An excellent remake of an already excellent game.
NOTE: This review was written by me over 10 years ago. I managed to dig it up from the void, and now I'm sharing it with the world!
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Like Dragon Warrior I & II before it, Dragon Warrior III for the Game Boy Color is a remake of the NES version. Let me tell you, what a remake. DWIII is so good, you wouldn't be making a bad purchase even if you've already played the NES version. There's just so much to the remake; the differences are more than aesthetic. DWIII is the last--or rather, the beginning--of the "Loto" (aka Erdrick) legend; DW I & II are actually the sequels, and continue the legend of Loto.
Before I get to all of the changes/additions, let's get the premise out of the way: the heroic Ortega sets out on a quest to defeat the evil Baramos, leaving behind his wife and newborn son/daughter (that's you...you can select your gender). Ortega gets pretty far in his quest; he almost reaches Baramos, but unfortunately met with an untimely death during a battle on a volcano (that's what happens when you travel solo). Years later, Ortega's son/daughter is all grown up, and he/she decides to finish what Ortega began--kill the dirty bastard Baramos, and restore peace to the world. Unlike your brave-but-not-so-bright father, you take three companions with you, and set out on your quest. Ortega's journey is presented through scripted events, including a cinematic battle at the volcano where Ortega meets his fate--pretty impressive for a GBC game.
If you've played the NES DWIII, you know that the first thing you do is visit the King and prepare for the quest--not so in the GBC game. At the very beginning, you are whisked away to some kind of wacky dream sequence, where you have to determine your "personality" (new to DWIII). A mysterious voice asks you a series of questions, and then you are warped to an unknown place, and faced with a situation pending your answers. Upon clearing your situation, you're given a personality trait, which affects how your character grows, i.e. which stats are more likely to rise upon increasing your level. All of your companions have personality traits, and there now exist items and books that will change your personality when used.
The character classes from the NES DWIII are back, but with different names: Warrior, Fighter, Cleric, Mage, Dealer, Jester, Sage, and the Thief, which is new to the GBC version. The Warrior is the typical strength-based class; they can use most weapons and armor, but they have no magic abilities, and they're slow. The Fighter is a bare-handed brawler; they have tremendous strength ratings, they're quick, and they have a high rate of unleashing critical blows. Clerics are the healers; they're decent fighters, but their usefulness lies in their magic abilities (naturally). Mages are your typical magic-users; they have low strength and HP, but they have a wide range of spells and high MP. Jesters are useless; all they do is fool around during a battle. However, they're the only class who can change to a Sage without meeting certain conditions. The Thief is a welcome addition to DWIII; they have very useful abilities, so it'd be worth your while to recruit one eventually. The Sage is not accessible from the start, since it is a high-level class with powerful magic. The main character has a class exclusive to him/her: the Hero. The Hero has a balance between offensive/defensive magic, and he/she has good mix of offense and defense (all main characters are like that, aren't they?). You will eventually be able to change classes; you can't change into anything new (except the Sage), but the advantage of switching classes is that your characters keep whatever they learned in their current class. So, if you wanted to have a Warrior with Cleric abilities, you can do that. The catch, however, is that your character's stats are reduced by 1/2, and he/she begins at level 1. It's a small price to pay, but you can make some great combinations. The Hero can't change his/her class.
So far, the new features in DWIII are: the obligatory graphics upgrade, a streamlined menu, better walking speed, an additional class (Thief), personality traits for each character, and new scenes, such as the introductory scene (Ortega's journey). What's next? If you've played Dragon Warrior IV, then you'll be pleased to know that Tiny Medals have made their way into DWIII. There's a Medal Collector in Aliahan (the town you start in...search the well!) who will exchange your Medals for some cool items. There's another kind of medal you can collect, too--Monster Medals. Monster Medals can be acquired by defeating enemies in battle. Every single monster in the game carries a Monster Medal--including bosses, and those bastard Mimics who can kill your party in an instant. You can collect up to three types of Medals--bronze, silver, and gold. Monster Medals have a purpose, but you won't find that out until after you've completed the game...
Next up, we have battle animations. DWIII is the most beautifully animated GBC game I've ever seen. Each enemy's attack is packed with frame after frame of animation. Not only are the animations fun to watch, but they tell you what's coming; if you see a Stone Man stamping his feet instead of throwing a punch, watch out--he's going for a critical blow. Spell animations are great to look at, too.
Finally, we have the Pachisi Tracks, which are probably the best addition to DWIII. Pachisi is a board game where the playing piece is one of your characters. For one Token, you get a certain number of rolls with one die. Your task is to get to the "Goal," where you'll be rewarded with something cool. Of course, there are spaces on the board which are harmful (monster encounters, trap doors, etc.), but there are also spaces that are helpful, such as: permanent stat upgrades, items (often good ones), even stores and inns! There are several Pachisi tracks around the world--each one more complex and difficult than the last, but with greater rewards. Pachisi is addictive; whenever I found a Token, I would immediately abandon my quest and head straight for the tracks.
After you've completed DWIII, don't put it away just yet. If you continue the game with the file you finished the game with, there are some new subquests for you to complete. There aren't many RPGs that have new quests for you to do after beating the final boss, but DWIII is such a RPG. Needless to say, there's some good replay value here.
So, having said nothing but good things about DWIII, what's wrong with the game? Well, that depends on what you want in your RPGs. If you're looking for melodrama, there's very little...and what's there is kinda cheesy. If you want fleshed-out characters, then you probably aren't a Dragon Warrior fan...why are you reading this review? If you dislike the old 8-bit RPG conventions (constant levelling up, money-hunting), then stay away from DWIII. Luckily, I grew up playing 8-bit RPGs, so I'm used to old RPG conventions. Hey, DWIII could have been worse...it could've been Final Fantasy, where you found yourself fighting those Kyzoku guys trying to supply your party with Silver equipment (Silver Swords are a bitch to purchase). DWIII isn't that bad, fortunately; you actually get plenty of cash, thanks to the inclusion of tons of items which can be sold for high prices.
When it's all said and done, Dragon Warrior III is about the adventure, and not the soap-opera drama that are most of today's RPGs. If the quest is all you really want in your RPGs, then you can't go wrong with DWIII. The GBC version is ten times better than the NES version...there's enough here to warrant a second purchase, even if you already have the NES version. It's like a whole new game that happens to share the same name as its NES counterpart.