Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara

Last updated
Dungeons & Dragons
Shadow over Mystara
Shadow over Mystara sales flyer.png
Japanese arcade flyer
Developer(s) Capcom
Publisher(s) Capcom
Designer(s) Kenji Kataoka
"Malachie"
Artist(s) Kinu Nishimura [1]
Writer(s) Alex Jimenez
Composer(s) Masato Kouda
Series Mystara
Platform(s) Arcade, Sega Saturn
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: February 1996
  • NA/EU: 1996
Saturn
  • JP: March 4, 1999
Genre(s) Beat 'em up, action role-playing video game
Mode(s)Up to 4 players (cooperative)
Arcade system CP System II/JAMMA+

Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara [a] is an arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1996 as a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom . [2] [3] The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Mystara.

Contents

Combining the side-scrolling gameplay of a beat 'em up with some aspects found in a role-playing video game, Shadow over Mystara has many game mechanics not commonly found in arcade games, such as finding and equipping new gear and earning new spells as the player gains experience. Players can wield a large variety of weapons and armor, although this selection is limited by the character the players chooses; there is also an extensive assortment of magical and hidden items in the game, many of which are completely unknown to exist to the typical video gamer. This, along with the addition of multiple endings and forking paths, gives the game much re-playability and has led to a cult following among fans of the genre.

It was one of the last 2-D arcade side-scrollers created by Capcom; only Battle Circuit (1997) came after Shadow over Mystara. The game has seen two home releases as part of the compilations: Dungeons & Dragons Collection published for the Sega Saturn in 1999, and Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara made available on the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in 2013.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot with Cleric and Elf. Shadow over Mystara screenshot.png
Gameplay screenshot with Cleric and Elf.

In addition to the original four heroes found in its predecessor, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf and Fighter), Shadow of Mystara adds a Thief and a Magic-User to the selection of player characters. Furthermore, with the inclusion of two separate versions of each character's sprite set, the game allows up to two players to select the same character (in Tower of Doom each of the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game 12 "different" characters to choose from. The two Clerics and two Magic Users also have subtle differences within their spell books.

The controls use four buttons: Attack, Jump, Select (brings up a small inventory ring around the character allowing the player to choose what item is set in the Use slot) and Use. The Cleric, Elf and Magic-User also have two extra rings for their spells, with the Jump button used to switch from ring to ring. While the game uses the same kick harness as the previous game, the Select and Use buttons are reversed.

Shadow over Mystara also introduced a selection of special moves which are executed by moving the joystick and tapping the buttons in certain combinations, in a way similar to the Street Fighter series. The characters (except for the Magic-User) have a Dashing Attack as well as a Rising Attack which can be used to combo monsters or even juggle them in the air. Most characters (again, with the exception of the Magic-User and also Cleric) also have a Megacrush, a move common to nearly all of Capcom side-scrollers, which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character but in turn also damaging the player themselves.

The game offers a small selection of arcane magic, available for the Magic-User and Elf, and divine magic, available to the Cleric. Instead of an MP system, characters use D&D's Vancian magic system where a certain amount of each spell ready to cast. Extra uses of the spells can be picked up off the ground, represented graphically as scrolls of paper, or occasionally recharged after certain boss fights. When a spell is cast the entire game is momentarily paused during which the spell effect is played out (some spells can be controlled during this time).

Every character starts with their armor (the second slot) already filled, specific to their character, and remains unchanged the entire game. The character's helmet (the first slot) and shield (the fifth slot) are the other two items that lend to a character's defensive ability. Most characters also begin with a shield, except the Magic-User and Thief, who cannot use shields. While magical items in traditional D&D rules are practically invulnerable or tough, the magical items in Shadow over Mystara are very fragile. Magical boots (slot three), gauntlets (slot four), and rings (slot six) are all destroyed after the player is damaged a few times. The eighth slot is used for miscellaneous items, such as the "Skin of the Displacer Beast" or the "Eye of the Beholder"; many bosses drop rare items such as these and they either grant special abilities or can be traded in for special magical equipment. There are also many unique hidden items (for example, hidden near the end of the game is a treasure chest which contains the Staff of Wizardry when opened by the Magic-User: if the Magic-User wields the staff during the final boss fight and there are at least three players with a combined total of over 1 million experience points, the Staff will glow and the team will be able to use the powerful Final Strike attack).

