, also known as ''Dragon Slayer Jr.'', is an

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

developed by

Nihon Falcom is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''Trails'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneer ...

. It is the third installment in the ''

Dragon Slayer A dragonslayer is a person or being that slays dragons. Dragonslayers and the creatures they hunt have been popular in traditional stories from around the world: they are a type of story classified as type 300 in the Aarne–Thompson classifica ...

'' series, preceded by '' Xanadu'' and followed by '' Dragon Slayer IV''. ''Romancia'' is a simpler and brightly colored game in comparison to the other ''Dragon Slayer'' titles, hence the name "Dragon Slayer Jr."

Story

The game begins with Prince outside the castle. As in ''Xanadu'', Fan can speak with the king for some free equipment. The goal is to rescue Princess within 30 minutes. Princess Selina is the princess of the Kingdom of Romancia. She becomes a prisoner in the Kingdom of Azorba.

Gameplay

''Romancia'' is an

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

. Movement is controlled with the arrow keys, and attacking is done with the action key. Unlike ''Xanadu'', there are almost no statistics, and zero customization. The game consists largely of two screens with a few small sub-areas. The player has only thirty minutes to complete the game, further illustrating the light and accessible nature of the title versus the oppressive underground complexes of ''Xanadu''. If the player can't make progress in time they will have to start all over again. In the MSX / MSX2 version, there is a mode in which the players can play Princess Serina as the main character with a hidden command. There is a weapon called the ''Dragon Slayer'' sword which can be found in the game.

Development

The game is part of the ''

'' series, that also includes ''

Legacy of the Wizard ''Legacy of the Wizard'', originally released in Japan as is a fantasy-themed action role-playing platform game released for the MSX, MSX2 and Famicom in Japan and for the Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States. ''Legacy of the Wizar ...

'', '' Xanadu'', and ''

Sorcerian is a 1987 action role-playing game developed by Nihon Falcom as the fifth installment in the ''Dragon Slayer'' line of games. Originally released for the PC-8801 Personal Computer, it has since been released on a wide variety of platforms. Game ...

''. Yuzo Koshiro contributed tracks to the game.

Release

The first release was in 1986 for the

PC-8801 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japane ...

PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more th ...

, MSX, and

Sharp X1 The , sometimes called the Sharp X1 or CZ-800C, is a series of home computers released by Sharp Corporation from 1982 to 1988. It is based on a Zilog Z80 CPU. The RGB display monitor for the X1 had a television tuner, and a computer screen c ...

computers. A later

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

version was published by

Tokyo Shoseki is a Japanese company engaged in the textbook and other publishing businesses. The company is well known as the largest publisher of textbooks in Japan, but also publishes reference books and Digital textbooks, educational assessment question, ...

and developed by

Compile In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs that ...

. An

enhanced remake A video game remake is a video game closely adapted from an earlier title, usually for the purpose of modernizing a game with updated graphics for newer hardware and gameplay for contemporary audiences. Typically, a remake of such game software sh ...

was released for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

in 1999 by Unbalance. In 2014 the PC-88 version was released along with ''

'' for the retro game distribution service EGG.

Reception

Upon release, four reviewers from ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave it a score of 19/40. The game has become notable for being cute but highly difficult. Subsequent reviewers complained about the lack of direction in the game given to the player and

trial and error Trial and error is a fundamental method of problem-solving characterized by repeated, varied attempts which are continued until success, or until the practicer stops trying. According to W.H. Thorpe, the term was devised by C. Lloyd Morgan (1 ...

approach. There is no save function and the player may not be aware they have made a mistake. Starting over multiple times is required to advance in the game.

References

{{Dragon Slayer series 1986 video games MSX games MSX2 games Action-adventure games NEC PC-8801 games NEC PC-9801 games Sharp X1 games Nintendo Entertainment System games Tokyo Shoseki games Windows games Dragon Slayer (series) Japan-exclusive video games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Yuzo Koshiro Single-player video games Compile (company) games Nihon Falcom games