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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ddsom_art03_839.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Once upon a time, Capcom rolled a [[CriticalHit natural 20]].]]
-->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qli40cgY4c "Welcome to the D&D world!"]]''
-->-- Sound effect for coin insert
'''''Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom''''' is a side-scrolling [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] by Creator/{{Capcom}} originally released for the arcades in 1994 which ran on the CP-System II hardware. It was followed by a single sequel in 1996 titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara''''', along with a compilation of both games titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons Collection''''' released exclusively in Japan for the SegaSaturn in 1999. They are notable for their unique blending of the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' game system and Capcom's then-popular 2D scrolling-brawler engine, put in the limelight by ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' back in 1989. The duology is also respected for Capcom's [[ShownTheirWork showing their work]] in regards to using the RPG system's lore and combat rules, and for providing a certain amount of depth to the beat 'em up genre that wasn't previously explored: Characters have multiple special moves, can use items and magic, can collect money to spend in towns, can equip weapons and armor, and can even choose branching paths as well as look for hidden areas, of which there are many.
The plot is pretty simple: Six adventurers, hungry for glory, hunt a dragon king/queen and bring peace to the land.
The adventuring party consists of six characters.
The first game, ''Tower of Doom'', has:
* '''The Fighter''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Crassus, Jarred), who can use any melee weapon in the game and is capable of DualWielding swords. The only thing he is missing is magic.
-->"By the abyss!"
* '''The Elf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Lucia, Kayla), the original SquishyWizard of the first game. She compensates for low hit points with high speed and ranged attacks, and offensive magic. In the second game, she can use the same special gear as the Fighter and Dwarf, making her much more survivable than the Magic-User.
-->"I'm not done yet!"
* '''The Cleric''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Greldon, Miles), who can heal and provide {{Status Buff}}s and Debuffs. All his weapons are blunt and have either poor range or are slow. He can also TurnUndead, which in the game works as a SmartBomb against skeletons, zombies and the like.
-->"Broke the shadow!"
* '''The Dwarf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Dimsdale, Hendel), who can hit treasure chests to squeeze more treasure out of them. [[MightyGlacier Very slow,]] but hits a lot of times per swing.
-->"Orc spawn!"
The second game, ''Shadow over Mystara'', adds:
* '''The Thief''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Moriah, Shannon), MsFanservice incarnate, who has a ton of fighting options, trap detection, and a stealing ability to compensate for low hit points and inability to use a shield.
-->"Is that your best?"
* '''The Magic-User''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Syous, D'Raven), who can barely fight physically but starts every level with a high amount of offensive magic spells. Also can't use a shield.
-->"You!"
In ''Shadow over Mystara'', there are alternate versions of each character, allowing two players to choose the same class.
An old but useful FAQ is available [[http://jonc101.tripod.com/SOM/index.htm here.]]
Both ''Tower'' and ''Shadows'' were released on the [=PlayStation=] Network, Xbox Live, Wii U eShop and {{Steam}} in June 18th, 2013 as '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara'''''.
----
!!These games provide examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: Capcom did a pretty good job of breaking down an encyclopedia's worth of a pen and paper game into a beat em up. The closest thing anyone has come close to recreating the experience can pretty much be only found in ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' or ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'' (the latter being a ''real'' RPG, of the MMO variety.)
* AntiMagic: In a nice nod to the source material, magic users won't be able to cast spells when the Beholder's central anti-magic eye is open and looking in their direction. Of course, [[GuideDangIt good luck figuring out what's going on]] if you don't know ''D&D'' monsters.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the pieces of equipment that actually do something useful will also break after taking a few hits. And you will take a lot of hits.
* BackStab: One of the Thief's moves. An instant kill, but requires some setup.
* BalefulPolymorph: Amazingly, this spell was kept in.
* BigBad: Deimos in the first game, Synn in the second.
** In the second game, Deimos is [[spoiler:DemotedToExtra]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:The Glantri Air Force in the ending.]]
** Also the first Troll boss, much, much earlier. If you don't [[KillItWithFire figure out how to keep it from regenerating]] in time, the castle guards will run in and show you.
* BonusBoss: Both games have a Red Dragon as a Bonus Boss, who is every bit as tough as (if not tougher than) the BigBad.
