Dungeons and Dragons is one of those cult hits where even if you haven’t heard of it, you at least know of it. The franchise has been just about everywhere. The original tabletop game has crossed into video games, movies, cartoons, books, comics, and toys. The franchise was started by two men, the late Gary Gygax and the late Dave Arneson. The franchise has had numerous video games made based on it over the years. One company that was allowed to obtain a license to create games based on the franchise was Capcom. This resulted in the creation of two arcade games. Tower of Doom, created in 1994 and Shadow over Mystara, created in 1996. These two classic games are available in a compilation named Chronicles of Mystara. Today, we’ll be talking about the Playstation 3 version currently available on PSN.
Tower of Doom is the first game of Capcom’s Dungeon and Dragons anthology. The game can be played either solo or with a maximum of four players, the same as the way it was in the original arcade version. The game gives you four characters to choose from. The Fighter, the Elf, the Cleric, and the Dwarf are the four players you get to choose from. From this point on, you’ll fight your way through seven chapters, culminating in fighting the evil dark wizard Deimos. Even though this was really just a standard beat em up game, this is one of the earliest games to have rpg elements without actually being considered an rpg game. The player will gain levels as they fight through the game. The story is pretty much what you’d expect from DnD; save the land, kill monsters, defeat the dark wizard. The game was very good for the time it was made. However, it was certainly made to take a back seat to the sequel that came out two years later.
Shadow over Mystara was the sequel to Tower of Doom. Almost everything about this game was improved over Tower of Doom. The graphic sprites have more detail and fluid movement. The previous game’s gameplay elements have been improved. As well as some added ones, such as being able to attack foes while they’re down. The roster that players can choose from grew from four to six. The Fighter, the Elf, the Cleric, and the Dwarf are back. They’re joined by the Thief and the Magician. In terms of length, this game is a little longer than the Tower of Doom. In terms of chronology, the game takes place two years after the original adventure. It’s hard to say whether that was meant to match the time between the development of the two games or not. You still gained levels as you fight and progress through the game as you did with Tower of Doom.
Both games have branching paths. This allows players to have a little bit of variety in the game. Each path comes with different monsters to fight, which in turn means different treasures for you to collect. It’s worth noting that some treasures can only be found with certain characters. So if you’re into being a completionist, just know there will be some repetitiveness in that regard. As with many of the anthology games that Capcom released on PSN in the PS3 era, this game came with in-game goals and a vault for unlocks. Playing through both games and getting in-game achievements is how you gain vault points, better known as vp. These points allow you to open concept art, music, and gameplay tweaks.
Overall, the two games that make up this compilation are a fun trip down memory lane. They’re a glimpse into arcade gaming from the 90’s. For anyone that likes beat em up games, there’s nothing I could or would say to discourage you from buying it. This is still available over psn on the PlayStation 3. I personally would suggest buying it if you still have your Playstation 3 hooked up. Not to mention that these two games are glaring omissions from the Capcom Beat em up collection. Now for some people, games like these are considered “too dated” for their liking. And that’s ok, to each their own. But if anyone has that particular gripe, I’d say try something like Dragon’s Crown or Dragon’s Crown Pro.