Sorcerian

ソーサリアンPC-98, Other, Genesis, MS-DOS +61987

  1. JP1987
  2. NA1990
  3. EU—
  4. RU—

Sorcerian is ソーサリアン in Japan, where the MSX2 version was titled Dragon Slayer V: Sorcerian; the English version was Sierra's 1990 MS-DOS release. Its recent re-releases are Japanese: the emulated PC-8801mkIISR original came to Nintendo Switch in Japan in 2024, and the Mega Drive version is built into the Mega Drive Mini 2.

Sorcerian is the fifth Dragon Slayer game, released by Nihon Falcom for the PC-8801mkIISR on 20 December 1987. Versions for the PC-9801, X1turbo and PC-88VA followed in 1988, then a Sega-developed Mega Drive version in 1990, an MSX2 version in 1991 and a PC Engine CD version in 1992. Sierra On-Line published an English MS-DOS version in North America in 1990.

Instead of one long quest, the game offers fifteen base scenarios that can be played in any order. Scenario data is loaded from outside the main program, which made many add-on scenario disks possible. The party is built from four races or classes — fighter, wizard, elf and dwarf — with over 60 jobs, and characters start at age 16 and grow older with every scenario; in old age they can die at random.

Later versions followed for Windows, Dreamcast and mobile phones. Hideki Kamiya has cited Sorcerian as an inspiration for Scalebound.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA SorcerianEnglish version; infobox date of 1 April 1990 is unsourced MS-DOS 1990 Sierra On-Line 2
JP ソーサリアンPC-8801mkIISR original; Ver1.0 and Ver1.1 exist Other Dec 20, 1987 Nihon Falcom 1
JP ソーサリアンX1turbo and PC-88VA versions Other 1988 Nihon Falcom 1
JP ソーサリアン PC-98 1988 Nihon Falcom 1
JP ソーサリアンMega Drive; developed by Sega Genesis Feb 24, 1990 Sega 2
JP Dragon Slayer V: SorcerianBased on PC-8801mkIISR Ver1.1 MSX2 Aug 10, 1991 — 2
JP ソーサリアンSuper CD-ROM² TurboGrafx-16 Jul 17, 1992 Victor Musical Industries 2
JP ソーサリアンフォーエバーWindows remake Windows 1997 — 1
JP ソーサリアン〜七星魔法の使徒〜Dreamcast; 3D graphics, 5 Dreamcast-only scenarios Other 2000 Victor Interactive Software 1
JP ソーサリアンVirtual Console (Mega Drive version) Wii September 2008 — 2
JP ソーサリアンEnglish Wikipedia gives 20 Jan 2012 (Aeria), Japanese Wikipedia 23 Feb 2012 (Aetas/Falcom); service ended 2016 iOS 2012 — 1
JP G-MODEアーカイブス30 ソーサリアンMobile Sorcerian with 26 scenarios Switch Feb 18, 2021 G-mode 1
JP メガドライブミニ2Mega Drive Mini 2 plug-and-play console includes the Mega Drive version Other 2022 Sega 1
JP EGGコンソール ソーサリアン PC-8801mkIISREmulated PC-8801mkIISR original Switch Jun 13, 2024 — 1

Also known as: Dragon Slayer V: Sorcerian JP2ソーサリアンフォーエバー JP1ソーサリアンオリジナル JP1アドバンスド ソーサリアン JP1

Box art by region

  • ソーサリアン box art, Japan release
    JP ソーサリアン

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.

Version differences

  • ContentMega Drive

    The Mega Drive version has an all-new set of scenarios — all 10 are exclusive to it — and rearranged levels.1

  • AudioPC Engine CD

    The PC Engine CD version includes 3 original scenarios out of 10, voice acting and a soundtrack arranged by Kenji Kawai.2

  • AudioMS-DOS (US)

    Sierra's English MS-DOS version supports MT-32 MIDI music, arranged by Rob Atesalp and Ken Allen, and shows 4 colours.2

All differences (6)

Translations

  • English Official

    Sierra On-Line1990MS-DOS · PC-9801 versionReleased

    Sierra published an English MS-DOS version in North America in 1990.2

Reception

Famitsu reviewers rated the Mega Drive version 8, 7, 7 and 5 out of 10. Games International gave the US version 6/10, calling it "a well-preserved museum piece", and Computer Gaming World's Scorpia liked the short quests but not the magic system.2

Sources

  1. 1ja.wikipedia.org
  2. 2en.wikipedia.org
  3. 3ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

Spotted a mistake? Write to atlas@old-games.net.