After a bit of hands-on time with a build of Capcom’s upcoming PC, PSN, Xbox Live and Wii U eShop arcade game Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, let’s just get this out of the way and say it’s probably going to be one of the bigger hits of the usually dry summer game season. With solo or drop-in/drop-out play, gorgeous high-definition 2D visuals (that can be displayed in a few fun resolutions) plenty of challenging gameplay and a wealth of bonus content, this game defines “arcade” and just might be seen as the way to port over an arcade classic. Developer Iron Galaxy has gone a few extra miles and packed the game with content without mucking with the original games’ visuals and yes, that Dungeons & Dragons license gets put to really good use here. If you were a Sega Saturn owner lucky enough to buy the expensive import version double pack, you can finally put that one back up on the shelf, as what’s here is a superb replacement…

Diving in for a quick co-op match with a happy Capcom rep was a blast, as the game is a pretty unforgiving beat-em up/hack & slash hybrid that fans of Capcom’s other classic 90’s titles such as The King of Dragons, Knights of the Round, Magic Sword, and of course, Final Fight. Both games in Chronicles, Tower of Doom and Shadows over Mystara are a bit more complex in that mere button-basing won’t win the day against every enemy at all, and the game’s mid-bosses and bosses will make short work of careless to clueless players that don’t keep up. Combos, power attacks and magic all come into play as enemies certainly aren’t going to stand around and wait while you lay them low.

The hectic pacing of the maps, humor from quick bits of dialog and the occasional classic animation gag (such as a boss on an armored wagon pausing in midair as his ride goes sailing off a cliff) keep the game rolling, and multiple paths mean this one’s not getting played once and socked away on that digital shelf. In fact, the new “House Rules” mode allows players to customize game rules to make the game easier or more difficult based on unlockable rewards found during play. There are also a ton of art gallery images from the original arcade version to unearth, a great addition for fans who want to see some very cool pre-production art from back in the day. Speaking of back in the day, among the visual tweaks available, players will be able to play the game in its original arcade resolution complete with scan lines that should absolutely baffle anyone who’s grown up with only HDTV as their standard.

Granted, this in of itself will make some dads and kids bump noggins as to which looks better, but I say save the fighting for busting the skulls of those on screen enemies and groove on the game any way you can play it. Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara hits PC, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and Nintendo’s eShop for the Wii U in June for a mere $14.99 (and it’s worth every digital penny, I say). If Capcom can get this ported to the Vita, they’ll get even more people dancing in the streets, but it’s already pretty crowded down here already between this and DuckTales coming out in the same time frame (more or less). Back with a review in a bit… stay tuned.