Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert

Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert[lower-alpha 1] is a roguelike role-playing video game developed by Chunsoft. It is part of the Mystery Dungeon series, and is a sequel to Shiren the Wanderer GB: Moonlight Village Monster. It was originally released for the Game Boy Color by Chunsoft in 2001. A Nintendo DS remake[lower-alpha 2] was released by Sega later in 2008.

Shiren the Wanderer GB2
Cover art for the Game Boy Color version
Developer(s)Chunsoft
Publisher(s)Chunsoft
Sega (DS)
Director(s)Seiichiro Nagahata
Programmer(s)Hidefumi Itano
Artist(s)Kaoru Hasegawa
Writer(s)Shin-ichiro Tomie
Composer(s)Hayato Matsuo
SeriesMystery Dungeon
Platform(s)Game Boy Color, Nintendo DS
ReleaseGame Boy Color
  • JP: July 19, 2001
Nintendo DS
  • JP: November 13, 2008
Genre(s)Roguelike, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Shiren the Wanderer GB2 is a roguelike, in which the player navigates through randomly generated dungeons, each filled with randomly placed enemy characters. Dungeons consist of larger box-like rooms, connected via narrow corridors. A map of the dungeon is automatically filled out as the player explores the area. While exploring dungeons, the player finds various items and weapons on the ground. Movement in the game is turn-based such that every time the player makes a move, the enemies move as well. If the player gets killed, they have to either restart the game from the beginning[1] or get help from another player, who can enter the same dungeon and try to rescue them. Rescuing can be accomplished via a code that the rescuing player types into their game, or via the use of a Game Link Cable.[2] In the Nintendo DS version of the game, players could rescue one another by connecting via the Internet.[3][4]

The game has one town that functions as a hub with shops and a place to rest. Teleport scrolls allow the player to teleport to town from dungeons and retain all their items, but their level is reset to 1 and they have to play through the dungeon from the beginning again the next time they enter it.[5]

Plot

The game starts in the middle of a journey, with Shiren and his companion Koppa traveling through an enormous desert, exhausted.[6] They collapse, after which guards take them to a desert fortress and chain them to a wall. A princess enters the dungeon and unshackles them, and Shiren escapes while being chased by the guards. He meets Pekeji,[5] who claims to be Shiren's younger brother,[7] and who shows him to a dungeon that he thinks houses treasures. They enter it at night, but Pekeji falls into a trap, and Shiren has to save him.[5]

Development and release

The game was developed by Chunsoft[8] and directed by Seiichirō Nagahata, with character designs by Kaoru Hasegawa, scenario and world design by Shin-ichiro Tomie, and with Hidefumi Itano being the lead programmer.[9] Due to the hardware limitations of the Game Boy Color, they focused on developing "traditional dungeon types", as opposed to with the simultaneously developed Shiren the Wanderer 2 on the Nintendo 64, for which they created more original features.[8]

The game was announced on September 27, 2000,[10] and was released by Chunsoft on July 19, 2001, for the Game Boy Color.[11] A remake of the game, Shiren the Wanderer DS2, was announced in 2008 for the Nintendo DS,[12] and was released on November 13, 2008, by Sega.[13] This version included online functions, such as leaderboards and item trading; Sega shut down the servers for these services on October 31, 2011.[3] To promote the game, Shiren the Wanderer GB2-themed potato chips were sold, with cards with illustrations based on the game bundled with the bags.[14]

Reception

Writers for Famitsu called Shiren the Wanderer DS2 a "beautifully done remake" and a masterpiece, and said that the difficulty felt well-balanced,[13] and gave the Game Boy Color version the highest score the publication had given to a game on that platform.[15]

Spencer at Siliconera noted that the game felt much more accessible than the first Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, but that the level-reset and having to restart dungeons after teleporting to the town, while an improvement, still was frustrating. He appreciated how the story and the multiple dungeons made progress feel more tangible than in the first Shiren the Wanderer, making it less of an "endless journey".[5] A feature he appreciated in the Nintendo DS version was the ability to change what is shown on the top screen without entering an options menu; he enjoyed being able to switch between a map screen and a text summary of what was happening in the dungeon.[1] Jeremy Parish at 1UP.com said that, just based on how it looks, one could not tell that Shiren the Wanderer DS2 originally was a Game Boy game, as the graphical overhaul made it look even better than Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer on the Nintendo DS. Based on a preview of the game, he said that there was "little doubt" that the game would be as good as the first Shiren the Wanderer, which he thought was a "top-notch dungeon crawler".[4]

Sales

According to Geimin, both versions of Shiren the Wanderer: Magic Castle of the Desert have accumulated over 275,000 copies in total. The Game Boy Color version has sold 172,578 copies by December 2001 and the Nintendo DS version has sold 103,299 copies by January 2010.[16][17]

Footnotes

Notes
  1. Known in Japan as Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren GB2: Sabaku no Majō (Japanese: 不思議のダンジョン 風来 (ふうらい)のシレンGB2 〜砂 (さ)漠 (ばく)の魔 (ま)城 (じょう)〜, Hepburn: Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren GB2 Sabaku no Majō, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer GB2: Magic Castle of the Desert).
  2. Shiren the Wanderer DS2: Magic Castle of the Desert, known in Japan as Fushigi no Dungeon: Fūrai no Shiren DS2: Sabaku no Majō (Japanese: 不思議のダンジョン 風来 (ふうらい)のシレンDS2 〜砂 (さ)漠 (ばく)の魔 (ま)城 (じょう)〜, Hepburn: Fushigi no Danjon Fūrai no Shiren DS2 Sabaku no Majō, lit. Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer DS2: Magic Castle of the Desert).

References
  1. Spencer (2008-10-14). "Hands-On Shiren DS 2… Is It Easier Than The First DS Remake?". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  2. "風来救助隊とは！". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  3. Spencer (2011-07-27). "Sega Shutting Down Shiren The Wanderer DS & Wii Servers In Japan". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  4. Parish, Jeremy (2008-10-09). "Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer 2 Preview". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
  5. Spencer (2008-12-08). "Shiren DS 2 Starts With A Dungeon Escape". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-10-28. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  6. "「風来のシレンGB2」の続報を入手！" (in Japanese). ITmedia. 2000-09-29. Archived from the original on 2005-05-26. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  7. "砂漠にそびえる魔城に挑む 『不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレンDS2 ～砂漠の魔城～』". Famitsu (in Japanese). 2008-06-08. Archived from the original on 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  8. Lee, WooJin (1999-10-04). "Interview with Chunsoft Over Development of New N64 Action RPG!". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  9. "シレンGB2制作スタッフからの激励のお言葉". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  10. "「風来のシレン」がゲームボーイに帰ってくる！" (in Japanese). ITmedia. 2000-09-27. Archived from the original on 2005-05-26. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  11. "不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレンGB2 〜砂漠の魔城〜 まとめ (ゲームボーイ)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  12. Fletcher, JC (2008-06-04). "Shiren the Wanderer DS 2 no longer a mystery". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  13. "不思議のダンジョン 風来のシレンDS2 〜砂漠の魔城〜 まとめ (DS)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2015-06-12. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  14. "「風来のシレンGB2」チップス第2弾絶賛発売中！" (in Japanese). ITmedia. 2001-09-11. Archived from the original on 2004-04-23. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  15. "【GBC20周年企画(1)】覚えてる？ ゲームボーイカラーのトリビア20連発！(2/2)". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. 2018-10-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
  16. "2001年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP300". Geimin.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  17. "2009年テレビゲームソフト売り上げTOP1000（メディアクリエイト版）". Geimin.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
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