I have no clue about just about anything to do with Doraemon, but apparently it's a pretty big thing in Japan. So unsurprisingly, there's a Doraemon RPG. Also unsurprisingly, it's a Dragon Quest clone. There are some nifty quirks in the game, but much like Dragon Quest and other RPGs of the day, plenty of tedium to be had.

The story starts off with Doraemon and his crew going off to fight the Big Bad, Giga Zombie. But then Giga Zombie scatters Doraemon's crew, and Doraemon goes to your character (boy or girl) to enlist their help in rescuing his crew and fighting Giga Zombie. (Or you can tell Doraemon to sod off, but that ends the game.) And thus begins your and Doraemon's journey throughout four areas. Unlike many RPGs, Doraemon has a sort-of stage system, where you go to each area in sequence and can't return to prior areas. At first it's just you and Doraemon, who'll probably end up the strongest members of your party by virtue of having the most levels, but you'll eventually be joined by the series's main protagonist, Nobita, and each area also has a temporary member that joins you until you beat the last boss of each area. (They don't vanish with your gear, sort of—spell items are returned to Doraemon's pouch and their gear carries over to the next person who occupies the slot.)

Exploring the world and battles are quite simple. Doraemon's most unique aspect is how it handles equipment, money, and spells. Remarkably for an NES/Famicom RPG, the game lets you store an unlimited number of items in Doraemon's pouch, with an eight-item inventory for each individual member. Much like the MOTHER games, you aren't rewarded with gold immediately after battle, but receive it from Dorami, whom you can contact in towns through the menu to refill HP, get money, and save the game. All that money isn't going to new gear, because none of the stores sell gear—all of your equipment will come from chests in towns and dungeons. Everyone can use every weapon and armour, which typically leads to an awkward chain of hand-me-downs every time you find a killstick with 2 more points of Attack. (Eventually gear does start giving better boosts. You'll sing like an angelic choir once you get the Katana.) So what's the main purpose of money? Magic! You can obtain various magic spells throughout your journey, from attack spells to healing and buffs, which can be used freely out of battle but must be in a character's inventory to use during battle. Though magic might seem pricey, you do end up with a lot of money if you play well, and thus spamming spells late in the game, like the single-target full-heal spell, is no problem at all.

You will need to do that often, after all. Doraemon is a grindy game. Granted, level-ups do give a fair bit of power, but you'll need to grind up your party at a few points if you don't want to get squished. The most notable instance is when you get the third permanent member, Nobita, who joins at Level 1 at the beginning of an area where the weakest enemies can one-shot him from full health while guarding. (There's no "revival" spells or items—knocked-out party members are revived with 1HP after battle.) The game also has a harsh encounter rate, with monsters potentially attacking every few steps. Late in the game, groups of enemies can do hundreds of damage to your party every battle, making for plenty of time spent in the menu casting CureAll between battles. These things aren't even the greatest frustration of the game, no—that dishonour belongs to the goddamn rats and mice, since any time you encounter them in battle, Doraemon starts off paralyzed—and having your second-strongest member temporarily incapacitated gets very old, very fast.

There's a certain charm to this game, but it doesn't completely negate the old-school annoyances of early JRPGs. If you've got the patience for this kind of game, it's not bad. There's even a nice twist near the end, after four chapters of "go kill the evil guy". It can be tedious and frustrating, but I had fun.