the one I would be getting as they had two copies of the same game at the rental store that I went to. There were 7 different chapters and each of the first six allowed you to start a new chapter with a new character..This built up a huge story and gave you well over 40 hours of gameplay. For the first time I new what it meant to be a part of the game. My characters had a story and each chapter led me closer to chapter 7 where my characters from individual stories would eventually share their stories with one another...Back to the annoying fact that my rental store had two copies of the same game. Do you know how many times I had to restart this game? Do you know the most annoying part of this entire game, other than the boss at the end of the game kept on morphing and adding additional parts to its body to make a new bad guy several times before you could beat the boss and finish the game?

Well, Let me tell you what it was...the most annoying part of this game was the 4the chapter? I think it was the 4th chapter...your characters name was Taloon...Taloon was the traveling merchant...during his chapter and with his story you had to help pay for an excavation to digging a tunnel to a town north of his. The game allowed you to set up a shop and the shop was where you would get this ridiculous amount of gold to continue the digging project. You set up your own shop and people would randomly come in with items.. You could work the counter and buy the items or you could wonder the world and kill bad guy for items to sell in your own shop...Well the broad sword was the item of choice because it sold for the most and allowed you to get to the point faster. After that was finished you basically had his chapter completed if I remember correctly. Either way..the saving of the gold was annoying as Peach pie without whipped topping...

Overall, Dragon Warrior IV was what a role playing game was supposed to be like...Several characters, all of different types that come together to save the world as a whole with their wonderful wagon that help your party while you traveled...Amazing game until the death of NES rpg's Final Fantasy II for the super nintendo...that game took forever to come out, but when it did..sorry DW IV I have a new best friend. It was called the Super Nintendo, not the nes.....

[StanJr]

Having never played DWIV, but seriously wanting to now!, I voted Final Fantasy. I know some say it is an overrated pick, but I can seriously sit down and play this game through about once a year and never tire of it. I love this adventure!

[BrianC]

So, of the non-first-person RPGs (released in the US) for the NES, which was best? I think that's all the US releases.

 

There are a couple of US released top down RPGs not on the list. Destiny of an Emperor and (Legend of the) Ghost Lion.

 

Dragon Warrior 2 (1987)introduced the "morals system". Sure you could buy a sword from the blind arms dealer for 1 piece of gold, but then your honesty virtue was down...and then there were the portals that only came around when the moons were in a certain alignment...who was on dope when they made this system? Needless to say, never played that one more than maybe just to level my characters.

 

That sounds like one of the Ultima games. Dragon Warrior II was a standard JRPG and didn't have any morals system. A couple of the Ultima games had one, though.

 

Dragon Warrior 3 followed closely to the gameplay of #2, therefore...didn't get much of my attention I was hooked on something else called Final Fantasy....

 

Dragon Warrior 3 is a huge step up from 2 due to an expanded world and a class system (which Dragon Warrior 2 didn't have).

Edited October 22, 2009 by BrianC

[BrianC]

doh. please delete this post.

Edited October 22, 2009 by BrianC

[Gabriel]

There is really no contest. Ultima: Quest of the Avatar is the best. While Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior III are pretty good, they really can't hold a candle to the extremely well done port of Ultima IV. Even scaled down, it's significantly meatier than any of the others.

[MagitekAngel]

I haven't played the NES Ultima games, so I'm inclined to vouch for DWIV. I am also quite fond of Final Fantasy III, but that never made it stateside, so perhaps it doesn't count.

[Christopher T Leach]

So, of the non-first-person RPGs (released in the US) for the NES, which was best? I think that's all the US releases.

 

There are a couple of US released top down RPGs not on the list. Destiny of an Emperor and (Legend of the) Ghost Lion.

 

Dragon Warrior 2 (1987)introduced the "morals system". Sure you could buy a sword from the blind arms dealer for 1 piece of gold, but then your honesty virtue was down...and then there were the portals that only came around when the moons were in a certain alignment...who was on dope when they made this system? Needless to say, never played that one more than maybe just to level my characters.

 

That sounds like one of the Ultima games. Dragon Warrior II was a standard JRPG and didn't have any morals system. A couple of the Ultima games had one, though.

 

Dragon Warrior 3 followed closely to the gameplay of #2, therefore...didn't get much of my attention I was hooked on something else called Final Fantasy....

 

Dragon Warrior 3 is a huge step up from 2 due to an expanded world and a class system (which Dragon Warrior 2 didn't have).

 

 

2 & 3 had the virtues installed into them for the nes...? Ok so looking back..I clearly mixed the two...but there were portals in Dragon Warrior..II maybe III...Either way, my point being...neither one or any other game on the NES compaired in Size or playability like Dragon Warrior IV...When that game came out.....Final Fantasy was a mere spec on the radar...

My vote is still for Dragon Warrior IV.....I apologize to the entire community for mistaking the two series Ultima and Dragon Warrior, but I will say that post mentioning Ghost Lion......"WHo has ever heard of that game?"

"White Lion" is one of the first role playing games I picked up complete for my collection just because I used to rent that one as a child as well...I would go to the rental and scope out all the boxes....for the game pics..by looking at the cover who would have thought the game was an RPG? THe coverart has a chick and some white lion on the cover...I thought maybe she was a lion tamer and you fed the Lion crackers or something...But looking at the back of the box...they had shown pics of gameplay and I would rent it ofter...never beat it, but might drop back and beat it just to recall the story..I think the girl was the main hero...who makes a girl the main character...?

 

Either way, worth playing, but it is no Dragon Warrior IV....

