Gameplay
The game utilises a top-down overhead perspective, where players move the controllable character in two dimensions. As players move around in a world map, they may encounter battles, which are turn-based with a time point system: both movements and attacks sap a bar on the top of the screen, and the character's turn ends when the bar is depleted. Experience points, which are used to level up playable characters, are collected for defeating enemies. Stronger attacks for the main protagonist, Atorushan, are made available through collecting key items called the Emerald Graces. These transform him into a dragon to unleash a powerful attack, at the cost of reducing his HP when used.Plot
A long time ago, dragons and humans lived in peace in the land of Ishbahn. Lord Tiridates, believing the existence of dragons among humans defiles Ishbahn, places a curse that kills dragons in the area. Some of the dragons (now collectively called the Dragon Tribe) manage to escape and find refuge in Draguria, where a dimensional rift prevents humans from crossing it. At the start of the game, a ship wrecks on the coast of Draguria. The protagonist, a Dragon Tribe youth named Atorushan seeks the friendship of the sole survivor, a human girl named Tamryn by the White Dragon, leader of the tribe. The girl is nurtured by the dragons of the land, but 12 years later she leaves as she wants to find happiness with those of her own kind. Atorushan breaks off his left horn and gives it to her as a means of summoning him should she need assistance. Three years after this incident, Atorushan is called by the White Dragon as the aforementioned horn was blown. Granting him a silver scale to keep him from perishing under the curse of Ishbahn, the White Dragon sends him there to tend to Tamryn. Upon arriving, Atorushan learns that the entirety of Ishbahn is under attack by evil armies controlled by Tiridates. To stop him and remove the land's curse, he needs to find the five Emerald Graces, dragon-based treasures scattered around the land, and resurrect the Emerald Dragon, the greatest of all dragons destined to bring about a miracle.Reception
Emerald Dragon maintains a score of 3.62/5 from 56 votes on the gamefaqs website as of April 2020. Youtubers who have reviewed the game have given it a positive rating , the youtuber SNES drunk has said of the game "I wouldn't think of Emerald Dragon as among the ranks of the best role playing games the SNES has to offer but it's certainly a worthwhile play through if you want to scratch that JRPG itch 5:00-5:08. The youtuber Avalanche Reviews commented on the English fan translation of the super nintendo version "Aside from the novelty of being a recently translated Japanese RPG Emerald Dragon is also an interesting stab at changing the traditional RPG format in some very small but very effective ways. If you've grown tired of the slim pickings we westerners have been awarded in the RPG department Emerald Dragon may be exactly what you're looking for, It's not an amazing example of what the genre can accomplish but it is a fun, different well written change of pace and ultimately well worth your time 6:30-6:56".Legacy
Akihiro Kimura successfully crowdfunded a sequel audio series titled ''Elemental Dragoon'' in 2015. It is based on ideas that were proposed for a sequel to Emerald Dragon back in the 1990s but never got off the ground due to apparent copyright issues (though Kimura and others made several independentReferences
{{reflist 1989 video games Video games about dragons MediaWorks games NEC PC-8801 games NEC PC-9801 games MSX2 games X68000 games FM Towns games TurboGrafx-CD games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Japan-exclusive video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Yasuhiko Fukuda Role-playing video games