Back when Blockbuster Video was still around in the early 90s, one of the very small number of SNES games my local branch had was Drakkhen, a part-side view, part pseudo-3D RPG with a massive and impressively ambitious open overworld for its day.
Though the learning curve was high, it was an immersive and compelling experience that offered a great deal of personalisation and open adventuring, not least in the party of characters you could create to take on the daunting quest that lay before you in its awesome pseudo-3D world.
Despite mixed critical reception, Drakkhen was a commercial success, selling 350,000 units across all formats including the SNES.
Due to this success, Drakkhen received a sequel – Dragon View – which improved upon many of the more challenging aspects and slightly awkward features of its predecessor, not least in the much more clear translation of the game’s text into English, for example.
Now, 28 years after it was originally released, Limited Run Games are re-releasing Dragon View in a new, physical edition – on a SNES cartridge!
Dragon View’s gorgeous green cartridge is packaged within an authentic, SNES-style box too – complete with a manual for a real old-school feel (we here at Retro Dodo really miss manuals, particularly the brilliant booklets you’d get with 8-bit and 16-bit games back in the 80s and 90s!).
Pre-orders for Dragon View go live at 10am EST on the 29th April; fans keen to get their hands on a copy (or more than one – there’s no purchase limit!) will need to head over to the Dragon View page on Limited Run’s website here once pre-orders open. The price is set at a pretty reasonable $59.99.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on the game prior to the Limited Run Games version’s release, both Drakkhen and Dragon View are also available on the Evercade’s Piko Interactive Collection 1, which comfortably made it onto our Best Evercade Games list.
We here at Retro Dodo would definitely recommend checking that cartridge out, as it contains many other awesome 16-bit era titles in addition to these two classic RPGs!
