How to play Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara on Mac

PlatformsComputer

Game summary

In addition to the original four heroes found in its predecessor, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf and Fighter), Shadow of Mystara adds a Thief and a Magic-User to the selection. Furthermore, with the inclusion of two separate versions of each character's sprite set, the game allows up to two players to select the same character (in Tower of Doom each of the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game 12 "different" characters to choose from. The two Clerics and two Magic Users also have subtle differences within their spell books. The controls are using four buttons: Attack, Jump, Select (brings up a small inventory ring around the character allowing the player to choose what item is set in the Use slot) and Use. The Cleric, Elf and Magic-User also have two extra rings for their spells, with the Jump button used to switch from ring to ring. While the game uses the same kick harness as the previous game, the Select and Use buttons are reversed. Shadow over Mystara also introduced a selection of special moves which are executed by moving the joystick and tapping the buttons in certain combinations, in a way similar to the Street Fighter series. The characters (except for the Magic-User) have a Dashing Attack as well as a Rising Attack which can be used to combo monsters or even juggle them in the air. Most characters (again, with the exception of the Magic-User and also Cleric) also have a Megacrush, a move common to nearly all of Capcom side-scrollers, which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character but in turn also damaging the player themselves.
First released: Dec 1996

Play Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara on Mac with Parallels (virtualized)

The easiest way to play Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara on a Mac is through Parallels, which allows you to virtualize a Windows machine on Macs. The setup is very easy and it works for Apple Silicon Macs as well as for older Intel-based Macs.

Parallels supports the latest version of DirectX and OpenGL, allowing you to play the latest PC games on any Mac. The latest version of DirectX is up to 20% faster.

Our favorite feature of Parallels Desktop is that when you turn off your virtual machine, all the unused disk space gets returned to your main OS, thus minimizing resource waste (which used to be a problem with virtualization).

Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara installation steps for Mac

Step 1
Go to Parallels.com and download the latest version of the software.
Step 2
Follow the installation process and make sure you allow Parallels in your Mac’s security preferences (it will prompt you to do so).
Step 3
When prompted, download and install Windows 10. The download is around 5.7GB. Make sure you give it all the permissions that it asks for.
Step 4
Once Windows is done installing, you are ready to go. All that’s left to do is install Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara like you would on any PC.
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🕹 Editor's notes

Considered to be ahead of its time, Dungeons And Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara is one of the most complex arcades beat 'em ups and was released back in 1996 by Capcom. The game has recently been revived on both consoles and pc.

If you are a fan of the '90s side-scrolling gameplay, you would be thrilled to regain the nostalgic memories you once overjoyed with as a kid. However, you can now enjoy modern mechanics added to the game, like earning new spells with levels and experience or equipping new gear.

Gameplay

The Dungeons And Dragons Shadow Over Mystara might not be very different from its predecessor in gameplay. Still, now you can choose two new heroes, a magician and a thief, that are added to the selection together with the four older heroes.

The game allows two players to choose the same characters freely, and the magic users, the cleric, and the elf, are blessed with two extra rings for their spells which you can switch using the jump button. 

You also now have a selection of special moves by tapping buttons with different combinations and moving your joysticks. Shadow Over Mystara has added many new features to the game but has beautifully retained its original form.