Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu

Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu is a FDS game.  It’s got surprisingly catchy music and came out in 1988.  It’s a pretty basic action RPG.  One button shoots arrows, the other uses your tiny sword.

Fighting on the world map looks a lot like Zelda's combat.

To progress in the game, you need to get into various dungeons and explore a Zelda like maze full of monsters.  Unfortunately, between the language barrier and the difficulty curve, it’s a bit difficult for my taste.

A dungeon area.

One interesting thing about the game is the towns.  They’re drawn at an extreme angle that makes  an attempt to make 3D style rooms.  Considering the era of the game, the loading times between houses and walking around isn’t that bad at all, and there’s a nifty feature using the saving abilities of the FDS system.

The guy in purple saves your game.

You see, every time you save your game, it flips from day to night.  As you progress in the game, dungeons can only be unlocked during the more difficult night stages.

The same room, but at night.

The only other thing of note about the game is the poisoned wells.  Later in the game you can get something to purify them, but if you step on them prior to that point, your hero loses about half his health.  Apparently he’s very clumsy or they’re coated in a toxic miasma.