Super Nintendo #2: Drakkhen

Developer: Infogrames

Publisher: Kemco/Seika

Release Date: September 1991

I have no idea why it took me until 2019 to play this game. I would've loved this box art I the 90s

The Super Nintendo was an unexpected bastion for PC games. Just about every major CRPG franchise had at least one entry on it, and of course they translated better than they had during the NES era. It’s a bit surprising for a system that never had a keyboard and hardly had any aspirations of pretending to be a computer. Sure it had a mouse, but it was mainly used for Mario Paint. Before Ultima and Eye of the Beholder made it to SNES, however, there was the weird and wonderful Drakkhen. Not only was it one of the first PC games to show up on the Super Nintendo, but it was also the first RPG released on the system just a couple of months after its debut. Modern reviewers mostly don’t care for it, but I think it’s an utterly unique experience that’s well worth checking out. 

Watch out for sharks! No seriously, this moat has a shark in it.

The first thing that stands out in this game is the wonderful visual style. It looks good even now. You are treated to quickly rendering 3D backgrounds with an evocative day to night cycle and an interesting variety of environments. I appreciate that the sun slowly rises and sets. It doesn’t just suddenly become night. How many games from 1991 feature twilight? It also has very little lag for a mostly 3D game. It is a deliberately paced game, but I never felt like the environment slowed me down. It’s fun to wander through the world watching the time of day change while piecing together what to do.

I love 16-bit twilight!

The game also has great personality. I have never played a game where I am a human but practically every NPC is a big scary dragon. There are big dragons everywhere and most of them are pretty goofy. Instead of dungeons you explore castles filled with dragon creatures that either want to kill you or have you help make dinner. Their dialogue is usually something like “dinner is not ready yet Drakkhen.” This game loves its own name and is all the better because of it. When you fight monsters in the overworld they come sliding in from the left side like Kramer and then when defeated they explode like Michael Richards’ career after the Laugh Factory incident. It made me smile every time. They just seemed so excited to be there. After playing so many games that take place in depressing hellscapes it’s nice to see a game where the characters seem happy to be there even if they are trying to kill me.

I think most of the criticisms of this game are unfounded and based on laziness more than flaws in the design. In the modern era it’s a bit scary to not know what to do in a game. Drakkhen starts rather cryptically. Its world is a giant rectangle with no villages or quest logs. The only information comes from castles and random buildings scattered around the landscape. Luckily almost every building has useful information. It’s more efficient than other early open world RPGs where half the houses will just be people telling you to get out. Thankfully it does have a world map which makes things easier. The combat is also a bit odd, but I think it works in the context of the game. It is more like an RTS game where you set up the characters but they do the fighting themselves. You can give them specific instructions in battle, but they will do their own sword swinging and spell casting. It looks like they are just casually wandering around during battle, but they fight properly and it saves your fingers while grinding. You can stand still and have enemies attack your party while going to the kitchen for a snack. Well as long as it’s daytime and none of the giant constellation monsters come down and attack you. It never lets you get too comfortable. It also has a somewhat complicated control setup, but unlike so many games from the 16-bit era it actually has a guide within the game. That’s how I knew to tap L and R to get out of the water. So many reviewers drown once and give up on this game. There are some things that aren’t explained in the game, however, so you will probably need to look up instructions online. I had a much easier time when I read that I could escape from battles also by tapping L and R. You will definitely need to run away sometimes.

This is as far as most reviewers get before they decide they hate this game. They shouldn't give up so easily.

I honestly had a lot of fun with this one. Its cryptic nature meant that there wasn’t much grinding required because I always felt like I was actually going somewhere and its difficulty progressed at a reasonable rate. I rarely got frustrated and just wish it had been a bit longer. Sure equipment sometimes randomly disappears, but everything respawns in castles so you can always go collect some more. I doubt many people would rank it so high but I think it’s good enough to be number ten. It’s not quite as much fun as the great arcade games I have on my list, but it’s the second best RPG I have covered so far. Another nice thing is that it’s common and inexpensive so you can probably find one for under 10 dollars at your local game store. At the very least you should play it just to check out the kooky battles. If you’ve ever wanted to visit a spa run by a half-dragon than this is the game for you.

Super Nintendo quality percentage: 2/2 or 100%

1. Super Mario Odyssey

2. Galaga

3. Donkey Kong

4. Exodus: Ultima III

5. Pac-Mania

6. Wrecking Crew

7. Super Pac-Man

8. Pac-Man

9. Excitebike

10. Drakkhen

11. Arc the Lad

12. Clu Clu Land

13. Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX

14. Mickey’s Racing Adventure

15. Metro-Cross

16. Ice Climber

17. Gaplus

18. Dragon Spirit

19. Pinball (NES)

20. Super Soccer

21. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour (GBC)

22. Red Sea Crossing

23. Baraduke

24. Tennis

25. Hogan’s Alley

26. Gamma-Attack

27. The Legend of “Valkyrie”

28. Galaxian

29. Evoland

30. Cosmic Commuter

31. Hot Pixel

32. Wild Gunman

33. Defunct

34. Gyruss (2600)

35. Looney Tunes Racing

36. Squidlit

37. Baseball

38. Birthday Mania

39. Bad Street Brawler

40. Burly Men at Sea

41. X-Men (HyperScan)

42. My Name is Mayo

43. Marvel Heroes

44. Ben 10