Arcade Archives: Vs. Mystery Tower

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This week's Arcade Archives release is... Vs. Mystery Tower (Namco, 1986).

The Namco Curse has struck once again, with the game only showing up as 'announced' on PSN, so we'll just have to use US links only this time.

PSN
Switch

There's only one revision this time... Sort-of. As explained by ohfivepro, the game will check your console's language and call the game Vs. The Tower of Babel if it's set to Japanese, or Vs. Mystery Tower if it's set to English. This will even change the in-game title screen- I imagine this wasn't too difficult to do as Bandai Namco had already done this title switch-up for the Nintendo Switch Online reissue (and, in a later patch, the Namcot Collection reissue) and since both the home and arcade versions are on NES hardware, it's a much easier thing to do than, for example, changing Marvel Land's name to Talmit's Adventure. Anyway, the reason for the name change on the Japanese side is unclear- the box and title screen would just call the game Babel originally- but overseas is a bit easier to guess as the name The Tower of Babel has been trademarked for use with toys and card games since 2019. I dunno, that's what I'd guess anyway. Preference Settings allow players to remove the black space that appears when character sprites overlap, automatically enter passwords, remove the time-up fireball for Original Mode, display the current speed level and set an optional button to kill your character immediately for Original Mode (thanks, ohfivepro!).

There's also a fair few differences between this and the Famicom version as explained in the Hamster stream at 3:40:30- summarised quickly, you can only select Floors 1-60 rather than Floors 1-64; the Floors are all from the Famicom version but are a jumbled-up mixture of Floors from the normal game and Floors from the unlockable Pro mode (no longer available in this version); the Power limit to picking stones is removed but replaced with a timer; extra lives are given every eight cleared Floors instead of every single cleared Floor; a time-up fireball enemy is added if the controls are left alone (although this can be disabled with Preference Sesttings in Original Mode) and the Grade bonus system has been changed.

The intrepid explorer Indy Borgnine (no relation) has been searching for the mythical Hanging Gardens of Babylon... His adventures take him to the 64-floor Tower of Babel, with the gardens supposedly at the top. However, he can't just take the stairs- each floor is a puzzle that must be solved, mostly through the use of the magical stair blocks. Shaped like Ls, it takes a little strength to pick one up but Indy can haul them around the stage and create staircases with them. As long as they're just about connected by their edges, they'll magically float in place! A good thing too, Indy can't climb anything that's over his head, so he'll need these little steps to get anywhere. Spike pits, monsters and mysterious murals every eighth floor make Indy's climb up the tower treacherous and enigmatic... Is there truly something special waiting for him at the top?

Described by the Famicom manual (available on Gaming Alexandria) as 'Namco's first traditional puzzle and action game', Mystery Tower is an interesting one, and another example of Namco using the Vs. System to advertise their Famicom games in their own game centres (just like The Quest of Ki, the Vs. System version has until now never been rereleased or publically dumped). While appearing fairly simple, this is one I actually find a little confusing and difficult, mostly because I find myself frequently getting mixed-up in how to get the stair blocks to face the direction I want them to- a problem that presents itself from the very first stage! Still, this one's got multiple exits for stages, bonuses to find, infectious music, cute presentation... While this arcade version isn't currently available in Europe, you can try the Famicom version on Nintendo Switch Online if you like, and there's absolutely no language barrier, even the murals you'll need for later on in the game are just images rather than letters or words. This isn't one of Namco's better-known Famicom games it seems, so it's honestly worth a look if puzzle and action is your bag!

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Only one way to end this entry though... Oh yes, there is an IDOLM@STER version of this game's soundtrack!