The Tower of Druaga (video game)

The Tower of Druaga arcade flyer

The Tower of Druaga (ドルアーガの塔, Doruāga no Tou) is a maze-based action-adventure arcade game released by Namco in 1984. It is the first game in the Babylonian Castle Saga, where the player controls prince Gilgamesh and has to climb the titular tower to defeat the demon Druaga at the top to save the maiden Ki.

The game is inspired by Sumerian and Babylonian mythology, including the Epic of Gilgamesh and Tower of Babel.

For the arcade cabinet of the game, see The Tower of Druaga Arcade Cabinet.

Story

In another time

In another world...

The Blue Crystal Rod kept the kingdom of Babylim in peace, but the evil demon Druaga hid the rod and the maiden Ki in a tower. The prince Gilgamesh wore golden armor and attacked the monsters in the tower to save Ki in the Tower of Druaga.

Characters

Title screen of the arcade game

Main characters

• Gilgamesh - the protagonist. Prince Gil enters the tower to save Ki.
• Ki - a maiden captured by Druaga.
• Ishtar - a goddess that assists Gil.
• Druaga - the antagonist, an evil and powerful demon.
• Succubus - a demon that works for Druaga.
• Quox - a dragon that lives in the tower.
• Anshar - a mysterious demon; only appears in the PC Engine version.

Enemies

• Slimes
• Knights
• Magicians
• Ghosts
• Ropers
• Dragons
• Will o' Wisps

Gameplay

Gil surrounded by hazards

The player takes the role as Gilgamesh, beginning the game at floor 1. The goal of each floor is to find the key and use it to unlock the exit to the next floor. Most floors also contain a treasure chest with an item inside. Most items are useful, a few are be harmful, and some are required to complete the game. Use the sword to slay enemies, and block spells with the shield. Gil can swing the sword with a button tap or leave it drawn by holding the button down. While the sword is out, the shield shield will be on the Gil's left.

Most enemies kill Gil instantly on contact, while a few, such as dragons and knights, drain his vitality, a stat which is hidden from the player in most versions of the game. Similarly, most enemies will die in one hit, while only a few require multiple hits. Some items in the game increase Gil's vitality and attack power, while others can offer protection from certain enemy attacks, such as a dragon's fire breath.

A timer at the bottom of the screen counts down twice. The first countdown indicates the number of points that will be received upon completing the floor; the second time displays the number of seconds left before Gil will lose a life.

Ports

Famicom logo

The Tower of Druaga was also released for the Famicom (NES) in 1985, MSX in 1986, Game Boy in 1990, PC Engine in 1992, and the Wii Virtual Console in 2009. The game is also part of some of the Namco Museum compilations for PlayStation, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Switch. Most versions have some differences between them, including extra arrange modes.

In the Game Boy version, a password is given at every 10 floors to allow the player to continue. In lieu of lives, Gil has a visible health counter and is able to withstand more hits.

The PC Engine version is a remake of the original, having different content, such as new enemies (including enemies from other games such as vampires and salamanders), new items, four difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard, and pro), and a password system for the two easiest difficulties. The pro difficulty is closer to the original version, having similar treasure reveal methods and lacking the new enemies.

CD-ROM case

In 2001, MediaKite released a port for Windows that can be played on XP, ME, 95, 98, 2000, and any Windows desktop computer that supports backwards compatibility and DirectX 7 or higher.

HAMSTER Corporation, producers of the ARCADE ARCHIVES series for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, published a re-release for The Tower of Druaga in 2022. It features toggleable bug fixes, the ability to display Gil's vitality and pickaxe swings remaining, scoring modes, and online leaderboards.

Secrets

Level select screen

The arcade game has a hidden continue mode that allows the player to resume after reaching a game over. To access it, press and hold the attack button then press start. If done correctly, the game should prompt the player to choose a floor. The player may choose any floor that was reached in their previous playthrough; all the items they held upon game over will be present in their inventory. This only works in single player mode.

Cheats

On Namco Museum Vol. 3 for PlayStation, the following cheats can be added on a GameShark disk for The Tower of Druaga. This currently works for Version 5.

GameShark Cheats

Name	Status	Code Value	Address
No Monsters	Active	3015F534	FFFF
Door Opened	Active	8015F52C	2080
Have Key	Active	8015F530	0001
Infinite Credits	Active	8015F480	0009
Infinite Time	Active	8015F464	E320
Treasure Appear	Press R2 to activate	D015F498 8015F438	0002 0001
Infinite Lives	Unstable	8016664A	0003
Level Select	Unstable	3016664B	003B
Unlimited Pickaxe	Active (broken)	8015F584	002C

Reception

The game was a success, attracting millions of fans in Japan with its mix of action and adventure elements. Originally conceived as a "fantasy Pac-Man", the game laid the foundations for the action role-playing game genre, inspiring Nihon Falcom's Dragon Slayer. Both The Tower of Druaga and Dragon Slayer largely began the trend of combining RPG elements with arcade-style action mechanics, inspiring action role-playing games such as Hydlide and Ys as well as The Legend of Zelda.

Trivia

Arcade game's default leaderboard

• The game was titled "Tower of Anu" during development.
• The game's staff are credited in the score board.

External links

• Japanese Virtual Console page (Arcade version)
• Japanese Virtual Console page (Famicom version)
• The Tower Of Druaga Cocktail Cabinet 3D Model