Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara (ダンジョンズ&ドラゴンズ シャドーオーバーミスタラ) is an arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1996 as a sequel to Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom.[1] The game is set in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Mystara.
Combining the side-scrolling gameplay of a beat 'em up with some aspects found in a role-playing video game, Shadow over Mystara has many game mechanics not commonly found in arcade games, such as finding and equipping new gear and earning new spells as the player gains experience. Players can wield a large variety of weapons and armor, although this selection is limited by the character the players chooses; there is also an extensive assortment of magical and hidden items in the game, many of which are completely unknown to exist to the typical video gamer. This, along with the addition of multiple endings and forking paths, gives the game much re-playability and has led to a cult following among fans of the genre.
It was one of the last 2-D arcade side-scrollers created by Capcom; only Battle Circuit (1997) came after Shadow over Mystara. The game has seen two home releases as part of the compilations: Dungeons & Dragons Collection published for the Sega Saturn in 1999, and Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara made available on the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Steam in 2013.
