Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara
Encyclopedia
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara is an arcade game
developed and published by Capcom
in 1996
as a sequel
to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
. It was also released on the Sega Saturn
, packaged with Tower of Doom, under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection
. The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons
campaign setting
of Mystara
. It was one of the last 2-D arcade side-scrollers
created by Capcom; only Battle Circuit
(1997) came after Shadow over Mystara.
Deimos, the heroes continued on their journey through the Broken Lands of Glantri
after realising that Deimos is only part of a greater evil plan, and he was in fact being used by a mysterious sorceress named Synn. Synn, who appears to be a young woman but commands incredibly powerful magical abilities, has been scheming to control the Kingdom of Glantri and conquer the humanoids of the Republic of Darokin. But now that Deimos has been defeated, Synn vowed to punish the land that she desired for.
It is only at the game's end does the player discover that Synn is in fact a centuries-old red dragon
, bent on harnessing the mystical forces of the lands she's conquered, in order to awaken a creature of even more devastating physical prowess than herself - known and described only as "The Fiend".
of a beat 'em up
with some aspects found in a computer role-playing game, Shadow over Mystara has many game mechanics not commonly found in arcade games. While things as simple as item collection, finding and equipping new gear and earning new spells as the player gains experience is an old idea in console games, it is a rare find at the arcades
. Players can wield a large variety of weapons and armor, although this selection is limited by the character the players chooses. There is also an extensive assortment of magical and hidden items in the game, many of which are completely unknown to exist to the typical arcade gamer. This, along with the addition of multiple endings and forking paths, gives the game an extreme amount of re-playability and has led to its cult following
among the fans of the genre.
In addition to the original four characters found in Tower of Doom, the Cleric
, Dwarf
, Elf
and Fighter
, Shadow of Mystara adds a Thief
and a Magic-User
to the selection. Furthermore, with the inclusion of two separate versions of each character's sprite
set, the game allows up to two players to select the same character (in Tower of Doom each of the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game twelve "different" characters to choose from. The two Clerics and two Magic Users also have subtle differences within their spell books.
Players, upon completion of their first stage, are prompted to enter a character name. Unlike most arcade games which only allow a person to enter three letters, Shadow over Mystara has space for six. For the unimaginative, the game provides a default name for each of the characters; the default name is also automatically used if the player tries to submit a blank name or use vulgarity.
There are four buttons: Attack, Jump, Select (brings up a small inventory ring around the character allowing the player to choose 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 even juggle them in the air. Most characters (again, with the exception of the Magic-User and also Cleric, who has turning undead) also have a Megacrush, a move common to nearly all of Capcom side-scrollers, which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character but in turn also damaging the player themselves.
Treasure on the ground is picked up by standing near it and pressing the Attack button. Due to this feature, characters that stand too close to loot while fighting will instead bend down and retrieve the nearby item. It was very difficult to fight monsters in room full of treasure in the original Tower of Doom, and Capcom addressed these complaints with the addition of sliding. This maneuver allows players to automatically pick up any treasure and equipment a hero slides over, quickly clearing the area of items.
magic system where a certain amount of each spell ready to cast. Extra uses of the spells can be picked up off the ground, represented graphically as scrolls
of paper, 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 during this time).
Players, as they fight their way through each level, will come across a huge assortment of treasure. Treasure is found in chests, stolen from monsters, dropped from dead enemies and bosses, or even found simply lying on the ground. Most treasure is gold and silver, which is used to buy simple items in shops (see below), or precious gems, which add to a heroes experience points. Other treasure include weapons and equipment.
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 very 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 special magical equipment. There are also many unique hidden items (for example, hidden 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 last boss Synn 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 (by clicking on the shopkeepers head) 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 traditional Dungeons & Dragons gnomes, are very minuscule, standing about a foot tall).
ed, giving the players powerful items in the beginning of the game. This exploit
also has a nasty side effect of causing the game to have an incredible amount of visual bugs (flickering sprites, missing sprites and mistakes in the text) and often causes the game to reboot
, or worse, to freeze up. Arcade owners, unaware that the players themselves were the cause of the troubles, would often shut down the machine for repair or simply remove the game completely. Gamers on the Internet, aware of these consequences, would often refuse to post instructions on how to activate the glitch. Revision 2 of the game prevented the use of this bug.
