Ludography
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Mystery Tower cover

1986 · Namco · Platformer · Puzzle

Mystery Tower

Nintendo console exclusive

Mystery Tower, previously known as The Tower of Babel (Babel no Tou) or just Babel, is an action puzzle game. The game consists of 64 "floors" or puzzles that involve the positioning of many L-shaped blocks. You must manipulate them to create stairs so you can reach the exit of each floor. Some floors are sealed, and you must collect crystal balls to escape. There are items to collect for bonus points, and a small number of enemies to avoid.

Also known as
Babel · Tower of Babel · Babel no Tou · The Tower of Babel
Released
18 July 1986
Platforms
NESWii UArcade
Genres
PlatformerPuzzle
Developers
Namco
Publishers
Namco
Modes
Single-player
Perspective
Side view
Country
Japan
Age ratings
CERO A
Languages
English

About

Tower of Babel is a 1986 puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Namco for the Family Computer. It was released in Japan on July 18, 1986. The game's goal is to solve the puzzle of each of the 64 levels of the ancient Tower of Babel and reach the top of the tower. The player controls the protagonist, Indy Borgnine, who must avoid enemies while rearranging L-shaped blocks in order to reach each level's exit.

Development was done by Namco, and the project was planned by Hiroshima Nagashima, who had worked on the company's arcade game Sky Kid (1985), the music was by Norio Nakagata, and the character design was by Hiroshi Fuji. A port to arcades for the Nintendo VS. System, VS. Tower of Babel, was released in 1986 only in Japan.

›Story

In the beginning, an archaeologist and explorer known as Indiana Borgnine is in search of the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After reading some lost scriptures, he determines that the only way to see them is to travel to the very top of the 64-story Tower of Babel. Upon reaching the Tower, he discovers that the only way to access the floors above him are to solve some challenging puzzles involving loose L-shaped blocks that he finds throughout the Tower. To his great surprise, the blocks are capable of balancing very well on top of one another, in order to form staircases.

Keywords

  • block puzzle
  • digital distribution
  • infinite spawn
  • nintendo switch online
  • late localization

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

The player controls Indy Borgnine through 64 levels, using L-shaped blocks and vines in order to reach the exit of each level. On some levels, the exit is blocked by a mask, and there are crystal balls throughout the level. If all of the crystal balls on a level are collected, then the mask covering that level's exit will disappear, and the exit will no longer be blocked. When the exit of a level is reached, a screen is displayed showing the score achieved on that level before the character moves on to the next level.

In the top right corner of the screen there is a power count. Lifting an L-shaped block causes the power count to go down by 1. Items will occasionally spawn while the player goes through the tower. The items are:

Story

Archaeologist and explorer Indy Borgnine is in search of the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. After reading some lost scriptures, he determines that the only way to see them is to travel to the very top of the 64-story Tower of Babel from the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament. Upon reaching the Tower, he discovers that the only way to access the floors above him are to solve some challenging puzzles involving loose L-shaped blocks that he finds throughout the Tower. To his great surprise, the blocks are capable of balancing very well on top of one another, in order to form staircases.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Releases by platform
PlatformReleasedRegions
NES18 August 1986Japan
Wii U22 October 2014Japan

Title IDsone per regional release, with its latest update

Title ids and disc serials by release
PlatformTitle IDRegionLatest update
NESNBL-3900-16Japan—

Box artone per regional release we hold art for

Editions and related releases

Included in
Namcot CollectionNamco Anthology Vol.1
Ported as
BabelVs. Babel no TouArcade Archives: vs. Mystery Tower
Remade as
Babel
Built on it
Vs. Babel no TouBabel

Games like this

Collections1 collection

Platform libraries

Description adapted from its source, CC BY-SA 4.0.