Game Reviews8.2/10
Dragon Warrior IV Review: Five Chapters, Four Strangers, One Hero
Dragon Warrior IV splits into five chapters before the Hero appears, and that structure is what makes Enix and Chunsoft's 1990 RPG worth replaying.
CLAY TRIBUNE / THE ARCHIVE
Category: Game Reviews
Every game we have scored, from the NES library to current releases.
Game Reviews7.8/10
Dragon Warrior III Built the Modern RPG, Then Buried It in Random Encounters
Dragon Warrior III review: Chunsoft's 1988 NES RPG pairs a day/night cycle and a class-change system that wipes stats but keeps your skills. Score: 7.8/10.
Game Reviews8.7/10
Dragon Warrior II Added a Party to a Solo Quest and Made Every Step Back to Town a Risk
Dragon Warrior II (1987) review: Chunsoft and Enix's sequel adds a three-person party, six-enemy battles, and a bigger world. Score: 8.7/10.
Game Reviews7.3/10
Dragon Warrior: Erdrick’s Heir and the Founding of a Genre
Dragon Warrior (1986) set the template for console RPGs: Erdrick's heir, three keepers, the Dragonlord, and a 7.3 Metacritic score built on patience and grind.
Game Reviews7.2/10
Double Dragon II Tightens the Brawling but Rents Its Best Ideas
Double Dragon II: The Revenge killed Marian and rebuilt the controls. A 1988 arcade sequel with a back kick, a clone battle, and reused assets.
Game Reviews7.2/10
The MS-DOS Double Dragon port trims the arcade original down to two players and one enemy at a time
A review of the MS-DOS port of Double Dragon: single-player only, fewer enemies, but the belt-scroll brawling and weapon steals still land. Score: 7.2/10.
Game Reviews8/10
Crystalis: A Post-Apocalyptic RPG That Trusts Its Systems
A retrospective on Crystalis, SNK's post-apocalyptic action RPG: four elemental swords, the Tower, and why its level gates still sting.
Game Reviews7.9/10
Bubble Bobble’s two-player mode turns a cute platformer into a sabotage engine
Bubble Bobble hit arcades in 1986 and never left. A retro review of Taito's two-dragon classic, its one-screen design, and Fukio Mitsuji's co-op vision.
Game Reviews7.2/10
The grappling arm is the only thing Bionic Commando gets right
Bionic Commando's no-jump grappling arm still holds up, and its 1988 NES localization kept a Hitler villain and exploding face while renaming the Nazis.
Game Reviews7.1/10
Battletoads: A 1991 Classic That Still Plays Like a Test
Battletoads on NES still defines brutal difficulty three decades on. We break down its Smash Hit combat, Turbo Tunnel, and why it remains a classic.
Game Reviews7.1/10
Zelda II’s reputation problem is really a design problem
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link reviewed — the side-scrolling black sheep of the series, its magic meter, Dark Link, and why it scores 7.1 of 10.
Game Reviews8.4/10
The Legend of Zelda Review: Nintendo’s 8.4-Rated Blueprint for Adventure
A retrospective on The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo's 1986 adventure that taught a generation to explore, save their progress, and trust the unknown.