In between many stages the players find themselves inside small town stores where they can restock on common items such as arrows, burning oils, throwing daggers and healing potions. Players can sell items for gold and also trade special items found during boss battles with shopkeepers (by clicking on the shopkeepers head) to earn unique magical items. The players can also come across a special gnome village where the townfolk beg to be saved from a chimera (the gnomes, unlike traditional Dungeons & Dragons gnomes, are very minuscule, standing about a foot tall).

Plot

After defeating the Arch Lich Deimos, the heroes continued on their journey through the Broken Lands of Glantri after realizing that Deimos was only part of an even greater evil plan, and he was in fact being used by a mysterious sorceress named Synn, who appears to be a young woman but commands a powerful magical abilities, has been scheming to control the Kingdom of Glantri and conquer the humanoids of the Republic of Darokin. After Deimos was defeated, Synn vowed to punish the land that she desired.

At the game's end the player discovers that Synn is in fact a centuries-old red dragon, bent on harnessing the mystical forces of the lands she has conquered, in order to awaken a creature of even more devastating physical prowess than herself - known and described only as The Fiend. The heroes then fight against Synn in her lair; when she is slain, her monster is also destroyed by an airship bombing.

Characters

The character select screen Shadow over Mystara Characters.png
The character select screen

Players, upon completion of their first stage, are prompted to enter a character name. Unlike many games at the time which only allow a person to enter three letters, Shadow over Mystara has space for six. The game provides a default name for each of the characters; the default name is also automatically used if the player tries to submit a blank name or use vulgarity.

Release

The arcade version of the game was released in 1996. [4] The guide/art book was published by Shinseisha in the Gamest Mook series that same year. [5]

Dungeons & Dragons Collection

Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a two-disc compilation of Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara. It was released only in Japan on March 4, 1999, exclusively for the Sega Saturn. The ports have minor differences in gameplay, and there is a maximum of two players instead of the original four. [6] Originally Capcom planned to release Tower of Doom as a standalone title on Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation, [7] but cancelled the plan early on. It was initially announced that the collection would be released for both the Saturn and PlayStation, [6] [8] with the PlayStation version due for a U.S. release, [9] but the PlayStation version was never completed.

In 1999, GameSpot's James Mielke criticized the loading times as "horrendous", with mid-level battles occasionally pausing to let data stream in, and "as a very basic scrolling hacker", he called it simply "OK" and average. [10] In 2005, IGN picked the Dungeons & Dragons Collection as one of the top ten co-op games. [11] Retro Gamer included it on their list of ten essential Saturn imports, praising its "stunning animation thanks to using the 4MB ram pack" and opining that while it suffers from lengthy loading times, they called it the best scrolling fighter game on the system, and felt to be superior to Taito's PuLiRuLa and Capcom's own Dynasty Warriors (the Retro Gamer team were confusing Dynasty Warriors with Dynasty Wars ). [12] In 2023, Time Extension included the collection on their top 25 "Best Beat 'Em Ups of All Time" list. [13]

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara

Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara were released as part of the Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara compilation for the Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in the summer of 2013. [14]

Reception

Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara has been very well received. [23] In Japan, Game Machine listed the game on their April 1, 1996 issue as being the sixth most-popular arcade game at the time. [24] On release, a reviewer for Next Generation said that the game is "full of the stuff" that made the original fun. He further said that the game had refined Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, improving the animation quality to X-Men: Children of the Atom level, expanding the number of playable characters, adding more stage branches and endings to create deeper gameplay and story, and incorporating more interesting character abilities such as wielding two swords. Despite this, he gave it only three out of five stars. [16] Wataru Maruyama of VideoGames praised the game's "astounding" graphical details and called it "Capcom's latest masterpiece". [25] According to Allen Rausch of GameSpy in 2004, Shadows Over Mystara was a stellar game back when arcades were a place to find the hottest games, and that the game is still fun today. [26] Spanish website MeriStation also gave it a positive retrospective outlook. [27] Both Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara have since gained a cult following. [28]

