Why did they remove the battle backgrounds in Dragon Quest 2?

[Peter_20]

This is ridiculous.
I can't figure out why anyone in the whole world would want to remove the backgrounds during battles.
Are pitch black battle backgrounds supposed to increase the gameplay value, or something?
Well, in that case they've failed so badly it isn't even funny.

What buggers me even more is that they STILL had them removed in Dragon Quest 3.
What was going on?

[Flying Mullet]

If you're mad about the missing backgrounds in 2 and 3, don't play 4...

[Peter_20]

If you're mad about the missing backgrounds in 2 and 3, don't play 4...

But what's so great about missing backgrounds anyway?
They had backgrounds in the first one, and then they disappeared in the second one, and obviously remained absent in the other games as well!

How do the battles in the 3-dimensional games in the series look, then?
Do you fight in total blackness there as well?
Jeez...

[Flying Mullet]

From DQ V on, they had backgrounds to the battles. It's possible that they used black backgrounds in DQ II-IV to save space on the cartridge to add more to the game.

[Peter_20]

From DQ V on, they had backgrounds to the battles. It's possible that they used black backgrounds in DQ II-IV to save space on the cartridge to add more to the game.

If that's the case, then I guess I should forgive them.

[Dreddz]

I dont see it as much of a problem, Phantasy Star II had pitch black backgrounds and thats like....my favorite RPG ever.

[Roto13]

These days there's not really any excuse for it. But those games weren't made in these days. :P

[Zeromus_X]

In the SNES remakes of DQ II and III, there were real battle backgrounds. Unfortunately, DQ IV was never remade to my knowledge.

[Orophin]

How do the battles in the 3-dimensional games in the series look, then?
Do you fight in total blackness there as well?
Jeez...

There is only one 3D Dragon Quest in the main series by the way.

Unfortunately, DQ IV was never remade to my knowledge.

It had a remake on the Playstation but it was never released outside of Japan...

[Meat Puppet]

The battle backgrounds in the first were ugly and depressing. I’m glad that the others I played (2 & 4) just had the blackground. It allowed me to have a more... intimate encounter with my enemies.

[crazybayman]

The battle backgrounds in the first were ugly and depressing. I’m glad that the others I played (2 & 4) just had the blackground. It allowed me to have a more... intimate encounter with my enemies.

True. I found the black background in DW4 allowed for a more "imaginative" battle

And for some reason, to this day, a vivid mental image of Taloon jumping out of the wagon, and then getting confused and tossing gil at the enemies really stays with me