While western players are mostly unaware of the importance of the Dragon Quest series, it's as important for role-playing games as Super Mario Bros. was for platforming games. Unlike Super Mario Bros. however the original game is hard to go back to. It is a chore to do really anything in the original game that future ports and remakes rectified. It's also not a very long game outside of having to grind for a while. I'd only recommend playing the original release if you really want to experience what kickstarted this legendary series. Otherwise play any other version along with Dragon Quest 2.