They made a Lord of the Rings Diablo game... it's REALLY Good

[@1ShotJC]

I was the producer and lead designer on this game and remember how the entire team poured their hearts (not to mention long hours) into it. So glad to see 20 years later that it still has so many fans! Thanks for making this video and bringing back old memories!

[@Cristian69-96]

Edit: Cool Story! Thanks for sharing with us and and for making one of the most amazing diablo clones of all time. sadly wasn’t into LOTR and didn’t know about diablo as a kid so i totally slept on this Hidden Gem 😭😭

[@martinjohnson2381]

Such a shame this flew under my radar; looks like a fantastic game!

[@ichibi87]

Loved this game, I played it with a friend of mine and it is one of our earliest and fondest memories of our friendship. Thank you for your work and love!

[@37654]

No joke, I'm looking to buy this game right now!! The pixel art looks sublime!!!!

[@Astrojammer]

Did you work on the two towers GBA game too? Me and my friends poured HOURS into that game and loved it. I never played the rotk game, but I'm definitely going to track it down!

[@ha4e52]

Gimli the GOAT character, specced with the damage resistance and crit boost skills with health on kill along with increased treasure chance made me farm good rare items on the hardest difficulties

[@TheNewRobotMaster]

The graphics are quite good for the GBA, the fluidity of the animation and the realistic movements are very impressive. Props to the developers.

[@zenmaster8826]

EA

[@blakkwaltz]

Ea is the publisher. Not the developer...

[@zenmaster8826]

@@blakkwaltz EA was also the developer for this game under their studio, EA redwood… EA redwood then rebranded themselves as visceral games when dead space became successful

[@blakkwaltz]

@@zenmaster8826 The people who made the game, and the people who published the game are two different groups of people. EA redwood is not the same as EA the publisher Calling them EA when they are clearly not the same EA is disingenuous.

[@FrolicksInHell]

​@blakkwaltz You were wrong and he informed you, get over it​.

[@antrey5142]

I’m in my 30s and me and my dad played the couch co-op together. If we could all just go back and relive those precious moments.

[@msc8382]

It was me and a twin bro for me. We collected amazing gear, then we stopped because we completely finished all the endgames. To me, it was a complete gaming social experience. That's why I don't like modern multiplayer games. There is no closure it just keeps on going. Anyway, I too, would like to experience that again. It was great.

[@antrey5142]

@@msc8382 that’s awesome man. I hope my daughter ends up liking games as much as I do so we can have those memories.

[@greasygranpapy7529]

I remember getting very far in this game, but i left town for a school trip for a week.. When i got home, my games were out on my floor. Turns out my mom's friend had come over with her kids and let them play my games and my save file was deleted... It's funny the things we remember vividly.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

that there would've been traumatic for me.

[@greasygranpapy7529]

@@UltimateGamerCC Oh, it was, in a way. There's nothing more frustrating than being righteously indignant over what I felt to be such an invasion of my privacy, just to have my whole family tell me to "get over it, it's just a game."

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@@greasygranpapy7529 gah! non gamer family members DO suck like that.

[@hafirenggayuda]

Mine was Zelda Phantom Hourglass. I seriously lost any will to restart the game, and afterward only watch the boss fight on YT. Still pissed until today

[@moroseloki1912]

Oh dang I'm sorry

[@dracosummoner]

1:10 Okay, those GBA pixel-art representations of the actors from the movie are SUPER well done, even nailing the lighting. I thought at first that those were Photoshopped in with some sort of pixel filter overlaid.

[@JarboeGaming]

@@dracosummoner I thought the same thing, they look fantastic!

[@Babobubee]

The profile picture type ones? Guessing it's probably actually rendering an image rather than manual pixel art. Still looks good given the resolution though.

[@minhuang8848]

Especially Gandalf with his robe looks astonishingly good today. Like yeah, twice the resolution would be neat, but it really holds up incredibly. Definitely a step-up in fidelity compared to Two Towers.

[@Hilljoona]

It's just pixel rendering.

[@biggusy25]

My mom bought me this game for Christmas! ❤ She also bought Mario 64 for me as well. She never played video games, but she just randomly always had absolute S-Tier taste..

[@SoulJAHJustICE609]

With all due respect , not taste. Intuition.

[@jackryan528]

Moms rule!

[@biggusy25]

@@SoulJAHJustICE609 Very true, great word for it!

