Why Deadly Towers is actually a Good Game

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Nintendo Entertainment System:
• Nintendo Entertainment...
Deadly Towers is a much maligned title for the NES that has been wrongfully accused of being a bad game, even being called one of the worst games ever made.
In this video it is my goal to convince you that Deadly Towers is, in reality, a misunderstood gem and an excellent game with some really brilliant design.
Maps: strategywiki.org/wiki/Deadly_...
More NES: • Nintendo NES
More RPGs: • RPGs
00:00 Intro
01:03 History and Trivia
01:50 Gameplay
02:30 Game manual
02:50 NINTENDO HARD
03:17 Demystifying Deadly Towers
05:25 Dungeons
07:23 Towers and Parallel Zones
8:08 Heart Containers
08:30 Boss fights
08:48 The mysterious Door
09:06 conclusion
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[@riskybitness]

Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Nintendo Entertainment System: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6amdmane9SMhs0

[@raymondcarter1137]

Dude I have a copy they sent to me a long time ago. Still have it

[@raymondcarter1137]

Looking at it now

[@Punkpsychobilly]

This game is one of my fondest memories of gaming with my mom. We sat there for my entire spring break week playing this game and my mom drew maps for every dungeon (which is really the only way to beat this game). I did eventually beat it after many hours. Once you get going and buy some upgrades the game gets a lot easier and way more fun. The beginning part is just hard as balls.

[@azalin19751975]

LOL..I thought I was the only one who graphed out dungeons (Really the only way to get through) ... When I got older I was surprised how hated this game was

[@jacksontimb7181]

"The game doesn't hold your hand very much" more like "the game drops you off at the bus station with a $1 pinned to your shirt and wishes you the best of luck" Great video, I spent countless hours playing this game in the late '80s. We spent days in the first dungeon because we didnt k ow what to do or where to go. It took us a few years to finally reach the flame

[@fatkart7641]

More like "The game kicks you out of the bus while it's still moving, in a haunted ghetto, a broken popsicle stick to defend yourself, and three loud ass music notes looping continously, echoing everywhere you go. Oh, and you have AIDS. Why? Because whomever made this place hated you.".

[@PaulIsDeadMissHim]

So did Metroid, but no one seemed to have a problem with that.

[@Bryan-lu4du]

I owned this game as a child and I still have the game manual. No idea what I did with the game but at some point in middle school I traded it for a can of coke. Somehow I ended up getting back it back from the kid and then it ended up getting deodorant caked all over the game when it was in my book bag and somehow the deodorant opened. I played it because it was a big deal to get a $30-$50 NES game when you had no money. I'm pretty sure the game had some effect on my permanent effect on me psychologically.

[@telengardforever7783]

When I was a kid, I lent "Deadly Towers" to a friend who lived on the opposite side of Fort Shafter. Within 2 hours, he returned the game. He was so disgusted with the game that he had no choice but to return it as soon as humanly possible, criss-crossing an Army base on bicycle. He never borrowed a game from me again.

[@riskybitness]

That's an amazing story. I only have fuzzy memories of this, but I'm pretty sure my sister almost finished it like 34 years ago.

[@hechogamermx4812]

It’s a great game, I literally spent months even years with my cousins and older brother playing this game. People say that it sucks because it’s not a easy game. I love it

[@brenkrasmer]

It's not that the game is hard... That was standard for the time... The problem was, just how much the game withheld from the player. Giving you money that you can only spend in secluded areas within secluded areas accessible from one space within certain areas... Now, better execution would have turned bad outlook to great reputation. This is a game that was hurt by it's collision with technical limits.

