The Tower of Druaga

The Tower of Druaga is an action role-playing maze video game. Controlling the knight Gilgamesh, the player must scale all 60 floors of the tower to rescue the maiden Ki from Druaga, an eight-armed and four-legged demon who plans to use an artifact called the Blue Crystal Rod to enslave mankind. Each floor contains enemies that Gilgamesh may need to defeat to progress, such as slimes, knights, projectile-firing wizards, ghosts that can travel through walls and fire-spewing dragons. Gilgamesh can defeat these enemies by hitting them with a sword — some will require multiple hits to defeat. Gilgamesh can also block a projectile by facing it with his shield. Each floor also has a hidden item that can be uncovered by completing tasks, such as defeating a certain number of enemies or inputting a specific code with the joystick. These items include a pickaxe that can destroy walls, boots that will drastically increase Gilgamesh's walking speed, and a candle that can reveal ghosts. Some of these items are required to fully beat the game, and failing to do so will either cause the player to die or make the game unwinnable. A time limit is also present on each floor, and should the player take too long, two indestructible spherical enemies named "Will-o-Wisps" will charge towards Gilgamesh. Should the player forget to get a required item, they will instead be sent back, or "zapped", to an earlier floor to retrieve it. The game's mazes are randomized in each playthrough, although the treasure will appear at the player's starting point. ==Development and release==

The Tower of Druaga was designed by Masanobu Endō, who had joined Namco in April 1982. After releasing Xevious a year later, an overwhelming success in Japan, Endō took a business trip to North America, where he bought a copy of Dungeons & Dragons. Upon completion, Endō was dissatisfied with the game's heavy use of role-playing elements, leading to the game instead becoming an action-oriented game with puzzle solving, conceived as a "fantasy Pac-Man". For the second prototype, Endō took inspiration from Sumerian, Mesopotamian and Babylonian mythology, including The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Tower of Babel. ==Ports and re-releases==

Druaga was ported to several Japanese game systems, including the MSX (1984), and Fujitsu FM-7 (1985). followed by a 16-bit remake for the PC Engine in 1992. A 1997 Microsoft Windows port was released as part of Namco History Vol. 2, alongside several other early Namco arcade titles. Two Japanese mobile phone ports were released: the first was a Java version on November 1, 2002, followed by an i-Mode version on February 21, 2003. In 2009, a digital version was released for the Wii Virtual Console as one of the four launch titles for the Virtual Console Arcade service, alongside Mappy, Gaplus, and Star Force. The Famicom version was released for the 3DS Virtual Console in December 2012, exclusively in Japan. Druaga would be included in several Namco Museum compilations, including Namco Museum Vol. 3 (1996), Namco Museum Battle Collection (2005), Namco Museum Virtual Arcade (2009) and Namco Museum Switch (2017). The game was re-released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 under Hamster's Arcade Archives label in June 2022. The Famicom version was added to the Nintendo Classics library on April 9, 2026. ==Reception==

Upon release in Japan, The Tower of Druaga was an overwhelming critical and commercial success, attracting millions of fans with its use of puzzle-solving and action-oriented gameplay. It was Japan's second top-grossing table arcade cabinet of August 1984, after Karate Champ. The Famicom port was also a major hit. It has been cited as an important landmark of the role-playing genre and helped lay the foundations for future titles. Druaga has been cited as influential to many other Japanese role-playing games, including Ys, Hydlide, Dragon Slayer and The Legend of Zelda. Druaga also helped inspire the idea of note sharing with other players. In a 2003 interview, Endō stated he had somewhat regretted making the game as difficult as it is, noting that it might have made players more "paranoid" about finding secrets in games. The Wii Virtual Console release in 2009 was met with a largely negative reception in North America, with many criticizing the game's controls, high difficulty and design. Reviewing the Wii Virtual Console port, Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer referred to the game's design as "diabolically obtuse" and criticized Gilgamesh's slow movement, notably with deflecting projectiles. Whitehead also criticized its hidden treasures for being too elusive and only appealing to dedicated players, but said it was an interesting gameplay idea. Brett Alan Weiss of Allgame also criticized its hidden items, especially those required for later levels, as well as the player's "wimpy" attack and time limit. Lucas M. Thomas of IGN was the most critical of the game, lambasting its "arbitrary, off the wall" item requirements, slow pace, and high difficulty, calling it "woefully boring and pointless" to play. He also noted that the player would need a walkthrough in order to fully beat it. ==Legacy==

Sequels and spin-offs The success of The Tower of Druaga would spawn a wave of sequels and spin-off games, collectively known as the Babylonian Castle Saga series. The first was released in 1986, The Return of Ishtar, which was based on the original prototype for Druaga. In 1996 it was ported to the PlayStation as part of Namco Museum Vol. 4. A Famicom prequel game, The Quest of Ki, was released in 1988 — controlling Ki, the player was to make it to the top of Druaga's tower in search of the Blue Crystal rod, leading up to the events of the first game. A Super Famicom follow-up was released in 1994, The Blue Crystal Rod, also known as The Destiny of Gilgamesh. In 1996, two altered versions of the original game, Another Tower and Darkness Tower, were included as hidden extras in Namco Museum Vol. 3. They were made to be much harder than the original game and altered the requirements for finding the treasure. In 2004, Namco partnered with Arika to develop The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigi no Dungeon for the PlayStation 2, one of the few Babylonian Castle Saga games to be localized outside Japan. Part of the Mystery Dungeon series, the game is notorious for its extreme difficulty, where death would revoke all of the player's items and half of their money. An online-based arcade game was released in 2005, Druaga Online: The Story of Aon, which was followed by a similar PC game in 2009, The Tower of Druaga: The Recovery of Babylim. A spin-off game, The Labyrinth of Druaga, was released for Japanese mobile phones on January 12, 2011. Related media In 1990, Namco produced a theme park attraction based on The Tower of Druaga for Expo '90 in Osaka, alongside Galaxian 3. After the show's conclusion, it was then moved to Namco's Wonder Eggs amusement park in Tokyo in 1992, remaining there until the park's closing on December 31, 2000. A sugoroku medal game was released for arcades in 2000, Sugoroku Adventure: The Tower of Druaga, which also featured characters from Namco's Valkyrie series. Gilgamesh's red-striped shield and the Blue Crystal Rod appear as Sophita's alternative weapons in Soul Edge. The GameCube game Mr. Driller: Drill Land features a gamemode inspired by the game, titled The Hole of Druaga. Gilgamesh and Ki appear in Namco × Capcom as a pair unit. A Mii Fighter costume based on Gilgamesh was released for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and its follow-up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. An anime series, The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk, was produced by Japanese studio Gonzo and premiering on April 4, 2008, taking place roughly 80 years after the events of the original game. It was followed by a sequel series, The Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk, premiering on January 8, 2009. Several characters from the game have appeared in several other games. A theme based on The Tower of Druaga, with the game's characters is featured in Pac-Man 99 as special DLC. ==See also==