[@Steph1]

She probably asked a few people at the game store to get informed

[@TimothyBell90]

Your mom sounds like the real MVP

[@GhoulGamess]

When I was 7 years old I was hit by a car, my dad bought me a Gameboy Advance and this game. So insane seeing this gameplay all these years later, it made a very long and painful stay in hospital much more tolerable.

[@Wargasmo]

Are you alright?

[@GhoulGamess]

@@Wargasmo Yeah I’m alright now, thanks for asking!

[@Wargasmo]

@@GhoulGamess Oh good! I didn't know if you were still young, or like 33 now.

[@heuvelke1065]

​@@Wargasmo that can happen man when English is not your first language

[@Wargasmo]

@@heuvelke1065 Oh sorry, I was just attempting to make a joke. 😄 Your English seems great.

[@kubekzpiciem]

6 playable characters?! Shit, this game goes hard

[@TheMustardisbad]

meanwhile there are only 5 in diablo 4 in 2024 lol

[@goji3755]

IIRC, there was a way to unlock Gollum as a secret playable character as well. I think it had something to do with finding Deagol's skull, one of the game's many hidden artifacts. EDIT: Just checked, you unlock him by finishing the game with any two characters.

[@commanderrockwell]

Beat me to this ​@@goji3755

[@ToxicDeity]

You can even unlock Sam and some new items if you hook your GBA to a GameCube with the return of the king game. Sadly you can only use the additional characters in the unlockable bonus levels or multiplayer.

[@willsatchel5255]

Back when developers cared to make a playable game….

[@TB0129]

This game was an incredibly important part of my youth. Amazing game!! Nothing like finding the rare “blue” items

[@henrymapleton]

I miss when EA used to pump out decent LOTR of all kinds.

[@anthonylombardo1261]

I remember the 1 maybe 2 games they made, if that’s what you’re talking about.

[@henrymapleton]

​@@anthonylombardo1261 The diablo style one in this video. Battle For Middle Earth 1+2 RTS game still a favor for the large amount of factics and ablilty to create your own hero unit, they also made Lord of The Rings Tactics, a tactical strategy which had the option to play main story as the forces of evil, you had Frodo/Aragorn story/battles but also a Saruman mode. With Grima, Witch King, Gothmog instead. The muti player has hints of Warhammer with a point systems pick your heroes units skirmish style vs battle. Shame no one ever did a wifi tournament on youtube. Lord of the Rings Third Age, which plays more like a turned based JRPG, again EA also had an evil mode as an option. Lord of The Rings Conquest, which was the arena style shooter one. Then you had all the action based games too. The pc ones had bunch of expansions, and the Gameboy versions were also quite different games from their console. Third Age Gameboy one was a tactical based on the movie, the console had OC characters as the leads. There's bunch of Lord of the Rings games with EA on them, most were decent or highly regarded. guessing 50 games, and they know no one wanted to play as Gollum as a MC for an entire game They always went big energy grand battles, playable troll/ant. Even throwing in hobbit references way before the Hobbit movies came out, like King Dain, Goblin King, Lake Town, The Artwork of Gloin holding Warhammer behind his back for Battle for Middle Earth is my favorite lotr artwork

[@anthonylombardo1261]

@@henrymapleton why am I tagged in this?

[@Walamonga1313]

They didn't put out decent LOTR games. They made the best ones

[@henrymapleton]

@@Walamonga1313 True, when I said decent I meant in the surprisingly decent quality kind of way, fun to play games, felt like the developers were proud and passionate working with the ip, not buggy or boring. And fufilled being an entertaining. The Tactics and RTS ones are till my favorite LOTR games.

[@mangopig5507]

BRO THIS GAME STILL HITS TO THIS DAY

[@TheArckaneMen]

DUDE, I got this game on CHRISTMAS with my gameboy SP, I LOVED THIS GAME. I played it so much as a kid and sank so many hours, thanks for bringing back memories!

[@Zudovader]

Haha I got the hobbit game with my sp for Christmas in 2005.

[@milp00l]

Love it. I got the Two Towers with my red GBA SP for Christmas (I think it was 2003) and played it to death throughout my childhood. One of my fave Christmas memories

[@dodang_9147]

@@milp00l yeah two tower was one my favourite games, i think still have gameboy chip but i lost my gameboy/old DS. I remember making a super powerful Aragorn and Gandalf. Also has strong legolas. the game did have some bugs if i remember correctly and a lot of artifacts in the game weren't in the game without mutiplayer which kinda sucks. I also remember playing Eowyn story line and Frodo's which revolved more around hiding and running away over fights.