[@kingvoxel6516]

Here's my thoughts... I liked Deadly Towers. The game world looks like Zelda meets Marble Madness. To me this looked like 3D Zelda which is awesome! The music is very unique and some of it is awesome. The 3D Gauntlet like gameplay actually had decent fun action with threats approaching from all directions. The monsters are pretty lame! The huge dungeons felt pointless, boring, and repetitive. Even back then when I wanted my expensive games to go on forever. I didn't understand the level of hate this game got even back in the old days before the internet. I thought people were just too lazy to play through a hard game. Deadly Towers is flawed, but it was very unique and good enough to make me dream about a sequel which would never come. :(

[@Allerdyne]

I think you hit the nail on the head with a lot of this. In some ways, the game was really ahead of its time: non-linear structure, huge dungeons, and a clever way of using perspective to make it seem like the play mode of the game shifted throughout. But also lots of shoddy programming, like the bouncy-ball enemies, and a crippling, unpredictable knock-back mechanic. I loved the intro music of the game, too. Too bad most other tracks looped after about 12 seconds. I'd like to see re-make, too, maybe something with more interesting (even procedurally-generated?) dungeons.

[@riskybitness]

I think the bounders were just a way to do the best they could work what was available. This was early Nintendo and while now we know the console was capable of some surprising things, they hadn't been discovered yet. Sure, it is a lame enemy but because of the simple design it was possible to have more enemies onscreen at a time with quite a lot of animation. Of course the tradeoff for that was ridiculous amounts of sprite flicker. That knockback mechanic was absolute bullshit though, I can't argue that, especially the way it would often knock your from one enemy to the next, into another screen and another enemy.

[@willmistretta]

I dunno. The core idea of the towers and such is fine. I can't justify the inclusion of these giant samey dungeons with invisible entrances that seem to serve no purpose other than to trap the player and pad out the game, though. That's unforgivable and wrecks the whole product for me.

[@-Keith-]

Keep in mind this was in an era where kids would make their own maps of game dungeons on pads of graphing paper. Exploration and mapping out the zones was as much a part of the game as progressing along the plot in those days (ultima: exodus comes to mind). And the dungeons actually had important weapon/armor/scroll/potion upgrades hidden in shops that helped you tremendously in the early to mid game.

[@Icookmeth]

After 30 years I still remember the password to final stage

[@Icookmeth]

54didtmrke

[@NickSchoenfeld]

I drew my own map on graph paper as I played. It helped at first and soon became essential for the dungeons.

[@sleepydwarf1400]

Anyone remember a powerup that has you throw two swords? I'm worried I Mandela effected it

[@sleepydwarf1400]

Nope I was right!!! Loved this game as a kid. Used to love it one of the few games I couldn't beat

[@-Keith-]

There was one powerup that would allow you to throw two swords in one shot side by side, and another that would allow you to rapid fire shoot swords instead of only having 1 on the screen at a time. The double shot was nice, but the rapid fire was way better.

[@WhyDidntIInventYT]

Deadly Towers is a good game with flaws: it's too cryptic, and you start out nerfed. with a few adjustments, it could be much better. I understand the logic of squeezing the most out of games back in the 80s, but they took it a bit too far. btw, 8:54 -- there's a spell or artifact that can freeze the sentinels so you can slip past them and take the shortcut.

[@erectacuscox4044]

Was actually developed by Lenar and published by Irem and Broderbund in Japan and NA respectively.

[@riskybitness]

Cool, thanks for the info!

[@NickSchoenfeld]

Great video. I’m glad I found your channel. I still have a map I made on graph paper of a dungeon as a kid. I compared it to the actual one and mine was way off.

[@bish0p3473]

This game was so effin hard, that beating it felt like an accomplishment. The ending was not worth the frustration lol.

[@davidmyhra4931]

This game defined a large part of my childhood. When I think of the NES, I mainly think of this game.

[@toddburgess5056]

I was about 10 years old when I received this game for Easter, about 1988 and thought that there was something wrong with the game. I had a Nintendo Power subscription at the time and didn't find anything useful in those, KZbin wasn't even thought of then. I had no idea what I was doing and never made ANY progress at all.

[@riskybitness]

I don't think Nintendo Power was even out when I first played this! I could definitely understand thinking those dungeon entrances are a bug or a glitch or something.

[@WdnUlik2no]

I remember my brother bought this game in 86. We he first started we both made fun of the game of bad it was, but as he progressed further we really began to enjoy it. He beat it first then I played through it as well and beat it multiple times. Great memories!!

[@Emer-Lorcan]

It's cool to see someone saying something good about this game! I try to act optimistic and find the good in the games I play, and I actually enjoy this one a lot. I understand it has some flaws but I don't think it deserves the spot of "#1 worst NES game" as multiple people have said.

