Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom is a fun 4 player arcade game that introduces RPG mechanics into a typical sidescrolling beat ’em up. Your characters levels up, there’s an inventory system and you have the choice between four different character classes with unique traits.
It’s a great game, but lives behind its sequel, Shadow over Mystara, which basically does everything better. It’s a bit more flashy, has more visual polish, two more character classes and a cleaner user interface. After you play Shadow over Mystara, Tower of Doom feels like it’s missing that little extra shine that completes the experience.
Often even a flawed game can hold relevance when placed beside its sequel. With Tower of Doom, Shadow over Mystara looks and feels so similar that the original just becomes irrelevant.
I pondered if this was also true with the game’s spiritual sequel, Dragon’s Crown. While Dragon’s Crown is a better playing game than Shadow over Mystara, it goes a bit further with the RPG elements. These add a lot more to the longevity of Dragon’s Crown, but also bogs the game down. You can spend half an hour in town managing your gear. Meanwhile both Dungeons & Dragons arcade games are quick and easy to playthrough.
