Towers

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Towers is fantaSTic!
by Gregory D. George

December 4, 1996

With the imminent release of Towers II for the Jaguar, (Which will be reviewed next month) I thought it only fair to review the original Towers game written for the Atari ST by JV Enterprises.

The story of Towers is told by a ship's crew member by the name of Marimure, who's ship was caught up in a magical storm. The crew, on it's way to Airatose to help in the war against Sargon, encountered the storm and a 6 foot hole was ripped in the ship! Luckily, a wizard onboard held the waters back until they could reach safety.

The ship eventually lands at a place called Lamini, or "Land of Towers." Marimure quickly discovers how beautiful this land is and of the many lords who reside in the towers. And, the taller the tower, the richer the lord.

Running low on money, the crew decide to take jobs as couriers for the town sheriff while their ship is being repaired. The sheriff asks them to seek an audience with lord Baniff, who he hasn't heard from in some time. But, as the crew entered the lord's tower, the entrance collapses leaving Marimure alone outside Baniff's tower.

I was pleasantly surprised when I first fired this game up and read that introduction. Towers is of such quality, it could have been released as a commercial product. The game itself plays much like the classic game, Dungeon Master. (Which was the reason I bought my STe in the first place.) You walk around in a maze, killing monsters, picking up items, and figuring out puzzles. The maze graphics have very little variation, but you may notice that the ceiling isn't always of the same height. (Big deal, right? Well, it's an improvement over DM!) The monster and object graphics are quite detailed, however monotone in color. Of course, you don't think about that too much when you're getting beaten up by a troll!

Aside from the title and introduction, there is no music to speak of. And for some odd reason, the title music is whacked on my machine. Half of it sounds great, the other half is totally hacked up. I don't know if it's the computer's fault or the software. In any case, I'm forced to immediately turn the sound down whenever I run the game. The sound effects are adequate, but the "step" noise you make as you walk is quite annoying. I also miss the "oooff!" sound you make in DM when you run into a wall.

Towers is a not crippled in any way, but in order to get the maximum fun, JV Enterprises recommends you purchase the manual for $15. It's a small price to pay for a such wonderful RPG game. The fact it's so much fun on the ST will ease the minds of Jaguar gamers preparing to purchase Towers II. Find it, play it, buy it! It's worth every penny you didn't spend.