Wizards and Warriors retrospective: Knight in the woods | NES Works
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- čas přidán 7. 04. 2020
- We're in the final stretch of the year here with a collaboration by two companies that each made their debut earlier in 1987. This is the first of many times we'll see Rare and Acclaim work together, and in this case the studio puts its programming wizardry to work to create a technically impressive (if somewhat gangly) action platformer that would evidently do well enough to inspire a short-lived franchise. Even if it's not much to look at these days.
Video Works is funded through Patreon ( / gamespite ) - support the show and get access to every episode up to two weeks in advance of its CZcams debut! And be sure to check out the Retronauts podcast (www.retronauts.com), where I (and many others!) tackle a much wider array of classic gaming topics each week. - Hry
"Yep, feels nice" off to a good start, as always.
What's the reference this time?
An in-game text or something?
@@FloatingSunfish Nah, it's because of sixty-nine.
@@Belzeboobies Hahaha. I didn't even notice.
Jeremy, you sly fox, you! 😎
I'm getting your comment to 69 likes. Given one like, if it's not to 69 by tomorrow morning then I'll make sure it does with other accounts. On mobile right now. :D
@@theSato Well, you did it you beautiful madman. That deserves a "Nice".
Every time you post a new video I get excited. I have to watch it immediately, they're all so good, and go into way more depth about the history and context of the game, how the rest of the field was when this game joined the match, which no other channel does, at least nowhere near the extend of y pi ur videos. I love them.
This game definitely feels like a British platformer. By that I mean it's got tons of design choices that were super common in the platformers for the micro computers. While North America had the "video game crash" and weren't playing games anymore, in Europe we continued to play games on the Spectrum, the C64, the BBC Micro etc. And so many kids were bedroom programmers, teaching themselves how to program and so discovering all these programming tricks that weren't in any textbooks on coding, pushing the hardware beyond what was thought possible.
And these kids were sending their games to publishers and getting them published as actual real games sold in shops on cassettes. And then these kids grew up and formed companies like Rare
But yeah there's a very distinct style of "British platformer" or "European platformer" that were slow, punishing, and usually had something on each screen you had to collect by avoiding obstacles and enemies and hazards, with one hit deaths of course, ad you could spend 10 minutes on a screen. These games were limited by the hardware of computers like the ZX Spectrum. They weren't fast flowing games like Mario or Mega Man. The idea was to take your sweet arse time on each screen.
And Wizards and Warriors to me feels very very much like the old microcomputer British platformers. It's a lot faster and flowing than them of course, using the power of the NES. It's got a lot more twitch reaction action in it than the old computer games, but it still retains a hell of a lot of the design choices, the game mechanics, of the older games. To me that makes it really interesting. It's a game that no Japanese developer would ever have made. No North American developer would have made a platformer with this style either. It's distinctly European. And so pretty unique as far as NES platformers go.
Sorry for the long ramble. I tend to write way too much.
I wrote all this out halfway through watching the video, and then you do eventually mention everything I said towards the end, so this whole comment is redundant. Oh well lol
This game deserves more love than it gets. Not, like, a ton more love, but some more, because it's OK and not bad.
I got Wizards and Warriors for Christmas and, at midnight on Christmas Eve, ran into the living room and opened the wrapping paper and took the game out and started playing. I stayed up until the sun was almost up and finally beat the game. I then rewrapped the game, put it back under the tree, and went to bed.
staguar damn, if that’s true, you’ve got skill AND balls
@@2yoyoyo1Unplugged it is absolutely true. I felt guilty when I unwrapped it after getting out of bed later that day.
staguar You must have been guilty AND tired. I jusy hope you still got replay value out of it and didn’t blow your load early that Christmas Eve.
Holy shit dude, I did that with Werewolf The Last Warrior! I was not as slick though, you could clearly tell it was opened. Wizards and Warriors, more Ironsword,was pretty big when it came out, my neighbor Zak believed me when I told him I was Kuros hahaha and I use to make him eat leaves!
That would have been totally fine in my family. Our tradition for Christmas Eve was you got to open one present, so long as it was small enough to hold in one hand easily. Everything else had to wait for Christmas morning.
I was obsessed with this game in 1988. I actually still have a photo of me sitting in front of my grandmother’s TV playing it.
I recall renting this as a youth and having a very tough time with it. But one thing that stuck with me was the music. I didn't realize that it was by the same company/composer as childhood favorite RC Pro Am and Cobra Triangle until much later during my collecting days. David Wise sure did churn out some good tunes, even if the game it was attached to wasn't on that same level.
