Fortress of Fear: Wizards & Warriors X

"The fortress goes down!"

Introduction
Honestly, if you think this game deserves a score over a 5/10, shame on you! While it's not the worst game for Game Boy, it's very close! However, it's definitely to be expected that an old and popular portable system releases so many games, that some of them are crap. There's just way to many 2-D adventure games that a new one would have to be a godsend to be good. Fortress of Fear is the opposite of a godsend, making it worthless.

Graphics-2
I have one positive note about the graphics: The main character and SOME of the enemies look okay, but after saying that, everything else just plain sucks. I'll have to back up my opinion with facts. The backgrounds are way too simple. I bet if I were to find a dictionary and look up the word ''simple'', it would say ''Fortress of Fear's graphics.'' Take the first level for example, in the background, there's only a cloud or two and a hard-to-see mountain range. If that's not simple enough for you, some levels don't even have backgrounds. The boss fights are phenomenal examples(we'll get to that, just wait!!). Enough with the backgrounds.
Sometimes arrows can be shot at you, from nowhere at all. On top of that, you can't even see them sometimes! I have excellent eye sight and I don't wear glasses or anything like that, but I still can't see those arrows! Then you get to the treasure chests. You'll be like, ''What the hell is that?'' Some of them are there for no reason!
It seems the makes of this game didn't put effort into this.

Sound-1
What kind of game is this? A game where you kill things with swords and stuff, not a carnival game. Most of the levels in this game DO have carnival music. It doesn't fit well at all. Some levels do have decent music though, but when it attempts that, it just sounds too much like a techno beat, which is not too good in an adventure game either. When you die, it's funny, and the carnival music is kind of funny too.
Now we get to the sounds. Every time you strike a hit on something and it doesn't die, it makes a very wierd and irritating sound. And when you get hit, the sound is so damn stupid. The whole audio category for this game pretty much stinks.

Story-1
They don't tell you that much about the story. The only thing I picked up is that some creature is showing is wrath on ''thee''. Oh my! I'm so scared! In a sarcastic tone, the story is sooooooooo original. End sarcasm.

Control-3
The control is just like any other 2-D game for Gameboy/ Gameboy Color/Gameboy Advance. If you don't know how to jump in this game, I'll laugh in your face. If you don't know how to die in this game, find out soon, because once you play this, you'll just want to fall off the level. Your character moves a little slow making it tight gameplay. That's how I got hurt/killed a lot. The fighting is just way to basic. You should be able to do combos, even if they are very simple.

Gameplay-1
What can I say? All you do is go around, collect useless things, and fight enemies that aren't tough at all. There aren't many levels either and they don't take long at all. They should though. All you can do is use your sword and jump. Impressive? Nope! There's bosses but they can be really really cheap and sometimes impossible. All the more reasons I couldn't progress any further...Another thing that sucks is that you can't save!

Difficulty-4
Some levels are just too easy, others are just too hard and unfair. Those are levels where you have to jump a lot and if you miss, you have to start over again. The bosses are can be a real pain, too. Just touching one could kill you. If you play this and that happens, you'll get very discouraged. The difficulty for this game is very cheap.

Replay-2
It's good to have a top 5 list for scores, but you can't even save! No point in that whatsoever. Then if you beat the game, there is nothing else to do. Why you would play the game for that long is beyond my understanding.

Best Feature(s)
-The music is sometimes funny
-It's easy to die in this
-Most stores don't sell it anymore

Worst Feature(s)
-Just about everything else
-Bad example for Game Boy

Overall-1
Seriously, who would play this? There are so much better 2-D games to choose from. Why waste your time with this?

Rent Or Buy?
Neither would fit. The only reason to obtain this game is for an April Fool's prank. You give this game to your friend and say, '' This game rules, so play it!''. Your friend now knows you played a cruel joke on him. There is no other reason to even play this. Shame on you if you actually like it.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/02, Updated 07/15/03