A less dangerous glitch, known commonly as "Highlander
Mode", allows the Magic-User and Thief to become more or less immune to all damage. Players must simply swap their default headgear to use the exploit—any Magic-User wearing a Hood (the Thief's default hat) or any Thief that wears a Magician's Hat (the Magic-User's starting hat) cannot be killed from any standard damage in the game (the character will be reduced to 1 hit point but will not be killed). Some examples of non-standard damage that can still drop the player below 1 hit point are bite attacks, breath weapons, treasure chests thrown by allies, and spells.This bug was never addressed in the arcade.
In 1999, Capcom released both D&D arcade games as a two-disc compilation for the Sega Saturn
called Dungeons & Dragons Collection
in Japan only. Although, graphically, the games are basically identical to their arcade counterparts, due to the limitations of the Saturn there is a maximum of two players instead of the original four. Furthermore, there are minor modifications to many areas of gameplay, such as changes in spell damage and the removal of certain software bug
s.
In January 2003, MCB Interactive released a PC port.
picked Shadow over Mystara as one of the top 10 co-op games. In 2011, GameSpy
ranked it #50 on their list of the top arcade games, calling it "one of the most purely entertaining titles ever released for any platform". As of 2011, the arcade version of the game holds a high average score of 8.9 (review ratings) and 8.8 (user ratings) at GameFAQs
.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
developed and published by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
in 1996
1996 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*January 29 — Duke Nukem 3D, successor to the simple side-scrolling originals, and a genre-redefining title for first person shooters....
as a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom
Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom is the first of two arcade games created by Capcom and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The game was also released on the Sega Saturn, packaged with its sequel, Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara, under the title Dungeons & Dragons...
. It was also released on the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, packaged with Tower of Doom, under the title Dungeons & Dragons Collection
Dungeons & Dragons Collection
Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a 2-disc compilation of the previously released arcade games Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara. It was released in Japan on March 4, 1999 on the Sega Saturn....
. The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
of Mystara
Mystara
Mystara is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game. Although it has officially been dropped from production by its creators, many fans continue to develop and evolve this fantasy setting jointly, continuing its original theme of group development.-Development:It...
. It was one of the last 2-D arcade side-scrollers
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
created by Capcom; only Battle Circuit
Battle Circuit
is an action "beat 'em up" game developed and published by Capcom for the CPS-2 arcade hardware for Japan and Europe in 1997. Taking place in an alternate future earth, the game revolves around a group of bounty hunters who must capture the mad scientist Dr. Saturn and secure a sophisticated...
(1997) came after Shadow over Mystara.
Plot
After defeating the Arch LichLich (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lich is an undead creature; a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
Deimos, the heroes continued on their journey through the Broken Lands of Glantri
Glantri
The Principalities of Glantri is a fictional nation located within the Mystara campaign setting, in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game....
after realising that Deimos is only part of a greater evil plan, and he was in fact being used by a mysterious sorceress named Synn. Synn, who appears to be a young woman but commands incredibly powerful magical abilities, has been scheming to control the Kingdom of Glantri and conquer the humanoids of the Republic of Darokin. But now that Deimos has been defeated, Synn vowed to punish the land that she desired for.
It is only at the game's end does the player discover that Synn is in fact a centuries-old red dragon
Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , dragons are an iconic type of monstrous creature used as adversaries or, less commonly, allies of player characters...
, bent on harnessing the mystical forces of the lands she's conquered, in order to awaken a creature of even more devastating physical prowess than herself - known and described only as "The Fiend".
