Random: Did You Know About This Motion Control Dragon Quest Game That Predates The Wii? | Time Extension

Kenshin Dragon Quest was released as an all-in-one game for TVs back in 2003

Over the years there have been so many Dragon Quest games that it is often hard to keep track of all the various spin-off series, collaborations, and one-offs that have been released outside of the main series.

Case in point, we were recently talking to John Szczepaniak, a frequent collaborator to the site, on social media, when he let us know about a bit of an oddity that he had come across via a collector friend on Facebook: a Japan-exclusive motion-controlled Dragon Quest game released for TVs in 2003, years before the Nintendo Wii was even a thing.

The game, which is called Kenshin Dragon Quest: Yomigaerishi Densetsu no Ken, seems to have been produced in the early 2000s as a collaboration between Yuji Horii's company Armor Project and the technology manufacturer SSD (a group of ex-Nintendo developers that was later responsible for creating the XaviXPort fitness console). It was published by Square Enix and came with a shield-like device that could be connected to a TV, a book-like cartridge that you inserted into the shield to save your progress, and a sword that you could use to aim a cursor or swing to attack.

From what else we were able to dig up, it seemed to feature a story loosely based on the original game, focusing on a descendant of Erdrick on a quest to defeat the King Dragon to restore peace to Alefgard. It contained appearances from returning characters like Princess Laura as well as a new companion character called Momotan who aids the player on their quest.

Interestingly, similar to the main series, players could also perform magic, in addition to basic melee attacks, with the person wielding the sword having to maneuver the controller to open up a menu and select the specific spell they want before swinging. They could also earn experience points (given at the end of a stage) by vanquishing enemies, with these points going towards raising HP and MP.

The main campaign wasn't all it offered either, with the game featuring an option to play various Dragon Quest-related minigames, as well as multiplayer matches where you could battle with friends.

Did you know about this game? Or are you one of the lucky individuals who have managed to import a copy? Let us know in the comments!

"The statement has been spread as a mistranslation"

"He claims he sold it to a private collector recently"

"I hope he'll be gone soon"