To be clear, I cannot speak for specific system editions. I got it for PC (Via Steam) on a Win7 64-Bit platform and it worked fine there, but others have reported problems. I have no experience with the PSN version.
That said, to speak solely about the included games? Yes. Tower of Doom is a decent brawler on its own right, certainly better than Final Fight 1. Shadow Over Mystara took everything that was great about it and added more. More branching paths, more attacks to build into useful combos. More detail on item usage. More hidden treasures to find. More spells. More classes/characters to pick from. GGPO worked well on both games in my experience. They’re both fairly short, but such is the nature of arcade games.
If you want to play it as a ‘fast food game’ it is very good for that; it is easily learned yet has enough toys to play with that you won’t get bored by the time the game ends. Yet it also has enough depth that truly challenging yourself to be skilled at it can be worthwhile too. In other words, it will fit whichever playstyle you want. If you enjoy games like The Punisher (old arcade), Final Fight, Streets of Rage, Castle Crashers, The Simpsons (arcade brawler), X-Men (arcade brawler), and so on… then Tower of Doom is in the top half or so of games of this kind. Shadow of Mystara is easily in the top 10%. Add in some fun unlockables (I really enjoy looking through good high-fantasy art, for example) and I was happy with my purchase.
That said, neither of these games in the Chronicles of Mystara two-pack will make you a believer if you didn’t already like the genre. They are “Very good” and not “Miracle descended from the heavens to bless our lives with infinite happiness.” Go in with realistic expectations and I think $15 can be a fair price point.
My only problem with the PC version is how it seems to have support issues with non-360 controllers (tested on PS3 TE and a generic USB PCB, have yet to test my MC Cthulu based custom). Currently need to use JoyToKey to play the game properly.
I wonder if we can get @Goryus to chime in on this (since I believe these gamess are under him at Capcom).
Kinda late but I figure I’d post some info of the upcoming jp release here on SRK. Basically a compilation of info gathered from around the web along with a bit of translating from the official jp site (posted pics taken from the site.) Please feel free to make any corrections in case I provided any wrong information or missed anything.
PS3 Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara Eiyuu Senki (includes a redeemable code for a PS3 custom theme by Capcom artist Bengus)
Gamest Mook Vol.34 D&D: Shadow Over Mystara (reprint)
2 Disk sound track
Capcom Secret File Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (reprint)
Instruction card & sticker set
Set of 2 rubber coasters
A clear folder
All packaged in a limited edition box
Game System
Spoiler
Play Modes
Both Tower of Doom & Shadow over Mystara will sport a “Same Character Selection” option available through the game options menu. Allows players the ability to select the same character. In addition, s/he will also be able to customize his/her character’s pallet (preset to default.)
Game Options: Difficulty Select, Player Amount, Equipment (similar to “Unbreakable” house rule), Random Damage (not sure what this is), Screen Options, Score Reset
Key Configuration
Sound Options
Options (continued)
Difficulty Select: Availability of an extremely easy setting (small bird icons) intended for newer players, where s/he will start a new game with a full stock of spells/items as well as equipment (looks like you get: character cap, torso armor, Boots of Speed, Ogre Gauntlets, Dragon Shield, Ring of Fire Resistance, Earrings/Necklace, Cloak of Displacement.) In addition, there will also be an extremely hard setting (skull icons) intended for more hardcore players (1cc’ers.)
New Game+: After clearing the game, players will be able to continue a new adventure (possibly on a harder difficulty) with his/her end game character intact. His/Her character will retain all current lv.s, sp, items, spells, and equipment from the previous play-through.
Chapter Select: Players will be able to select different chapters, as well as specific parts in each chapter (maybe the ability to start right before a boss encounter, dunno.) Also available are Boss Tactics videos.
Bonus Content
Artwork/Concept Gallery
Materials/Documents from the development of the original arcade games.
Interviews with the developers of the original arcade games.
This is about a week late, somehow this thread wasn’t refreshing properly for me… but damn, I want that Tel’Arin/vs. Dark Elf remix. It’s one of the best songs in the game, and I really want this soundtrack now. Thank you for sharing this with us, Viren!
I’m too lazy to read all the walls of text above me, but I ALWAYS go for the 1cc. Credit feeding in beat em ups destroy them just as badly as credit feeding in a shmup (and a shmup without checkpoint based respawns at that).
IMO, beat em ups, run and gun, and shmups should all be played for the 1cc. Otherwise it’s incredibly boring (to me at least).
I’m not saying you shouldn’t credit feed if you still enjoy yourself while doing so, but if you feel yourself getting bored, you know why since your essentially playing with infinite lives.
I know arcade games were designed to extract as many quarters as possible, and that beat em ups might seem more unfair and cheap then other arcade genres, but that’s one of the reasons why I love Alien Vs Predator, D&D Msytara, and a few other beat em ups. They give you enough options that you don’t feel like you died because you didn’t know the esoteric ai pattern or whatever.