Retro Gamer ranked Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara as the sixteenth top retro arcade game. [20] In 2011, GameSpy ranked the game as number 50 on their list of the top arcade games, calling it "one of the most purely entertaining titles ever released" for any platform. [21] In 2013, the title was ranked as the eighteenth top beat 'em up video game of all time by Heavy.com . [22] Kotaku included it among the best looking beat 'em up games from the 16-bit era. [29] IGN ranked Shadow Over Mystara number 9 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. [30]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ダンジョンズ&ドラゴンズ シャドーオーバーミスタラ, Hepburn: Danjonzu & Doragonzu Shadō ōbā Misutara

Related Research Articles

<i>Mystara</i> Dungeons & Dragons fictional campaign setting

Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game. It was the default setting for the "Basic" version of the game throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Most adventures published for the "Basic" edition of D&D take place in "The Known World", a central continent that includes a varied patchwork of both human and non-human realms. The human realms are based on various real-world historical cultures. In addition, unlike other D&D settings, Mystara had ascended immortal beings instead of gods.

Magic in <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> Spells and magic systems used in D&D

The magic in Dungeons & Dragons consists of the spells and magic systems used in the settings of the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). D&D defined the genre of fantasy role-playing games, and remains the most popular table-top version. Many of the original concepts have become widely used in the role-playing community across many different fictional worlds, as well as across all manner of popular media including books, board games, video games, and films.

The druid is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Druids wield nature-themed magic. Druids cast spells like clerics, but unlike them do not have special powers against undead and, in some editions, cannot use metal armor. Druids have a unique ability that allows them to change into various animal forms, and various other qualities that assist them in natural settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QSound</span> Sound processing algorithm

QSound is the original name for a positional three-dimensional (3D) sound processing algorithm from QSound Labs that creates 3D audio effects from multiple monophonic sources and sums the outputs to two channels for presentation over regular stereo speakers. QSound was eventually re-dubbed "Q1" after the introduction of "Q2", a positional 3D algorithm for headphones. When multi-speaker surround system support was later added to the positional 3D process, the QSound positional 3D audio process became known simply as "Q3D". QSound was founded by Larry Ryckman (CEO), Danny Lowe and John Lees. Jimmy Iovine served as senior vice president of music and Shelly Yakus as vice president of audio engineering in its formative years.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom</i> 1994 arcade game

Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom, published in 1994, is the first of two arcade games created by Capcom based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game and set in the Mystara campaign setting. It is a side scrolling beat 'em up with some role-playing video game elements for one to four players. The game was also released on the Sega Saturn, packaged with its sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara, under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection, although the Saturn version limited the gameplay to only two players. In 2013, both games were re-released for PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 and Wii U as Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara.

The flexibility of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game rules means that Dungeon Masters (DM) are free to create their own fantasy campaign settings. For those who wanted a pre-packaged setting in which to play, TSR, Wizards of the Coast (WotC), and other publishers have created many settings in which D&D games can be based; of these, the Forgotten Realms, an epic fantasy world, has been one of the most successful and critically acclaimed settings. Many campaign settings include standard sword and sorcery environments, while others borrow Asian, Central American, swashbuckling, horror and even space-travel themes.

<i>Player Character Record Sheets</i> Tabletop role-playing game supplement for Dungeons & Dragons

Player Character Record Sheets is an accessory designed for the tabletop fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

<i>pedit5</i> 1975 video game

pedit5, alternately called The Dungeon, is a 1975 dungeon crawl role-playing video game developed for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's PLATO computer network by Rusty Rutherford. In it, the player controls a character exploring a fixed, single-level dungeon containing randomly-generated monster encounters and treasure. When they encounter a monster, they can fight the monster with a weapon or spells, or attempt to flee. Characters can be saved between sessions.