* BoringYetPractical: Mundane consumables like Daggers and Arrows do surprisingly good damage at range, especially if used repeatedly. Throwing Hammers are like this as well, yet are thrown on an arc that can hit flyers and they stun their target to boot. Large Burning Oils can hit 4 times with a single throw.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[LimitBreak Final Strike.]] With high enough total EXP count and a Magic-User who's equipped with the Staff Of Wizardry, having every playable character hit every button on the console brings down a literal wrath of the gods that instantly shreds all opponents but the final boss, at the cost of all but one of everybody's hit points and Staff Of Wizardry.
* CompetitiveBalance:
** {{Glass Cannon}}s: The Elf in ''Tower of Doom'' and Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a FragileSpeedster.
** [[JackOfAllStats Jacks-of-All-Stats]]: The Cleric in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Fighter in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a StoneWall.
** {{Lightning Bruiser}}s: The Fighter in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Thief in ''Mystara''.
** MightyGlacier: The Dwarf.
* CoolButInefficient: The Storm Blade, Staff of Serpents, Wand of Fire, and Wand of Ice have a neat effect but are just-plain-worse than normal weapons in many circumstances. Meteor Swarm looks nice but is near-useless against the ''one'' boss you get to try it against.
* CosmeticAward: High scores from people who defeated the red dragon in the both games have a flying dragon icon.
* DemBones: Standard skeleton warriors with one-handed swords and round shields.
* DesperationAttack: Tapping Attack and Jump simultaneously unleashes a "Panic Attack" which clears out enemies on either side of you and knocks them down, at the cost of some hit points. Although panic attacks are common in beat 'em ups, it is useless here because you have uppercut attacks, magic, sliding, and [[ExplosiveInstrumentation burning oils]] for this purpose, and using any of them doesn't damage you in the process.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything:
** Many signs are written in "monster script" and only certain classes can read them - whether due to taking it as a bonus language or by having the Decipher Script skill.
** The Magic-User can't push statues because his Strength score is too low.
** The Dwarf can pick up things from the ground just as quickly as a crouching character.
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Title of the first game!
* TheDragon: Tel'Arin the Shadow Elf is the Dragon to Deimos in ''Tower of Doom'', and arguably to Synn in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
** Nagpa is TheDragon in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
* DualBoss: The mud golems before Deimos, and the Displacer Beast at Fort Cruth (although as usual with Displacer Beasts, one's a fake).
** Also Ogre Master Bros.
* DualWielding: The Fighter can do this if he finds a short sword. The Thief wields a sword and dagger for her charging attack.
* DummiedOut[=/=]NoExportForYou -- Some of the boss dialogue is cut from the world version of the game.
* EldritchAbomination: Synn's ultimate plan is to summon a monstrosity known only as "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Fiend]]." Thankfully (or not), you never get to fight the Fiend, as the Glantri Air Force comes in and blasts the creature back into the pit it spawned from.
* EvilLaugh: Tel'Arin loves doing this.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Sable Tower, the titular tower of ''Tower of Doom''.
* FlunkyBoss: The majority of boss fights are like this, with regular enemies that keep showing up during the fight.
* GuideDangIt: How to uncurse the two cursed swords. Also, the Spell of Final Rest.
** Not to mention the fact that both games have hidden areas, and ''Tower of Doom'' has ''missable towns''.
* HaveANiceDeath: Bosses taunt you as the continue timer ticks in the first game.
* HeadSwap: Every player character has a head-swapped counterpart who has his or her unique stats, and in case of magic users, a few alternate spells.
* HelloInsertNameHere: The characters can be given the name of the player's choice, and some specific "names" are in fact cheat codes.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Synn's outfit.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Sword of Legend.
* KillItWithFire: Fireballs and Oil of Burning obviously. A little GuideDangIt for those who haven't played [[ShownTheirWork the source material]], the troll boss at the end of one of the stages in ''Tower of Doom'' will continue to get up, [[HealingFactor regenerating lost life]] until you do this. If you don't have any fireballs/oil on you and time is about to run out, [[TheCavalry some archers with flaming arrows]] will finish the job.
* MistakenForProstitute: Touching one of the shopkeepers makes her protest that "I'm not for sale!"
* OminousFloatingCastle: Synn's headquarters.
* OneHitKill: Red Dragon breath - whether from above, the side, or the background.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Surprisingly in ''Mystara'', orcs are never fought as enemies. Instead, they are eloquent shopkeepers who know how to do things like forge a dragon's horn into the Dragonslayer Sword.
