The Doraemons (video game)

The Doraemons (ザ☆ドラえもんズ), also known as Doraemon Friendship Legends (ドラえもん友情伝説) is a 1995 role-playing video game based on the Doraemon manga series (and to a lesser extent, its The Doraemons spin-off). It was developed by Riverhill Soft and published by Shogakukan for the 3DO. The game was only released in Japan on April 7.

The game was notable in that it featured the six additional characters that were introduced in the 1995 short film 2112: The Birth of Doraemon, which were six Doraemon-like characters collectively known as The Doraemons. To date, it is the only video game based on the Doraemon series that featured these characters.

Gameplay
The Doraemons is a turn-based role-playing game. The overworld is displayed as a side-scroller as opposed to the top-down perspective used in most turn-based role-playing games. The player can navigate the protagonists through different places, and can interact with other characters and objects. The game is heavily story-driven and featured prominent voice acting throughout the majority of the game.

Because the game was mainly aimed at children, the turn-based battle sequences are simplified to use gadgets and items from the Doraemon series, which can be acquired in the overworld to be used in battle. There are six slots for gadgets that can be used in battle, along with one special power slot.

Plot
The game begins with a backstory of how Doraemon was born, including his life during his time at the Robot School where he meets his fellow robotic cats similar to him known as "The Doraemons", otherwise known as Dora Dora Seven (DD7) at the time. He and The Doraemons were kind and friendly with each other during their time in the Robot School, even through the upsides and downsides they have encountered with at the school. This sequence also introduces the six members of The Doraemons in brief, detailing their occupations and nationalities.

Back in the present, Doraemon introduces Nobita Nobi with a special card known as the Friendship Card, a gadget used to call out their friends in need. Using the card, Doraemon tries to call his friends, Dora-the-Kid and Wang Dora, from the other side of the world; but no matter how many times he tried, there was no answer. Suddenly, Dorami comes out from Nobita's desk to deliver the message that the six members of The Doraemons attacked the factory the robotic cats were manufactured and had gone away to other places in the world, taking several robotic cats with them. She then instructed the two of them to come to the future to see what has happened there. The trio then travel to the future which is now ruined, the damage caused by the six members of The Doraemons which had happened several days prior. They them head to the professor in a mostly-intact building where he gives them several gadgets that will help them along with their journey. The professor then introduces them to the time machine, where they can travel through time.

As the two of them go along with their journey, they encounter various obstacles and battles that get in their way. They eventually came across several members of The Doraemons, who were initially resentful to Doraemon and Nobita. The two of them battled three of the six members of the team who are eventually recruited by Doraemon and Nobita to join their team and regain their trust between them. As they meet several members of The Doraemons, the backstories for some of the members of The Doraemons are then explained. They then continue to travel through time and space to seek out the other three members of The Doraemons, where after recruiting and regaining trust to all of the six members of The Doraemons they head out to the fortress of the evil king that resides there.

As Doraemon, Nobita, and The Doraemons make their way to the fortress, several obstacles and enemies appear, with the six members of The Doraemons sacrificing themselves to help Doraemon and Nobita reach to the evil king. They eventually reach to the room where the evil king resides; the evil king is revealed to be a robotic cat similar to Doraemon himself. He is referred to as "Big-the-Dora". The two battled against him, and Doraemon sacrifices himself by attempting to headbutt the evil king Big during the process. The evil robotic cat king Big then explained his backstory to Nobita afterwards, where he was ridiculed by the people and other robotic cats as well as how he became a king. With the help of the spiritual guidance's of Doraemon and The Doraemons, Nobita uses the power of The Doraemons and Doraemon to take down the evil king Big in the final battle.

After the evil king Big has been defeated, Nobita tries to revive Doraemon but to no avail. Just then, an angel (in the form of the Statue of Liberty) that Doraemon and Nobita encountered earlier in the story appeared alongside the fallen bodies of the six members of The Doraemons, and helps him by reviving Doraemon and The Doraemons, who after reviving pulled out their Friendship Cards together while giving Nobita one.

In a post-credits scene, all of the six members of The Doraemons are shown (including Doraemon himself), each demonstrating their abilities and their way of enjoying dorayaki.

Development
The game prominently features six characters based on Doraemon, each with their own unique personalities, abilities and nationalities. These six characters are colloquially known as The Doraemons. They first appeared in the 1995 short film 2112: The Birth of Doraemon, which was released roughly one month earlier before the release of this game. Some of the music in this game comes from a 1994 Doraemon musical entitled Doraemon Musical: Nobita's Dinosaur.

Reception
The Doraemons received mediocre reviews from critics. Next Generation gave it a 1 star out of 5 in their review of the game, stating that "if you're more than seven or eight years old, the game is generally uninvolving."

Legacy
Michiaki Tanaka, who was the story and character designer of the game, created a manga adaptation of the game that serves as a strategy guide for the game along with some extras, which was released two weeks after the release of the game on April 20, 1995. He would later go on to create a manga series based on the six Doraemon-like characters featured in this game (as well as the 1995 short film, where they first appeared), which were released in six tankōbon volumes from December 16, 1995 to March 28, 2001. An adaptation of the game's events is also present in the same manga series.