Software:Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon

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Taloon's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon
Cover art
Developer(s)Chunsoft
Publisher(s)Chunsoft
Director(s)Tadashi Fukuzawa
Producer(s)Koichi Nakamura
Designer(s)Tadashi Fukuzawa
Kazuya Asano
Seiichiro Nagahata
Programmer(s)Takenori Yamamori
Artist(s)Akira Toriyama
Writer(s)Kazuya Asano
Composer(s)Koichi Sugiyama
SeriesMystery Dungeon
Dragon Quest
Platform(s)Super Famicom
Release
  • JP: September 19, 1993
Genre(s)Role-playing video game, roguelike
Mode(s)Single-player

Taloon's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon[lower-alpha 1] is part of the larger Mystery Dungeon franchise, featuring Torneko, the merchant from Dragon Quest IV, and his adventures around the Mystery Dungeon in search of items.

Taloon's Great Adventure is the first spin-off game in the Dragon Quest franchise. After failed attempts on creating a roguelike game in a home console, such as Sega's Fatal Labyrinth and Dragon Crystal,[1] the game was a success with over 800,000 copies sold,[2] which led to Chunsoft turning it into a franchise and worked on both the game's indirect sequel and the company's original series, Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer, in 1995.[3][4]

Gameplay

During the higher levels of the game, monsters tend to chase the player in multiple numbers.

The gameplay is similar to roguelike-style PC games. The main similarity is the heavy use of randomized dungeons and effects. The main character of the game is Torneko, originally localized as Taloon in North America, a merchant and playable character from Dragon Quest IV.[5] The player continues his story from Dragon Quest IV, where he wishes to make his store famous and ventures into mystery dungeons to retrieve items to stock in his store.

While Torneko explores the dungeons, he collects items and fights monsters, similar to ones found in Dragon Quest games. If he leaves the dungeon, he can sell off the items he found. He can also equip certain items. By saving up money, he can improve his home and shop.

Story

Torneko, a weapon merchant for hire, lives in Lakanaba with his wife, Tessie, and son, Tipper. He has one dream: to own his own shop and make it the greatest one. As such, he sets out on a journey, searching for an iron safe and works on other various jobs, and finally opens a store thanks to the help of his wife. Soon after, Torneko hears a rumor that there is an amazing treasure in a mysterious dungeon that no one has ever seen. However, he is worried about the store and his family. Tessie understands him and decides to go alongside him to the "Mystery Dungeon". The family travel across oceans and mountains for years before finally arriving near the dungeon. He sets up store near a single large tree in a new village near it.

Torneko tries to get permission from the King of the land to explore the dungeon, but he refuses to budge, saying it is too dangerous. However, he does not back down, and the King promises to give him permission only if he can retrieve the jewel box from the "Small Mystery Dungeon". Torneko brings back the King's jewelry box and gets permission to explore the "Mystery Dungeon". After successfully obtaining the permission, he ventures into the dungeon, gradually expanding his store with the income he earns from selling the items he brings back from his repeated adventures. Finally, he succeeds in bringing back the "Box of Happiness"; a rumored treasure hidden in the dungeon's innermost depths. When he opens the box, a small melody begins to play, which reveals it functions as a music box. The box, placed in Torneko's house, then plays a beautiful music which makes everyone near the store, including his family happy. Thus, Torneko's goal of obtaining the treasure in the "Mystery Dungeon" was realized. While the story concludes here, he continues to explore a new "More Mysterious Dungeon".

While it is unknown how many years went by between the events of Dragon Quest IV and this game, there is a continuing linear story thereafter; Torneko happens half a year later, and Dragon Quest Characters seven years later.[6]

Development

Taloon's Great Adventure was developed by Chunsoft, the developers for the first five Dragon Quest games.[7] It was the first game in the Mystery Dungeon series of roguelike games, of which over thirty have been produced, including five Dragon Quest spin-offs. Letting players explore a familiar setting was part of lowering the difficulty and trying to broaden the appeal of the genre.[8]