[@s2piro]

you're one of the lucky ones xD

[@tristanswim]

My brother got it for Christmas too! We played through with Legolas so many times he was busted. Loved the item trading between characters and there were some extras you could unlock linking to the GameCube but forgot to try that later on when we had that. Those were the times.

[@VashTheStampede4K]

I loved this game so much when I was a child on my silver Game Boy Advance SP (I still have it and it works)... more than 20 years ago. My favorite character of the game was Legolas (easy with his bow). Beautiful days. Thanks for the video.

[@ReclaimerTyphoon]

When I was a teenager, my friend/next door neighbor went and bought a second GBA, *two* copies of The Two Towers, and a link cable - specifically to play co-op with me, just... out of the blue, which felt crazy to me (maybe he had the stuff for some other reason? But that didn't seem to be the case), but it was SUCH a good time, and that, plus him getting a GameCube and us playing games together on that, completely changed my mind/heart about gaming, in general, and from that point on, I've preached about the joy of multiplayer gaming/local co-op, and how that's the best investment anybody can make in gaming - the building of bonds, creation of good memories, and the general feeling of doing amazing things with other people. And then when I bought a DS - which had no games really worth buying/playing at launch, and all I had was a Metroid Prime demo (which was cool, no doubt), and saw that I could have bought a GameCube, bundled with Donkey Konga, and that I could have been playing that with my sister, and having a good time passing bongos back and forth... it hit me pretty hard that I'd turned my back on a lesson I thought I had already learned. I couldn't return the DS after opening it (GameStop would only take it back as a trade-in), and... yeah. Lesson learned. Things to do: Use my next tax return to by a bunch of Steam Decks for people I know/love, and get us all playing games together (instead of using the whole budget on a singular GPU upgrade for my PC). And maybe play this series again. Edit: Now that I think about it, that friend and I played a lot of really good multiplayer games together. He was always good about that. It was rare that I was just watching him play a game. I've had friends after that that wouldn't think twice about making me just sit and watch them do stuff on TV, to the point where I even bought a whole bass guitar just to have something to do while sitting on the couch watching one friend play stuff on Xbox 360.

[@darthbiker2311]

Now that is a true friend. Also, props to you for taking after him after losing your focus a bit. Games even single player ones are meant to be shared and enjoyed with other people

[@gutterspeak]

His parents bought them homie.

[@zacrahman2241]

i think he had crush on you. Im not judging tho. Youre lucky

[@DPedroBoh]

I aways preached coop in almost any game. Most single player games can be made better in coop. I just recently played halo via the collection a few years ago and my resolve was renewed. The devs didnt care if there was 4 master chiefs in the same place, it made the game more fun, so go for it.

[@wisewords8972]

You wrote your whole life story down. 😮 did you guys blow each other too.

[@connorstirland]

My friend and I used to link cable in the car every morning driving to school and co-op this game. Truly a great memory and gaming experience

[@RealCaptainJaws]

Wow, those are some REALLY clean sprite animations.

[@minhuang8848]

Never mind the state machines, allowing for transitions between knockback falls and such without messing up the anchor. It's really good.

[@Taylosh545]

Wont forget the epic memories of me and my bro fighting in Pelennor fields

[@UltimateGamerCC]

The Two Towers for GBA was also done Diablo style. i like that EA didnt try to give the Handheld games the same experiences that Consoles got. another such example of this is with The Third Age, which while on Console was made into a JRPG, Third Age on Handheld became a Turn Based Strategy Game with light RPG elements. EA would do this in the early days of the Harry Potter franchise as well, converting the first 3 games from Platformer to JRPG. big recommend.

[@JordanManfrey]

limitations yield better art

[@Christian-rn1ur]

From what I've heard, EA didn't care what they did with the IP, just told them to make a game. The games being great is entirely on the team that made it.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@@Christian-rn1ur agreed

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@@JordanManfrey not playing it safe every day also yields better art, easily the biggest problem with Modern Gaming to date.

[@davidtharp2125]

🐐

[@ActualRegard]

I had this game but completely forgot about it. Thank you for bringing all the memories back!