* PaletteSwap: Tel'Arin and Tel'Eleron. Somewhat justified in that [[spoiler: they're brothers.]]
* PressXToNotDie: For example, shaking off petrification.
* RememberTheNewGuy: ''Mystara'' treats the Thief and Magic-User as if they have been adventuring with the party since the beginning. The Thief even mentions procuring a MacGuffin from the first game that is important to unlocking the final stage.
* ReverseGrip: The Thief wields ''full-sized'' swords this way.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Fiend in ''Mystara''.
* ShownTheirWork: Aside from accurately incorporating rules and monsters from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the games are set in the world of Mystara, the campaign setting that originated with the "Basic" edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The Night Dragon Synn is a major villain in the campaign.
* {{Shoryuken}}: All characters but the Magic-User can do this. The Fighter can hit twice with his, and the Thief's includes a free Large Burning Oil for combo purposes.
* SilverBullet: Silver Daggers and Silver Arrows are highly-effective on some types of enemies.
* SpiderSense: The Thief can see traps, including the type of trap.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/TheKingOfDragons''.
* SpoonyBard: One of the shopkeepers, who claims that he is too old to go adventuring despite looking like a handsome young elf.
* SquishyWizard: The elf in the first game, the Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In fact, the MU is so squishy, he doesn't even have a basic combo attack chain, rush move, "knock-everyone-around-down-at-the-cost-of-some-life" attack or uppercut. To his defense, however, every 1 out of 16 dagger stabs (an otherwise useless extra attack that he has instead of a knockdown attack) is an insta-kill to anything he is fighting, save for bosses, and even they take a significant amount of damage from it.
* {{Stripperific}}: Moriah the Thief, Synn the Night Dragon, and '''''every''''' Shadow Elf enemy (including the males).
* TeasedWithAwesome: Some really neat weapons, such as the Sword of Flame, Sword of Frost, or Dragon Slayer, show up in the next-to-last level. There's also a secret store that sells very powerful weapons, that can only be found a few levels from the end. The treasure screen more-directly teases you with awesome by showing you all the awesome you didn't find.
* TheUnfought: The Fiend in the second game shows up as part of the ending, but isn't fought.
* VancianMagic: True to the original game, all magic users have finite spells, only rechargeable by beating the level or finding spell scrolls. If you are the [[SquishyWizard Magic-User]] and you drain your spell tree killing kobolds, you are effectively fucked.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: The Dragonslayer Sword, which is nearly as good as the Sword of Legend against Synn. Also, the Holy Avenger, which either instantly kills or does extra damage to undead.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending of ''Mystara'' briefly mentions what each Player Character did after the game.
* WolfpackBoss: Nagpa fights alongside a manticore and a black dragon.
----
<<|BeatEmUp|>>
<<|ActionRPG|>>
[[caption-width-right:350:Once upon a time, Capcom rolled a [[CriticalHit natural 20]].]]
-->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qli40cgY4c "Welcome to the D&D world!"]]''
-->-- Sound effect for coin insert
'''''Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom''''' is a side-scrolling [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] by Creator/{{Capcom}} originally released for the arcades in 1994 which ran on the CP-System II hardware. It was followed by a single sequel in 1996 titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara''''', along with a compilation of both games titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons Collection''''' released exclusively in Japan for the SegaSaturn in 1999. They are notable for their unique blending of the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' game system and Capcom's then-popular 2D scrolling-brawler engine, put in the limelight by ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' back in 1989. The duology is also respected for Capcom's [[ShownTheirWork showing their work]] in regards to using the RPG system's lore and combat rules, and for providing a certain amount of depth to the beat 'em up genre that wasn't previously explored: Characters have multiple special moves, can use items and magic, can collect money to spend in towns, can equip weapons and armor, and can even choose branching paths as well as look for hidden areas, of which there are many.
The plot is pretty simple: Six adventurers, hungry for glory, hunt a dragon king/queen and bring peace to the land.
The adventuring party consists of six characters.
The first game, ''Tower of Doom'', has:
* '''The Fighter''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Crassus, Jarred), who can use any melee weapon in the game and is capable of DualWielding swords. The only thing he is missing is magic.
-->"By the abyss!"
* '''The Elf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Lucia, Kayla), the original SquishyWizard of the first game. She compensates for low hit points with high speed and ranged attacks, and offensive magic. In the second game, she can use the same special gear as the Fighter and Dwarf, making her much more survivable than the Magic-User.
