The Tower of Druaga is actually one of my favorite Namco arcade games of all-time besides Dig-Dug. LOL
Personally, my Tower of Druaga 20th Anniversary actually took place in 2020 last year without me even realizing it at first. LOL Since, the story is that I personally first discovered The Tower of Druaga all the way back in October/November 2000. I was 10 years old when I was in 4th grade back then. I actually first borrowed Namco Museum Volume 3 from a friend for just a few days. However, since I liked the Namco arcade games so much, I eventually bought my very own copy of Namco Museum Volume 3 many years later in 2006, when I was 16 years old in 10th grade.
Sure, The Tower of Druaga is an insanely difficult game to play, but it's still fun to play, at the same time. Actually, the deep difficulty spike is what actually drives, at least, some people away from playing The Tower of Druaga in the first place.
However, just because a game is insanely hard, it doesn't automatically make a video game bad. I mean, Pac-Man can be a difficult game too, but Pac-Man is considered to be one of the greatest and most revolutionary video games of all-time. Even Super Mario Sunshine is considered to be one of the greatest 3D Mario games of all time yet Super Mario Sunshine is the most difficult 3D Mario game that there is in the entire planet. LOL
So, why does the difficulty spike automatically make The Tower of Druaga a so-called "bad game" by some people if the same thing doesn't apply to Super Mario Sunshine? Hmm, hmm, hmm. Maybe people don't like playing maze games that much (such as a mouse going after the cheese at the very end of the maze). LOL
I can even make a strong argument, and even outright say (without even caring what others think LOL), is that The Tower of Druaga is one of the greatest and most in-depth Namco arcade games of all time. The Tower of Druaga, is vastly underrated as an arcade game, and sadly doesn't get that much love at all.
Presentation - The Tower of Druaga was released in June 1984 by Namco, only in Japan (at first). Like most arcade games, The Tower of Druaga doesn't have an in-depth story/plot. The main protagonist, Gilgamesh (aka Gil) has to climb up to the top of the tower by defeating an evil dragon that's called Druaga (the final boss) in order to rescue Ki at the 60th (final floor). As a kid myself back in 2000, I originally thought that The Tower of Druaga had up to 99 floors since it was a pretty large/huge tower, after all. LOL
The Tower of Druaga's plot may virtually be nonexistent, but it's not necessarily a bad thing either since most arcade games don't have an in-depth story/plot as well. So, I can't directly compare The Tower of Druaga to The Legend of Zelda, for instance. Since, The Legend of Zelda isn't an actual arcade game. So, I can only directly compare to how The Tower of Druaga fares/compares with other actual arcade games.
However, The Tower of Druaga actually has up to three additional sequels later on in the series. The Tower of Druaga was originally released in 1984. Two years later, The Return of Ishtar was released in 1986. Two years later (again), The Quest of Ki was released in 1988. Finally, The Blue Crystal Rod was released in 1994. The beginning/intro of The Blue Crystal Rod actually makes a homage/tribute to the official 10th Anniversary of The Tower of Druaga series from 1984 to 1994.
Also, The Tower of Druaga was eventually released in North America. Since, The Tower of Druaga was bundled in Namco Museum Volume 3 that was released in January 1997.
Also, The Tower of Druaga (1984) has also made some inspirations for other video games that's not actually related to the series such as the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda (1986) for the NES, and even the lesser popular/known SNES RPG such as Lagoon (1991).
Graphics and Sound
There's not really much to say about the graphics for an old arcade game, but the graphics look pretty sharp, crisp, clear, and certainly pretty colorful. Even the character sprites, items, and the slimes look pretty sharp and clear as well.
Personally, I find that the soundtrack is perfect for the series. Especially when the music begins to speed up much later on in the game. Since things can get pretty tense in The Tower of Druaga. LOL
Gameplay
The Tower of Druaga is actually quite similar to a traditional maze game where the mouse finds the cheese right near the end of the maze. However, the difference is that Gilgamesh has to find a key (or how happy you'll be) (reference to Eddie Murphy's Haunted Mansion) in order to open up a door, instead of cheese before he advances to the next level. The Tower of Druaga is actually a fairly easy game at the very beginning (like how most arcade games operate at first).
In floor 1, the green slimes are the only enemy where Gilgamesh has to kill. In floor 2, black slimes begin to appear. The black slimes are slightly more difficult to kill than the green slimes are, so be careful when moving Gilgamesh around the maze. However, just like in the original Super Mario Bros. arcade game, the Tower of Druaga also has a time limit. So, you can't spend too much time focusing on killing all of the enemies that are inside the maze.
Also, keys are always located at random spots in the game, so always keep that in mind. However, if you're really lucky, the key is sometimes even placed right near or even next to the exit door. Floor 3 is still pretty easy, but Gil now has to stick his sword out and move back and forth in order to kill the blue armors. The green and black slimes are still lurking around the maze like they always do.
However, in floor 4, things start to become pretty difficult/challenging rather quickly. One of the most challenging parts in the game is to avoid the mages/wizards. If you're not careful/paying close attention to the mages/wizards, you can easily lose all of your lives and get a game over rather quickly. What you have to do is stick Gil's shield in the same direction that the mages/wizards strike thunder towards your way. However, what can be pretty annoying is how suddenly/quickly the mages can appear. So, you really need to have fast reflexes in order to really get good at playing/beating The Tower of Druaga.
Given the fact that The Tower of Druaga has up to 60 floors, the game may quite seem nearly impossible for most gamers to officially beat. Especially since things can get pretty difficult starting at the 4th floor. So, it's perfectly understandable why some people even refuse to remotely play The Tower of Druaga at first, since this game is unfortunately not for everyone.
Since The Tower of Druaga is an arcade game where you can't save, I won't be adding in lasting appeal this time around.
Overall, I personally find that The Tower of Druaga is actually one of the greatest Namco arcade games of all-time. Since, The Tower of Druaga has the most amount of secrets where you can ultimately discover which increases replayability for an arcade game. Plus, The Tower of Druaga is also more in-depth than a simplistic, typical traditional arcade game can ultimately be such as Pole Position and Galaga. For instance, each floor brings in a new set of boundaries/challenges compared to how simplistic most arcade games can be.
However, I can admit myself, (as a huge fan of the series), The Tower of Druaga could have been even more accessible and an easier game for others to play (especially early on in the game) in order to attract/expand a wider audience. Heck, even the creators of Tower of Druaga actually admitted that the game is simply too difficult for a lot of people to actually play.
So, that's probably why the creators of Namco made The Quest of Ki (NES) and The Blue Crystal Rod (SNES) much easier games to play. To be honest, I still don't understand how The Quest of Ki has never had an official English translation even though anyone can just simply play the game without actually understanding Japanese. Come on, Namco. LOL
Overall, the complexity that The Tower of Druaga has is both a blessing and a curse, at the same time. However, the good still far outweighs the bad, in The Tower of Druaga. Honestly, The Tower of Druaga would have been the perfect arcade game (with a perfect score of 10 out of 10) only if the game was a lot more accessible/easier for most gamers to play.
The Good - The Tower of Druaga has got to be one of the most in-depth arcade games with an additional thinking strategy (brain power) to find a bunch of hidden secrets. LOL Even though you can't save in The Tower of Druaga, having up to 60 floors will really make hardcore fans want to try to finish/beat the game. Also, Ki has got to be one of the most cute/adorable video characters of all time. LOL
The Bad - The single biggest problem/flaw that The Tower of Druaga has is that the game can be pretty difficult early on (as early as floor 4 out of 60 floors) which may turn some gamers away from playing it even further/more often.
Overall, GameSpot score 9 out of 10