[@EmDub01]

I got this game and Metroid: Zero Mission as a birthday gift when I was a kid and I poured hours into both games. They surprisingly complimented each other so well. I’m glad you mentioned how immersive this game can be, as you spend a lot of time getting familiar with the environments (to look for items and wipe out enemies) and customizing what your character uses and wears (even if the clothing is never reflected on the character models, at least the weapon colors and effects are). The soundtrack also helped me to appreciate certain selections from Howard Shore’s score even further and they sound very charming on the GBA’s sound chip. I played this game between seeing The Two Towers and Return of the King which made the journey feel even longer and real to me as a kid, like I was living out parts of the adventure that weren’t included in the films. This game and The Two Towers GBA are both legitimate hidden gems.

[@robertwolfgan]

I'm freaking crying remembering when I was a kid and saw this in Toys'R'us and wondering if it was "for adults" as I was about to buy it but then didn't thinking it was gonna be for "big people"...dammit. I missed many great jewels this way...

[@gonzaloNMF]

Both games, the two towers and Return of the king for the GBA were great titles

[@zeppelincraft1443]

I still remember my first run on Gandalf and going against the Balrog. It felt like a 100% lose event lmao

[@peterkane9264]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS!!! I had my SP at summer camp and my roommate played it more than I did that week, awesome GBA title. Seeing a what happens to Saruman (later shown in the extended cut) after only just seeing the theatrical release was my favorite bit at the time.

[@tharmir]

I cant believe the hours i spended in this game, was so good and it had so many secrets you could play for months

[@RitesredSHORTS]

I got this game when I was like 6/7 for my birthday. Little did I realize this was the very beginning to my obsession to these types of games.

[@Allthingsarebroken]

crazy how we actually made games back in the day huh

[@Sanguivore]

People always tell me I'm crazy or I'm just getting old when I tell them I'm not interested in newer games 'cos they just don't feel as interesting, fun, or as passionate as older games. And on somedays I start to believe them... until I actually look back on old games again and compare them to the majority of what we have now. It feels like most games were passion projects back in the day, and now they're just corposlop.

[@PhildoBaggins]

Sonybots get him!

[@Aimone]

New bad, old good New bad, old good New bad, old good 🙄

[@Sanguivore]

@@Aimone If you enjoy newer things, that's good for you and there's nothing wrong with that. I still try new media all the time, but sadly I rarely enjoy it even though I really try to. Though nearly everytime I try older media I wasn't previously familiar with, I enjoy it a lot. I accept that it's a possibility that the times have just outpaced me and I'm no longer the target demographic for things, but I'm happy to still be able to back and revisit things from the past that still bring me joy.

[@АлексейКазаков-и5ц]

@Aimone Yes. New bad. Old better.

[@sethlowen2303]

I can’t believe there’s other people that have played this game! I’ve spent so many hundreds of hours on this thing. I remember sneaking my GameBoy to bed at night, waiting for my parents to turn out the light, and playing this game under the covers. I still boot it up every once in a while to collect all the blue items.

[@Azuris190]

The Animations do look good, they seemingly put a lot of Effort into this Game.

[@thespenserdavis]

THANK you for highlighting "The Two Towers" on PS2. As a kid, that Helm's Deep level alone felt like a game all on its own - endless, intense, as immersive as I'd ever experienced.

[@brownie_h]

dude these 2 games u showed were the source of many memories from my childhood. I've never heard someone speak about them. Thanks for sharing those with the world!

[@135791max]

Literally my favorite gameboy game ever made, what an absolute throwback seeing it again.

[@Aliothale]

This and Tony Hawks Pro Skater games were some of the best GBA games ever made.

[@7th_Heaven]

and FFTA FFTA was not live action this was. RoTK I bought brand new back in the day. Excellent investment. Love love loved that game. But the love for FFTA is even more. That was 100 out of 100

[@ricardotemporalgrein4482]

Dude, I was a little kid, and my friend had a gameboyadvance before I did. One day, he came and showed me this game, and I could play for like 20 min. Then, I NEVER SAW IT AGAIN IN MY LIFE, never found it to buy, never played. And I thought to myself that was a masterpiece (even as a little kid I knew)} Lol, so glad more people recognize this as a GEM.

[@williambehan7681]

This video unlocked some deep memories from my childhood. I don’t think I made it very far in this game as a 9/10 year old but I definitely had a lot of fun casting massive spells as Gandalf and sniping guys with Legolas. I think Eowyn even had some unique and interesting abilities that fit her character. Definitely looking for a rom

[@Shogun-c87]

Grabbing this for my miyoo mini thx king. Make more of these vids for lost gems. Never even knew this game existed.

