Last updated: 07/01/2006 by Ryan Winterhalter

The Dragon Quest Monsters series is the handheld counterpart to the long running Dragon Quest series. Players are tasked with raising a corral of monsters and fighting with them ala Pokemon. The original Dragon Quest Monsters was released in late 1999 for the Game Boy Color under the series’ old name, Dragon Warrior Monsters. Two versions of Dragon Quest Monsters 2 were released for the Game Boy Color in 2001, but a GBA sequel never made it to American shores. Recently, Square-Enix revealed a new entry to the series for the Nintendo DS, Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.

The story revolves around a young prince who uses his “Scout Ring” to capture monsters. The Prince is depicted in most of the screen shots released so far. Little else is known about the story.

While details on gameplay are sparse, it is known that the game will make use of the DS’s WiFi capabilities. Players will be able to upload their monster date and compete in “Joker’s GP” mode; there will even be national tournaments in Japan, although specific details are not yet known.

Joker’s graphics are quite impressive. Both the world and the battles are fully rendered in 3D. The game follows in the footsteps of Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2, using a similar cel-shaded art style.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is scheduled for release in Japan sometime later this year, with no details on a stateside release available.