-->"I'm not done yet!"
* '''The Cleric''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Greldon, Miles), who can heal and provide {{Status Buff}}s and Debuffs. All his weapons are blunt and have either poor range or are slow. He can also TurnUndead, which in the game works as a SmartBomb against skeletons, zombies and the like.
-->"Broke the shadow!"
* '''The Dwarf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Dimsdale, Hendel), who can hit treasure chests to squeeze more treasure out of them. [[MightyGlacier Very slow,]] but hits a lot of times per swing.
-->"Orc spawn!"
The second game, ''Shadow over Mystara'', adds:
* '''The Thief''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Moriah, Shannon), MsFanservice incarnate, who has a ton of fighting options, trap detection, and a stealing ability to compensate for low hit points and inability to use a shield.
-->"Is that your best?"
* '''The Magic-User''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Syous, D'Raven), who can barely fight physically but starts every level with a high amount of offensive magic spells. Also can't use a shield.
-->"You!"
In ''Shadow over Mystara'', there are alternate versions of each character, allowing two players to choose the same class.
An old but useful FAQ is available [[http://jonc101.tripod.com/SOM/index.htm here.]]
Both ''Tower'' and ''Shadows'' were released on the [=PlayStation=] Network, Xbox Live, Wii U eShop and {{Steam}} in June 18th, 2013 as '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara'''''.
----
!!These games provide examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: Capcom did a pretty good job of breaking down an encyclopedia's worth of a pen and paper game into a beat em up. The closest thing anyone has come close to recreating the experience can pretty much be only found in ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' or ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'' (the latter being a ''real'' RPG, of the MMO variety.)
* AntiMagic: In a nice nod to the source material, magic users won't be able to cast spells when the Beholder's central anti-magic eye is open and looking in their direction. Of course, [[GuideDangIt good luck figuring out what's going on]] if you don't know ''D&D'' monsters.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the pieces of equipment that actually do something useful will also break after taking a few hits. And you will take a lot of hits.
* BackStab: One of the Thief's moves. An instant kill, but requires some setup.
* BalefulPolymorph: Amazingly, this spell was kept in.
* BigBad: Deimos in the first game, Synn in the second.
** In the second game, Deimos is [[spoiler:DemotedToExtra]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:The Glantri Air Force in the ending.]]
** Also the first Troll boss, much, much earlier. If you don't [[KillItWithFire figure out how to keep it from regenerating]] in time, the castle guards will run in and show you.
* BonusBoss: Both games have a Red Dragon as a Bonus Boss, who is every bit as tough as (if not tougher than) the BigBad.
* BoringYetPractical: Mundane consumables like Daggers and Arrows do surprisingly good damage at range, especially if used repeatedly. Throwing Hammers are like this as well, yet are thrown on an arc that can hit flyers and they stun their target to boot. Large Burning Oils can hit 4 times with a single throw.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[LimitBreak Final Strike.]] With high enough total EXP count and a Magic-User who's equipped with the Staff Of Wizardry, having every playable character hit every button on the console brings down a literal wrath of the gods that instantly shreds all opponents but the final boss, at the cost of all but one of everybody's hit points and Staff Of Wizardry.
* CompetitiveBalance:
** {{Glass Cannon}}s: The Elf in ''Tower of Doom'' and Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a FragileSpeedster.
** [[JackOfAllStats Jacks-of-All-Stats]]: The Cleric in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Fighter in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a StoneWall.
** {{Lightning Bruiser}}s: The Fighter in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Thief in ''Mystara''.
** MightyGlacier: The Dwarf.
* CoolButInefficient: The Storm Blade, Staff of Serpents, Wand of Fire, and Wand of Ice have a neat effect but are just-plain-worse than normal weapons in many circumstances. Meteor Swarm looks nice but is near-useless against the ''one'' boss you get to try it against.
* CosmeticAward: High scores from people who defeated the red dragon in the both games have a flying dragon icon.
* DemBones: Standard skeleton warriors with one-handed swords and round shields.
* DesperationAttack: Tapping Attack and Jump simultaneously unleashes a "Panic Attack" which clears out enemies on either side of you and knocks them down, at the cost of some hit points. Although panic attacks are common in beat 'em ups, it is useless here because you have uppercut attacks, magic, sliding, and [[ExplosiveInstrumentation burning oils]] for this purpose, and using any of them doesn't damage you in the process.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything:
** Many signs are written in "monster script" and only certain classes can read them - whether due to taking it as a bonus language or by having the Decipher Script skill.