Gameplay
Combining the side-scrolling gameplayGameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game, and in particular with video games. Gameplay is the pattern defined through the game rules, connection between player and the game, challenges and overcoming them, plot and player's connection with it...
of a beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
with some aspects found in a computer role-playing game, Shadow over Mystara has many game mechanics not commonly found in arcade games. While things as simple as item collection, finding and equipping new gear and earning new spells as the player gains experience is an old idea in console games, it is a rare find at the arcades
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
. Players can wield a large variety of weapons and armor, although this selection is limited by the character the players chooses. There is also an extensive assortment of magical and hidden items in the game, many of which are completely unknown to exist to the typical arcade gamer. This, along with the addition of multiple endings and forking paths, gives the game an extreme amount of re-playability and has led to its cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
among the fans of the genre.
Characters
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. In the game, clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative...
, Dwarf
Dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, dwarves are a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for play as player characters...
, Elf
Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...
and Fighter
Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics....
, Shadow of Mystara adds a Thief
Rogue (Dungeons & Dragons)
The rogue or thief is one of the standard playable character class in most editions of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A rogue is a versatile character, capable of sneaky combat and nimble tricks...
and a Magic-User
Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)
The wizard is one of the standard character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.-Creative origins:...
to the selection. Furthermore, with the inclusion of two separate versions of each character's sprite
Sprite (computer graphics)
In computer graphics, a sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene...
set, the game allows up to two players to select the same character (in Tower of Doom each of the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game twelve "different" characters to choose from. The two Clerics and two Magic Users also have subtle differences within their spell books.
- Cleric: The Cleric's main role is to be the party's healerHealer (gaming)A healer is a type of character class in video gaming. When a game includes a health game mechanic and multiple classes, often one of the classes will be designed around the restoration of allies' health, known as healing, in order to delay or prevent their defeat. Such a class can be referred to...
and buffer, but he is also a formidable warrior, possessing the best rushing attack in the game. He also has the ability to turn undeadUndead (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, undead is a classification of monsters that can be encountered by player characters. Undead creatures are most often once-living creatures, which have been animated by spiritual or supernatural forces....
, instantly destroying skeletonsSkeleton (Dungeons & Dragons)In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the skeleton is an undead creature, usually created by applying a template to another creature.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
and ghoulsGhoul (Dungeons & Dragons)For the generic mythological creature, see Ghoul.In the Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game, ghouls are monstrous, undead humans who reek of carrion.-Dungeons & Dragons :...
, and can cast from a large library of clerical spells that can heal, strengthen allies, and blind enemies. In line with classic Dungeons & Dragons rules he cannot wield any weapon that is bladed; however, he can wield a spiked morningstar from which he gains new special attacks. - Dwarf: More hardy than even the Fighter, the Dwarf has the most hit points in the game, as well as being able to deal the most physical damage in a short amount of time. The Dwarf is a difficult character to learn as his strengths lie in his special attacks rather than his normal attacks; he also has the ability to bash opened treasure chests to reveal extra gold and treasure.
- Elf: The Elf is a female fighter-mage, combining the offense of a fighter with the spells of a magic-user, both wielded with equal ease. Although her capabilities in such are less powerful than that of the Fighter and Magic User (respectively), she remains a well-rounded and useful character. Her disadvantages are her low constitution and defense, and short meleeMêléeMelee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
weapon reach. Much like the Dwarf, she reaches her maximum level fairly early in the game, which gives her an early advantage but just as well halts her progression abruptly. - Fighter: The Fighter is a melee character with an excellent moveset, high endurance and the best armor class, making him suitable for beginners and experts alike. He can wield nearly every weapon in the game, including the two-handed sword, and is the only character with the ability to dual-wield with a short sword in his offhand. The Sword of Legends item in the game is named after the highest ranking Fighter in the high scoresScore (game)In games, score refers to an abstract quantity associated with a player or team. Score is usually measured in the abstract unit of points, and events in the game can raise or lower the score of different parties...
