Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II

"This game is the definition of the word "Platformer""

Ironsword is the sequel to the game Wizards and Warriors. In it (Taken from the game itself), "You are Kuros, the greatest warrior of all. Since defeating the evil wizard Malkil, your renown has spread far and wide. Today you are summoned to the land of Sindarin, a once great kingdom where Malkil has taken the form of 4 evil elementals...." In order to defeat Malkil, you must defeat the 4 elementals and assemble the legendary Ironsword. There were 4 items of Sindarin to collect too, but I believe that was merely a side quest.

Graphics: 8/10- These are done pretty well. Kuros is well animated, and he's fairly large too. He also has a good jumping animation, it looks like he's really pushing off for extra height. The backgrounds are done nicely too, and the foregrounds have some dimension to them. The clouds in the cloud level really look like clouds! The enemies look nice too, even thogh some are a tad small. Kuros also has several ways to use his sword, and each has a different animation. Even his death is well animated, as he flails around for a minute before letting his leg dangle.

Sound: 9/10- Just great. Seriously. Just listen to the title screen. There are anywhere from 2-4 different themes playing at any one time in the main song, which was just unparalleled for its day. The other music is just like this, multi-layered. They are also mostly upbeat. The music doesn't really give a sense of whatever level you happen to be on, but it's nice enough. As far as sound effects go, you have the sound of the sword hitting a foe, of a foe hitting you, and the effect of magic hitting a boss (Which has actual FADE-OUT effects!).

Control: 6/10- It's not that the control is bad, per se, but you'd better like jumping. You have to do a lot (A LOT...you spend more time jumping around in this game than you do doing anything else) of jumping around in order to get where you want to go. Also, swing your sword while standing up is relatively useless, and your timing has to be dead-on in order to hit something (When ducking down it's a little better). While I'm on the subject, you have to constantly look around for keys to open chests. These chests may contain spells or weapons & armor which, while serving to enhance Kuros' appearence and maybe range, don't seem to help his attack or defense power any. Finally, there's a gambling game you can play (You're literally rolling the bones) which, while simplistic, is cool nonetheless.

Story: 1/10- "Save the land from the Evil Meanie(tm)". *sigh* Let's keep going..

Challenge: 9/10- Whether because of all the jumps you have to make, because of the relative uselessness of your weapons, or because of all the exploring you have to do, this is a tough game. Did I mention you only get something like 9 lives to beat the game? There are passwords, but they keep track of your lives; In other words, if you lose 8 lives getting through the 1st section, and get a password, that passwords starts you off with 1 life.

Replay Value: 7/10- It's a tough game, and the Roll the Bones game is actually somewhat addicting. However it costs too much. :P Also, trying to find the 4 items of Sindarin is an interesting side quest. But there isn't all that much to do after you beat the game (Which will take you awhile).

Overall: 8/10- In spite of some control problems, it's a pretty good game. If you like platformers that require you to explore, or if you liked the first Wizards and Warriors, pick this one up if you can. You won't be disappointed, due to its nice level of challenge.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 08/07/01