Released exclusively in Japan for the Sega Saturn in 1998, Dungeon Master Nexus is a 3D dungeon-crawler based on the classic 16-bit RPG, Dungeon Master. And although FTL Games – the American developer of the original Dungeon Master – have been credited with creating this game, they actually had no involvement in the production of it. Dungeon Master Nexus was developed entirely in Japan, by Victor Interactive Software, and a fan translation into English was released in Sept 2023.
Tag Archives: Japanese
Castlevania Chronicles, PlayStation
Castlevania Chronicles is a remake of Akumajō Dracula – the first Castlevania game – and it was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (KCET) and first published by Konami in 2001. In it, you play as the vampire hunter Simon Belmont, who must defeat Dracula and save Transylvania from the vampire’s tyranny.
X, Game Boy
This game – called simply “X” – was a Japan-only release, in 1992, on the original black and white Game Boy, but its conception and development would later have a profound effect on Nintendo‘s confidence in producing 3D-based games.
X was created by British developer Argonaut Software (specifically, by Dylan Cuthbert, who was later infamously ‘poached’ by Nintendo from Argonaut), and was a demonstration of their ability to produce 3D-based games on home video game systems. This impressed Nintendo, who then tasked Argonaut with creating a new 3D game on their Super Nintendo console, which eventually became the classic Star Fox. And the rest is history… Sort of.
Xanadu Next, PC
Xanadu Next was developed by Falcom and published for Windows PCs in Japan in 2005. It is a continuation of the Dragon Slayer series and a spin-off from Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II. The game remained untranslated into English until a worldwide release by XSEED Games in 2016. And I have to say: it’s a wonderful game, and is arguably the pinnacle of the long-running franchise.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, PC Engine
The Legend of Heroes is the sixth game in the Dragon Slayer series, and the first in The Legend of Heroes franchise. It was developed by Falcom and released initially for the PC-88 – in Japan – in 1989. The PC Engine CD version was localised into English by Hudson Soft and released for the TurboGrafx-CD in North America by Turbo Technologies in 1991. That’s the version I’m showing here.
Continue reading Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes, PC Engine
Sorcerian: Dragon Slayer V, MSX
The fifth episode in the Dragon Slayer series – Sorcerian – was originally released in 1987 for the PC-88. The MSX2 version was ported by Tierheit and published – in Japan only – by Brother Industries (on their Takeru label) in 1991. A fan translation into English is available, but I did notice that there are still a few untranslated passages in the game.
Sorcerian: Dragon Slayer V, PC
Sorcerian is the fifth instalment in the Dragon Slayer series. It was originally released in 1987 – in Japan – for the PC-88, and the MS-DOS version was converted, localised into English and published by Sierra On-Line in 1990.
Legacy of the Wizard, NES/Famicom
Legacy of the Wizard is the North American localisation of Dragon Slayer IV, released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Brøderbund in 1989. It’s a fantasy-based platform/action game featuring a family of four heroes – and their pet – on a mission to retrieve a mystical sword and slay a dragon, inside a sprawling dungeon.
Dragon Slayer IV: Draslay Family, MSX
Originally released in Japan as “Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family“, the version I’m showing here is the fan-translated MSX2 version of the fourth game in the Dragon Slayer series. The game was developed and published by Falcom in 1987, and the fan translation was released by “MSX Translations” in 2010 under the title of “Dragon Slayer IV: Draslay Family“.
Romancia: Dragon Slayer Jr., NES/Famicom
The Nintendo Famicom version of Romancia – aka Dragon Slayer Jr. – was developed by Compile and published by Tokyo Shoseki, in Japan only, in 1987. A fan translation makes the game playable in English (and Spanish), which is good because this version of the game is considerably better than the MSX version.
The King of Grabs 