Suisho no Dragon
Encyclopedia
is an adventure game
for the Family Computer Disk System released by Square Co.
(current Square Enix
) in 1986.
-like setting, where the teenage main character must investigate a series of kidnappings and the mysterious dragon that suddenly appeared in outer space.
Many of the game's scenes involve animation
, which was a specialty of Square Co. at the time, and Suishō no Dragon features a variety of anime
drawings, particularly those of girls. Anime artist Gen Sato served as the character designer and illustrator on the staff, and Nippon Sunrise (current Sunrise Inc.
) contributed to the animated parts of the game.
The game's interface was also innovative, resembling that of a point-and-click
graphic adventure interface for a console. The game made use of visual icons rather than text-based ones to represent various actions, and it featured a cursor that could be moved around the screen using the D-pad
to click on the icons and examine parts of the scenery.
. The magazine explained that it was possible to start a game of using a cheat, though this is not actually possible in the game. An altered screenshot showing the heroine losing her clothes was included alongside the article. This was not done to fool readers, but to test whether the magazine's content was being copied by other game magazines. This fake scene developed popularity on its own, and many users were made aware of this scene even if they had never played the game before. This phenomenon is described in Kouta Hirano
's gag manga, , which was serialized in the Famitsu
game magazine. A flash movie simulating this fake scene has been released on the internet.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
for the Family Computer Disk System released by Square Co.
Square Co.
was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became part of Square Enix...
(current Square Enix
Square Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
) in 1986.
Gameplay
Square Co. released the game under the name DOG (Disk Original Group), and the game plays as a command-style adventure game. The game is set in a science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
-like setting, where the teenage main character must investigate a series of kidnappings and the mysterious dragon that suddenly appeared in outer space.
Many of the game's scenes involve animation
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
, which was a specialty of Square Co. at the time, and Suishō no Dragon features a variety of anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
drawings, particularly those of girls. Anime artist Gen Sato served as the character designer and illustrator on the staff, and Nippon Sunrise (current Sunrise Inc.
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
) contributed to the animated parts of the game.
The game's interface was also innovative, resembling that of a point-and-click
Point-and-click
Point-and-click is the action of a computer user moving a cursor to a certain location on a screen and then pressing a mouse button, usually the left button , or other pointing device...
graphic adventure interface for a console. The game made use of visual icons rather than text-based ones to represent various actions, and it featured a cursor that could be moved around the screen using the D-pad
D-pad
A D-pad is a flat, usually thumb-operated directional control with one button on each point, found on nearly all modern video game console gamepads, game controllers, on the remote control units of some television and DVD players, and smart phones...
to click on the icons and examine parts of the scenery.
Fake scene
The most iconic scene in the game is the frame where one of the heroines, Cynthia, is depicted standing with her arms spread outwards. This drawing inspired a famous fake game scene created by Family Computer Magazine (Famimaga); a prominent video game magazine published by Tokuma ShotenTokuma Shoten
is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...
. The magazine explained that it was possible to start a game of using a cheat, though this is not actually possible in the game. An altered screenshot showing the heroine losing her clothes was included alongside the article. This was not done to fool readers, but to test whether the magazine's content was being copied by other game magazines. This fake scene developed popularity on its own, and many users were made aware of this scene even if they had never played the game before. This phenomenon is described in Kouta Hirano
Kouta Hirano
is a Japanese manga artist born in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan, most famous for his manga Hellsing.- History :Starting his career first as a manga artist's assistant , and later an H manga artist, he went on to enjoy somewhat limited success with other relatively unknown manga titles such as Angel Dust,...
's gag manga, , which was serialized in the Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
game magazine. A flash movie simulating this fake scene has been released on the internet.