In Ironsword, the hero of the series, Kuros, must face off once again against the evil wizard Malkil, who has taken control of the four elementals of the world—wind, water, fire and earth. Each of the four elemental realms consists of two stages. In the first stage, Kuros must find a golden artifact which belongs to the Animal King of the realm; once accomplished, the path to the second part of the realm will appear. In the second stage, the goal is to find the magic spell which can be used to fight the elemental boss. Without the spell, it is impossible to damage the boss. Once the elemental in each stage has been destroyed, Kuros obtains a piece of the legendary Iron Sword, which is needed for the final battle on Icefire Mountain.
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This was one of the first games I received with my NES and I loved playing it as a kid even though I felt like I was terrible at it. Turns out, it's just infuriatingly difficult. It's the single thing that keeps it from scoring better because the visuals, platforming and music are all great, it's just a shame the game is hellbent on killing you.
I liked it better than the first one.
It's bad but the visuals kinda sent me for a loop as a kid. Evil forests and dragons and caves and stuff.
Meh
This ost is a hidden gem and some of David Wise's best work. The highlight is the title track with its heavy stoner rock vibes and satisfying dynamics. The level themes channel classic rock, and the "game over" theme weaves major and minor 7ths into a bittersweet nostalgic number. Wise was one of the few NES composers who effectively used the triangle synth channel for an instrument other than bass. The harmonized leads with two disparate voices (square and triangle) was unique, and the fuzzy square bass was warm and heavy.
The game itself was stinky bucket of chum.
The game itself was stinky bucket of chum.
The first Wizards and Warriors game is very playable, but this follow-up proves it was by accident.
The first Wizards and Warriors' levels have a nice nonlinear structure to them; the main flaw with it was that the levels featured a lot of verticality which meant a lot of enemies attacking from directly above or below, but the main character had no way to reliably attack in those directions. The cheapness was mitigated by the game adding infinite continues, turning the enemies and hazards into mere distractions as you explored the stages, trying to get your bearings and discover cool secrets. Unfortunately, this follow-up scraps the unlimited continues, laying bare the game's challenge for what it is: both cheap and horrendously unfun.
Sadly, even if the unlimited continues were kept intact, this game is a clear downgrade from the first in so many ways. The abundance of slippy-slidey slopes make platforming extremely annoying, bosses are way less interesting than the first game, and even little details like replacing the main character's armored helmet with big googly eyes just make the game feel more silly. The biggest annoyance here is that the hit detection is one of the worst in any game I've ever played; it's extremely inconsistent. I have no idea how mercy invincibility works here, but sometimes an enemy hits me and I get knocked back, and other times I fall through a bat in just the right way that I get brought from full health down to dead.
Even putting myself back into the shoes of kid-me, I can't imagine myself deriving any enjoyment from this. Merry Christmas everyone. Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing.
The first Wizards and Warriors' levels have a nice nonlinear structure to them; the main flaw with it was that the levels featured a lot of verticality which meant a lot of enemies attacking from directly above or below, but the main character had no way to reliably attack in those directions. The cheapness was mitigated by the game adding infinite continues, turning the enemies and hazards into mere distractions as you explored the stages, trying to get your bearings and discover cool secrets. Unfortunately, this follow-up scraps the unlimited continues, laying bare the game's challenge for what it is: both cheap and horrendously unfun.
Sadly, even if the unlimited continues were kept intact, this game is a clear downgrade from the first in so many ways. The abundance of slippy-slidey slopes make platforming extremely annoying, bosses are way less interesting than the first game, and even little details like replacing the main character's armored helmet with big googly eyes just make the game feel more silly. The biggest annoyance here is that the hit detection is one of the worst in any game I've ever played; it's extremely inconsistent. I have no idea how mercy invincibility works here, but sometimes an enemy hits me and I get knocked back, and other times I fall through a bat in just the right way that I get brought from full health down to dead.
Even putting myself back into the shoes of kid-me, I can't imagine myself deriving any enjoyment from this. Merry Christmas everyone. Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing.