Source · Primary · manual

Dragon Warrior II NES instruction booklet (North America)

Corporation, Enix America. 1990. “Dragon Warrior II NES instruction booklet (North America).” Enix America Corporation.

Cite as
Dragon Warrior II NES manual
Original
https://archive.org/details/DragonWarriorIINESHiResScans
sha256
d91e1d0518e19b107e5d81506757e87675d810916d70dc75eddc52a59fb371a1
Archived
https://archive.org/download/DragonWarriorIINESHiResScans/Dragon%20Warrior%20II%20-%20Manual_djvu.txt
Accessed
2026-10-23
Licence
© 1990 Enix America Corporation; licensed by Nintendo; scan hosted by the Internet Archive
Credit
Enix America Corporation; scan in the Internet Archive item "DragonWarriorIINESHiResScans".
Notes
The booklet packed with the North American NES release, © 1990 Enix America Corporation. The pinned copy is the item's OCR text; page numbers here are the printed ones, which the OCR puts at the foot of each page. The story on pp. 5-6 names Princess Gwaelin's three children and Hargon's attack on Moonbrooke; p. 9 explains saving by visiting a king; p. 16 introduces groups of enemies; p. 19 says three characters are in the adventure; p. 23 says the world is more than four times larger than Alefgard and has six castles; p. 44 describes the three characters; p. 39 lists Defeat. The item's metadata gives the date as 1990-09.

Cited on

Claims (7)

The North American manual is copyright 1990 Enix America Corporation, and the game is licensed by Nintendo.p. 1, noticesp. 1, noticesManual
In the North American manual's story, Princess Gwaelin, who came to the land with Erdrick's descendant after the Dragonlord's defeat, had three children who ruled three kingdoms for a hundred years, until Hargon the Sorcerer attacked Moonbrooke Castle; the player is the heir of the King of Midenhall.pp. 5-6, The Story of Dragon Warriorpp. 5-6, The Story of Dragon Warriorpp. 5-6, The Story of Dragon WarriorManual
The North American manual's player is the Prince of Midenhall, a fighter who can use every weapon and armor but no spells; the Princess of Moonbrooke is weak in combat but strong in magic, and the Prince of Cannock has some of both; all three descend from Erdrick.p. 19, Charactersp. 44, Understanding the Charactersp. 44, Understanding the Charactersp. 44, Understanding the Charactersp. 44, Understanding the CharactersManual
The North American manual says enemies attack in groups, and the player chooses which to attack first and whether each hero fights, casts a spell, or parries.p. 16, Using Commands in the Fighting Modep. 45, Study Your Enemies!Manual
Both manuals say the world is more than four times larger than the first game's and holds six castles, and the North American one says a ship reaches the sea but not the shallows.p. 23, Travel the Worldp. 23, Geographical Featurespp. 23-24, Geographical FeaturesManual
The Famicom manual has the player write down the "revival spell", a password a king gives at one of several castles, and calls the adventure far longer and harder than the first game's; the North American manual saves the game when the player visits a king, and asks that reset be held while the power is switched off.p. 9, Saving the Gamep. 9, Saving the GameManual
Nakamura said in 2014 that he still wonders how players got through so hard a game, answered the interviewer's remark that the Rondarkia area was severe by calling the spell Zaraki "a demon", and credited the difficulty, talked about among players, with spreading the game. Both manuals describe Zaraki, Defeat in North America, as a spell of death cast on one group.p. 39, spellsInterview