Kai no Bouken
Image: Namco

The VS. system conversion of Namco's Tower of Druaga prequel Kai no Bouken (otherwise known as The Quest of Ki) is making the journey over to Nintendo Switch and PS4 later this week, as part of Arcade Archives.

It will be released on November 7th, as reported by Famitsu, and is expected to arrive first in Japan, before being made available on some selected storefronts in the West.

Kai no Bouken was originally released for the Nintendo Famicom in 1988 and is the third entry in designer Masanobu Endō's Babylonian Castle Saga, following Tower of Druaga (1984) and The Return of Ishtar (1986). It takes place before the events of the first game and follows a priestess named Ki, who embarks on an adventure into a monster-filled tower to retrieve the Blue Crystal Rod, from the demon Druaga.

Unlike Tower of Druaga and The Return of Ishtar, which both featured an overhead perspective, Kai no Bouken is instead a sidescroller, with the goal typically being to collect a key that unlocks the entrance to the next floor.

Ki doesn't have a sword and is unable to attack, but can instead use a magic tiara gifted to her by the goddess Ishtar to fly and evade enemies in her path. It was inspired by the platforming segments in the 1983 Atari vector arcade game Major Havoc (which actually appears in the special thanks section of the Famicom game's credits), with this connection most apparent in Ki's flying ability (that borrows from the low gravity jumps featured in the previous game), as well as the character's capacity to get stunned when dashing into walls (another feature borrowed from Major Havoc).

Various quest items also exist that can help her progress through the tower, including warp spells to later floors, crosses to repel vampires, and other handy abilities that can be discovered throughout hidden away in treasure chests.

The VS. System conversion was released in the same year as the Famicom original and is largely the same as its predecessor, which has already been made available on Nintendo Switch via the Namcot Collection (as DLC) in 2020.

[source famitsu.com, via x.com]