Wizards & Warriors: my first video game obsession, and one of the few games that I don't feel cheap for maxing out tilt.
Wizards & Warriors puts you in the shoes of Kuros, a mighty warrior on a quest to rescue the damsels in distress from the clutches of the evil wizard Malkil, who's gripped the landscape surrounding his towering castle with demons of imps and the like. Like most NES games of the age, it's a pretty simplistic and trite story that doesn't cross any boundaries – the story is acceptable for the age, and doesn't get in the way at all.
In the game, you must run, jump, fall, and slice strategically like in a fair amount of platformers. You must pick up items and equipment along the way, such as the Dagger of Throwing (which extends your attack range a fair distance by throwing a dagger like a boomerang) and the Shield of Protecting (a plain name for a shield that blocks some projectiles) and the always-useful Potion of Levitation (press Up on the control pad to levitate above the ground a short distance, and then jump for your now improved jump range). The Boots of Lava Walk – the name making the use obvious – allow you to walk on lava unharmed (useful in only one level). The Wand of Wonders operates much like the Dagger of Throwing in that its use is unlimited by a set number, and that it is a projectile, but it is a magic spell that shoots off and continues going beyond the edge of the screen. Probably the most useful item in the game is the Feather of Fall, with allows you to fall continuously at a slow speed, preventing you from the usual pain or death associated with a long fall; this item comes into play in the stage outside Malkil's castle, which is several screens tall.
Other items in the game are less useful – I think every item has a use, but I have been unable to figure out what uses they may have. The Cloak of Darkness has little use; besides rendering you nearly invisible on the screen, I may recall certain projectile enemies being unable to see me, I am unsure. I also remember an item called The Horn... of something, more than likely; I was unable to find a use for it. There are a few other items in the game I do not remember fully (I could have sworn there was an axe projectile weapon...) and I would be willing to investigate these things.
There are also pickup items that last for a short period of time, the potions (unlike the Potion of Levitation). Pink is for higher jumping, red for invincibility and blue for faster running speed. Each has its own use and can pop up at random as left behind by an enemy, or can respawn in a certain spot on the map.
Speaking of respawning, all the enemies, like all NES games of the age, respawn, so watch out. The final stage will have you being swarmed at all sides by flying creatures like gargoyles and skeletons and such. At the end of every level (there are six in all) is a boss; the first one is drop-dead easy, the second insanely difficult (a long hallways of bats increasing in size, and then the final mother bat), and the rest increase in difficulty in a more natural way, the final boss being hard, but beatable. They, and the platforming (like pretty much every platforming game ever made) can become extremely frustrating and can cause you to want to throw the controller at the wall at times. I do not recommend this game to a novice; it is extremely difficult as the game progresses.
The graphics are quite good for the NES; it almost looks like a comic of sorts or a cartoon, but you'll still see plenty of the trademark things for any NES game of such scale – enough enemies or projectiles on the screen can slow it down, but I've never had it halt as a result on the original NES cart. I don't emulate. The music is, indeed, probably one of the best aspects of the game. I love every single tune in the game, and Wizards & Warriors hold the title for "Best Title Theme in a Game" in my book, right there above Solstice. The potion theme, every single tune; it makes me wish more people would remix the music (OCRemix.org, plugging FTW). If you don't find the game too frustrating, you'll probably want to replay it, if only to hear the music again, if you enjoy 8-bit as much as I do.
I've beaten it probably three times, so it's obvious that it can be frustrating, but I will still always love this game. Wizards & Warriors was my first video game obsession, right down to the catchy music, and is one of the few games that I don't feel cheap or guilty for maxing out the "tilt" like a 'n00b' would.