The FM Towns version of the classic Dungeon Master was ported by FTL Games (the game’s original developer) and published by Fujitsu in 1989 (two years after the original Atari ST version, and three years before the DOS version came out). This was a Japan-only release, on CD-ROM, but the game is playable in both English and Japanese, which is great.

Starting Dungeon Master on the FM Towns, the first thing you’ll probably notice is the addition of a red book audio soundtrack that the original version doesn’t have. It streams from the disc and is high quality and also very atmospheric. It doesn’t play constantly, but that’s okay because the game’s sound effects are so vital to your immersion into this world.

The FM Towns version of Dungeon Master plays exactly the same as the Atari ST original, which is a good thing, although it actually seems faster and more responsive than the ST version to me. You can use a combination of keyboard and mouse controls to move, attack, cast spells, manipulate items, and activate switches and buttons. Inventory management, saving and resting are all easily done with a few of clicks of the mouse.

The game’s iconic monsters are all present and correct, and are just as scary as ever. The devious puzzles and traps will tax you more and more as you progress. Learning how to cast spells; use many of the game’s intriguing items, and how to level up, are all engaging tasks.

Dungeon Master is one of the best games ever made and is still amazing to play to this day. In my mind, it’s pretty much perfect. And the FM Towns version is one of the best ports of this timeless classic available, and is a tempting prospect to play all the way through. In fact: every time I boot up and test out a new version of Dungeon Master I’m usually tempted to play it all the way through. It does take a serious investment of time to complete, though, unless you play with a walkthrough, in which case you could probably beat it in a few days to a week of constant play.

Dungeon Master is a challenging game, with a very well-designed difficulty curve, but it’s not quite as hard as its follow-up, Chaos Strikes Back, which was also released for the FM Towns in 1990. The underrated sequel, Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep, was also released for the FM Towns in 1994, but only in Japanese.

More: Dungeon Master on Wikipedia