[@AMpufnstuf]

Which class are you playing first? Gimli is a good one, then maybe Gandalf once you find enough gear with courage/wisdom and stash it

[@robertchitty3603]

It's crazy how much time I spent on this game and I haven't thought about it once until today.

[@7th_Heaven]

ditto

[@TrentAdam]

This was a damn good game. I was so disappointed to not get it for gamecube but ended up pretty happy.

[@mrnygren2]

Yes, a case where the game that had clearly worse graphics and looked like the worse game actually had better gameplay.

[@travismccoy8316]

Me and my brother played Two Towers and Return of the King on GBA for days and days without stopping lol. We were obsessed. Wasn’t until later in life when I learned about Diablo that I realized the connection.

[@Corpstoucher]

You’re able to link the GBA game with the GameCube Game with the link Cable and get Added Content!

[@thepagemaster2963]

what kind of content

[@violet-trash]

​@@thepagemaster2963extra levels. Big ones.

[@AMpufnstuf]

@@thepagemaster2963 Special items that can be good for characters early on, but I'd actually not recommend it if you plan on going hard. The special items use a blue font, which is normally only applied to the true unique items (both the weapons from the books/films, and some equally rare items named after developers and QA helpers). So once you link up to a Game Cube on a cart, you will permanently be looking through blue items that are not the ultra rares you are hoping for. Maybe on a ROM you can toggle this on or off, but on a real copy it seems permanent.

[@SonofDale]

I can't get over how good the sprites are, it is literally on par with diablo

[@JohannDaart]

Peter Jackson's King Kong game is another amazing game that was tied to a movie. Graphic fidelity is not there anymore, because its age, that's obvious, but the design and atmosphere of the island is crazy nice.

[@goji3755]

God I loved that game. Even on the PSP, where they stripped it down in all the right ways and really let the creepy, unsettling atmosphere sink in. They really made it feel so much more like a horror game.

[@JohannDaart]

@@goji3755 Yeah I love it too, it's very Lovecraftian in its whole premise.

[@user-ne9sd4ow1o]

That game is hard! I remember renting it from the movie store and struggling with the dinosaurs 😅 Frantically looking for spears

[@АлексейКазаков-и5ц]

Back then I couldn't check the guides, and it was so annoying getting stuck. But I finished it anyway because I couldn't drop it.

[@jean-lucpicard2914]

The GBA version was a cute Zelda like with a party system.

[@CastIronGinger]

These games were SO good, I grew up playing them with my older brother, we chose characters and leveled them.

[@danbeck1593]

This was my favorite gba game for a long time as a kid. Beat it many times and never got bored.

[@AnAfinityForKarma]

Broooooo I LOVED this game so much 😮 completely forgot it existed! Thanks for the reminder!!

[@panzer00]

The golden era of video games.

[@goji3755]

Played this game as a child, and it was my introduction to the concept of manually distributing stat & skill points upon leveling up. The stats themselves seemed pretty self-explanatory, but for some reason it took FOREVER for me to realize that I could use the up and down buttons to change which stat I was selecting. I guess I just looked at the font and coloration of the unhighlighted stats and thought they were static images, versus the brightly flashing STRENGTH stat at the top. As a result, for my first playthrough I had the most 'roided up, glass-cannon builds of each character imaginable. They didn't have much health or spirit and they didn't hit often, but when they did, they hit HARD.

[@georgewaked7630]

Don’t forget the hidden characters you can play on the bonus levels! Gollum is playable with an entire unique skill tree

[@peasant8246]

I wonder what his unique skills are? Fling his poop at the enemy? :D

[@zenwuu]

oh wow core memory unlocked. i loved this game as a kid

[@Sanguivore]

The animations on this game look *so* fluid for a pixel-art GBA game! :D

[@HereticalGamer]

I was recommended this the day it dropped. Just getting to it. We played this so friggin much on the school bus!!! One of our friends only used Legolas and had his speed so absurdly high it didnt even look right hkw quick he'd zip across the rooms 😂

[@7th_Heaven]

_leeroy jenkinnnnns!_

[@OneTwoMark]

I had the two towers version of this game on gba. Was cool playing co op with friends who also had it.

