Tower of Druaga (set 2) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 40 years ago:

The Tower of Druaga © 1984 Namco.

You control the heroic prince Gilgamesh who must attempt to rescue the maiden Ki from the demon Druaga. You are armed with a sword and shield to attack and defend. Find hidden chests (and special items) when special conditions are met, some of which are required to beat the game.

Original story:
IN ANOTHER TIME
IN ANOTHER WORLD...
THE BLUE CRYSTAL ROD
KEPT THE KINGDOM IN PEACE

BUT THE EVIL DRUAGA
HID THE ROD
AND THE MAIDEN KI
IN A TOWER

THE PRINCE GILGAMESH
WORE GOLD ARMOR
AND ATTACKED MONSTERS
TO HELP KI IN
THE TOWER OF DRUAGA

TECHNICAL
Game ID: TD

Main CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 1.536 Mhz)
Sound Chips: Namco 8-channel WSG

Players: 2
Control: 4-way joystick
Buttons: 1

TRIVIA
The Tower of Druaga (or 'TOD' for short) was released in June 1984.

This game was originally called 'The Tower of ANU' during the development.

Prince Gilgamesh is the same Gilgamesh of Sumerian legend.

Characters and much of the equipment found in the TOD series have appeared or been referenced to in many other Namco games.
"Tales of Phantasia": Much of the equipment used by Gilgamesh could be obtained.
"Tales of Destiny": Contained an optional dungeon based directly off of the original Tower of Druaga (but with different treasures).
"Tales of Symphonia": The equipment used by Gilgamesh could be obtained, and the character Zelos Wilder could gain a special title by wearing it.
"Tales of the World - Narikiri Dungeon 3": Also contains a variation of the dungeon. The game also contains costumes for Gilgamesh, Ki and Druaga which allows the heroes to become them in battle, and wearing the Gilgamesh costume is necessary to access the dungeon in the first place.
"Tales of Legendia": One of the 'Rare Monsters' that you can find and battle is the Quox, the dragon enemies from the Druaga games.
"Mr. Driller - Drill Land": Contains 5 worlds, one of which is called Hole of Druaga featuring a Mr. Driller game with RPG elements.
"Mr. Driller Ace": Featured two levels named after Druaga characters - the 'Druaga Ruins' and the 'Quox Ruins'.
"Namco x Capcom": Several characters from the series appear in this cross over.
"Baten Kaitos": Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean: The Tower of Druaga makes an appearance as a puzzle in Mira, complete with slimes and tools. Baten Kaitos also contains some of Gilgamesh's equipment as obtainable items.
"Soul Edge": Gilgamesh's shield (the red-line shield) and the Blue Crystal Rod make appearances as alternate weapons for Sophitia.
"Soul Calibur II": One of Sophitia's alternate costumes was based off of Ki's design. In addition, one of her weapon sets was the Blue Crystal Rod and Blue Line Shield, equipment formerly used by Gilgamesh and Ki. The Red Crystal Rod and Red Line Shield are also available as bonus weapons for Cassandra.

Namco released a boardgame based on this game (same name) in 1985 (in Japan only): You move through each level of the dungeon to get a key. You roll a dice for movement, take the shortest route towards the key, and after every roll (the game does not even have rooms or such), you have an encounter with a monster that you must fight. You get a treasure for each victory, and once you have the key, you can open the door that leads to the next level, and continue doing so on each level until you get to the 6th level where the princess is.

Soundtrack releases:
The Best of Video Game Music [Alfa Records - 32XA-66 - April 25, 1986]

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Easter Egg:

1) Enter service mode.
2) Select sound 19
3) Press the service switch to display the grid and enter the following sequence: Up(x4), Down, Right(x2), Left(x6), Start2.
4) '© NAMCO LTD. 1984' will appear on the screen.

• Level Select: Keep Button1 pressed while pressing the Start button to continue the previous game; you can choose which level to start from.
• When your sword is unsheathed, your shield moves from your front to your left side. You can use this to block projectiles coming at you while attacking. This takes a lot of practice to master, though! Also, be sure to get the wing boots on level two by killing all the enemies -- it is impossible to beat the game without them.

SERIES

• The Tower of Druaga (1984, ARC)
• The Return of Ishtar (1986, ARC)
• The Quest of Ki (1988, FC)
• The Blue CrystalRod (1994, SFC)
• The Nightmare of Druaga - Mysterious Dungeons (2004, PS2)

STAFF
Game designer: Masanobu Endoh (E.END)
Programmer: Satoshi Knight (NIGHT)
Sound composer: Junko Odawa (ZUNKO)
Hardware: Single Shigeru (SHIGE)
Graphics designer: You.Shino (YOU.S)

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Nintendo Famicom (aug.6, 1985) "Druaga no Tou [Model NTD-4900]"
[JP] NEC PC-Engine (june.25, 1992) "The Tower of Druaga [Model NC92003]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (june.21, 1996) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SLPS-00390]"
[AU] Sony PlayStation (1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SCES-00268]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (jan.31, 1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SLUS-00398]"
[EU] Sony PlayStation (feb.1997) "Namco Museum Vol.3 [Model SCES-00268]"
[JP] Nintendo GameCube (dec.5, 2003) "The Tower of Druaga [Model DOL-PKBJ-JPN]": Released as a bonus disc for a pre-ordered "RPG Baten Kaitos".
[US] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.4, 2008) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 21022]"
[EU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (may.15, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[AU] Microsoft XBOX 360 (june.4, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade"
[JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 (nov.5, 2009) "Namco Museum - Virtual Arcade [Model 2RD-00001]"
[US] Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console Arcade] (mar.23, 2009)
[EU] Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console Arcade] (mar.25, 2009)
[JP] Nintendo Wii [Virtual Console Arcade] (may.12, 2009)

• HANDHELDS:

[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (dec.31, 1990) "Druaga no Tou [Model DMG-ADA]"
[JP] Nintendo Game Boy (nov.29, 1996) "Namco Gallery Vol.2 [Model DMG-AN2J]"
[US] Sony PSP (aug.23, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model ULUS-10035]"
[EU] Sony PSP (dec.9, 2005) "Namco Museum Battle Collection [Model UCES-00116]"
[JP] Sony PSP (feb.23, 2006) "Namco Museum Vol.2 [Model ULJS-00047]"
[US] Nintendo DS (sept.18, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNME-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (oct.11, 2007) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMJ-JPN]"
[KO] Sony PSP (nov.8, 2007) "Namco Museum Vol.2"
[EU] Nintendo DS (feb.29, 2008) "Namco Museum DS [Model NTR-YNMP-EUR]"
[JP] Sony PSP [PSN] (jan.12, 2011) "Namco Museum Vol.2"

• COMPUTERS:

[JP] MSX (1986)
[JP] Fujitsu FM-77AV (1986)
[JP] Fujitsu FM-7 (1987)
[JP] Sharp X68000 (1989)
[JP] PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (nov.28, 1997) "Namco History Vol.2"
PC [MS Windows, CD-ROM] (2001)
[JP] Sharp MZ2500
[JP] Sharp X1

• OTHERS:

[US] Apple iPhone/iPod (jan.26, 2012) "Namco Arcade [Model 465606050]"
[US] Arcade (2018) "Pac-Man's Pixel Bash"

CONTRIBUTE
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