[@Emer-Lorcan]

@@riskybitnessGhostbusters would be somewhere in my top 5 worst. Like I said, I try and be optimistic, but it's so repetitive and the only thing that matters is if you can beat the staircase at the end. Which legitimately hurts your fingers and feels luck based.

[@STEADYMOOBIN]

Game is dope. Was a pretty early title too. Most people just didnt figure out where to go or what to do.

[@BigEd773]

On the door guarded by two invincible guards: you can use it as a shortcut going down- you just can't get through it going up. Also- where is your link to the maps🙂

[@riskybitness]

Oh snap! I forgot all about the maps! Thanks for remining me! I'll add it now!

[@dgro949]

I borrowed this game from a friend and really liked the music and backstory.

[@-Keith-]

Before there was Dark Souls, there was Deadly Towers. You had to become a master at this game to beat it. Edit: Want a mindblow? The final boss is actually the dungeon shopkeeper.

[@bluwzrdisgreedy234]

I do think this game gets an unfair share of hate, but there is one aspect that I find unforgivable. The dungeons aren't as large as you think, but they wrap around at all edges, meaning you could walk in a straight line (doors permitting) for forever until you start to notice a repeating pattern. This makes borders almost impossible to define and far too complex a task for 8 (or so) year old me to map out.

[@apresmidi153]

I played the crap out of this as a kid in the late 90s and despite recognizing how far I was from being able to beat it (probably because I never drew a map) it still held piles of nostalgia for me that never entirely faded until I played Dark Souls, which somehow felt like the spiritual successor to this game for me.

[@DexterZCoder]

As a little kid, I saw my dad and my older bro drawing a complete maps of the dungeons, my bro let me do the routinely killing to get some rupee 🤭 we finished this game, what a memories!

[@riskybitness]

That's a great story, thanks for sharing! Memories like these are the reason I like to make these videos.

[@Appl908]

One of favorite game when I was in 6th grade even though I had no idea what to do. Loved the box art. I remembered I used to looked at the art on cartridge and imagine my self him going through those towers in the background. But now it’s just strictly nolstagia for me. Especially the over world theme.

[@metamorphicblood]

This game is stiff and clunky at times, but there’s a lot that I love about it. I actually think a 3D reboot would work really well. I can imagine the details of the strange enemies, elaborate gothic/baroque architecture, and symphonic versions of the music.

[@retro9263]

Deadly Towers is a good game like most NES titles from Broderbund. Don't get me wrong, the game IS flawed but nowhere the disaster Seanbaby/AGVN make it seem to be. People who are trashing it don't know what they're talking about.

[@ronnydzaster5279]

I thought I was the only one who liked this game. People nowadays just don't understand these older games. I haven't played this game in over 30 years but it's one of those games that I always remember from when I was a kid. I still have the original cartridge. I agree with you on the graphics. They were good for that time period but it would look better if they made a remake with better graphics.

[@DirtyMonkeyToes]

My brother and I owned this as kids. I can't tell you how much time we put into it and from what I remember just couldn't make any real headway. There aren't many games from my past that I struggled with and really felt the need to go back to as an adult, but this is definitely one. This video just kinda lit the fire under my butt to do it, thank you!

[@riskybitness]

That's great! I'm glad I reminded you about it. It seems like everyone used to play this with an older sibling. I have great memories of it!

[@ThailandXpress]

This is my most nostalgic NES game ever. I’m lucky enough to own a SNES classic that has this game. It’s a classic.

[@riskybitness]

This guy gets it!

[@Goochbag8]

Thank you! I have been saying this for years. I'd love to see someone make an improvement patch or redux version of the game someday, maybe even a randomizer.

[@LampreyKisses]

regarding the gatekeeper door, if you come back in through the back side by mistake, you get cut off.... that's all it is.

[@LampreyKisses]

also you really need double shot and not parallel shot.

[@RetroMMA]

I loved and even beat this game. I also like Nickleback. Some people are too easily influenced by... influencers and that makes them pitiable.