[@dodang_9147]

i wish i could played in co-op. my friends played stuff like donkey kong and super mario instead. they weren't interesting magic and realism stuff like LOTR and Harry potter.

[@rovhalt6650]

After 20 years my cousin asked to borrow my Two Towers game. i was confused why, but appreciated that they seemed to enjoy the game as much as I did. I never got my game back, and they denied ever borrowing it... :(

[@ComstarAgent]

You should try out the Mobile Suit Gundam: Gihren’s Greed series, it’s a great turn based strategy game and there’s even a fan translation for Menace of Axis V

[@JarboeGaming]

@@ComstarAgent Oh yeah this is on my radar

[@Nunzio12]

Damn, you’re not kidding! Don’t know how I missed these but I’m enjoying them! Thanks for the rec

[@R0n1n760]

I remember playing this with my cousin on the PS2. We did coop on the entire game and have so many memories of us doing replays with all the unlocked characters. Great game!

[@adziup]

this game was for gameboy advance, not for the ps2 xD probably you were playing different LotRO game...

[@mrnygren2]

@@adziup Both were the same game, just different on the different consoles - the same name and the same developers - back then they developed the same title on many consoles, but the titles were different based on the different system requirements. An example of this is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - it released on the PS3 and on the PS2 - the same title, the same developer and the same game - but they feel like two different games because the PS2 title was made to fit the PS2 lower system requirements. So the PS2 game is the same but on the PS2 - for some reason they changed it from Diablo 2 style to more of a platformer/action.

[@BlotterWizard]

Lotro the third age was the underrated king of all games they made

[@7th_Heaven]

I did not play that at all or gosh maybe less than 2 hours but even not playing it I know how good that one was. Was into other stuff back then.

[@7th_Heaven]

great game

[@legatorum]

I love this game back then.. then i learned about Diablo.

[@zacharytruong8209]

I loved Diablo back then. Then I learnt about PoE…

[@phillicheesestake]

@@zacharytruong8209 Then I learned about Diablo 2. Everything else is downhill

[@music79075]

I have no idea how i missed out on this. This looks amazing! That pixel art is outstanding

[@thatMattW]

The internet is finally realizing the true hidden gem of the gba today. Oh, and ill throw this one out there too, there was a multiplayer side to the Ultima Runes of Virtue game for the GB and it was awesome.

[@falconeshield]

Dragonball Adventure is still one of the best I ever played and it's 20 years old now

[@nicholkid]

my fave gba game is castlevania dawn of sorrow, got me through many college lectures

[@jaykelley103]

​@@nicholkidthat's aria. Dawn is for ds. They are both fire though, great taste.

[@PD_Swag]

I had both the console and gameboy advanced games and they were so great!! I think I beat the GBA version with like three or four of the characters, it was so awesome. This video was a complete injection of nostalgia for me haha

[@Mr.Foxhat]

You should take a look at the Chronicles of Narnia rpg on DS/GBA. I haven't played the GBA version, but it seems similar. It was pretty ambitious imo.

[@JarboeGaming]

Have never heard of it, will definitely check it out ❤️

[@therealwildace2025]

The game boy advance version was really fun an not as trama inducing as the ds version. I never could stand having the characters on the top screen moving their mouths like zombies when there was dialog but other then that it was amazing on the gameboy advance version you can get a copy for like 5 bucks very underrated but fun.

[@1ShotJC]

Narnia was mostly the same team as the Rings games. But being our first DS game -- since the characters were true 3D -- it was a more difficult development, and we had to cut out a lot of the stuff we wanted to do. And Disney was much more difficult to work with than EA/New Line was. I'm proud of it still, but it didn't have the same craftsmanship that went into the previous GBA games.

[@therealmorganofficial]

A true hidden gem. Man I wish I had this as a kid.

[@briancey3065]

Dude this is one of my favorite games ever, I’m so happy this is still being talked about

[@Sturmdude]

That Gundam music at the end there got me. I wasn't expecting to hear it.

[@7th_Heaven]

XD

[@peteradams6334]

I remember playing this on a road trip with my family and a couple friends to Yellowstone on a family vacation back when it came out. Me and my friends would take turns each playing different characters. We spent our entire vacation playing the game and I still have fond memories of playing it on my gameboy SP and talking about it with my friends in the car. What a fantastic game.

[@dac314]

There was a fun exploit in Two Towers: the crows that would grow your peril level would eventually summon a Ring Wraith, but if you could beat it in a fight, it was worth a lot of EXP and had great loot rates. And you could reload the zone, respawn the crows, and summon more wraiths.