<i>The Dungeon Revealed</i> 1985 video game

The Dungeon Revealed is a dungeon crawl PC game created by John Raymonds and published by Woodrose Editions in 1987. The game is an enhanced commercial release of Raymonds' previous game The Dungeon of Doom, released as shareware in 1985. A final version of The Dungeon of Doom was released as a free demo for The Dungeon Revealed in 1987. Both games were released for Mac OS and were compatible with versions as late as System 7.

The sorcerer is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A sorcerer is weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, generally the most powerful form of D&D magic. Sorcerers' magical ability is innate rather than studied or bargained.

The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic, a form of theurgy or thaumaturgy. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative magics available to them. With divinely-granted abilities over life or death, they are also able to repel or control undead creatures. Clerics also have specific 'domains' which usually align with the character's alignment and the god that cleric serves. Whether the cleric repels or controls undead is dependent on the cleric's alignment. It is the only class to be included in every edition of Dungeons & Dragons without a name change.

The wizard, formerly known as the magic-user or mage, is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.

The warlock is a character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was introduced as a non-core base class who practice arcane magic in the supplemental book Complete Arcane for the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons. In 4th and 5th edition, the warlock is a core class.

<i>Fantasy Empires</i> 1993 video game

Fantasy Empires is a role-playing fantasy wargame for MS-DOS made by Silicon Knights and published by Strategic Simulations in 1993. The game uses the Dungeons & Dragons license, and is set in the fictional world of Mystara.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun</i> 1992 video game

Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun is a role-playing video game developed for the Sega Genesis in 1992 by Westwood Associates. The game tells the story of a party of adventurers who have been transported to an unknown world and must survive against its hostile inhabitants while learning about their new home and seeking allies. It is based on the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game rules, and uses creatures and themes from the D&D Hollow World campaign setting, such as Blacklore elves, the Azcans, beastmen, Malpheggi lizardmen, and dinosaurs.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon</i> 1992 video game

Order of the Griffon is a tactical role-playing game for the TurboGrafx-16 developed by Westwood Associates and based on the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). The game is set in the nation of Karameikos within D&D's Mystara setting.

<i>The King of Dragons</i> 1991 video game

The King of Dragons is a 1991 beat 'em up game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It follows players as they control characters through the kingdom of Malus to defeat monsters led by the dragon Gildiss. It features a level advancement system, allowing character attributes to be upgraded as players progress through the game. The game's music was composed by Yoko Shimomura.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> (1974) Tabletop role-playing game supplement for Dungeons & Dragons

The original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson was published by Tactical Studies Rules in 1974. It included the original edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Its product designation was TSR 2002.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set</i> Tabletop role-playing game supplement for Dungeons & Dragons

The Expert Set is an expansion boxed set for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was first published in 1981 as an expansion to the Basic Set.

<i>Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara</i> 2013 video game compilation

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is a 2013 video game compilation by Capcom released as a digital download for the PlayStation 3, Wii U, Windows, and Xbox 360. It includes two arcade games based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise: Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (1994) and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (1996).

