The Tower of Druaga (NES)

In another time... in another world...

Hidden Credit#

The RESET routine uses the string YAMAMO to check if the game was soft or hard reset, a credit for director/programmer Koichi Yamamoto.

An alternate copyright string can be found at 0x1E0C:

COPYRIGHT 1984 1985 NAMCO LTD

Level and Items Select#

Normally, the game allows you to select any stage to continue from the first one to the last where you died. But, if at the title screen, you press Up, Down, Left, Right, Down, Up, Right, Left, Left, Right, Down, Up, Right, Left, Up, Down and before pressing the last button, hold A on controller 1 and Left + B on controller 2 at the same time, then enter the "CONTINUE" option, you can not only select any level to play, but you can get any of the possible items.

There are two ways to select an item to add to your pocket:

• At the "FLOOR" select screen press Up or Down on controller 1 to change the floor number as well as the corresponding item number.
• During the game, press Up or Down on controller 2 to change the item number as well.

In both cases, press A or B on controller 2 to put or remove a corresponding item. If you press A on controller 2 at index 60, all possible items will be added at once.

In the release version, there is no item number display, while selecting during the game. But with Game Genie code XTOAOAAV you can re-enable a development stage item number display. Two numbers will appear at the bottom-right corner of the screen, representing the current selected item and its status (0 - no item, 1 - item available). Also the second number will show the sword status, when A or B is pressed.

Version Differences#

In 2003, the game would be released on a standalone GameCube disc as a pre-order bonus for Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. The contents of this release consists of a software emulator running the ROM file for the Famicom game. While the game itself remained untouched, the emulator remaps the Select button to the Y and Z buttons since the GameCube lacks a select button.

It should be noted the contents of the GameCube disc takes up very little space, making it along with Metal Gear the smallest retail GameCube discs in file size. This record would be replicated on the Wii seven years later with Super Mario All-Stars.