cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/3558411
When you start playing Dragon Warrior you are given an important message by the king, the bad guy is back and you need to stop him. As you step outside the castle and are taken to the world map this is what you see.
That castle on the bottom right, surrounded by a poisonous bog, is your destination. If you could cross a few water tiles you could confront the Dragonlord right now. Unfortunately that cannot be done, and instead the game takes you on a journey through points 1 to 13 listed in the original image.
The effect is neat at the end of the game as well. As you approach the villain's lair you can see the castle where it all began.
Man, this really takes me back. I played this game endlessly as a kid. It was the first game I remember having a save file option, which was revolutionary to me, because before that when I was in the middle of a game I just had to pause and turn the TV off and hope my parents or siblings didn't hit the on/off button on the NES console. That music is still burned into my mind three decades later.
Somehow I never realized until about a year ago that it spawned a long-running series under the name Dragon Quest (now up to eleven games) that still continues to this day.