Original Release: Capcom, 1992, Arcade
Other Releases: PSP (in Capcom Classics Collection Remixed – 2006), PS2 / Xbox (in Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 – 2006)
This oddball title blends a quiz game, a board game and even some light RPG elements.
Quiz & Dragons (Arcade, Capcom, 1992)
Where to Buy: KLOV, eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Page
Review by: C. M0use
The whole premise of Quiz and Dragons is pretty lulzy – wizards and warriors on a quest to save the kingdom from an evil monster army that eats people if they answer trivia questions wrong – but unfortunately that by itself isn’t enough to sustain the game.
We begin by choosing from the Fighter, Valkyrie, Wizard and Ninja. Two players can play simultaneously, and this gives you twice the chance of getting a question right. Each character type additionally gets a special bonus. I guess Capcom figured most gamers would go straight for the cleavage-flashing Valkyrie, so she gets the best bonus; there’s a random chance that each battle will be reduced from four possible answers to each question to three or even only two. The Ninja is not to be overlooked, as he can randomly deal “double damage” on a correct answer (reducing the overall # of right answers needed to win each battle), as well as the Wizard who sometimes gets to choose the category of questions (which can be very useful as you will soon learn.) Hell if I remember what the Fighter does, nobody ever uses that meathead.
The game is made up of a series of maps that resemble a board game. A die is rolled at the beginning of each turn, and you move the number of spaces it comes up with. This usually sends you into a battle with a monster, but you can also land on an Inn (which restores your health) or an Elf (who bestows a random item on you that acts as a bonus in the next battle.) Strangely, the Elf and the Innkeeper also challenge you to battles for their services, and will happily kill you off if you fail to answer their questions.
The thing about the questions is that, from what I’ve seen, maybe 30% are factual/history-based (or knowledge that is actually useful), but the other 70% are pop culture trivia from the 1970s to the early 1990s. And it isn’t common stuff; I mean, a lot of these questions are about actors in incredibly obscure TV shows that you’ve never heard of, or the kinds of movies that no one ever even bothered to port to DVD because they were such forgettable bombs. I assume the intention here was to make sure plenty of quarters get sucked out of your pocket, but they could have done that in a more enriching way. I don’t feel bad that I can’t answer more than half the questions the game throws at me; I just feel mad at the game for asking such stupid, useless questions.
I think the game would be more fun if the questions revolved less around inane pop culture obscurities, but the fact that there’s absolutely no reward for slogging your way through all these repetitive battles but a text box of some dragon saying “Wow you’re strong!” also contributes. After a couple of worlds, the game just becomes incredibly tedious and feels like a major time/money drain. The latter isn’t such a problem since I never even saw the machine in 1992 when it was new, much less now, so you’ll almost assuredly be playing at home. The former is the big trouble with it. Maybe worth just one look for a laugh, though.
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