Platform: PC (also on PSN/XBLA/Nintendo eShop)
Developer: Iron Galaxy Studios/Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
# of Players: 1 – 4
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Score: A- (90%)
It’s really too bad developer Iron Galaxy didn’t make its version of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara compatible with Windows XP simply because I’d bet a dollar that people still using that older OS would get a hell of a lot more of a kick from this pair of classic Capcom arcade hit than a chunk of more current OS users filling up the Steam forums with all sorts of complaints about everything from the visuals not being worthy of the system requirements to the game not working properly on certain systems or supporting any other peripheral except an official Xbox 360 controller. Us non-picky oldsters who prefer XP because 90+ percent of the games we run ARE old news to you big-riggers out there (long live gog.com!) would be all over this game like white on rice (or brown on rice is you’re into that variety) and even though we only make up less than 8% of Steam users (according to Steam), that’s almost a potential 8% more people buying and possibly NOT bitching about the graphics and having to use one controller type that works perfectly as soon as it’s plugged in. But I digress…
Capcom’s two Dungeons & Dragons games (Tower of Doom and Shadow over Mystara) still hold up today as exciting slices of arcade bliss thanks to challenging gameplay, multiple paths through the adventures and some excellent sprites and animation. It’s also a perfect example of replay value more than justifying a price point as you’ll get that fifteen dollars worth of playtime in most likely over the course of a weekend once you’re hooked in and the hours melt away. While the game may look and indeed seem simple to those expecting something so old to be a basic button-basher with easy play mechanics, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Dive in an start slamming at your controller and watch your lives fall away and that Game Over screen pop up so much that you’ll think the game has the wrong title. On the other hand, pick a class and learn it, beat the game with it and try a different one – you’ll see there’s a lot more depth than you’d think. Your basic moves are similar for each character, but each one has magic or special attacks and their own skills and gear that make for a ton of replayability. Since this is a spin-off of the popular tabletop RPG, many elements are used in a familiar enough manner for even the crankiest of its fans to find themselves having a blast.
In solo play, the game can be pretty tough going and if you hate being reminded of your failings at taking down that rolling wagon boss (or any of the other bosses for that matter), the game won’t let you forget how many times you died, as it does too good a job at tallying all sorts of stats. For the record, it’s not impossible to beat the game playing alone, but it’s going to make you sprout a few callouses and maybe bust a controller in the process. In offline co-op (yes, you can indeed plug multiple controllers into your PC if it has enough USB ports) or online play, the game feels a lot more balanced as those extra hands come in handy when the going gets tough. Enemies don’t hang back much here, as you’ll often take ranged weapon of magic hits from a distance and from both sides of the screen at that.
Laying down the law on the assorted baddies will earn Challenge points that can be used to unlock a bunch of great production art as well as a few VERY cool and game-changing rules that can make things much easier to incredibly tough. This and the three visual filters plus a online leaderboards and a bunch of other fine features make this the best version of the game to date. For years, I was kicking myself for passing up the Sega Saturn import, then buying it and selling it off later (oops), but now, I can get into this gem with relish and not feel as I’ve missed a thing, gained a true four player mode (the Saturn game was limited to two players) and tell anyone interested that this one’s an absolute purchase if they happen to ask.
Granted, as I’m still using Windows XP, I had to con a friend into buying the game so I could boogie on over to his place, controller in hand. Actually, he was planning to buy it anyway, but was holding out for my two cents, but once I told him of my stupid little OS problem, he picked up the game on good faith and we had to practically kick each other out of his house after a few hours of playing. I’m actually planning to import the upcoming Japanese PlayStation 3 version of this set, as it’s the same game, but programmed by some of the team that worked on the original arcade games back in the day. As it’s on a disc (yes!), I don’t need to deal with PSN taking down my system with any funky update nonsense and I’m really looking forward to checking out the differences between the two games as far as bonus content and anything else that’s different.
There’s really not much more to say other than BUY this game, period. It’s a nicely nostalgic throwback that’s more than welcome, fun to play, hard as hell where it counts and very highly re-playable.
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