Dungeon Explorer (USA)

Dungeon Explorer is an action role-playing game that hit the NEC TurboGrafx-16 in North America on November 15, 1989, after its Japanese debut on the PC Engine earlier that March. Developed by Atlus and originally published by Hudson Soft in Japan, the North American version was brought over by NEC. It represents one of the early Western releases for the platform and established a franchise that would see sequels later on. The game was co-directed by Kazutoshi Ueda and Yōsuke Niino, who would go on to work on other notable Atlus titles.

In Dungeon Explorer, you take control of one of eight distinct characters and set out through the land of Oddesia, which has been overrun by an alien race. Your main objective is to recover the Ora stone, a powerful artifact needed to defeat the alien king Natas. The gameplay involves exploring top-down dungeons, fighting monsters in real-time action combat, and managing your character's equipment and stats as you level up. Each of the eight heroes has different starting stats and special abilities, encouraging replayability. The world is broken into multiple dungeons and outdoor areas, with a focus on item collection and boss fights.

What makes Dungeon Explorer worth checking out today is its place in the early action-RPG catalog on the TurboGrafx-16. It offers a solid mix of exploration and combat with a degree of character variety that was uncommon at the time. The game also supports up to five players simultaneously, which made it a rare multiplayer dungeon crawler for its era. While it may not be as polished as some later entries in the genre, it holds up as a fun, straightforward adventure that showcases what Atlus could do before they became known for RPGs like Shin Megami Tensei. If you enjoy top-down action RPGs like Ys or the original Zelda, this one is worth a playthrough.