Category:Babylonian Castle Saga

Babylonian Castle Saga
Developer(s)	Namco
Publisher(s)	Namco
Year introduced	1984
Genre(s)	Action, RPG, Action RPG, Roguelike

The Babylonian Castle Saga is a series of five "role-playing" games that were released by Namco over 20 years between 1984 and 2004.

• The Tower of Druaga (1984): When the original title in the series was released by Namco in Japan, players flocked to it, then traded information to each other about how to reveal its secrets. On the other hand, when it was tested in the United States, it was a complete flop (much like Bally Midway's last unauthorized Pac-Man title, Professor Pac-Man, was in the previous year). The game ran on the company's Super Pac-Man hardware (two Motorola M6809 microprocessors running at 1.536 MHz), but with a video system like a that used in Mappy (modified to support horizontal scrolling). An enhanced remake of the original was also released for the NEC PC-Engine in 1992, featuring improved isometric graphics, that were similar to those of Namco's own Blazer, Pac-Mania, and Märchen Maze.
• The Return of Ishtar (1986): The second title in the series was released two years after the original, and was the only game from Namco to require a second player (the first player controlled Ki and the second player controlled Gil), and was also the first game from the company to have a password feature (but did not feature a scoring system). The game ran on the company's System 86 hardware (two Motorola M6809 microprocessors and a Hitachi HD-63701 sub-microprocessor running at 1.536 MHz). Due to the fact that it ran on System 86 hardware, it was also the only title in the series to use a Yamaha YM-2151 FM sound chip for its songs and a custom DAC for its various explosion sounds.
• The Quest of Ki (1988): The third title in the series was released two years after the second, and was the first title in the series to say "Namcot" on the title screen instead of "Namco". This was due to the fact that it was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and it was also the only title to focus exclusively on Ki (the other two focused on both her and Gil).
• The Blue Crystal Rod (1994): The fourth title in the series was released six years after the third, and was the second title in the series to say "Namcot" on the title screen instead of "Namco". This time, it was due to the fact that it was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and unlike the previous title in the series, it focused on both Ki and Gil.
• The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigino Dungeon (2004): The fifth and final title in the series was released ten years after the fourth and saw Gil arranged to marry Ki before being forced to change his ambitions after a group of mysterious monsters attacked his kingdom. A mysterious enchantress then captured Ki, forcing Gil to arm himself up. The game was released on the Sony PlayStation.