[@jepcartusch1084]

If someone like me is looking for the super rare blue weapons and items, then I recommend that you use Gimli as your character. Level it to the maximum in terms of attributes (dwarf instinct) and play the additional level Fangorn Forest of the bonus map at the highest level of difficulty. I've played through it 1453 times and have already found 3 items. Frodo's sword Stab, Aragorn's sword Narsil and love robe of Adin - Ari. This is the best chance of finding something. As I said, these items are super rare. But be careful not to level up too quickly, because from level 52 you can no longer use your save game with your character, it blocks and you can basically delete it and create a new one. Secret character golum would also be an alternative to collect rare items. But only choose it if you are masochists.

[@sirbillius]

Oh… my… gosh… I almost forgot about this game! This game was SICK! I need to find my cartridge of it again!!

[@7th_Heaven]

checks ebay sales. ebay: supply has outpaced demand. We require more overlords

[@7th_Heaven]

something like 32 of them sold this month. what five to ten available 😜

[@HansHinnershitz]

This was my most played game of my childhood, and it's one that many haven't heard of. I played it 2-4 hours a day for several years straight, conservatively. There were many nights (probably in the triple digits), where I would play under the covers while I was supposed to be asleep until 2-4 in the morning, lol. What a nice throwback.

[@SavingPrivateBob]

I played this game a lot as a kid, got Gandalf to the max level of 52 back then. I also love playing as Legolas, currently at level 21 with him, because I started playing it again on my Steam Deck! It'll always be one of my favourite games of all time, even though I've been spoiled by my modern PC. It's an absolute masterpiece, everything is so well fine-tuned. Levelling up and finding cool equipment is super exciting, as well as building up your exciting new spells. I highly recommend getting armour-piercing weapons, that's why your attacks kept missing those tougher enemies. I also find normal to be too easy at this point, but then hard difficulty is soulslike lol There was no mercy in these retro games. EA used to make some belters, it's a shame where they went to since then. Thank you for making this eye-catching video. It's still a very impressive game to this day. I thought the 30fps would make it feel choppy, but it runs super smoothly.

[@Vel0ciraptor]

I grew up with a younger sister in competitive dance. I would spend hours every day, 7 days a week sitting in that studio lobby with other brothers of the dancers. This game brought back some great memories of linking up gameboys with the other brothers and playing this game and many others. Idk how, but I had completely forgotten about all that until watching this video.

[@dannymerfeld7711]

I haven't played as any of the other characters yet, but I recently got this game and what stuck out to me was when using Gandalf's abilities accuracy goes right out the window because his spells will always damage if they come in contact with an enemy sprite regardless of how high your accuracy is. It makes a magic Gandalf super OP because you can spec into other stats like Will for more mana.

[@Ziggy27]

This video was my introduction to your channel. Really great content, thank you!

[@candlestyx8517]

My parents got me this game for christmas of 2004, I remember spending so much time playing it that my parents would take my gameboy away from me before bed so I didn't stay up all night. This video brought back a lot of memories tied to it

[@christianyother541]

@1shotJC Thank you so much for u n ur team making this game! It was one of my all time favs growing up as a kid-and was one of the few games that still kept my interest as an adult. The music was also super cool. All the spider/shelob levels utterly terrified me 😂

[@muramasa24]

I discovered this on my emulator a few months ago and I was really surprised how well this game was made. I'm happy you made this. It's like the universe is over my shoulder looking.

[@KronugiN]

Hey dude! Big fan of your work! May I suggest an idea for a video? Show us your setup and room! Would love to see you walking around and showing us how you live and create while also explaining your thought and work process! These kinds of videos are always interesting, they are like looking behind the curtain of a movie, seeing how it all works and etcetera. Keep up the good work!

[@knfbnny]

i stumbled across this game by accident in a big ROM pack and it is so underrated, thank you for highlighting it I have to go back and play it again !!

[@Dankfam69]

I got this for Christmas with my GBA SP when I was small, so many memories

[@Lornext]

I remember getting this game... Never knew how to properly play it back in the day.