** The Magic-User can't push statues because his Strength score is too low.
** The Dwarf can pick up things from the ground just as quickly as a crouching character.
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Title of the first game!
* TheDragon: Tel'Arin the Shadow Elf is the Dragon to Deimos in ''Tower of Doom'', and arguably to Synn in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
** Nagpa is TheDragon in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
* DualBoss: The mud golems before Deimos, and the Displacer Beast at Fort Cruth (although as usual with Displacer Beasts, one's a fake).
** Also Ogre Master Bros.
* DualWielding: The Fighter can do this if he finds a short sword. The Thief wields a sword and dagger for her charging attack.
* DummiedOut[=/=]NoExportForYou -- Some of the boss dialogue is cut from the world version of the game.
* EldritchAbomination: Synn's ultimate plan is to summon a monstrosity known only as "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Fiend]]." Thankfully (or not), you never get to fight the Fiend, as the Glantri Air Force comes in and blasts the creature back into the pit it spawned from.
* EvilLaugh: Tel'Arin loves doing this.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Sable Tower, the titular tower of ''Tower of Doom''.
* FlunkyBoss: The majority of boss fights are like this, with regular enemies that keep showing up during the fight.
* GuideDangIt: How to uncurse the two cursed swords. Also, the Spell of Final Rest.
** Not to mention the fact that both games have hidden areas, and ''Tower of Doom'' has ''missable towns''.
* HaveANiceDeath: Bosses taunt you as the continue timer ticks in the first game.
* HeadSwap: Every player character has a head-swapped counterpart who has his or her unique stats, and in case of magic users, a few alternate spells.
* HelloInsertNameHere: The characters can be given the name of the player's choice, and some specific "names" are in fact cheat codes.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Synn's outfit.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Sword of Legend.
* KillItWithFire: Fireballs and Oil of Burning obviously. A little GuideDangIt for those who haven't played [[ShownTheirWork the source material]], the troll boss at the end of one of the stages in ''Tower of Doom'' will continue to get up, [[HealingFactor regenerating lost life]] until you do this. If you don't have any fireballs/oil on you and time is about to run out, [[TheCavalry some archers with flaming arrows]] will finish the job.
* MistakenForProstitute: Touching one of the shopkeepers makes her protest that "I'm not for sale!"
* OminousFloatingCastle: Synn's headquarters.
* OneHitKill: Red Dragon breath - whether from above, the side, or the background.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Surprisingly in ''Mystara'', orcs are never fought as enemies. Instead, they are eloquent shopkeepers who know how to do things like forge a dragon's horn into the Dragonslayer Sword.
* PaletteSwap: Tel'Arin and Tel'Eleron. Somewhat justified in that [[spoiler: they're brothers.]]
* PressXToNotDie: For example, shaking off petrification.
* RememberTheNewGuy: ''Mystara'' treats the Thief and Magic-User as if they have been adventuring with the party since the beginning. The Thief even mentions procuring a MacGuffin from the first game that is important to unlocking the final stage.
* ReverseGrip: The Thief wields ''full-sized'' swords this way.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Fiend in ''Mystara''.
* ShownTheirWork: Aside from accurately incorporating rules and monsters from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the games are set in the world of Mystara, the campaign setting that originated with the "Basic" edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The Night Dragon Synn is a major villain in the campaign.
* {{Shoryuken}}: All characters but the Magic-User can do this. The Fighter can hit twice with his, and the Thief's includes a free Large Burning Oil for combo purposes.
* SilverBullet: Silver Daggers and Silver Arrows are highly-effective on some types of enemies.
* SpiderSense: The Thief can see traps, including the type of trap.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/TheKingOfDragons''.
* SpoonyBard: One of the shopkeepers, who claims that he is too old to go adventuring despite looking like a handsome young elf.
* SquishyWizard: The elf in the first game, the Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In fact, the MU is so squishy, he doesn't even have a basic combo attack chain, rush move, "knock-everyone-around-down-at-the-cost-of-some-life" attack or uppercut. To his defense, however, every 1 out of 16 dagger stabs (an otherwise useless extra attack that he has instead of a knockdown attack) is an insta-kill to anything he is fighting, save for bosses, and even they take a significant amount of damage from it.
