As I had planned, shortly before Christmas I was ready to finish my dialog comparison and remake playthroughs. I finished the Famicom version using an old password, and copied my NES game file and purchased equipment on the copy to see the ending on each of them. Then I proceeded to finish the game on each of the remake versions.
There's some differences between versions that I wanted to take note of.
There's some differences between versions that I wanted to take note of.
The remakes have changed up Hargon's temple a bit, at least while it appears as Midenhall/Lorasia castle. In the original versions, it was identical to the original castle except you couldn't go through the travel door or up or down stairs. The denizens of the castle would speak to you as though you were just starting your journey. In the remake versions, the dialog of each citizen has changed. The people of the castle have apparently learned the error of their ways and have discovered that Hargon is a benevolent ruler, and that the quest to defeat him was a mistake. You can now go into the dungeon or the king's chamber, where the king himself, surrounded by bunny girls, will attempt to dissuade you from your quest. (Of course, you still can't go into the travel door).
After using the Charm/Eye of Rubiss, it's mostly the same from there on out. The floor where Belial/Zarlox dwells has changed slightly, to remove anything not directly between the two staircases, but things are mostly the same. I have a bit of an inkling that they increased the encounter rate for the Metal Babbles, or Liquid Metal Slimes, but it could be in my imagination.
One thing about the NES version really gets under my skin, ever since I played the original Japanese and saw the contrast. In the original Japanese, the entrance to the higher floors was marked by a large cross shape on the floor. This suggests to the player that the location has religious significance to Hargon's cult, which in turn suggests that you use an item in your inventory that also has religious significance to said cult--known as the Evil Statue on the Game Boy Color version or the False Idol on the smartphone version. As a form of censorship, the cross was modified in the NES version to something meaningless, and the name of the item was also changed to something religiously insignificant: the Eye of Malroth. This censorship effectively eliminates any hint at all for how the player is supposed to get to the higher floors.
While I'm sure most players were still able to figure this out without too much trouble, since it makes sense to use an item and there aren't too many to choose from, it bothers me that in this case, it is clear that to the localizers censorship was more important than the player's ability to figure out how to complete the game. Now that I know how it appeared in the original version, as well as each of the remakes, the NES version is a bit jarring to me right here. It's also worth noting that the change in the floor pattern adds an extra damaging floor tile out of sequence with the others, meaning you have to cast Stepguard one extra time, or else take extra damage on the NES version.
While I'm sure most players were still able to figure this out without too much trouble, since it makes sense to use an item and there aren't too many to choose from, it bothers me that in this case, it is clear that to the localizers censorship was more important than the player's ability to figure out how to complete the game. Now that I know how it appeared in the original version, as well as each of the remakes, the NES version is a bit jarring to me right here. It's also worth noting that the change in the floor pattern adds an extra damaging floor tile out of sequence with the others, meaning you have to cast Stepguard one extra time, or else take extra damage on the NES version.
Incidentally, in the remakes, Stepguard or Safe Passage will not cancel as long as one character is still on a damaging tile, even if your lead character has stepped off of one. This means one casting will get you through all of the barrier tiles on this floor in the remakes. But in the original versions, you had to keep casting it each time you went through a door or stepped between sections.
They made some significant changes in regards to the spell Revive/Kazing that make the final areas much less aggravating in the remakes. The first and maybe most significant is that they added it to the Princess's spell list. In the remakes, she learns this instead of Stepguard/Safe Passage, which is now a Prince only spell. In the originals, it was very inconvenient that the person with the Revive/Kazing spell was the same person who had the Return/Zoom spell. If he died, it was a long and dangerous trek back to the shrine to revive him. (This was further complicated by the fact that he usually died the most; since I never used the trick for two Water Flying Cloths and always gave mine to the Princess, he had the worst armor with no breath protection.)
The other changes to the spell bring it in line with its use in the rest of the series: it can be used in battle, and it restores the user to full health (as opposed to 1 HP in the originals). It's a little unfair that you couldn't cast it in battle in the originals, even though enemies who had it could do so.
They also clearly tweaked the levels at which you learn spells; Open/Click is the last spell you learn in the remakes for the Princess.
The ending to the games is similar, but in the remakes you see a nice firework display over Lorasia/Midenhall castle playing to the Dragon Quest March. There is also a brief recap of major portions of the game during the end credits, which is animated in the Super Famicom version, shows stills in the Game Boy Color version, and is absent in the smartphone version.
This is not an exhaustive list of differences, but they are the ones that remain closest to the surface of my brain after finishing the remake versions.
They made some significant changes in regards to the spell Revive/Kazing that make the final areas much less aggravating in the remakes. The first and maybe most significant is that they added it to the Princess's spell list. In the remakes, she learns this instead of Stepguard/Safe Passage, which is now a Prince only spell. In the originals, it was very inconvenient that the person with the Revive/Kazing spell was the same person who had the Return/Zoom spell. If he died, it was a long and dangerous trek back to the shrine to revive him. (This was further complicated by the fact that he usually died the most; since I never used the trick for two Water Flying Cloths and always gave mine to the Princess, he had the worst armor with no breath protection.)
The other changes to the spell bring it in line with its use in the rest of the series: it can be used in battle, and it restores the user to full health (as opposed to 1 HP in the originals). It's a little unfair that you couldn't cast it in battle in the originals, even though enemies who had it could do so.
They also clearly tweaked the levels at which you learn spells; Open/Click is the last spell you learn in the remakes for the Princess.
The ending to the games is similar, but in the remakes you see a nice firework display over Lorasia/Midenhall castle playing to the Dragon Quest March. There is also a brief recap of major portions of the game during the end credits, which is animated in the Super Famicom version, shows stills in the Game Boy Color version, and is absent in the smartphone version.
This is not an exhaustive list of differences, but they are the ones that remain closest to the surface of my brain after finishing the remake versions.
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