[@BaneMcDeath]

I finally found some of my data that is NOT on the game wiki walkthroughs: I need to recheck my data but for bosses here's the average puny short sword hits it takes to kill a boss: Cold killer - 32, Death Bear - 32, Great Wing - 33-34, Centipede - 30, Wheeler - 32, Beat Plant - 33, Great Burn - 33, Rubas form 1 - 122? (22 splendor) , Rubas form 2 - 192? (30 splendor), Rubas Form 3 - 224? (38 splendor) Its a rough guess and I should reverify that again and with different weapons. The gloves seem to help and sometimes I thing Double shot oomphs the power up (don't use parallel).

[@BaneMcDeath]

The other monsters are easy enough to find. I should make a spreadsheet. I forgot to gauge humanoid damage from shooting head only and body only. There might be a weakness to some mobs. To my knowledge, humanoids are the only one's divided like that (unless centipede and part of rubas is like that. I don't think the bounders and fires the bosses have are separate from their bodies.. cold killer, etc.

[@BaneMcDeath]

The Guardian Gatekeepers can be passed if you manage to find the shop that has the key to buy in the dungeons. TBH, I can't recall if the key appears after burning 3 bells or before. You'd think the bounder was a slime like race but it says "unknown" so maybe its fungi or something. I'd laugh if it was the rubber ball race. QOL would be the ability to stab with your sword while the flying blade is flying off screen. Yeah, an autofire controller really devastates mobs. If you're pretty good on your shots then parallel is great and it definitely is a great tool on Rubas in the end rather than double shot.

[@AtlTJL]

This game has a well deserved reputation as one of the worst games released for the NES. Some people believe it's the absolute worst. I agree with that.

[@RisingBeast00]

Seriously why did they program random moving shapes as enemies? They couldn't come up with better designs?

[@JodyBruchon]

This video was good stuff. You've earned a subscriber!

[@justaguyontheinternet1556]

10:06 that's where dark souls steps in

[@duhmez]

I rented this game back when it was new and I liked it. I played it for many many hours that not. GHot nowhere, figured nothing out, but I had tons of fun playing and it sure was worth the $3 rental fee to play all night. Runing around exploring, good times. Alot better than some of the other turds out there.

[@tangleshootburrfoot36]

All joking aside, put in this password: DAZI3IBOUT You'll start with everything except for a health potion. The second gate on the first screen will be open and waiting for you.

[@dogma9609]

cool. i m trying it

[@jaygooese4242]

At least the music & the bosses are perfect

[@kostaroasta]

Me and my brother were sold on this game by the box art. But it was soo endlessly frusrtrating. I never thought the game had a direction but I'm glad to see there was some sort of point to it and what that point was. I have a sense of closure with this shitty game now

[@drop_messages6226]

I grew up in the 1990s, when people were selling their old NES for a SNES. At some point I had a NES and a box of used games and this was one of them. Deadly towers failed on 2 levels. If I wanted to play a fantasy world game, the original Legend of Zelda was the better choice. If I wanted a fun game, then by far Castlevania was the superior choice. I could even add that the graphics and music for Deadly towers was inferior to Castlevania and Legend of Zelda. Take the Dradon Warrior series for example. While I never beat a dragon warrior game, and it was never my favorite, I kept going back to it. There was something about Dragon Warrior that kept me interested. I think it was because the game play was decent, but there was enough "open world" to keep me interested. ask yourself this, why were the Final Fantasy games a hit? Was it because it used the same old template of turned based RPG that had been done many times before? No, I think it was a combination of the plot and world building. The player was invested in the characters and plot of the game. Final Fantasy was world that opened up after you discover the air ship. Would you ever want an air ship in Deadly Towers, would you even want to see more of that ugly deadly towers world?

[@jessekovacs8574]

This video made me super happy. 👌 Killer job, killer video. I loved & love DT even though I sucked. I had no damn clue what to do.

[@neptunes9852]

*Risky Bitness* Good content

[@Vicefromkof]

Honestly, the game isn't all bad but it just has thousands of flaws or misaligned game design decisions that make the game such a random unpleasant adventure that it is understandable that some see it as a bad game. Like the dungeon, that have hidden entrances, that is so unfair because there's a thousands of chance that you'll pass beside it, but not in it. The manual does justify a lot of these, but it's no excuses.

