in a chorus of demonic voices, but in the SNES version, she instead moans not unlike how other enemies do. This may be related to Nintendo wanting to keep their reputation as a family-friendly operation without any traces of sensuality. Drakkhen is known for its unusual sound effects; in lieu of speech, monsters and NPCs make noises that resemble belching, chittering, or inarticulate rumbling. Early releases made only limited use of music during gameplay, but the game's soundtrack was expanded for the SNES version. Development and ports Drakkhen was originally released in 1989 by Infogrames two years after being presented at gaming expos. It was translated for North American release in 1990 by Draconian, a label from Data East. By the time review copies of the original were given to the press, Infogrames claimed to have no "immediate" intention of porting the game. The many subsequent computer ports were unannounced until the DOS port was about to be released in late 1989. In 1991, Drakkhen was ported to the Super Nintendo by Kemco-Seika, who made several revisions to the game, mostly by necessity. In February 2018, the DOS version of the game was made available on Steam and in June 2018 on GOG.com. It was published under Piko Interactive's Classics Digital brand. It was also released for Evercade, included in Piko Interactive Collection 1 cartridge. Reception Drakkhen was a commercial success, with sales of more than 350,000 units. In the May 1990 edition of Games International, Mike Siggins noted the new-at-the-time open sandbox design, where players could wander in any direction, seeking adventure. However, Siggins was peeved by "the regular use of problems and puzzles to impede progress." He liked the "well-done" documentation, and admired the graphics. He concluded by giving the game an average score of 7 out of 10, although he gave the graphics an excellent rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "These games are really fantasy wargames rather than true role-playing exercises but Drakkhen at least pushes the standard out a little further and makes for a tough game with plenty of scope, graced with those remarkable Infogrames graphics." In the August 1990 edition of Dragon (Issue #160), Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser admired the Amiga versions's "amazing graphics, enthralling music, and incredible game environment", but admitted that it was "one of the toughest fantasy adventure games for a novice to survive that we've yet encountered."