Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara

Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara is a 1996 beat ‘em up game developed and published by Capcom for arcades. It is a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Mystara. 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 mechanics not commonly found in arcade games, such as finding and equipping 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 that is chosen. There is also an extensive assortment of magical and hidden items in the game, many of which are completely unknown to exist to the average player. This, along with the addition of multiple endings and forking paths, gives the game high replayability 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

In addition to the 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 pick the same character (in Tower of Doom, the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game 12 “different” characters to choose from. The two Magic-Users and the two Clerics 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 pick 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 juggle them in the air. Most characters (with the exception of the Magic-User and Cleric) have a Megacrush, a move which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character, but in turn also damages 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 is ready to cast. Extra uses of the spells can be picked up from the ground, represented graphically as scrolls, 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 within 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 extremely 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 magical equipment. There are also many unique hidden items (for example, 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 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 the traditional Dungeons & Dragons depiction of gnomes, are very tiny, standing about a foot tall).

Plot

After defeating the Arch Lich Deimos, the heroes continued on their journey through the Broken Lands of Glantri upon 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, determined to harness 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.

Read more on Wikipedia ↗