[SoulBlazer]

Both Final Fantasy III and Dragon Warrior IV were re-released recently for the Nintendo DS, with enhancements and what not, and both are wonderfull games. Some of the best 'pure' RPG's from the 8 bit days.

 

I agree the original Final Fantasy may not have aged all that well, but the recent updates they gave the game (for the GBA and the PSP) are really nice and enhance the game.

 

The original Dragon Warrior -- I have found memories of that one, that was the first RPG that I played and beat at the tender age of 11, but I don't think that one has aged well at all, and there's been no major remake of it like Final Fantasy to help it.

[+thegoldenband]

I've played most of these (haven't tried DW4 or Ultima: WOD yet), and I enjoyed most of them, though I remember a hell of a lot of grinding in DW1 and FF1. If I'd played Ultima IV more recently I might give it the edge, as I have fond memories of that one, and DW2 was quite good as I recall.

 

But I've gotta go with Destiny of an Emperor which, for all its quirks and glitches, was a lot of fun. I enjoyed getting a new take on characters with whom I'd become familiar through the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series, and for the most part gameplay was straightforward and crisp. After the slow shuffling of DW1 and FF1, it was so nice to be able to fly across the map at high speed!

 

Also, if Mother/Earthbound Zero had been released in the US, I'd probably pick that. What a miscalculation to let that one go!

[eddhead]

If Crystalis counts as an RPG (and not an action-RPG), then I would definitely say Crystalis!! I LOVE that game!!!

[BrianC]

2 & 3 had the virtues installed into them for the nes...?

 

No virtues system for Dragon Warrior II and III. That was in Ultima IV.

 

Ok so looking back..I clearly mixed the two...but there were portals in Dragon Warrior..II maybe III...Either way, my point being...neither one or any other game on the NES compaired in Size or playability like Dragon Warrior IV.

 

I know what you were saying, but how II and III compare with IV is beside the point. My point is that the games weren't given a fair shake due to misinformation on the games. Both games have portal systems, but I think the moon alignment thing only required an item to be found to open the portal, if I remember correctly. Nothing over complicated. Dragon Warrior II added party members and a larger world (compared to I), but Dragon Warrior III had a full blown class system (where you choose the classes of your party members) and a much larger world (compared to I and II) that showed what areas in the first two games were like in the past. III also had a day and night system.

 

I will say that post mentioning Ghost Lion......"WHo has ever heard of that game?"

"White Lion" is one of the first role playing games I picked up complete for my collection just because I used to rent that one as a child as well...I would go to the rental and scope out all the boxes....for the game pics..by looking at the cover who would have thought the game was an RPG? THe coverart has a chick and some white lion on the cover...I thought maybe she was a lion tamer and you fed the Lion crackers or something...But looking at the back of the box...they had shown pics of gameplay and I would rent it ofter...never beat it, but might drop back and beat it just to recall the story..I think the girl was the main hero...who makes a girl the main character...?

 

I only mentioned that game because it was another RPG released in the US. I heard that it's mediocre. And what's wrong with a female main character? Not to mention that DWIV has a chapter that focuses on female characters (and the hero can be male or female, as well). As for Ghost Lion's cover art, it's just another one of those lame localized box arts from the 80s and 90s. There's even worse art out there.

Edited October 23, 2009 by BrianC

[jeremysart]

An interesting fact. I Squares early days, they had release a whole lot of RPGs for Nintendos Famicom that did not do so well, and infact almost cause the company to go bankrupt and close its doors. When they released Final Fantasy, it was title so with "Final" quite literally referring to it as their "Final" game to hit shelves.

 

But to their surprise, it became an epic billion dollar franchise.

[Prodos8]

I voted Ultima III: Exodus, I've never really played any of the others.

[Gregory DG]

Yeah, Willow was awesome! I remember renting it for a couple of days and was just near the end when I had to take it back. Luckily no one else rented (or erased) my game so I was able to finish it a week later. Only took me a few days which was weird because I thought it would take much longer.

 

Now I'm playing it again on my Nintendo DS via a NES emulator. But crap, I'm lost in the forests now!

[vdub_bobby]

Am I wrong or was the original Dragon Warrior the only one of those 8 10 games that had something other than a stark black background for battles?

Since, ultimately, you spend so much time looking at the battle screen in these old-school RPGs I have to go for the one with the most eye-candy in that part of the game: Dragon Warrior.

Edited October 23, 2009 by vdub_bobby

[StanJr]

Everyone says Willow is so great, but I just can't get into it. What am I missing? I've made it to the second town, I think, but I was not terribly compelled to venture further. The game seems really really slow to me. Willow lovers, help me out here.

 

Oh and if Willow is in, Crystalis should definitely be in. What a great great game!

[Koopa64]

I find the lack of EarthBound (Zero)/Mother from the poll list to be most disappointing. That game is one of the best RPGs you'll ever find on the NES. There does exist an official Nintendo translation, it was just never released.

[wccw mark]

i have a soft spot for dragon warrior 1,so dw1 gets my vote

[Sgt.Pepper1983]

I voted other since my favorite rpg for the nes didn't come over here until 2006 for the ds. Final Fantasy 3. Fortunately I did find a repro a few months ago. My favorite one on the list is Dragon Quest 4. I've recently been playing the ds version and I want the nes one so bad now.

[jeremysart]

 

Now I'm playing it again on my Nintendo DS via a NES emulator. But crap, I'm lost in the forests now!

 

And the DS does a good job of it! Amen.

[Rev]

My fav is zelda.