| Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom | |
|---|---|
 European arcade flyer | |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Publisher | Capcom |
| Designers | Tomoshi Sadamoto Magigi Fukunishi George Kamitani |
| Artist | Kinu Nishimura |
| Writer | Alex Jimenez |
| Composers | Isao Abe Takayuki Iwai Hideki Okugawa |
| Series | Mystara |
| Platforms | Arcade,Sega Saturn |
| Release | ArcadeSaturn
|
| Genres | Beat 'em up,role-playing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
| Arcade system | CP System II |
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom,[a] published in 1994, is the first of twoarcade games created byCapcom based on theDungeons & Dragonstabletop role-playing game and set in theMystaracampaign setting.[1] It is aside scrollingbeat 'em up with somerole-playing video game elements for one to four players. The game was also released on theSega Saturn, packaged with its sequel,Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara, under the titleDungeons & Dragons Collection, although the Saturn version limited the gameplay to only two players. In 2013, both games were re-released forPlayStation 3,Windows,Xbox 360 andWii U asDungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.
Tower of Doom is a side-scrolling arcade game featuring four playable characters (cleric, dwarf, elf, fighter) with classicDungeons & Dragons monsters as opponents.[2]Bosses include atroll that regenerates unless burned, a large blackdragon, the dreadedShadow Elf (Mystara's equivalent of thedrow), abeholder, the optional superboss Flamewing (a great wyrm red dragon) and the final boss Deimos (an archlich).
At points in the game the players are presented with a choice of paths to take to continue progress. Each path goes to a different area, and it is impossible to visit every area in a single play.[3]
The gameplay is more technical than the average onbeat'em up games. In addition to the usual basic attacks and jumping it includes blocking, strong attacks, turning attacks, dashing attacks, crouching and evading. It also requires the use of careful tactics, as most enemies have the same abilities as the heroes and can out-range them, too.
Daggers, hammers, arrows and burning oils can be used as throwing weapons, and many enemies have similar weapons. Spells can be used by means of magical rings or by the two playable spellcasters (a cleric and an elf).
The Republic ofDarokin inMystara is under a terrible siege as the number of monsters and their attacks rise. A group of four adventurers step forth to rescue various areas, then are sent by the merchant lord Corwyn Linton to investigate the attacks, revealed to be masterminded by theArch Lich Deimos. Eventually the adventurers make their way to Deimos' Tower of Doom and ultimately destroy him.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Capcom acquired the license to create D&D games. As part of the deal, they portedEye of the Beholder to theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System. The Japanese branch of Capcom were having difficulty gettingTSR's approval for creating a D&D game, so they turned to Capcom USA to negotiate.[4] Capcom and license-holder TSR met in January 1992 to discuss how the game should be approached. They decided to write the game's story first, and build the game around the story.[5] Most of the staff at Capcom USA were not familiar with D&D rules and lore, so assistant James Goddard turned to D&D enthusiast Alex Jimenez to come up with a concept and make it understandable to a Japanese audience, all the while testing the product. Some of Jimenez's inspirations for the beat em up' style came fromGolden Axe, while the multiple paths were based onThayer's Quest. There was debate between Capcom and SSI on whether to make the game Asian-themed or Western-themed, which Jimenez himself managed to resolve. Jimenez supplied concept art for the characters. One of his biggest difficulties was trying to help the Japanese developers grasp the D&D elements. Originally the game was supposed to have two buttons in the arcade controls, but two more were needed to accommodate the inventory system.[4]
Once the initial game design was complete, Jimenez translated it into an actualDungeons & Dragons scenario and had his gamers group in San Jose play it, with himself asgamemaster. Capcom of Japan then revised the scenario design based on the players' reactions.[5]
Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a two-disccompilation ofTower of Doom andShadow over Mystara. It was released only in Japan on March 4, 1999, exclusively for theSega Saturn. The ports have minor differences in gameplay, and there is a maximum of two players instead of the original four.[6] The compilation uses the Saturn's 4MBRAM expansion cartridge.[7] Originally Capcom planned to releaseTower of Doom as a standalone title on Sega Saturn andSony PlayStation,[8] but cancelled the plan early on. It was initially announced that the collection would be released for both the Saturn and PlayStation,[6][9] with the PlayStation version due for a U.S. release,[10] but the PlayStation version was shelved in early 1998 so that Capcom could focus on other projects.[11]
In 1999,GameSpot's James Mielke criticized the loading times as "horrendous", with mid-level battles occasionally pausing to let data stream in, and "as a very basic scrolling hacker", he called it simply "OK" and average.[12] In 2005,IGN picked theDungeons & Dragons Collection as one of the top ten co-op games.[13]Retro Gamer included it on their list of ten essential Saturn imports, praising its "stunning animation thanks to using the 4MB ram pack" and opining that while it suffers from lengthy loading times, they called it the best scrolling fighter game on the system, and felt to be superior toTaito'sPuLiRuLa and Capcom's ownDynasty Warriors (theRetro Gamer team were confusingDynasty Warriors withDynasty Wars).[14] In 2023, Time Extension included the collection on their top 25 "Best Beat 'Em Ups of All Time" list.[15]
Tower of Doom andShadow over Mystara were released as part of theDungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara compilation for theWii U,PlayStation 3,Xbox 360, andMicrosoft Windows in the summer of 2013.[16]
In Japan,Game Machine listedDungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom on their March 1, 1994 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles likeRaiden II andFatal Fury Special.[17] In North America,RePlay reportedTower of Doom as the most-popular arcade game at the time.[18]Play Meter also listedTower of Doom as the fourteenth most-popular arcade game at the time.[19] The game received a rave review fromGamePro, who commented that the game's action is not as fast as it could be, but rather furious, smoothly controlled, and intuitive. They also praised the game's length, complexity, and non-linear nature, and its faithful recreation ofDungeons & Dragons elements.[20]
According toGameSpy's Allen Rausch,Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom was "equally good, though not as well remembered" as other "Final Fight-style beat-'em-ups at the arcade" likeTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles andThe Simpsons. Rausch felt that combat was fun and had more depth, and "came loaded with secrets to find and treasures to swipe" and that after the players beat the game's seven levels, they find that the game's ultimate bad guy was actually just the pawn of an even bigger bad guy.[21]