Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
| Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Capcom |
| Publisher | Capcom |
| Senior Developer | Alex Jimenez |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1993 |
| genre | Beat 'em up |
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer (co-op, up to 4 players) |
| control | Joystick , 4 buttons |
| casing | default |
| Arcade system | CPS-2 |
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom is the first of two arcade games by the Japanese developer Capcom , based on the role-playing game rules Dungeons & Dragons . The game is set in the campaign world Mystara and was released in 1993. In 1999 it was published with its successor Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection for Sega Saturn .
action
The peaceful land of Darokin is plundered by numerous monsters, one place after the other falls victim to the aggressors. Corwyn Linton, a member of the country's high council, suspects a hostile power is behind it and asks a group of adventurers to investigate the matter.
Gameplay
General
Tower of Doom is a side-scrolling beat 'em up with RPG elements in which a sprite look different four character against monsters of (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter) D & D -Universums fight, including trolls, shadow elves (drow) Observer, the red dragon Flamewing or the boss Deimos, a lich. The game also has a branched plot with different solutions and various subplots, which means that game playthings can vary.
The game functions were much more extensive than in common beat-'em-up games. In addition to the usual basic attacks and jumps, the range of actions also includes blocks, strong attacks, backward attacks, smash attacks, crawl and evade. It also requires careful planning, as most opponents have the same skills as the heroes and can even surpass them.
Ranged attacks and the use of spells are just as important as melee combat. Daggers, hammers, arrows and burning oil can be used as weapons for throwing; many opponents have similar weapons. Spells can be used with the help of magic rings or through the two playable spellcasters (elves, clerics).
Characters
- The warrior is the most balanced fighter in the game. He has a long range and great powers, as well as most health points.
- The elf has a shorter range with her sword and significantly less power than the warrior, but has seven arcane D&D spells: Magical Arrow, Invisibility, Fireball, Lightning, Transform Others, Ice Storm and Death Cloud.
- The cleric has fighting skills comparable to those of the elf. He can drive away the undead and use five divine D&D spells: Hold Person, Knockdown, Sustained Light, Sticks to Snakes and Heal Severe Wounds. He is the most adept shield user and can block numerous vertical attacks to which the other characters are defenseless.
- The dwarf has a short horizontal range, but the best vertical range. Because of his high combo speed, he is the strongest character in close combat.
development
To gain the D&D license, Capcom was looking for a native speaker to negotiate with rights holder TSR and therefore hired long-time game master Alex “Raven” Jimenez in November 1991 . In January 1992 the desired negotiations finally came about, in the course of which the question arose of how the role-playing aspect could be appropriately implemented without letting the game drift into a pure fighting game. Contrary to other development habits, Capcom decided to first design a framework and then adapt the game principle. To this end, Jimenez designed an RPG adventure that he only had to try out in a pen & paper game .
Ports
In 1999 Capcom released Shadows over Mystara together with its predecessor Tower of Doom in a compilation on two CDs for the Sega Saturn game console . The compilation, which was only released in Japan with a long delay, was sold under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection and also required the 4 MB RAM expansion for the console. It was also one of the last Capcom titles for the discontinued Saturn hardware. Because of the poor sales of the console in North America and Europe, Capcom decided not to publish it for these markets. The port had some small changes in the game principle, and the number of players was limited to a maximum of two instead of the original four due to the limitations of the Saturn.
In March 2013 Capcom announced at the PAX East trade fair a new release of both games for June 2013 under the title Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara for Xbox 360 , PlayStation 3 , Wii U and Windows . The revised version by the US developer Iron Galaxy Studios includes, among other things, higher-resolution graphics and the option of playing online with three other players as in the original. The other players can join or leave seamlessly running games. The co-op is supported by a matchmaking function, which suggests suitable game partners by analyzing the preferred style of play, and highscore tables . A challenge mode provides the player with various playful tasks, the fulfillment of which is rewarded with a virtual currency, which in turn can be used to unlock various bonuses. Another new function is the adaptation of the original rules of the game according to your own ideas.
reception
Allen Rausch from the US online game magazine GameSpy described the game as being on par with similar beat 'em ups such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the arcade game for the animated series The Simpsons , even if, unlike this title, it is not remembered to the same extent stayed. The player struggles through the seven game levels to find out at the end that the ultimate villain is only the pawn of a much worse villain, who, as expected, only appears in the sequel.
GameSpot author James Mielke described the Dungeons & Dragons Collection , published in 1999 for Sega Saturn , consisting of Tower of Doom and its successor, Shadow over Mystara , as merely average and particularly criticized the very long, despite the mandatory use of the 4 MB RAM console extension Loading times that can sometimes interrupt the flow of the game. In 2005, the US online gaming magazine counted IGN the Dungeons & Dragons Collection , however, best of the ten co-op games.
Web links
- Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom in the Killer List of Videogames (English)
- Dungeons & Dragons Collection at MobyGames (English)
- Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom Review at Allgame
- FantasyAnime
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael J. Tresca: The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games . McFarland, 2010, ISBN 0-7864-5895-X , pp. 144 ( online ).
- ↑ a b "Indill the Incredible": One-on-One with D & D's Real Dungeon Master . (Text copy) In: IDG (Ed.): GamePro (US) . May 1994.
- ↑ a b James Mielke: Dungeons & Dragons Collection Review ( English ) In: GameSpot . CNET . March 17, 1999. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
- ↑ GregaMan: Announcing Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara ( English ) In: Capcom-Unity . Capcom . March 22, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2013.
- ↑ Jens Bischoff: Return of two arcade classics . In: 4Players . Computec Media Group . March 23, 2013. Accessed March 31, 2013.
- ↑ Allen Rausch: A History of D&D Video Games - Part III ( English ) In: GameSpy . August 17, 2004. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ↑ IGN Staff: Game Help Editors' Picks Co-Op Games ( English ) In: IGN . June 13, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2008.