Dungeon Explorer is an Action RPG developed by Atlus for the TurboGrafx-16. The game was originally released in 1989 in both the Japanese and North American markets, with Japan getting it on March 4 and North America on November 15. It is/was also available on the Wii Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, and the TurboGrafx-16 Mini.
It's a tale as old as time: aliens have invaded the land of Oddesia, led by their king Natas. The king of Oddesia sends you off to find the Ora Stone, which is the only thing that can stop Natas.
As its name would suggest, the game involves a lot of dungeon crawling, and the gameplay is overall very similar to that of Gauntlet. Up to 5 players can team up with their choosing of 8 classes to tackle dungeons together and fight enemies. Unlike Gaunlet, however, there's a bigger emphasis on RPG elements; levels, towns, overworld exploration, and a White Magic/Black Magic system for special attacks tied to each class. The game lacks saves, though it does have a password system for continues that also enables functionality for cheat codes.
A sequel, Dungeon Explorer II was released in 1993; Set a century after the original game, the story begins with the kingdom of Oddesia being ransacked by a mage named Phades who seeks to resurrect Natas. The game got a modified port in the form of Crystal Beans: From Dungeon Explorer for the SNES in 1995 in Japan. A Sega CD game simply titled Dungeon Explorer was also released the same year as Crystal Beans.
Tropes:
- Aliens Are Bastards: Natas leads a race of aliens in invading the kingdom of Oddesia and impersonated the king as part of his gambit to steal the Ora Stone hidden by the real one.
- Alien Invasion: The game surrounds a group of warriors fighting against a race of aliens seeking to plunder the land of Oddessa.
- Ant Assault: One of the enemies employed by the aliens are evil ants who are dangerous bugs.
- Chess with Death: He's more a fan of Blackjack. In Dungeon Explorer II, you can play against the Reaper to earn extra lives.
- Dirty Cop: Judas the guard eventually turns on you and attempts to take your life.
- Distressed Damsel: Princess Miriam from Dungeon Explorer II is initially captured by Minos the Man-Bull. However, she defeats the monsters threatening her right as the party defeats Minos and she becomes a potential party member from that point on.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies: The game features zombies among the enemy cast who are persistent hostiles who hold a ton of stamina.
- Evil All Along: The king of Oddesia is actually Natas in disguise. He sent you on your quest to find the Ora Stone for him.
- Green and Mean: One of the enemies in the game are green poisonous caterpillars.
- Happy Ending Override: Dungeon Explorer II opens with the kingdom of Oddesia - the setting of the first game - being razed by Phades' forces.
- MacGuffin Delivery Service: It turns out the procurrence of the Ora Stone by the heroes was a gambit by Nartas who impersonated the king to steal it.
- Meaningful Name: The recurring guard that eventually betrays and tries to kill you is literally named Judas.
- Oddball in the Series: Of the "classic" ''Dungeon Explorer games, the Sega CD game stands out, as it takes much more cues from its inspiration: There is a hunger mechanic, Black and White Magic are simplified into "Body Force", the rate at which monsters spawn is cranked up, characters level up by fighting regular enemies rather than bosses and level only affects HP, with stats requiring item upgrades. The Sega CD game was made by Westone rather than Atlus, which explains the changes.
- Recycled Title: The Sega CD game is named Dungeon Explorer but is otherwise completely different from the first game.
- Reformulated Game: Of the Reformulated Port variety: Crystal Beans is based on Dungeon Explorer II, but makes a slew of changes to the game, such as using a map system in place of the overworld and using a chibified artstyle for the party.
- Save Scumming: The Sega CD game begins the player in an area with several treasure chests, which respawn upon saving and reloading the game, meaning that there is nothing stopping players from easily gaining enough gold to buy late-game equipment. Curiously, the manual outright lists doing this as a tip.
- Sdrawkcab Name: The alien king Natas is clearly named after Satan. Just backwards.
- Secret Character: The Princess and Hermit (spelled Harmet due to wonky translation) classes can be unlocked via passwords. You can also unlock Hermit by leveling up a Bard until it has 50 HP and taking them to the Hermit House, where they will transform into the Hermit.