* {{Stripperific}}: Moriah the Thief, Synn the Night Dragon, and '''''every''''' Shadow Elf enemy (including the males).
* TeasedWithAwesome: Some really neat weapons, such as the Sword of Flame, Sword of Frost, or Dragon Slayer, show up in the next-to-last level. There's also a secret store that sells very powerful weapons, that can only be found a few levels from the end. The treasure screen more-directly teases you with awesome by showing you all the awesome you didn't find.
* TheUnfought: The Fiend in the second game shows up as part of the ending, but isn't fought.
* VancianMagic: True to the original game, all magic users have finite spells, only rechargeable by beating the level or finding spell scrolls. If you are the [[SquishyWizard Magic-User]] and you drain your spell tree killing kobolds, you are effectively fucked.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: The Dragonslayer Sword, which is nearly as good as the Sword of Legend against Synn. Also, the Holy Avenger, which either instantly kills or does extra damage to undead.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending of ''Mystara'' briefly mentions what each Player Character did after the game.
* WolfpackBoss: Nagpa fights alongside a manticore and a black dragon.
----
<<|BeatEmUp|>>
<<|ActionRPG|>>
to:
[[caption-width-right:350:Once upon a time, Capcom rolled a [[CriticalHit natural 20]].]]
-->''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qli40cgY4c "Welcome to the D&D world!"]]''
-->-- Sound effect for coin insert
'''''Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom''''' is a side-scrolling [[BeatEmUp beat-'em-up]] by Creator/{{Capcom}} originally released for the arcades in 1994 which ran on the CP-System II hardware. It was followed by a single sequel in 1996 titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara''''', along with a compilation of both games titled '''''Dungeons & Dragons Collection''''' released exclusively in Japan for the SegaSaturn in 1999. They are notable for their unique blending of the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' game system and Capcom's then-popular 2D scrolling-brawler engine, put in the limelight by ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' back in 1989. The duology is also respected for Capcom's [[ShownTheirWork showing their work]] in regards to using the RPG system's lore and combat rules, and for providing a certain amount of depth to the beat 'em up genre that wasn't previously explored: Characters have multiple special moves, can use items and magic, can collect money to spend in towns, can equip weapons and armor, and can even choose branching paths as well as look for hidden areas, of which there are many.
The plot is pretty simple: Six adventurers, hungry for glory, hunt a dragon king/queen and bring peace to the land.
The adventuring party consists of six characters.
The first game, ''Tower of Doom'', has:
* '''The Fighter''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Crassus, Jarred), who can use any melee weapon in the game and is capable of DualWielding swords. The only thing he is missing is magic.
-->"By the abyss!"
* '''The Elf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Lucia, Kayla), the original SquishyWizard of the first game. She compensates for low hit points with high speed and ranged attacks, and offensive magic. In the second game, she can use the same special gear as the Fighter and Dwarf, making her much more survivable than the Magic-User.
-->"I'm not done yet!"
* '''The Cleric''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Greldon, Miles), who can heal and provide {{Status Buff}}s and Debuffs. All his weapons are blunt and have either poor range or are slow. He can also TurnUndead, which in the game works as a SmartBomb against skeletons, zombies and the like.
-->"Broke the shadow!"
* '''The Dwarf''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Dimsdale, Hendel), who can hit treasure chests to squeeze more treasure out of them. [[MightyGlacier Very slow,]] but hits a lot of times per swing.
-->"Orc spawn!"
The second game, ''Shadow over Mystara'', adds:
* '''The Thief''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Moriah, Shannon), MsFanservice incarnate, who has a ton of fighting options, trap detection, and a stealing ability to compensate for low hit points and inability to use a shield.
-->"Is that your best?"
* '''The Magic-User''' ({{Canon Name}}s: Syous, D'Raven), who can barely fight physically but starts every level with a high amount of offensive magic spells. Also can't use a shield.
-->"You!"
In ''Shadow over Mystara'', there are alternate versions of each character, allowing two players to choose the same class.
An old but useful FAQ is available [[http://jonc101.tripod.com/SOM/index.htm here.]]
Both ''Tower'' and ''Shadows'' were released on the [=PlayStation=] Network, Xbox Live, Wii U eShop and {{Steam}} in June 18th, 2013 as '''''Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara'''''.
