In a 1996 interview published in a Dungeons & Dragons mook (magazine & book portmanteau) covering Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystra and this game, the developers were asked why they choose Dungeons & Dragons as the setting. The game's designer Tomoshi Sadamoto responded:

"It was TSR, the copyright holder of D&D, who came to us first and talked about doing a game. However, an agreement could not be reached at that point and the project was on hold for awhile. Sometime later a compromise was reached, and we were able to start working on the first game, Tower of Doom."

He also admitted that from the beginning, the game was only intended for the arcade.