(Click links for game images of introduction...)
The small planet Oceana orbits around the permanent star Sirius. There are many islands on Oceana. But it is difficult to travel on the sea due to sudden storms and complex configulration of the land. So the islands are rather isolated from each other. The most famous place in Oceana is Dilmun. This region consists of nine islands and several coral reefs. All the towns in Dilmun used to exist as independent nations. And they never invaded each other. Dilmun is also known as a habitat of dragons. Prisoners who commit serious crimes were sacrificed to the dragons, protectors of Dilmun. This system kept the peace of Dilmun with no criminals. Then many pilgrims and adventurers seeking treasures visited Dilmun. Dilmun is believed to be the most comfortable place to live in Oceana. But.! A devil emerges from the underworld. And Dilmun is changing into a land of darkness.
Dragon Wars was initially released in 1989 by Interplay. Interplay had produced several games before the release of Dragon Wars, such as a few of the popular Bard's Tale games and Neuromancer. By 1991 it was decided that Dragon Wars should make an appearance on the NES. The game was totally finished and released on the Famicom (published by Kemco) and an American version of the game was scheduled. For whatever the reason, the American translated version of the game was dropped.
Towards the beginning of July 2005, a dude named 'noname11' went to a local swap meet (in California) and found a prototype Nintendo cartridge titled "Dragon Wars." After a bit of research, he discovered that it was the unreleased translated version of the Famicom game Dragon Wars. A few weeks and a traffic-ticket later, 'noname11' decided to sell Dragon Wars on eBay. $1375 and thirty-three bids later, Elliot of Norway was declared winner of the Dragon Wars prototype. Once he received the cartridge, he was kind enough to send me several screenshots from the game.not once, but twice, as the second set was of improved quality. I took a few screenshots from the Japanese release of Dragon Wars, and the two games look pretty much the same, as far as I can tell.
When you enter the actual game, you are told to pick a class. After you choose your class and name your characters, it is time to continue into the adventure. The game starts at sea. The player is on a boat, and he/she sets out on a great adventure. Eventually he or she arrives at Purgatory, the largest city of Dilmun. It is here that the player is told more about the danger at hand, and that the player is sent on his or her quest.
As one can tell from the screenshots, Dragon Wars is a first-person adventure/role-playing game. I personally, cannot get into this sort of role-playing game, as they tend to be notorious for their difficulty! From what I have read about the DOS-based version of Dragon Wars, this game is very difficult. The prototype of Dragon Wars that noname11 found seems to be an exact port of the Japanese version of the game. The graphics seem to be the same. The only thing different that I could notice is a different introduction screen leading into the title screen. Compare this screenshot to the one at the top of this page.
From my perspective, I am not too concerned that Dragon Wars went unreleased. The game looks one of many first-person rpgs on the Nintendo, with nothing to distinguish it from the released counterparts. As far as I know, the prototype seems to be a complete translation of the Dragon wars game. The English can get pretty crappy at times, and I have spotted constant typos and errors. I really hope that Kemco planned on sprucing-up the English before releasing this game.
Below are a few more screenshots for your viewing enjoyment. Before I conclude this article I would once again like to thank Elliot for his time and effort in getting me these screenshots. Thanks a lot bud!
One final screenshot. I am sure that this screenshot is a very common site!