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!!These games provide examples of:
* AdaptationDistillation: Capcom did a pretty good job of breaking down an encyclopedia's worth of a pen and paper game into a beat em up. The closest thing anyone has come close to recreating the experience can pretty much be only found in ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' or ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'' (the latter being a ''real'' RPG, of the MMO variety.)
* AntiMagic: In a nice nod to the source material, magic users won't be able to cast spells when the Beholder's central anti-magic eye is open and looking in their direction. Of course, [[GuideDangIt good luck figuring out what's going on]] if you don't know ''D&D'' monsters.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Many of the pieces of equipment that actually do something useful will also break after taking a few hits. And you will take a lot of hits.
* BackStab: One of the Thief's moves. An instant kill, but requires some setup.
* BalefulPolymorph: Amazingly, this spell was kept in.
* BigBad: Deimos in the first game, Synn in the second.
** In the second game, Deimos is [[spoiler:DemotedToExtra]]
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:The Glantri Air Force in the ending.]]
** Also the first Troll boss, much, much earlier. If you don't [[KillItWithFire figure out how to keep it from regenerating]] in time, the castle guards will run in and show you.
* BonusBoss: Both games have a Red Dragon as a Bonus Boss, who is every bit as tough as (if not tougher than) the BigBad.
* BoringYetPractical: Mundane consumables like Daggers and Arrows do surprisingly good damage at range, especially if used repeatedly. Throwing Hammers are like this as well, yet are thrown on an arc that can hit flyers and they stun their target to boot. Large Burning Oils can hit 4 times with a single throw.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[LimitBreak Final Strike.]] With high enough total EXP count and a Magic-User who's equipped with the Staff Of Wizardry, having every playable character hit every button on the console brings down a literal wrath of the gods that instantly shreds all opponents but the final boss, at the cost of all but one of everybody's hit points and Staff Of Wizardry.
* CompetitiveBalance:
** {{Glass Cannon}}s: The Elf in ''Tower of Doom'' and Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a FragileSpeedster.
** [[JackOfAllStats Jacks-of-All-Stats]]: The Cleric in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Fighter in ''Mystara''. In ''Mystara'', the former is a StoneWall.
** {{Lightning Bruiser}}s: The Fighter in ''Tower of Doom'' and The Thief in ''Mystara''.
** MightyGlacier: The Dwarf.
* CoolButInefficient: The Storm Blade, Staff of Serpents, Wand of Fire, and Wand of Ice have a neat effect but are just-plain-worse than normal weapons in many circumstances. Meteor Swarm looks nice but is near-useless against the ''one'' boss you get to try it against.
* CosmeticAward: High scores from people who defeated the red dragon in the both games have a flying dragon icon.
* DemBones: Standard skeleton warriors with one-handed swords and round shields.
* DesperationAttack: Tapping Attack and Jump simultaneously unleashes a "Panic Attack" which clears out enemies on either side of you and knocks them down, at the cost of some hit points. Although panic attacks are common in beat 'em ups, it is useless here because you have uppercut attacks, magic, sliding, and [[ExplosiveInstrumentation burning oils]] for this purpose, and using any of them doesn't damage you in the process.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything:
** Many signs are written in "monster script" and only certain classes can read them - whether due to taking it as a bonus language or by having the Decipher Script skill.
** The Magic-User can't push statues because his Strength score is too low.
** The Dwarf can pick up things from the ground just as quickly as a crouching character.
* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Title of the first game!
* TheDragon: Tel'Arin the Shadow Elf is the Dragon to Deimos in ''Tower of Doom'', and arguably to Synn in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
** Nagpa is TheDragon in ''Shadow over Mystara''.
* DualBoss: The mud golems before Deimos, and the Displacer Beast at Fort Cruth (although as usual with Displacer Beasts, one's a fake).
** Also Ogre Master Bros.
* DualWielding: The Fighter can do this if he finds a short sword. The Thief wields a sword and dagger for her charging attack.
* DummiedOut[=/=]NoExportForYou -- Some of the boss dialogue is cut from the world version of the game.
* EldritchAbomination: Synn's ultimate plan is to summon a monstrosity known only as "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Fiend]]." Thankfully (or not), you never get to fight the Fiend, as the Glantri Air Force comes in and blasts the creature back into the pit it spawned from.
* EvilLaugh: Tel'Arin loves doing this.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: Sable Tower, the titular tower of ''Tower of Doom''.
