NES Works Gaiden #038: The Tower of Druaga

NES Works Gaiden #038: The Tower of Druaga

Author: Jeremy Parish April 30, 2022 Duration: 12:51
Video Works by Jeremy Parish
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Although I've previously covered The Tower of Druaga on Game Boy Works, this version precedes the portable rendition by half a decade and stands as the more towering achievement of the two. So to speak. Another solid arcade-to-Famicom conversion by Namcot, Druaga's move to consoles felt like a figurative as well as literal homecoming: As an arcade game, Druaga feels frankly unfair thanks to its harsh one-hit-kill combat and mandatory secrets hidden behind abstruse and unintuitive rules. As a home game, however, Druaga offered a more expansive role-playing-style adventure than had ever been seen on consoles, and its design comes off as far less punishing when you don't have to drop 100 yen into the machine every time you run out of lives (which happens frequently). I don't know that I'd recommend Druaga today, as many games followed in its wake that built and improved on its design... but would those games have had a design to improve on without Druaga? I say they would not.

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Jeremy Parish's Video Works by Jeremy Parish is a curated collection of his long-running projects diving deep into the history and design of classic video games. Rather than a single focused series, this podcast serves as an archive and hub for several distinct endeavors. You'll find episodes from Game Boy World, which meticulously documents every pre-Game Boy Advance handheld title in chronological order, offering a unique historical perspective. Another strand explores the interconnected world of "Metroidvania" games, analyzing the design principles that define this beloved subgenre. The Anatomy of Games segments provide thorough, thoughtful critiques of classic game design, breaking down what makes these titles endure. Each episode, whether originally audio or adapted from video content, carries Parish's knowledgeable and considered commentary. This podcast is for anyone with an appreciation for gaming's foundations, presented not as dry history but as an engaging exploration of the artistry and innovation that shaped the medium. Tune in for a consistently insightful look at the pixels and philosophies behind the games you might have played-or always meant to.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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Podcast Episodes
NES Works Gaiden #036: Robot Block / Geimos / 10-Yard Fight [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:18
Well, I goofed on this episode—the production order list I work for ended up getting scrambled due a copy/paste error, and I accidentally covered Geimos and 10-Yard Fight out of sequence (they shipped right after Robot G…
NES Works Gaiden #035: Road Fighter / Warpman / Door Door [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:17
As we move deeper into the Famicom's history, its timeline begins to diverse further and further from the American console's. Witness this week's episode, in which all three releases remained stranded in Japan. (Well, OK…
NES Works Gaiden #034: Star Force / Elevator Action / Field Combat [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:07
Three—three!—consecutive vertical shooters hit Famicom in this episode. Well, for a certain value of "vertical." All three of these games about shooting things while moving up or down along the screen, but all three take…
NES Works Gaiden #033: Wrecking Crew / Hyper Olympic / Spartan-X [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:41
Although the three games featured in this week's episode have already appeared in the vanilla iteration of NES Works, I promise that there's merit in revisiting them. All three titles—Nintendo's Wrecking Crew, Konami's H…
Game Boy Works 127: Gremlins 2 & Pocket Stadium [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:58
Sunsoft returns to Game Boy with a soul-crushingly brutal take on a movie that's about as close to being a cult classic as a major blockbuster can be: Gremlins 2 - The New Batch. It really captures the experience of bein…
Game Boy Works 126: Godzilla & Nekojara Monogatari [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 14:55
You come at the king, you'd best not miss. In this case, they've come at Godzilla, the King of Monsters, and stolen his horrible little son Minilla. I personally would be happy to let Minilla languish forever in captivit…
Segaiden #029: SG-1000 in Review [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:21
Our shared journey through the SG-1000 library has been illuminating, and in this episode I attempt to encapsulate much of what has been covered here over the past year. This episode isn't simply a recap and recontextual…
Segaiden #028: Loretta No Shouzou & The Black Onyx [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:13
In this episode, we look at the SG-1000's 1987 release lineup in its entirety... and, with those two games, we also wrap up the SG-1000 library as a whole. That's it! Go home! From now on, it's just Master System and bey…
NES Works Gaiden #031: Adventure Island IV [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:00
By request of They Call Me Sleeper, here's one last Wonder Boy game until Segaiden gets to the Master System stuff: Adventure Island IV for NES. Or rather, Takahashi Meijin no Boukenjima IV for Famicom, as Hudson has nev…
NES Works #087: Hudson's Adventure Island & Milon's Secret Castle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:04
Famicom mainstay Hudson finally makes its American debut this week with two sizable hits from Japan. First, Adventure Island brings a little taste of Sega to NES by converting Wonder Boy with a thinly veiled graphical ov…

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