After the launch of the Super Famicom and finishing development for Dragon Quest V in 1992, Chunsoft ceased working on the Dragon Quest series and began working on other genres, now known as the Sound Novel and Mystery Dungeon series.[9][3] The series was based on the 1980's game Rogue, which has spawned its own genre called roguelike.[9] For a week, Koichi Nakamura, founder of Chunsoft and co-creator of the Dragon Quest series, played Rogue at the recommendation of a colleague, Seiichiro Nagahata, trying to understand the game's appeal, and concluded the high degree of challenge made the game rewarding. Tasked with creating one of the first "rogue-like" games for the Super Famicom, a home console, instead of a computer, the team decided to use characters from a recognizable franchise in Japan. Nakamura initially asked Yuji Horii, scenarist and creator of the Dragon Quest series, for permission to use the Dragon Quest games as the template,[8] including Torneko, the merchant from Dragon Quest IV, on which he was given permission soon after.[3][9] Unlike today's game software development, as soon as Nakamura expressed his desire to work on this project, he started brainstorming without going through the approval process or budget, which resulted in an unclear work division. When he explained the system introduced in Rogue, which was used as a reference prior to development, there was a considerable resistance from employees around him; as he talked about it, other staff members gradually left in disagreeing with this idea.[10]

One major change from the normal Dragon Quest game was the replacement of the hero, who normally had a grand mission to save the world, with the kind of person who would go hunting for treasure in dungeons.[8] For this reason, Nakamura chose Torneko, the well-loved shopkeeper from Dragon Quest IV, imagining that he was exploring for items to put in his shop.[8] The "permadeath" feature, seen in most roguelike games where the game starts over if the player character dies, was adjusted so the player does not start from scratch and has a chance to return to the last dungeon he fainted at.[8] A hunger system was added in the game so the player has to pay attention to the adventure through the dungeon, as if it is empty, Torneko's HP decreases on each turns.[11] Furthermore, an earthquake was also added in dungeons, as acting against players who would stall and farm in one floor, by forcefully drop Torneko to the next floor once the player reaches the maximum amount of turns.[11] Finally, music and sound effects were introduced in this game, which was not common in the roguelike genre at the time. Most of the tweaks given in this roguelike game were later reused for future Mystery Dungeon games, with further adjustments for each of them.

It was published in 1993 and became the first video game to bear the "Mystery Dungeon" moniker.[12] Nakamura conceived the series as Chunsoft's first original work.[9] A PAL prototype originating from Germany was unearthed, proving that it was far in development. Its owner got it while working at Nintendo of Europe, in Germany.[13] The same prototype was later put on sale on eBay in 2022, including in-game screenshots and an official translation named Taloon's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon.

Music

As with other games in the Dragon Quest series, the musical score for the game was written by Koichi Sugiyama. Sony Records released the soundtrack, titled Suite Torneko's Great Adventure: Musical Chemistry, on October 21, 1993 in Japan. It contains eight arranged tracks performed by a chamber orchestra, as well as three tracks containing original game music. The album was reprinted on October 7, 2009.[5] Two pieces of music from the game were performed by the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra at the Game Music Concert 3, the year of the game's release.[14]

Release

The game was promoted with an exceptionally high-budget television commercial. It had a running time of 30 seconds (unusually long for Japanese commercials of the time) and consisted almost entirely of claymation footage filmed to run at 24 frames per second.[15] Taloon's Great Adventure was released on September 19, 1993, exclusively in Japan, with a catchphrase that will be re-used throughout the series; "The RPG that can be played 1000 times".[16]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Famitsu32/40[17]
PlayStation Magazine (JP)22.7/30[18]

In November 1993, Famitsu magazine's Reader Cross Review gave the game a 8 out of 10 and it earned the Gold Hall of Fame.[17] It won the Grand Prize at the 1993 Japan Software Awards. In 2006, the game was voted number 78 by the readers of Famitsu magazine in its top 100 games of all time.[19] Although it has sold less than the Dragon Quest's mainline titles, the success behind its sales is due to its crossover with the latter, which is a cultural phenomenon in Japan. Eventually, the game reached over 800,000 copies sold in its lifetime.[2][3]

The game spawned two sequels starring Torneko, Torneko: The Last Hope in 1999 and Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3 in 2002, and a follow-up, Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon in 2006, where Torneko would appear as a cameo instead of the protagonist. And indeed, the game became the first of the over thirty Mystery Dungeon rogue-like series.[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon (トルネコの大冒険 不思議のダンジョン, Toruneko no Daibōken Fushigi no Danjon; lit. Torneko's Great Adventure: Mystery Dungeon)

