is a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing game, role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedural generation, procedurally generated level (video gaming), levels, Turns, rounds and time- ...

dungeon crawl A dungeon crawl is a type of scenario in fantasy role-playing games in which heroes navigate a labyrinth environment (a " dungeon"), battling various monsters, avoiding traps, solving puzzles, and looting any treasure they may find. Video games ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed and published by

Square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

. A

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gove ...

of the ''

Final Fantasy is a Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science fantasy role-playing video games. The ...

'' series of role-playing video games, it was also the first entry in what would become the ''

Chocobo The is a fictional species created for the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise by Square Enix (originally Square). A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in '' Final Fantasy II'' (1988), and have since featured in ...

'' series. It saw a Japan-only release on December 23, 1997, for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...

, and a version was released on March 4, 1999, for

WonderSwan The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released ...

. The game was re-released in 2010 on

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smar ...

in Japan as a PSOne Classic. The game's protagonist is a yellow

chocobo The is a fictional species created for the ''Final Fantasy'' franchise by Square Enix (originally Square). A galliform bird commonly having yellow feathers, they were first introduced in '' Final Fantasy II'' (1988), and have since featured in ...

, a fictional species of bird in the ''Final Fantasy'' universe, named . The player must fight through procedurally generated dungeons, picking up items and battling enemies.

Gameplay

''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon'' combines real-time combat with an Active-Time Battle (ATB) system reminiscent of a ''Final Fantasy'' game. Attacks have reduced power and accuracy if made before the ATB gauge fills up. The game consists of three dungeons: a 10-level dungeon, a 30-level dungeon, and an infinite dungeon which recycles enemy types every 100 levels.

Development

The game was produced by

Koichi Nakamura is a Japanese video game designer. A programming prodigy, Nakamura gained fame while still in high school; in 1982, he entered Enix's first national programming contest and claimed runner-up prize with his entry, '' Door Door''. In 1984, he fou ...

, the founder of Chunsoft. It also marks the solo composing debut of

Masashi Hamauzu is a Japanese composer, pianist, and lyricist. Hamauzu, who was employed at Square Enix from 1996 to 2010, was best known during that time for his work on the '' Final Fantasy'' and ''SaGa'' video game series. Born into a musical family in Ger ...

, who prepared both the soundtrack and an arrangement album named ''Coi Vanni Gialli''. The game appeared in a booth at

Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. Th ...

1997, but did not appear in playable form, only having a complete video presentation of the game on the company's video wall along with '' Front Mission 2'' and '' Front Mission Alternative''. Upon its release, it was bundled with the "Mysterious Data Disc", a bonus containing a number of movies from unreleased games and a playable demo of ''

Xenogears ''Xenogears'' is a 1998 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the debut entry in the larger ''Xeno'' franchise. The gameplay of ''Xenogears'' revolves around navigating 3D environ ...

''. In early 1998, it was still the 10th best-selling game in Japan according to

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...

Reception

In pre-release coverage of the game, '' IGN'' stated that the decision to not show a playable version of the game was "somewhat bizarre", but that the title was "shaping up quite nicely", saying that while the game was not as flashy as ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the '' Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Enterta ...

'', and lacked any polygonal graphics, it was "obvious" that much effort went into designing the game's artwork. They also said that, while there was no word of a US release, they hoped the game would receive one due to the success of ''Final Fantasy VII''. In a post-release review, "The Elf" of ''Superjuegos'' magazine stated that, while the game's setting was "not very attractive", the gameplay was highly addictive and engaging, with "beautiful" magic, funny characters, and attractive

cutscene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

s. He also called the game's music memorable, citing its remixes of classic themes from ''Final Fantasy''. However, ECM of ''

GameFan ''GameFan'' (originally known as ''Diehard GameFan'') was a publication started by Tim Lindquist, Greg Off, George Weising. and Dave Halverson in September 1992 that provided coverage of domestic and import video games. It was notable for its ex ...

'' had a more negative take, characterizing ''Xenogears'' as "infinitely better", while Stephen Frost of ''

PSM PSM, an acronym, may refer to: Organizations * Sepaktakraw Association of Malaysia ( ms, Persatuan Sepaktakraw Malaysia; PSM), a national governing body in Malaysia. * Pakistan School Muscat, a Pakistani co-educational institute in Oman * Palest ...

'' also stated that the game felt "rushed and otvery fun", appending an image of a dead chocobo with the caption "Ugh. What was Square thinking?"

Legacy

''Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon'' was the first in the ''

Mystery Dungeon ''Mystery Dungeon'', known in Japan as , is a series of roguelike role-playing video games. Most were developed by Chunsoft, now Spike Chunsoft since the merging in 2012, and select games were developed by other companies with Chunsoft's permis ...

'' series to surpass one million units sold due to its connection to ''Final Fantasy'' and chocobo protagonist. It was followed by a 1998 sequel, ''

Chocobo's Dungeon 2 ''Chocobo's Dungeon 2'' is the 1998 PlayStation sequel to 1997's ''Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon''. Gameplay The players play as Chocobo, navigating randomly-generated levels of mysterious dungeons to progress the story. Each time the player ente ...

''. The characters of the game went on to star in the ''

'' series, containing numerous different genres.

References

{{Mysterious Dungeon series Chocobo (series) 1997 video games Japan-exclusive video games Mystery Dungeon PlayStation (console) games PlayStation Network games Single-player video games Video games scored by Masashi Hamauzu WonderSwan games ja:チョコボの不思議なダンジョン