[@dangunheadachron1603]

If King's Field/Demon's Soul/Dark Souls was an NES title I'd imagine it would be this...

[@Piledriver2006]

I doubt it. It would more likely be a hard version of Castlevania. Which is hard

[@justaguyontheinternet1556]

I thought the same thing

[@TheHuskyGT]

"Dieses Spiel ist Scheiße! Dieses Spiel Fichkt Dich Härter Als Das Leben!!!" -AVGN

[@dogma9609]

i loved this game.hard as hell

[@xldjvista]

I wouldnt say I loved this game but I beat it as a child. Just me my self made maps and balls of steel.

[@nelsonforero9288]

Awesome I remember renting this game when I was a kid I didn't make it very far your video shows what a great game it is thank you for posting.

[@Jackalblade9]

Thank you for this! I had this game as a kid and loved it, even if I had no idea what I was doing.

[@mistergone5156]

Wow... Now I really want to try this, thanks!

[@jeromedado7416]

I will buy it for sure for my Famiclone.

[@jackmehoff9616]

Pull the other one man. Just because they did not know any better does not mean they did not make bad decisions. Those bad decisions led to making a bad game. Making a game too hard because its too short makes it a bad game. The way you suggest making it more playable is to play cheaply. (A game should not require using turbo, if that's what it needs why not just make the sword auto fire, or up the damn damage?!) Just because you can wring enjoyment out of something does not mean its "good".

[@Crimefighter]

Nice try but no. Even in GOD mode...didn't change my opinion at all.

[@scottydu81]

There are games that are bad that are worth playing to a degree. I like this game a bit and I’ve save-stated my way to victory before

[@indridcold64]

Top 5 eight bit soundtracks in existence.

[@riskybitness]

I really want to make a metal cover of the title theme. No tabs or sheet music exist and I am terrible at figuring stuff out by ear. I tried using some midis I found online to learn the parts but that didn't really pan out so I think I'm going to grab the chiptunes and see if I can build out midis myself.

[@indridcold64]

@@riskybitness you can put it through a DAW that will transfer the notes into midi files. Would be super arduous tho.

[@riskybitness]

I had put the downloaded midis into reaper and re-exported them as individual tracks and pulled them into guitar pro, but the tracks were all mashed together. It was a mess. That's why I'm thinking I'll try it with the original chiptunes and create my own midi and see if I can control the number of tracks and which channel goes on which track.

[@travisligocki]

One of my all time favorite games.

[@alexandercheskis]

Agreed to disagree

[@sabadiero]

The only good thing about that thing is the avgn revew

[@nesmario123]

impossible to beat? no.... good? eeehhhhh...

[@AnarchyDragon6]

My Favorite NES game!!!

[@nativewildman9335]

This is a fun game!

[@ma2perdue]

Stab it !

[@greeninjaize5635]

THIS GAME IS BALL CIDER

[@tangleshootburrfoot36]

Deadly Towers. YOLO

[@JLH111176]

sounds to me like the first ever souls game

[@riskybitness]

Pretty much!

[@AdamOSretro]

Awesome video dude but god damn, the volume levels at the beginning about destroyed my ears haha And you didn't really say why it was a good game, this was more of just a review of the game. In fact, at the end, you gave reasons why it sucks, not why it's good. I only bring it up because I was waiting to see why you think it's good when in truth, this game is absolute garbage! And I can give you plenty of reasons why haha

[@RapidAscension]

Nah son, game sucks lol

[@Ballowax]

get a better mic Risky, you sound too mushy

[@Ballowax]

@@riskybitness first you're soundmixing. The music is too loud. Second your voice, you sound kind a glitchy, loke this a zoom call or something. Mabey the bitrate for the mic audio is too low and uh that's it. You rock at everything else

[@PonderousEclectica4383]

wrong

[@riskybitness]

Did you watch the video? Please let me know what you think I got wrong!

[@RisingBeast00]

This game is not a classic at all.

[@FAITHandLOGIC]

This game was awful.