Family Computer Magazine of 6 June 1986 gives 27 May 1986 as Dragon Quest's scheduled Famicom release date in Japan, at 5,500 yen, and a footnote to Nintendo's 2009 Iwata Asks interview says it was released in May 1986. dragon-warrior-history/release-japan
MagazineFamily Computer Magazine, no. 13 (6 June 1986): New Release Calendar · p. 114, new-release calendar, May 1986 — ours: Dragon Quest, Enix, 27 May, 5,500 yen; the page's legend marks the date as the scheduled release date, in an issue dated 6 June 1986ドラゴンクエスト』エニックス 5月27日 5500円社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · footnote 1 — ours: released in May 1986１９８６年５月に発売されCited by: Dragon Warrior
Nintendo of America's list of NES games dates Dragon Warrior's North American release to August 1989, with Nintendo as licensee. dragon-warrior-history/release-north-america
PublisherdisputedNES Games (Nintendo of America release list) · PDF p. 8 — one row of the list's Title, Licensee, and Released columnsDragon Warrior Nintendo August 1989Disputed: Nintendo's 2009 Iwata Asks interview gives May 1989 in a footnote: 「日本版が登場して３年後の１９８９年５月に発売」 (ours: released in May 1989, three years after the Japanese version).
No source pinned here gives the day.
Cited by: Dragon Warrior
In the NES manual's story, the Dragonlord has stolen the balls of light from Tantegel Castle and plunged Alefgard into darkness, and the player is the descendant of the hero Erdrick, sent to find and defeat him. dragon-warrior-history/story
ManualDragon Warrior instruction booklet (NES, North America) · PDF pp. 3-4, The Story of Dragon Warrior — the manual spells the castle Tantagel here and Tantegel elsewherethe balls of light were stolen from Tantagel Castle by the evil DragonlordDragon Warrior instruction booklet (NES, North America) · PDF pp. 3-4, The Story of Dragon Warriora descendent of the valiant Erdrick shall come forth to defeat the Dragonlord.Dragon Warrior instruction booklet (NES, North America) · PDF pp. 3-4, The Story of Dragon WarriorYour quest is to find and to defeat the evil Dragonlord.Cited by: Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior III
Famicom Tsushin credited the scenario to Yuji Horii, the character design to Akira Toriyama, the music to Koichi Sugiyama, and the programming to Koichi Nakamura, with Enix as the company, and said the team took about a year to make it. dragon-warrior-history/staff
MagazineFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, credit block — ours: scenario, Yuji Horii; character design, Akira Toriyama; BGM, Koichi Sugiyama; programmer, Koichi Nakamura; Enix Corporation. The OCR garbles the block; read on the page image (archive.org item famitsu-0016, leaf n5)シナリオ／堀井雄二 キャラクターデザイン／鳥山明 BGM／すぎやまこういち プログラマー／中村光一 ●株式会社 エニックスFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, grand-prize text — ours: it was made over about a year約1年を費やしてつくられたCited by: Dragon Warrior
Yuji Horii said he had been hooked on Wizardry and Ultima but found them hard to get into, so he built Dragon Quest with devices to make an RPG's appeal easy to grasp, and packed the essence into a cartridge too small, he was told, to hold an RPG at all. dragon-warrior-history/horii-aim
Interview社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Horii『ウィザードリィ』（※8）とか『ウルティマ』（※9）とかにね。社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Horii — ours: the threshold was very high敷居がすごく高かったんです。社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Horii — ours: Dragon Quest is what I made, putting in all kinds of devicesいろんな仕掛けを入れてつくったのが『ドラクエ』なんですよ。社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Horii — ours: I was told it was absolutely impossible (to make an RPG on so small a cartridge)絶対にムリだと言われたんですね。Cited by: Dragon Warrior
In February 1987 Horii called Dragon Quest an orthodox command-based RPG with no action, said he had worried whether it would catch on, and called it an introduction made easy to understand, with Dragon Quest II far more full-fledged. dragon-warrior-history/horii-1987
MagazineFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, comment of Yuji Horii (scenario) — ours: Dragon Quest is an orthodox, command-based RPG with no action『ドラゴンクエスト』はアクション性のないコマンド方式の正統派RPG。Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, comment of Yuji Horii (scenario) — ours: I was very anxious (whether it would catch on on the Famicom)すごく不安だったのですがFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, comment of Yuji Horii (scenario) — ours: I was an introduction made above all to be easy to understand, but II is quite full-fledgedIは、とにかくわかりやすく作った入門編でしたが、IIはかなり本格的です。Cited by: Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior II
Famicom Tsushin's readers voted Dragon Quest the grand prize of its 1986 Best Hit Game Awards by a wide margin, first in their annual top 20 with 10,999 points against 5,964 for Gradius in second. dragon-warrior-history/famitsu-award
MagazineFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, introduction — ours: the strict tally of a popularity poll from the questionnaire postcards you readers sent読者のキミたちから送られてきたアンケートはがきによる人気投票の厳正なる集計結果であるFamicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 4, grand-prize text — ours: Dragon Quest took the grand prize, far ahead of the other games他のゲームに圧倒的な差をつけて、みごと大賞の座についたのがこの『ドラゴンクエスト』だ。Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 16, 6 February 1987: 1986 Best Hit Game Awards · p. 5, annual best 20 — Gradius (Konami) is second with 5,964; read on the page image (leaf n6)1 ドラゴンクエスト エニックス 10,999Cited by: Dragon Warrior
Nintendo Power's May/June 1989 issue introduced Dragon Warrior as the beginning of "a new and different direction for NES games", and said that in Japan it had launched three sequels and was unmatched in popularity. dragon-warrior-history/np-introduction
MagazineNintendo Power, issue 6 (May/June 1989) · p. 52It marks the beginning of a new and different direction for NES games.Nintendo Power, issue 6 (May/June 1989) · p. 52In Japan, this is the game that launched three sequels, and is unmatched in popularity.Cited by: Dragon Warrior
Satoru Iwata said that, while at HAL Laboratory, he localized Dragon Warrior for Nintendo, taking over the program from Koichi Nakamura, who was too busy with Dragon Quest III. dragon-warrior-history/iwata-localization
Interview社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Iwata — Iwata: 'that localization, I was in charge of it' (わたしが担当したんです)そのローカライズ、社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Iwata — ours: Nakamura was too busy to do the localization中村さんはローカライズができないほど忙しいと。社長が訊く『ドラゴンクエストIX 星空の守り人』 Vol.1: 20年以上も前の出会い (Iwata Asks: Dragon Quest IX, vol. 1) · section 1, Iwata — ours: (I,) who was at HAL LaboratoryＨＡＬ研究所にいたCited by: Dragon Warrior
Famitsu's issue of 17 December 1993 listed Enix's Super Famicom Dragon Quest I & II, the first two games on one cartridge with battery backup, for release in Japan on 18 December 1993; it called the pair the series' origin and said they kept the Famicom version's feel while being easier and more convenient to play. dragon-warrior-history/sfc-remake
MagazineWeekly Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 261, 17 December 1993 · p. 16, most-anticipated top 20 — ours: Super Famicom, backup cartridge, RPG, Enix, 9,600 yen, on sale 18 Decemberスーパーファミコン バックアップカートリッジ RPG エニックス 9600円 12月18日発売Weekly Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 261, 17 December 1993 · p. 180, Pick Up — ours: Dragon Quest I and II, the origin of the Dragon Quest series, newly appear as one game「ドラクエ」シリーズの原点ともいえる「ドラゴンクエストI」と「II」が1本のソフトになって新登場。Weekly Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 261, 17 December 1993 · p. 180, Pick Up — ours: without breaking the Famicom version's atmosphere, easier to playファミコン版の雰囲気を壊さずに、より遊びやすく、Weekly Famicom Tsushin (Famitsu) no. 261, 17 December 1993 · p. 180, Pick Up — ours: it has battery backupバッテリーバックアップ搭載だ。The p. 16 chart lists anticipated games; no source pinned here confirms the release itself. Page numbers are the scout's reading of the scan.
Cited by: Dragon Warrior, Dragon Warrior II