The Tower of Druaga: Aegis of Uruk and its sequel, The Tower of Druaga: Sword of Uruk is an anime television series. Gonzo is the creator of the series. It is a franchise animation sequel of Namco’s The Tower of Druaga. The series started as an arcade game released initially in 1984. It is one of the first released series on the Internet by Gonzo. It has been simultaneously released in Japanese and with English subtitles on Crunchyroll, YouTube and BOST TV.
Highlights of the Series
Tower of Druaga: the Aegis of Uruk
| Director | Koichi Chigira |
| Music | Hitoshi Sakimoto |
| Produced By | Taichi Hashimoto Hideyuki Nanba |
| Studio | Gonzo |
| License | North America: Funimation United Kingdom: MVM Entertainment |
| Written by | Shoji Gatoh |
| TV networks | Animax, KBS, tvk, Chiba TV, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Saitama, GBS, TVQ, GyaO |
| English network | Phillipines: AXN South East Asia: Animax United States: Funimation Channel |
| Initial show | April 1, 2008 to June 20, 2008 |
| Total Episodes | 12 |
Tower of Druaga: the Sword of Uruk
| Director | Koichi Chigira |
| Music | Hitoshi Sakimoto |
| Produced By | Taichi Hashimoto Hideyuki Nanba |
| Studio | Gonzo |
| License | North America: Funimation |
| Written by | Shoji Gatoh |
| TV networks | Animax, KBS, tvk, Chiba TV, Sun TV, Tokyo MX, TV Saitama, GBS, TVQ, GyaO |
| English network | Phillipines: AXN South East Asia: Animax United States: Funimation Channel |
| Initial show | January 8, 2009 to March 26, 2009 |
| Total Episodes | 12 |
| Published by | Kadokawa Shoten |
| Written by | Makoto2 |
| Magazine | Comptiq |
| Initial Run | June 10, 2008 to present |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Plot of the series
It’s been sixty years since King Gilgamesh defeated “the Tower” alone. The “Summer of Anu” is a season that comes every two years. During this period the powers of the monsters inside the tower decrease, thanks to the power of the great god Anu. Every summer of Anu, the armies of the kingdom of Uruk send their strongholds into the Tower and aim to conquer the upper floor. The story begins with Anu’s third summer.
The city of Meskia is the first bastion built on the first level of the Tower. The Army of Uruk is preparing for its third campaign against Druaga and countless adventurers called “climbers” have been brought to Meskia. This is by rumors of a legendary treasure hidden on the top floor of the Tower. Jil, a young guardian, wants to travel the tower to win the Blue Crystal Rod. Which is the legendary treasure in question. Nevertheless, on the top floor is Lord Druaga, and many monsters on the way are waiting for him.
The second season, titled The Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk. This picks up six months after the events of the first season. Druaga is defeated, the tower monsters are gone, and a period of peace and prosperity has begun for the people. Jil and Fatina, after surviving the collapse of the tower, tried to move forward while still thinking about Neeba and Kaaya’s betrayal. During their peaceful life, they discover a young girl and learn that her name is Kai. Plus, she just happens to be the key to unlocking a big secret inside the tower. Armed with this knowledge, once again Jil prepares to climb the tower.
Anime
Animax had broadcasted The Tower of Druaga from April 1, 2008 to March 26, 2009. Later, other Japanese TV networks such as KBS, Sun TV, tvk, Tokyo MX, Chiba TV, GBS, GyaO, TV Saitama, TVQ had aired the show. Gonzo has produced this anime and directed by Koichi Chigira. The main screenwriter is Shoji Gatoh and music was composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. “Swinging” by Muramasa is the opening theme and the ending theme is “Tōchōshatachi” by Kenn for first 12 episodes. From episode 13 onwards, the opening theme is “Questions?” by Yu Nakamura while the ending themes are “Mahōtsukai Desu Kedo” by Fumiko Orikasa and “Swinging” by Muramasa. Funimation informed that they have licensed the series. This was announced at the 2009 New York Comic Con.
Watch The Tower of Druaga anime online
The anime and all its episodes can be watched on YouTube in some countries (video below). In other countries the anime can be watched on certain networks such as Funimation, MVM Entertainment, AXN, Animax etc.