. - Magic-User: The Magic-User is a master of devastating spells but is physically the weakest character in the game; as such, he is quick to die when played by novices due to his low constitution and relatively weak melee abilities. To offset his low amount of health, the Magic-User has a useful teleportationTeleportationTeleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
move which allows him to dodge all physical attacks (and can be used to perform elaborate and damaging combos by experienced players), along with a spell that grants him temporary invulnerability. The Magic-User is a difficult, but rewarding, character to use that requires previous knowledge of the game and effective management of his spells. His offensive spells are greatly enhanced by the Staff of Wizardry, arguably making him the most powerful character in the game. - Thief: The female Thief is a dexterous character, with many unique acrobatic skills, that can double jump, wall jump, back flip, and leap across the screen. She has the abilities to pick locks, detect traps, pickpocket enemies, and even backstab enemies for severe damage. She also has an unlimited supply of rocks to sling with and utilizes flasks of burning oil in some of her special attacks. However, she suffers defensively due to her low constitution and lack of a shield.
Players, upon completion of their first stage, are prompted to enter a character name. Unlike most arcade games which only allow a person to enter three letters, Shadow over Mystara has space for six. For the unimaginative, the game provides a default name for each of the characters; the default name is also automatically used if the player tries to submit a blank name or use vulgarity.
Controls
Kick harness
The kick harness, also known as the extra harness or plus harness, is a set of additional connectors that allow arcade PCBs to have extra inputs beyond what the JAMMA wiring standard allows. A typical JAMMA PCB supports only 1 joystick and 3 buttons each for 2 players...
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
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
and tapping the buttons in certain combinations, in a way similar to the Street Fighter
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as SF, is a series of Fighting Games developed in Japan in which the players pit the video games' competitive fighters from around the world, each with his or her own unique fighting style, against one another...
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 even juggle them in the air. Most characters (again, with the exception of the Magic-User and also Cleric, who has turning undead) also have a Megacrush, a move common to nearly all of Capcom side-scrollers, which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character but in turn also damaging the player themselves.
Treasure on the ground is picked up by standing near it and pressing the Attack button. Due to this feature, characters that stand too close to loot while fighting will instead bend down and retrieve the nearby item. It was very difficult to fight monsters in room full of treasure in the original Tower of Doom, and Capcom addressed these complaints with the addition of sliding. This maneuver allows players to automatically pick up any treasure and equipment a hero slides over, quickly clearing the area of items.
Features
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&Ds VancianJack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
magic system where a certain amount of each spell ready to cast. Extra uses of the spells can be picked up off the ground, represented graphically as scrolls
Scroll (parchment)
A scroll is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper which has been written, drawn or painted upon for the purpose of transmitting information or using as a decoration.-Structure:...
of paper, 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 during this time).
Players, as they fight their way through each level, will come across a huge assortment of treasure. Treasure is found in chests, stolen from monsters, dropped from dead enemies and bosses, or even found simply lying on the ground. Most treasure is gold and silver, which is used to buy simple items in shops (see below), or precious gems, which add to a heroes experience points. Other treasure include weapons and equipment.
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 very 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
Beholder
The beholder is a fictional monster in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It resembles a floating orb of flesh with a large mouth, single central eye, and lots of smaller eyestalks on top with deadly magical powers....
"; many bosses drop rare items such as these and they either grant special abilities or can be traded in for special magical equipment. There are also many unique hidden items (for example, hidden 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 last boss Synn 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 (by clicking on the shopkeepers head) to earn unique magical items. The players can also come across a special gnome
Gnome (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, gnomes are one of the core races available for play as player characters. Some speculate that they are closely related to dwarves; however, gnomes are more tolerant of other races and of magic, and are skilled with illusions...
village where the townfolk beg to be saved from a chimera
Chimera (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, the chimera is a large magical beast that appears to be an amalgam of several different creatures...
(the gnomes, unlike traditional Dungeons & Dragons gnomes, are very minuscule, standing about a foot tall).