[@milp00l]

I love seeing these games get credit! Growing up, I had the Two Towers for GBA. It was one of just a handful of games that I had, and I sunk so many hours into it-both by myself and with a few friends. I played through it probably a dozen times with each character, and enjoyed every minute of it. If you’re on the fence about trying these games out, do it. Plus, they’re both very affordable if you want to buy the cartridges. Music is top notch for a GBA game, too

[@AustinStephan]

Dude, I had this back in the day and it was one of the only games in my small collection to usurp my copy of Pokémon in my GBA. I was just thinking about how excellent this game was just a few days ago. Excellent video!

[@Tomm192]

I've got so many hours clocked in this game, it's unreal! My friend and i played this game so much. Knew all the secrets and even now we are convinced there are many more we didn't find. Such a great game!

[@Very_Bord]

Two Towers for PS2 was literally one of my favorite games. Unlocking Isildur and doing Saruman's tower was so damn fun. Funnily enough, I have my old GBA bag right next to me and the LOTR Two Towers GBA game was right on top, also followed the Diablo-style loot progression system.

[@SturmxHawke]

I loved this game, I played so much of it, I remember when i got it for christmas and I played it to death over the christmas holidays, staring out at the snow outside, kids playing in the snow, me at the Gameboy ^^; (I was made to go outside by my parents, so I couldn't play it non-stop :P )

[@Zman14888]

Think this is a further testament to how good the old LotR video games were. Not just Two Towers and Return of the King on consoles, but The Hobbit, Battle for Middle Earth, Conquest, and The Third Age were all absolute bangers that all came out around the same time. I never knew about this GBA game until now, but I'll definitely be checking it out.

[@dr.sawdust4278]

This opend a almost vorgotten core memory of mine. It all comes back now! I playd this so mutch!!

[@Maheli_Seli]

I had the „the two towers“ game which was very similiar and man i have spent lots of time playing this game. The best part is that the game goes on forever, when you play through the game you just start over with all the equipment and stats you had. Very addictive

[@kevincarter4782]

Wow did I love this game. Thank you so much for this great childhood memory!

[@hendelcp]

Played tons hours of it and two towers. Two of the best games on GBA. Oh man nostalgia hits hard.

[@anthonyperryman224]

I had this game but completely forgot about it. Watching this video brought back so many memories and it was a fantastic game

[@beard6295]

Holy crap I completely forgot about this. I played this obsessively as a kid. Thank you for reminding me of it! One of my tops from my childhood.

[@sontiyo7113]

I deadass forgot about this completely, but watching this made me remember player this, specifically the gandalf spinning animation somehow triggered the memory for me

[@Swerdsmith]

I LOVE THIS GAME! Its hilarious that I didn't know who the final boss was for Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, and Aragorn since the Mouth of Sauron isn't in the theatrical release of the movie. Also, Moria as a secret level was so fun and you could hunt hundreds of tiny spiders in the first two wells and just grind levels and loot. Great times!

[@Logand-225]

Hell yeah. I remember playing this game when I was a kid shortly after release. To this day this is one of a the few games I look back on and want to replay it again someday. I remember looking up guides on GameFAQS and there was a bunch of builds and tips. Without those I probably would have never beaten the game. I did not know that each character has a different story mode though. That’s awesome!

[@maevethefox5912]

I remember renting one of these games with like zero expectations and being absolutely blown away, ended up buying it right after.

[@Bashman20]

I played the two towers on GBA and finished with all my character, once in school i was playing with my friend and he never realized i was playing a LOTR game and he immediately ask me if I could borrow it. my bro finished the game with all the character in a week. Talking about the game I cannot explain how much of a good game that was. Simple but dark, thematic, and really really good character customization. I remember most character had a healing ability across all, it was Lembas bread, pretty OP imo. I also remember Aragon had a throwing sword technique that was OP as fuck melting anything that crossed its path, the animation was brutal too, it was like full swing and the balde started flying forward. I never had the accuracy issue, for sure there were battle very difficult but the most difficult one for me was defending helms deep! What a game!

[@adamkallin5160]

I love it when some random video on a small channel just blows up. Game looks cool too.

[@Ummarth9]

I still have both of these on the GBA. I had such a good time with the Two Towers in particular and sunk so much time into each character for multiple play throughs. Funny thing is I barely played Diablo and Diablo II around the time since it was so convenient to keep doing runs on the GBA at school or on long car rides. Also, linked Coop with my cousins was super rad.

[@el_anubis4553]

A LOTR Diablo-like game is my dream, i didnt know this existed, THANK YOU, i hope some developers make a modern version of this idea, ARPG now have a huge fandom.