I already knew that the first Dragon Quest had been a battle against memory limits — content cut, corners trimmed. So when Dragon Quest II handed me a ship and told me to sail beyond the horizon, I was genuinely astonished. There was a whole world out there.
But that vastness came at a price. As the journey went on, the difficulty climbed steeply — and then there was the ふっかつのじゅもん, the resurrection spell. To save your progress, you had to copy down fifty-two characters by hand, one by one, without a single mistake. One wrong letter and everything was gone. For a child, it was absolutely brutal.
I later learned there was a reason for that difficulty. Yuji Horii himself admitted he never had time to thoroughly play the latter half before release — he simply ran out of time. And the handwritten development notes stacked up to fifteen centimetres of graph paper. That vast world was built, square by square, by human hands.
It was painful. There were tears. And yet I couldn't stop. That is Dragon Quest II.
About this game
Dragon Quest II is the 1987 Famicom sequel that introduced party-based combat to the Dragon Quest series, expanding from the single hero of the original to a team of three. Players recruit the Prince of Cannock and Princess of Moonbrooke alongside the Prince of Midenhall, traveling a world far larger than the original's single continent. Chunsoft developed; Koichi Sugiyama composed. The game sold approximately 2.4 million copies in Japan and continued the mass-queuing phenomenon that Dragon Quest had created at store openings. In 1987, Sugiyama conducted the world's first video game music concert — performing Dragon Quest I and II music at Suntory Hall.
Key Features
First Dragon Quest with party-based combat — up to three characters with distinct stats and equipment. Vastly expanded world map compared to the original. Overworld sailing by ship. Three princes/princess from different kingdoms, each with different stat growth and equipment access. Larger dungeon structures than Dragon Quest I.
The Story Behind
The Dragon Quest phenomenon deepened with II: the mass queuing outside game stores that would become a cultural hallmark of Japan's game release culture grew more intense. Composer Koichi Sugiyama, already an acclaimed conductor and composer before Dragon Quest, used the series' success to organize the world's first video game music concert at Suntory Hall on August 20, 1987 — just months after this game's release. The Tokyo Strings Ensemble performed Dragon Quest I and II music before a live audience, an event that elevated game music to concert-hall art.
Tricks & Tales
Koichi Sugiyama organized the world's first video game music concert on August 20, 1987 at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, just months after Dragon Quest II's release — performing Dragon Quest I and II music with the Tokyo Strings Ensemble for a live audience. This concert is credited with launching the tradition of orchestral video game music concerts that continues worldwide today. Dragon Quest II sold approximately 2.4 million copies in Japan on the Famicom.
Collector's Guide
Available in our shop
Hand-cleaned and tested units shipped worldwide from Toyohashi, Japan. HP direct purchase exclusive: we include a printed shop owner's note card with every order.
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