Glitches
Shadow over Mystara contains a system which allows the player to name your character. Abusing this system using methods involving typing a space as the first character of the name, followed by a long string of repeated letters, cause the game to become incredibly glitchGlitch
A glitch is a short-lived fault in a system. It is often used to describe a transient fault that corrects itself, and is therefore difficult to troubleshoot...
ed, giving the players powerful items in the beginning of the game. This exploit
Exploit (computer security)
An exploit is a piece of software, a chunk of data, or sequence of commands that takes advantage of a bug, glitch or vulnerability in order to cause unintended or unanticipated behavior to occur on computer software, hardware, or something electronic...
also has a nasty side effect of causing the game to have an incredible amount of visual bugs (flickering sprites, missing sprites and mistakes in the text) and often causes the game to reboot
Booting
In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...
, or worse, to freeze up. Arcade owners, unaware that the players themselves were the cause of the troubles, would often shut down the machine for repair or simply remove the game completely. Gamers on the Internet, aware of these consequences, would often refuse to post instructions on how to activate the glitch. Revision 2 of the game prevented the use of this bug.
A less dangerous glitch, known commonly as "Highlander
Highlander (film)
Highlander is a 1986 fantasy action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and based on a story by Gregory Widen. It stars Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, and Roxanne Hart. The film depicts the climax of an ages-old battle between immortal warriors, depicted through interwoven past and...
Mode", allows the Magic-User and Thief to become more or less immune to all damage. Players must simply swap their default headgear to use the exploit—any Magic-User wearing a Hood (the Thief's default hat) or any Thief that wears a Magician's Hat (the Magic-User's starting hat) cannot be killed from any standard damage in the game (the character will be reduced to 1 hit point but will not be killed). Some examples of non-standard damage that can still drop the player below 1 hit point are bite attacks, breath weapons, treasure chests thrown by allies, and spells.This bug was never addressed in the arcade.
Endings
After the characters destroy the final boss, each member of the group is treated to a short epilogue detailing his or her future exploits. Endings are titled with a simple code: the first letter of the character class followed by the number of the ending. Therefore the Cleric's second ending is called "C-2", the Fighter's best ending is named "F-1", and so on. There are four separate endings per character class and the hero earns an ending based on multiple factors that are specific to the character's class above ?-3 endings. With the exception of the Dwarf and Cleric, characters can receive a ?-3 ending if they've collected at least 3000 SP. All character classes have a message based on having struck the final blow to the final boss, but it's not always their ?-1 ending. Several classes have endings based on beating the game while wielding a weapon or simply having it in their inventory, including the Battle Axe, the Sling, or the Sword of Legend, among others. Higher numbered endings can be achieved without meeting the requirements for lower numbered endings.Ports
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
called Dungeons & Dragons Collection
Dungeons & Dragons Collection
Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a 2-disc compilation of the previously released arcade games Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom and Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara. It was released in Japan on March 4, 1999 on the Sega Saturn....
in Japan only. Although, graphically, the games are basically identical to their arcade counterparts, due to the limitations of the Saturn there is a maximum of two players instead of the original four. Furthermore, there are minor modifications to many areas of gameplay, such as changes in spell damage and the removal of certain software bug
Software bug
A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's...
s.
In January 2003, MCB Interactive released a PC port.
Reception
In 2005, IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
picked Shadow over Mystara as one of the top 10 co-op games. In 2011, GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
ranked it #50 on their list of the top arcade games, calling it "one of the most purely entertaining titles ever released for any platform". As of 2011, the arcade version of the game holds a high average score of 8.9 (review ratings) and 8.8 (user ratings) at GameFAQs
GameFAQs
GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
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External links
Fansites- FantasyAnime's D&D section - covers both D&D arcade games with full character bios, multimedia downloads, and an interview with one of the developers.
- JonC's Shadow over Mystara page - this fansite has a full guide as well as pages discussing and extolling the game's features.
- Shadow over Mystara Shrine - game guide at RPGClassics.