References

  1. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (January 17, 2019). "Roguelikes: How a Niche PC RPG Genre Went Mainstream". USGamer. https://www.usgamer.net/articles/making-dragon-quest-of-roguelikes-how-niche-pc-rpg-genre-mainstream. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "【シリーズ実績】ドラゴンクエスト（本編・スピンオフ・番外編ほか）" (in ja). gameyam.com. February 7, 2013. http://gameyam.com/シリーズ実績/【シリーズ実績】ドラゴンクエスト（本編・スピ/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "すべては『ドアドア』から始まった――チュンソフト30周年のすべてを中村光一氏と振り返るロングインタビュー【前編】" (in ja). Famitsu. June 8, 2014. https://www.famitsu.com/news/201406/08054671.html. 
  4. ↑ カワチ (December 1, 2020). "『不思議のダンジョン2 風来のシレン』発売25周年。『トルネコの大冒険』から進化したシステムや一新された和風の世界観が人気に【今日は何の日？】" (in ja). Famitsu. https://www.famitsu.com/news/202012/01210384.html. Retrieved January 16, 2023. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gann, Patrick. "RPGFan Soundtracks - Suite Torneko's Great Adventure ~Musical Chemistry~". RPGFan.com. http://www.rpgfan.com/soundtracks/dq-torneko/index.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  6. ↑ "トルネコの大冒険3 不思議のダンジョン" (in ja). Spike Chunsoft. https://www.spike-chunsoft.co.jp/games/torneco3/story01.html. 
  7. ↑ Matthew Williamson (2006). "Fushigi no Dungeon 2". http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2006/05/column_parallax_memories_fushi.php. Retrieved September 2, 2007. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Parish, Jeremy (January 17, 2019). "Roguelikes: How a Niche PC RPG Genre Went Mainstream". US Gamer. https://www.usgamer.net/articles/making-dragon-quest-of-roguelikes-how-niche-pc-rpg-genre-mainstream. Retrieved April 19, 2020. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Parish, Jeremy (August 6, 2012). "Koichi Nakamura Interview: On the Birth of the Console RPG". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/features/koichi-nakamura-interview-console-rpg. 
  10. ↑ 電ファミニコゲーマー編集部 (March 2019). 電ファミニコゲーマー編集部. ed (in ja). ゲームの企画書 1 どんな子供でも遊べなければならない. KADOKAWA. p. 165. ISBN 9784040822761. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 カワチ (September 19, 2022). "トルネコの大冒険 不思議のダンジョン』がスーパーファミコンで発売された日。ローグライクを日本に広めた1000回遊べるRPG【今日は何の日？】" (in ja). Famitsu. https://www.famitsu.com/news/202209/19275680.html. Retrieved January 16, 2023. 
  12. ↑ "「不思議のダンジョン」の絶妙なゲームバランスは、たった一枚のエクセルから生み出されている！？ スパイク・チュンソフト中村光一氏と長畑成一郎氏が語るゲームの「編集」" (in ja). denfaminicogamer. March 7, 2016. https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/dungeon. 
  13. ↑ "Taloon's Mystery Dungeon". Snes Central. https://snescentral.com/article.php?id=0154. Retrieved January 5, 2023. 
  14. ↑ "Orchestral Game Concert 3 : Soundtrack Central". SoundtrackCentral.com. http://www.soundtrackcentral.com/cds/orchestralgameconcert3.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-25. 
  15. ↑ "International Outlook". Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM Media, LLC) (53): 94. December 1993. 
  16. ↑ 株式会社QBQ, ed (2016) (in ja). 懐かしスーパーファミコンパーフェクトガイド. Magazine Box. p. 85. ISBN 9784866400082. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 読者 クロスレビュー: トルネコの大冒険 ~不思議のダンジョン~. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.257. Pg.40. 12–19 November 1993.
  18. ↑ (in ja) 超絶 大技林 '98年春版: スーパーファミコン - トルネコの大冒険 不思議のダンジョン (Special). 42. Tokuma Shoten Intermedia. April 15, 1998. p. 344. ASIN B00J16900U. 
  19. ↑ Edge staff (March 3, 2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Edge-Online.com. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/japan-votes-all-time-top-100?page=0%252C1. Retrieved 2008-12-13. 
  20. ↑ Fahey, Mike (July 26, 2016). "Shiren The Wanderer is a Mystery Dungeon Game Without Pokémon or Chocobos, That's All". Kotaku UK. https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/07/26/shiren-the-wanderer-is-a-mystery-dungeon-game-without-pokemon-or-chocobos-thats-all. Retrieved April 22, 2020. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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