| Mindscape of Chatsworth, California, published the NES cartridge (NES-2U-USA). Its manual credits the game's name to Atari Games and the program's copyright to Tengen, dated 1990. | front cover (PDF p. 1)inside cover (PDF p. 2)inside cover (PDF p. 2) | Manual |
| The NES manual sends Thor, Thyra, Questor and Merlin back into the mazes of the Dark Dungeons, over 100 new ones, against their old enemies (ghosts, grunts, demons, lobbers and sorcerers) and a couple of new ones, with "all the action, graphics, and sound of the arcade". | printed p. 1 (PDF p. 3), The Gameprinted p. 1 (PDF p. 3), The Gameprinted p. 1 (PDF p. 3), The Game | Manual |
| On the NES each player picks a character with the control pad (up the Warrior, down the Wizard, left the Elf, right the Valkyrie), and a new player joins a game in progress by pressing A on their controller. Three or four players need Nintendo's NES Satellite or NES Four Score adaptor. | printed p. 1 (PDF p. 3), Selecting a Characterprinted p. 1 (PDF p. 3), Selecting a Characterprinted p. 1 (PDF p. 3), Selecting a Character | Manual |
| Each player starts with 2000 Health, which runs down over time and with monsters' hits; food and cider bring it back unless the cider is poisoned, and a character whose health runs out dies. Fire is unlimited, and players are immune to each other's shots except on certain levels. | printed p. 2 (PDF p. 4), Playing the Gameprinted p. 2 (PDF p. 4), Playing the Gameprinted p. 2 (PDF p. 4), Playing the Gameprinted p. 2 (PDF p. 4), Playing the Gameprinted p. 2 (PDF p. 4), Playing the Game | Manual |
| The NES manual rates the four heroes: Thor the Warrior's tough skin takes off 20% of damage and his shots do twice normal power, but his magic is poor; Thyra the Valkyrie's shield takes off 30%; Merlin the Wizard has no armor and no hand-to-hand weapon but excellent magic; Questor the Elf's leather takes off 10%, and his magic destroys almost all monsters and generators. | printed p. 3 (PDF p. 5), The Heroesprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 5), The Heroesprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 5), The Heroesprinted p. 3 (PDF p. 5), The Heroesprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 6), The Heroesprinted p. 4 (PDF p. 6), The Heroes | Manual |
| In the NES manual, monsters pour out of generators of three strengths, which take one, two or three hits to kill what they make. Death drains up to 200 health and can only be got rid of with magic; acid puddles chase the player; the "IT" disk makes its victim the target of every monster until they leave the maze or touch another player; and fire-breathing dragons, which appear rarely, have to be hit on the head several times. | printed p. 4 (PDF p. 6), The Villainsprinted p. 5 (PDF p. 7)printed p. 5 (PDF p. 7)printed p. 5 (PDF p. 7)printed p. 6 (PDF p. 8)printed p. 4 (PDF p. 6), The Villainsprinted p. 5 (PDF p. 7) | Manual |
| Around the NES dungeons are special potions (extra armor, magic power, speed, shot power, fight power and pick-up power), amulets for invisibility, invulnerability, repulsiveness and transportability, ten super shots, reflective shots, treasure rooms on a time limit, traps that make walls disappear, transporters to the nearest visible transporter, false and moving exits, walls that crumble when shot, stun tiles, and force fields that drain health while they are on. A player who doesn't fight for about half a minute finds the locked doors open, and stalling long enough turns all of a level's walls into exits. | printed pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted p. 7 (PDF p. 9)printed p. 8 (PDF p. 10), Keysprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 10), Amuletsprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 10), Amuletsprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 10)printed p. 9 (PDF p. 11)printed p. 9 (PDF p. 11), Treasure Roomsprinted p. 9 (PDF p. 11), Trapsprinted p. 9 (PDF p. 11), Exitsprinted p. 10 (PDF p. 12)printed p. 10 (PDF p. 12)printed p. 10 (PDF p. 12)printed p. 9 (PDF p. 11), Transportersprinted pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted pp. 6-7 (PDF pp. 8-9), Special Potionsprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 10), Amuletsprinted p. 8 (PDF p. 10), Amuletsprinted p. 10 (PDF p. 12) | Manual |
| On the NES controller, A fires the hero's weapon and B uses magic; Start begins and pauses the game, and Select pauses it. | printed p. 11 (PDF p. 13), Controlsprinted p. 11 (PDF p. 13), Controls | Manual |