The Tower of Druaga: Arcade Game
The Tower of Druaga is an action game which involves role-playing. It is a maze game and has been released in 1984. The game has been developed and published by Namco in Japan. Gilgamesh is the game character who is golden-armored knight. You need to control the player and complete 60 floors of titular tower.
The main aim of the game is to rescue the maiden Ki from Druaga. It is a demon which has eight arms and four legs. The demon is planning to use the Blue Crystal Rod to make everyone its slave.
The hardware used for the game is Namco Super Pac-Man arcade. It has been altered with a horizontal-scrolling video system as used in Mappy.
Masanobu Endo has designed the game Druaga. He is best known for making Xevious in the year 1983 which is a vertically scrolling shooter game. The game has been made similar to Pac-Man having fantasy stuff. Druaga involves puzzle solving and combat. Druaga has been inspired by other games such as Wizardry and Dungeons & Dragons, Sumerian and Babylonian mythology and Mesopotamian. The game initially had interlocking mazes with a prototype known as Quest. Later, the game was altered to run on an arcade system. The initial idea was removed as the designer did not like the heavy use of role playing elements. Thus the game was modified to become more of action oriented.
Success of the game
The Tower of Druaga became very successful in Japan. The game had many secrets and hidden items which impressed millions of fans. The Tower of Druaga game became very important as it laid down the foundation for future games. One could also share tips with friends and make guidebooks. Many games such as Ys, Dragon Slayer, Hydlide and The Legend of Zelda is believed to be inspired by this game. The game became a big success in Japan which lead to it being ported to multiple platforms. It gave rise to a huge franchise known as the Babylonian Castle Saga.
Babylonian Castle Saga included many sequels, spin-offs, an anime series and literature. It has been produced by Gonzo. The game was released in North America on Wii Virtual Console in the year 2009. The obtuse design of the game lead to lot of negative reception.
Many people said that it was near-impossible to finish without a guidebook. It also had high difficulty and controls.
| Developer and Publisher | Namco |
| Programmer | Satoshi Naito |
| Artist | Yuichiro Shinozaki |
| Designer | Masanobu Endō |
| Composer | Junko Ozawa |
| Platform | Arcade, Family Computer, MSX, Game Boy, FM-7, PC Engine, X1, GameCube |
| Series | Babylonian Castle Saga |
| Release | June 1984 |
| Mode | Single-player, multiplayer (alternating turns) |
| Genre | Maze, action role-playing |
| Arcade system | Namco Super Pac-Man |
How to play the game of The Tower of Druaga?
The following are the steps on how to play the game:
- The Tower of Druaga is maze video game which is role playing based.
- Character of the game is the knight Gilgamesh. The player must control and complete all 60 floors of the tower.
- Mission is to rescue the maiden Ki from Druaga. It is an eight-armed and four-legged demon
- Each floor has a key which needs to be located before opening the door for next floor
- Gilgamesh needs to defeat enemies in each floor in order to progress. The enemies are slimes, projectile-firing wizards, knights, ghosts which can go through walls and fire-spewing dragons
- The player needs to hit these enemies using a sword. Sometimes it needs multiple hits to kill.
- Projectiles can be blocked by defending it using a shield.
- By putting code or completing tasks and defeating certain number of enemies, one can unlock hidden items in each floor.
- Some of these items are as follows:
- Boots that can make walk faster
- Candle which can uncover the ghosts
- Pickaxe that can destroy walls
- In order to fully complete the game you need to have some of these items
- Without the items the game might become unwinnable and Gilgamesh may die.
- There is a time limit in the game
- If the player is taking too much time then indestructible enemies called “Will-o-Wisps” will charge Gilgamesh
- The player needs to go back to earlier floor to get items in case they forget to take those
- The treasure generally appears in the starting point, however, game’s mazes are in random
Where to play the game of The Tower of Druaga?
The game can be played on various platforms. If you want to play this game online then you can use this link to play the game. You can use the up down arrows on your keypad to control the character. Also you may save the game state and continue at a later point. Also, you can make it full screen, control the music etc.
