Note 1: This game was played on a JVC X’Eye (hybrid Genesis and Sega CD console). It was connected to a 40-inch HD-tv using the Pound RGB to HDMI cable.

Note 2: There are other versions of Dungeon Explorer for other consoles. This review will only focus on the one for the Sega CD, and not make any comparisons.

Genre: Dungeon Crawler/Action RPG

Players: 1-4 (more than two requires a multi-tap)

Saving: You save your game in ‘Maggie’s Den,’ a hut in the game’s central hub, the ‘Gardens of Destiny.’

Story: (paraphrased from the manual) “The Darkling was an evil creature who killed any humans who dared near his tower, which was located deep in the forest. He had one enemy who was his equal in power, the Goddess of Ambition. The Goddess possessed the power to grant any individual’s deepest wish, and fearing for his own existence, the Darkling captured and imprisoned the Goddess. Now, numerous adventurers, or Dungeon Explorers, are seeking to challenge the endless hordes of creatures that comprise the army of the Darkling, rescue the Goddess of Ambition, and have their wishes granted…

Gameplay: Dungeon Explorer sees you choosing an Explorer (from six classes, with varying stats), and challenging the seven dungeons that hold the hordes of the Darkling. At the end of each quasi-maze type dungeon, you’ll be confronted with a boss. You must defeat the smaller six dungeons before confronting the Darkling in his tower, which is the seventh and final one.

Control: A pulls up your menu, from which you can view your stats and items, as well as use certain items you’ve found. B uses your ‘Body Force,’ or Magic Power, of which you collect orbs during gameplay to use (up to 9). C fires your weapon (holding creates rapid fire). Start pauses the game.

Leveling Up: Your Explorer starts at Level 1, but he or she will quickly gain experience through combat and increase his or her level. Increasing your level increases the maximum amount of Life (Hit Points) that your character has. Destroying regular enemies achieves 1 EXP (Experience Point) each, and destroying the Generators that produce the regular enemies achieves 5 EXP. It’s important to spend a lot of time grinding to level up your character significantly.

Gold and Armor: You’ll find gold after defeating Generators in the game’s dungeons. Save gold toward buying Armor in the Weapons Shop back in the game’s central hub. Armor and Weapons upgrades increase your attack power, defense ability, and how powerful and long-lasting your magic attacks are. It’s important to spend time acquiring gold to buy the best armor. *The manual actually describes a somewhat faster way to get gold by exploiting the area near the central hub that has a few gold mounds on it: “Run to Freedom Hill and take the gold. Now save data and quit the game. Restart and head back to the hill for more gold. Repeat as needed or until extreme boredom sets in.”

Food and Life Points: You have a ‘Food Meter’ that slowly ticks down from 1,000. Once it hits zero, your Life Meter will slowly tick down. Your life meter is also decreased by getting hit by enemies. You can find items to increase your Food and Life Points (see below).

Items (found and used only in individual dungeons): As you explore each dungeon and fight enemies, you’ll often uncover certain items that will help you. The feather serves as a Warp to take you out of a dungeon if you realize you’re going to die before beating it (it can even be used in boss fights). Food and Life potions (available in small or large pots) increase the points for those stats. The larger pots you store in your inventory to be used at your discretion; the smaller pots are applied instantly. You can also find gloves or amulets that can be equipped from your inventory – these are generally very helpful items that raise your attack or defense stats (only while in each dungeon), or, in the case of the particularly useful Fast Amulet, stop the ticking down of your Life Points altogether! The Camp Pot is a great item that you’ll find for your character to hop into to completely refill both Life and Food points (not useable in boss fights). Finally, you’ll uncover magic orbs that increase the stock of your magic attacks (up to 9). Dungeons are typically littered with these items, waiting to be uncovered by defeating the enemy Generators!

The Dungeons: While some of the dungeons have maze-like qualities or light puzzles to solve, none are overly-complicated or should require any consulting of outside sources. You’ll often have to find keys to unlock the next part of a dungeon. Your biggest challenge with the dungeons comes in the form of the swarms of enemies that you’ll face – if your Armor is too weak or your Maximum HP is too low when you start, you’re toast! You’ll also have to determine which dungeons are easiest at first (start with the lower left one, the ‘Desert’) based on how much life the enemies in the area take off of your Explorer when you first enter.

Characters: Five males and one female comprise the selectable characters: The Knight, Ninja, Monk, She-Elf, Mage, and Beast. Some are quicker and weaker, others slower and stronger, to start with, at least. For my playthrough, I used the Knight, and had him at Level 84 by the time I beat the game! Each character has a unique magic attack, adding some variety to your choice. The Knight, for example, fires a spread shot for his magic attack, the She-Elf creates a force field around herself, and the Mage uses a fire that attacks all enemies on screen.

The Southern Gentleman’s Opinion and Letter Grade: B: Before purchasing and playing through this game, I didn’t read much that was very positive about it. I’m glad I didn’t let those reviews sway me, because I would have really missed out on a game that I enjoyed a great deal!

I don’t think a game like Dungeon Explorers is for everyone, so I can understand the more negative reviews that are out there. This game takes A LOT of grinding, be it for gold to buy better amor or for EXP to level up your character. Failing at a dungeon means you lose the experience you’d gained to that point (unless you use the feather to warp out, which is wise!), and during my run, I would say I probably was defeated or had to escape one of the seven dungeons around 10 times, with three of those being on the last one. While this was demoralizing, it simply reinvigorated me to grind more, level up more, and buy the best possible weapons and armor, and go at it again!

The game didn’t record how many hours I spent, but I would guess it was between 15 and 20 for me (I way over-leveled my Knight to be on the safe-side). Is the game repetitive? Absolutely. Is the story barebones? You betcha. Was it addictive if you like simple Action RPGS? Man oh man, was it! I played little else and couldn’t wait to get back to it each time; I like the simplicity of it all. I plan to run through it again with another character.

Finally, although I didn’t have the chance to do so, the fact that this is an up-to-four-player Action RPG is an awesome addition – I can’t imagine how much fun this would be with a buddy or two or three (assuming they knew what kind of game it was and were up for it!).

God Bless! Proverbs 3:6