* FlunkyBoss: The majority of boss fights are like this, with regular enemies that keep showing up during the fight.
* GuideDangIt: How to uncurse the two cursed swords. Also, the Spell of Final Rest.
** Not to mention the fact that both games have hidden areas, and ''Tower of Doom'' has ''missable towns''.
* HaveANiceDeath: Bosses taunt you as the continue timer ticks in the first game.
* HeadSwap: Every player character has a head-swapped counterpart who has his or her unique stats, and in case of magic users, a few alternate spells.
* HelloInsertNameHere: The characters can be given the name of the player's choice, and some specific "names" are in fact cheat codes.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Synn's outfit.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Sword of Legend.
* KillItWithFire: Fireballs and Oil of Burning obviously. A little GuideDangIt for those who haven't played [[ShownTheirWork the source material]], the troll boss at the end of one of the stages in ''Tower of Doom'' will continue to get up, [[HealingFactor regenerating lost life]] until you do this. If you don't have any fireballs/oil on you and time is about to run out, [[TheCavalry some archers with flaming arrows]] will finish the job.
* MistakenForProstitute: Touching one of the shopkeepers makes her protest that "I'm not for sale!"
* OminousFloatingCastle: Synn's headquarters.
* OneHitKill: Red Dragon breath - whether from above, the side, or the background.
* OurOrcsAreDifferent: Surprisingly in ''Mystara'', orcs are never fought as enemies. Instead, they are eloquent shopkeepers who know how to do things like forge a dragon's horn into the Dragonslayer Sword.
* PaletteSwap: Tel'Arin and Tel'Eleron. Somewhat justified in that [[spoiler: they're brothers.]]
* PressXToNotDie: For example, shaking off petrification.
* RememberTheNewGuy: ''Mystara'' treats the Thief and Magic-User as if they have been adventuring with the party since the beginning. The Thief even mentions procuring a MacGuffin from the first game that is important to unlocking the final stage.
* ReverseGrip: The Thief wields ''full-sized'' swords this way.
* SealedEvilInACan: The Fiend in ''Mystara''.
* ShownTheirWork: Aside from accurately incorporating rules and monsters from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the games are set in the world of Mystara, the campaign setting that originated with the "Basic" edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The Night Dragon Synn is a major villain in the campaign.
* {{Shoryuken}}: All characters but the Magic-User can do this. The Fighter can hit twice with his, and the Thief's includes a free Large Burning Oil for combo purposes.
* SilverBullet: Silver Daggers and Silver Arrows are highly-effective on some types of enemies.
* SpiderSense: The Thief can see traps, including the type of trap.
* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''VideoGame/TheKingOfDragons''.
* SpoonyBard: One of the shopkeepers, who claims that he is too old to go adventuring despite looking like a handsome young elf.
* SquishyWizard: The elf in the first game, the Magic-User in ''Mystara''. In fact, the MU is so squishy, he doesn't even have a basic combo attack chain, rush move, "knock-everyone-around-down-at-the-cost-of-some-life" attack or uppercut. To his defense, however, every 1 out of 16 dagger stabs (an otherwise useless extra attack that he has instead of a knockdown attack) is an insta-kill to anything he is fighting, save for bosses, and even they take a significant amount of damage from it.
* {{Stripperific}}: Moriah the Thief, Synn the Night Dragon, and '''''every''''' Shadow Elf enemy (including the males).
* TeasedWithAwesome: Some really neat weapons, such as the Sword of Flame, Sword of Frost, or Dragon Slayer, show up in the next-to-last level. There's also a secret store that sells very powerful weapons, that can only be found a few levels from the end. The treasure screen more-directly teases you with awesome by showing you all the awesome you didn't find.
* TheUnfought: The Fiend in the second game shows up as part of the ending, but isn't fought.
* VancianMagic: True to the original game, all magic users have finite spells, only rechargeable by beating the level or finding spell scrolls. If you are the [[SquishyWizard Magic-User]] and you drain your spell tree killing kobolds, you are effectively fucked.
* WeaponOfXSlaying: The Dragonslayer Sword, which is nearly as good as the Sword of Legend against Synn. Also, the Holy Avenger, which either instantly kills or does extra damage to undead.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending of ''Mystara'' briefly mentions what each Player Character did after the game.
* WolfpackBoss: Nagpa fights alongside a manticore and a black dragon.
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