Wizards and Warriors is an NES classic that is often overlooked in classic top 10's.
First I will explain in short what the game is about and your objectives. Every level has an exit that is guarded by an invincible brown night who requires a certain amount of gems before he moves to let you by. The amount of gems required varies per level and is made apparent by a bubble above his head that has a number inside. You acquire gems by killing enemies, finding them out in the open or in treasure chests which can only be opened with a colored key. Each key can be found throughout the level and are either blue, brown or pink. Spanning through each level are colored doors and treasure chests colored to each specific key, obtain the key and gain access to them to retrieve the gems or beneficial items inside. As just mentioned you not only receive gems from chests, but also items to help you on your way. You can upgrade with a dagger of throwing (most useful in my opinion), a potion of levitation (also very useful), boots of force and Staff of power just to name a few. These items will help you on your journey to find and defeat the boss monster of every level to rescue a damsel in distress. Your ultimate goal is to find the evil wizard Malkil and rescue the ultimate damsel in distress, the Princess.
Next I will talk about the difficulty. I rated the difficulty as "just right" which can be conceived many ways but I will explain why. This game is plain hard, you will die and you will die often. You have 2 lives and then you get a continue screen. The enemies spawn just off screen and fly at you in a constant stream never ceasing and eventually get the better of you on many occasions while you search for the gems to proceed to the next level. However you get infinite continues to help you weather the battle. And when I say continues, I don't mean you can continue from the beginning of the level, I mean you continue from the spot you died, with all your earned weapons, gems and keys in your possession. I would also like to note before I move on that the outer walls of castle ironspire will test your platforming skills to their utmost potential....and even your patience!
Next I will quickly note about the controls. The controls in this game are, in my opinion, some of the finest the NES has to offer. Your character controls very well and you need have precision timing in some areas to reach some points of the level. My only gripe would be that using the select button to use your special items is an exercise in precision finger movements to effectively use properly in the heat of battle.
In closing I will note that since most of the game is spot on why I gave it an 8.0. The game is mostly repetitive as every level will find you searching for the same gems, keys and exits. Also the way enemies spawn from offscreen right after you just killed an enemy can also steal from the fun factor of the game a bit. In the end though, this game is great and should be played by any gamer who considers themselves classic or retro. Hey, it will only take you 2-4 hours to beat the game so you might as well give it a shot!