References

  1. ↑ Famitsu (1 January 2001). Capcom Design-Room Staff Interview: 西村キヌ (Nishimura Kinu) (in Japanese). Enterbrain. pp. 234–235. ISBN   978-4757704121.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2020-02-25 at the Wayback Machine ).
  2. ↑ Delpierre, Christophe; Seddiki, Reyda; Sam, Magic (March 1996). "L'arcade dépasse les bornes! - Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (Capcom)". Player One (in French). No. 62. Média Système Édition. p. 30.
  3. ↑ Ishii, Zenji (22 August 2013). "ダンジョンズ&ドラゴンズ －ミスタラ英雄戦記－" (in Japanese). Capcom. Archived from the original on 2020-05-18. Retrieved 2020-06-28. (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine ).
  4. ↑ "Salon (AOU 96): Le Japon En Direct - Dungeons & Dragons". Consoles + (in French). No. 53. M.E.R.7. April 1996. p. 34.
  5. ↑ D&Dシャドーオーバーミスタラ (in Japanese). Vol. 34. Shinseisha. 30 June 1996. pp. 1–200. ISBN   978-4881992562.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help) (Translation by Shmuplations. Archived 2019-12-30 at the Wayback Machine ).
  6. 1 2 "Dungeons & Dragons Collection: Elves, Dwarves, Clerics and Knights". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 97. Ziff Davis. August 1997. p. 94.
  7. ↑ "Next Wave - Tower of Doom" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 80. Sendai Publishing. March 1996. p. 99.
  8. ↑ Ogasawara, Ken (July 1997). "Tokyo Game Show '97". GamePro . No. 106. IDG. pp. 32–33.
  9. ↑ "Dungeons & Dragons Collection". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 104. Ziff Davis. March 1998. p. 48.
  10. ↑ Mielke, James (17 March 1999). "Dungeons & Dragons Collection Review for Saturn". GameSpot . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 1 May 2004. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  11. ↑ IGN Staff. "Game Help Editors' Picks Co-Op Games". IGN. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  12. ↑ "Top Ten Essential Saturn Imports". Retrogamer.net. 2015-01-09. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  13. ↑ Banks, George (14 February 2023). "Best Beat 'Em Ups Of All Time". Time Extension. Hookshot Media. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Capcom's Dungeons & Dragons collection confirmed". GameSpot.com. 2013-03-22. Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-31.
  15. ↑ Thompson, Jon (1998). "Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (Arcade) - Review". AllGame . All Media Network. Archived from the original on 2014-11-15. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  16. 1 2 "Finals - Arcade - Dungeons and Dragons 2: Shadow over Mystar". Next Generation . No. 16. April 1996. pp. 98–101.
  17. ↑ Delpierre, Christophe; Pottier, Christophe (May 1996). "L'arcade dépasse les bornes! - Dungeons & Dragons 2: Shadow over Mystara (Capcom)". Player One (in French). No. 64. Média Système Édition. p. 41.
  18. ↑ Kamikaze, Marcelo (September 1996). "Arcade - Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara". Super Game Power (in Portuguese). No. 30. Nova Cultural. p. 39.
  19. ↑ Andrade, Mateus (May 1996). "Arcade - Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara" (PDF). VideoGame (in Portuguese). No. 61. Editora Sigla. p. 34.
  20. 1 2 "Retro Gamer's Top 25 Arcade Games". Retro Gamer . No. 54. Imagine Publishing. August 2008. pp. 60–69.
  21. 1 2 "GameSpy's Top 50 Arcade Games of All-Time - We pick the greatest coin-op games ever made". GameSpy . IGN. February 25, 2011. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  22. 1 2 Jones, Elton (May 1, 2013). "The Top 25 Beat 'Em Up Video Games – Part 1". Heavy.com . Heavy Inc. Archived from the original on September 17, 2018. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  23. ↑ Quan, Slasher (May 1996). "News: ACME Arcade Show Report - Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (By Capcom)". Computer and Video Games . No. 174. EMAP. p. 16. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  24. ↑ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - TVゲーム機ーソフトウェア (Video Game Software)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 515. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 April 1996. p. 25.
  25. ↑ Maruyama, Wataru (April 1996). "RPG Attack - Dungeons And Dragons 2 (Arcade)". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine . No. 87. Larry Flynt Publications. p. 67.
  26. ↑ Rausch, Allen (August 18, 2004). "A History of D&D Video Games - Part IV: There have been some great D&D video games over the years, along with some we'd like to forget (Page 2)". GameSpy . IGN. Archived from the original on August 12, 2012. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  27. ↑ "Regreso al pasado: Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara". MeriStation (in Spanish). PRISA. March 2, 2012. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  28. ↑ McFerran, Damien (March 25, 2013). "Feature: The Making of Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom & Shadow Over Mystara - Hey waiter, you got some RPG in my beat 'em up!". Nintendo Life . Archived from the original on 2020-03-25. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  29. ↑ Vas, Gergo (March 13, 2013). "The Best Looking Beat 'em Up Games From The 16-Bit Era". Kotaku . G/O Media. Archived from the original on April 9, 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
  30. ↑ Nix, Marc (February 5, 2014). "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All-Time - Decades of epic adventuring". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.