Lost In Translation/Tower of Druaga, The

This page is a stub for arcade games that are part of the Lost In Translation series using information based on MAME (version 0.113u2).
For an example of preferred content and layout please refer to Out Run or The Ninja Warriors.

The Tower of Druaga
Manufacturer	Namco
Released	1984
Control Method	4-way Joystick 1 Button(s)
Main CPU	(3x) M6809 (@ 1.536 MHz) M6809 (@ 1.536 MHz)
Sound CPU	Mono Namco 15XX (@ 24.000 kHz)
Video Details	Raster (Vertical) 288 x 224 pixels 60.61 Hz 1,280 Palette colours
Screens	1
ROM Info	10 ROMs 63,008 bytes (61.53 KiB)
MAME ID	todruaga · todruago

About The Game

The Tower of Druaga is an arcade video game where the player controls the heroic prince Gilgamesh who must attempt to rescue the maiden Ki from the demon Druaga.

You are armed with a sword and shield to attack and defend. Find hidden chests (and special items) when special conditions are met, some of which are required to beat the game.

Trivia

The Tower of Druaga (or 'TOD' for short) was originally called 'The Tower of ANU' during the development.

Prince Gilgamesh is the same Gilgamesh of Sumerian legend. Gilgamesh's shield (the red-line shield) and the Blue Crystal Rod make appearances as alternate weapons for Sophitia in "Soul Edge".

Namco released a boardgame based on this game (same name) in 1985 (in Japan only): You move through each level of the dungeon to get a key. You roll a dice for movement, take the shortest route towards the key, and after every roll (the game does not even have rooms or such), you have an encounter with a monster that you must fight. You get a treasure for each victory, and once you have the key, you can open the door that leads to the next level, and continue doing so on each level until you get to the 6th level where the princess is.

Tips & Tricks

When your sword is unsheathed, your shield moves from your front to your left side. You can use this to block projectiles coming at you while attacking. This takes a lot of practice to master, though! Also, be sure to get the wing boots on level two by killing all the enemies -- it is impossible to beat the game without them.

Level Select

Keep Button1 pressed while pressing the Start button to continue the previous game; you can choose which level to start from.

Easter Egg

1. Enter service mode.
2. Select sound 19
3. Press the service switch to display the grid and enter the following sequence : Up(x4), Down, Right(x2), Left(x6), Start2.
4. '(c) NAMCO LTD. 1984' will appear on the screen.

Series

1. The Tower of Druaga (1984)
2. The Return of Ishtar (1986)
3. The Quest of Ki (1988, Nintendo Famicom)
4. The Blue CrystalRod (1994, Nintendo Super Famicom)
5. The Nightmare of Druaga - Mysterious Dungeons (2004, Sony PlayStation 2)

Staff

Game Designer

Masanobu Endoh (E.END)

Programmer

Satoshi Knight (NIGHT)

Sound Composer

Junko Odawa (ZUNKO)

Hardware

Single Shigeru (SHIGE)

Graphics Designer

You.Shino (YOU.S)

Ports

Consoles

Nintendo Famicom (1985)

Nintendo Game Boy (1990)

NEC PC-Engine (1992)

Sony PlayStation (1996, "Namco Museum Vol.3")

Nintendo GameCube (2003) : Released as a bonus disc for a pre-ordered "RPG Baten Kaitos"

Sony PSP (2005, "Namco Museum Battle Collection")

Computers

MSX (1986)

Fujitsu FM-77AV (1986)

Fujitsu FM-7 (1987)

Sharp X68000 (1989)

PC [MS Windows, CD-Rom] (1997, "Namco History Vol.2")

PC [MS Windows, CD-Rom] (2001)

Sharp MZ2500

Sharp X1

Soundtrack Releases

Album Name	Catalogue No.	Released	Publisher	Comments
The Return of Video Game Music	ALC-22004	1985-06-25	Alfa	Cassette version.
The Best of Video Game Music	32XA-66	1986-04-25	Alfa	CD version.
The Return of Video Game Music	ALR-22004	1985-06-25	Alfa	Vinyl version.
The Return of Video Game Music	SCDC-00122	2001-12-05	Scitron Digital Content	CD version.
Famison 8BIT - iDOLM@STER 01 Yayoi Takutsuki / Ami & Mami Futami	FVCG-1011	2008-03-25	5bp. Records	CD version.
Legend of Game Music ~Premium Box~	SCDC-00410~7	2005-03-24	Scitron Digital Contents	8 CD version.
Game Sound Museum ~Namcot~ 04 The Tower of Druaga / The Quest of Ki	SDEX-0043	2004-12-23	Scitron	CD version.

References

The contents of this page are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
The sources used include MAME (version 0.113u2) and history.dat (revision 1.28 - 2008-10-18).
Please see http://www.arcade-history.com for credits.