Former arcade rats and fans of old school beat ‘em ups have something special to look forward to in the near future. Capcom is slated to unveil ports of their Dungeons & Dragons arcade games for PSN and XBLA at the upcoming PAX East. The two side scrollers were somewhat of a rarity in arcades, most likely due to the immense popularity of the fighting game genre, leading to arcades doubling down on those types of games at the expense of others. Now, though, players who missed out will finally have a chance to play these lost gems.
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara were both games developed on the ubiquitous CPS2 board. This was the arcade board that powered many of Capcom’s major hits, including the Street Fighter Alpha and Darkstalkers series, Cyberbots, and X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Thanks to this chip set and the talented artists working at Capcom at the time, these two D&D games blended the classic monster designs from the table top game with the hyper animated style that Capcom was known for in the ‘90s.
Played much like any typical brawler, the D&D games added some extra depth to the proceedings, including the ability to block and evade attacks. Staying true to the Dungeons & Dragons lineage, Tower of Doom and Shadow Over Mystara included a little more story than your average arcade game, and players could name their characters (chosen from classic classes like fighter and cleric). Players could find better equipment and consumable items to use in battle, and Shadow Over Mystara included an experience system, complete with new abilities to learn.
Both games were ported to the Sega Saturn as a collection, but this treasure trove never made its way outside of Japan. The import copy can easily set collectors back over a hundred bucks, but thankfully that won’t be the case soon. Look for an official announcement at PAX East. In the meantime, roll for initiative!
I've never played these. Color me interested, especially with a thief and cleric set of classes.
Nice. I really like the concept. Reminds me of Golden Axe.
This sounds awesome! I missed out on these, and am a fan of beat em ups and Dungeons and Dragons.
Shadows Over Mystara in particular is a great game. It has a depth you normally do not find in the genre. You can actually "level up" your characters and go through different routes that take you to unique locales. Highly recommended!
whoah these look awesome!
after all these years my prayers are finally answered. ever since I played this at a local arcade (which deosn't have it anymore) I always wanted a home port. King of Dragons helped but it wasn't the same. I can finally give up trying to own the collection for my saturn unless I feel silly and want to try how different it is from this release, unless they package both versions.
I'm hoping Capcom puts as much love and attention into this as they did with Final Fight Double Impact.
YES! FINALLY! WOOOO!
I can't remember if I ever played these or not. That player select screen looks very familiar. Even though I have nothing but hate for brawlers anymore, I'd give these a shot.
It about freaking time. We had a massive four player cabnet of D&D Tower of Doom in our arcade. This was a high caliber beat'um up, four unique characters to play as, multiple path choices at the end of each level, consumable spells and potions. It looked and played like a dream. I didn't know there was a second game, hope they release them as a bundle.
Awesome news. I have played Tower of Doom a long time ago, and only got glimpses of Shadow Over Mystara in gaming mags. It will be great to replay the former and to get to know the latter.
I hope Capcom add an online multiplayer mode. Games like these are great to be played with a group of friends, on- or offline :)
the first thing i thought of when i saw the screenshots was knights of the round. I loved that game.
WOW! I played both of these in the Arcade and I also have the Saturn import. It can be a little tough to play if you don't know Japanes because you can't follow the story. Its still a fantastic brawler, though. Picture Golden Axe with a dash of Knights of the Round on steriods. I will definitely get this one for multiplayer and achievements.
Perfect description! "Golden Axe with a dash of Knight of the Round on steroids" I'm so all over this when it comes out.
I hope it's not too expensive.
Capcom's classic beat-em-ups are great. I'll definitely keep an eye out for these. Hopefully Capcom will bundle them together.
Yes!!! Hopefully this reduces the price of the saturn import version!
I wonder what kind of feature set these games will have? Also, it better not make use of Capcom's awful DRM (I'm not even sure if they do it anymore). Other than that, it would be nice to play these games again, especially if they include an online mode.
Can't wait to play again, it'll be nice not having to put in quarters everytime I die.