The Tower of Druaga

It's hard to find another game that is as embraced by Japanese players, and as panned by American players, as The Tower of Druaga. When this game was released in Japan in 1984 by Namco, players flocked to it and traded information about how to uncover its secrets. When the game was tested in American arcades, it was a complete flop.

At first glance, the game seems simple enough. It appears to be a maze game where a knight must navigate various corridors, fighting monsters and searching for the key that leads to the next floor. In reality, the game is much deeper, involving hidden treasures on every floor that require a specific unique action in order to reveal their location. Some treasures are required to beat the game, and if you miss them, or do not know how to make them appear, you will be doomed to failure no matter how hard you try. A few treasures are trapped, and can cripple your abilities and make the game more difficult than it already is.

From some player's perspective, the amount of knowledge required to play the game correctly is beyond what they are willing to remember to make the game enjoyable. But for other players, particularly the Japanese, that is precisely what attracts them to the game so much: those little nuances that you must know and perfect and retain throughout all 60 floors in order to rescue the princess. As a result, the game saw no home conversions in the United States (until it was included in Namco Museum Vol. 3) but has had a plethora of releases on Japanese systems, including the Famicom, Game Boy, MSX, Sharp X68000, and a few others. An enhanced version was released for the PC Engine featuring improved isometric graphics and numerous changes. The game has spawned no less than five sequels.

Story
IN ANOTHER TIME IN ANOTHER WORLD... THE BLUE CRYSTAL ROD KEPT THE KINGDOM IN PEACE

BUT THE EVIL DEMON DRUAGA HID THE ROD AND THE MAIDEN KI IN A TOWER

THE PRINCE GILGAMESH WORE GOLD ARMOR AND ATTACKED MONSTERS TO HELP KI IN THE TOWER OF DRUAGA

Gameplay summary

 * You control the knight Gilgamesh (Gil) with the joystick, and guide him through the corridors in four directions.
 * You can press the button to keep your sword drawn. At that time, your shield moves from your front to your side.
 * You must avoid contact with every enemy, and any of their projectiles, or you lose one life.
 * In order to complete each floor, you must find and collect a key and then walk to the door that grants you access to the next floor.
 * However, there is one treasure hidden on every floor. Some of the contents are required in order to complete the game, while some are harmful to Gil.
 * The method to reveal each treasure chest is different on every floor (but it will always be the same for each particular floor.)

Cameos
Characters and much of the equipment found in the Tower of Druaga series have appeared or been referenced to in many other Namco games.
 * Tales of Phantasia: much of the equipment used by Gilgamesh could be obtained.
 * Tales of Destiny: contained an optional dungeon based directly off of the original Tower of Druaga (but with different treasures).
 * Tales of Symphonia: the equipment used by Gilgamesh could be obtained, and the character Zelos Wilder could gain a special title by wearing it.
 * Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3: also contains a variation of the dungeon. The game also contains costumes for Gilgamesh, Ki and Druaga which allows the heroes to become them in battle, and wearing the Gilgamesh costume is necessary to access the dungeon in the first place.
 * Tales of Legendia: one of the "Rare Monsters" that you can find and battle is the Quox, the dragon enemies from the Druaga games.
 * Tales of the Abyss: unlike the other "Tales" games, most of the cameos in the game are from Dragon Buster. However some of the rare weapons and armor in Abyss include the Golden Armor, originally worn by Gil.
 * Mr. Driller: Drill Land: contains 5 worlds, one of which is called Hole of Druaga featuring a Mr. Driller game with RPG elements.
 * Mr. Driller Ace: featured two levels named after Druaga characters: the "Druaga Ruins" and the "Quox Ruins".
 * Namco × Capcom: several characters from the series appear in this cross over.
 * Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean: the Tower of Druaga makes an appearance as a puzzle in Mira, complete with slimes and tools. Baten Kaitos also contains some of Gilgamesh's equipment as obtainable items.
 * Soul Calibur II: one of Sophitia's alternate costumes was based on Ki's design. In addition, one of her weapon sets was the Blue Crystal Rod and Blue Line Shield, equipment formerly used by Gilgamesh and Ki. The Red Crystal Rod and Red Line Shield are also available as bonus weapons for Cassandra.
 * Soul Blade: the Blue Crystal Rod mentioned above was also obtainable when Sophitia cleared the Coliseum episode in Edge Master Mode and has always been one of her weapons in the series since.
 * Soul Calibur III: one of the custom souls is the soul of sword and shield, which includes the Excalibur (Hyper Sword) and Blue Line Shield as one of the available weapons for that soul.