David Wise needs a greatest hits on Vinyl, where it will quickly go to the bargain bin. Then collectors can pick it up for cheap.
This was the first long NES game I ever beat and I always really enjoyed it. From the music to the exploration. Yeah it's easy because of the infinite lives but still takes some thinking to get though it
At least you actually had a *REAL* Chance to finish this Game as a kid cause of infinite lives... The Term "NES HARD" does not stem from nothingness...
I remember reading Seanbaby's take on this game back in the day. The invisibility cloak that actually makes the player invisible and impossible to see was hilarious. That's what stuck with me about these games... that and putting Fabio on the sequel's cover.
I played the hell out of this as a kid. Never got old for me.
By the way, that cloak of darkness item is very confusing. In the manual, it says it's supposed to make you invulnerable, but a coding error stripped that feature out.
What it actually does, or so I've read, is it decreases damage from all attacks to 1 point. But, since every standard enemy does only one point of damage, it only really comes into play during boss fights, some of which hit for 3 or 4 points each time they attack you.
Issue 81 of Retro Gamer had a brilliant, in-depth making of article with interview comments from the creators.
Instantly, hearing that familiar "you're low on health" music made me smile and think about a hot summer day, sitting in an attic-converted bedroom, drinking sodas, and playing this game with neighborhood friends.
Wizards and Warriors came out when I was 7 and was my favorite NES game. The intro theme set me along a life long love of Baroque Music. I’d wager that it was the very best $70 my parents ever spent on me.
This is one of those games we tried to love. Lore like "Dagger of Throwing" and "Boots of Lava Walk" sounded awesome to 10 year old me. Unfortunately I never figured it out enough to enjoy it. Glad to see a great video like this breaking it down.
Wizards & Warriors is a needlessly frustrating game. Several sections seem intentionally designed to inflict long falls and backtracking on a missed jump, the hit detection is janky at best, and the game needed more than one short "low health" music track considering how often and long it is inflicted upon the average player.
What about “trumpet that does ummm not sure?”
@@lh9591 Ah yes, the Horn. Turns out it automatically reveals any hidden doors on screen. Rare had the brilliant idea of putting it in a stage with no hidden doors, and not listing it in the manual. Quite useful on the follow up stage, but who the heck was going to figure that out as a impatient child playing the game when it was new?
This is one of those bizarre games I played to death as a kid. Had no idea it was Rare.
Love this channel.
Love the Wizards & Warrios series so much and I'm a huge fan of it, I finished all 3 games and what really makes me feel bad is in the third installment when you finish the game, Kuros gets sucked into a time portal sending him into the future! sadly, there was no 4th game to see what happened to him, if I was rich, I would gather the original team who developed the series and hire them to do the 4th game and beyond.
Special mention to the main theme, which imo is pretty great.
JS Bach was a great composer.
The blessed forgiveness alone makes the game more approachable than most other NES platformers.
I remember renting and finishing it but owning Ironsword, which only offered three continues.
I still think of Baba O’Riley when I hear the potion music.
Loved this game as a kid, very nostalgic for me.
The "death" music to me was one of the first methods of trolling I ever felt in a game. To me it felt like the music was saying "you're gon-na die!" over and over again.
The ease of failure made this game such a joy to play. It gave you the time to deal with the obtuse micro-computer origins. Wizards and Warriors is an important example of that exploratory period when game genres were not defined. Even playing it in recent years it continues to be a joy. Thanks as always for your superb work.
Wizards & Warriors is one of my favorite NES games. It plays a lot like someone had Castlevania described to them and tried to incorporate it into their own game, but had never played it.
Like... the torches and acorns you can hit with throwing daggers revealing items like Castlevania's candles. But, they only give you random items! The Dagger of Throwing/Axe of Agor look a little (and sound a lot) like Castlevania's Boomerang, but they're permanent. The focus on platforming. Meat giving you health. The map screen between areas. The secret score items that are hidden around.
Another thing Castlevania and W&W have in common is that I can one-credit both of them.
and this is a great game. i played it A LOT as a kid, and always seem to go back to it as an adult---however, i am NOT as good as i used to be as a kid. I died a lot more than i ever used to last time i played...
Finally. Absolutely cannot wait for the next episode. Hoping for an at least 20 minute long retrospective.
This really does feel a lot like a ZX Spectrum game, in a lot of ways.
My mother was obsessed with this game (as was I). The sound effects were the coolest.
Nice timing, been recently playing this after remember enjoying it when I was 5. It’s amazing I was able to even get to the 3rd level when I was that young.
David Wise has never made a bad piece of music. Love this video as well. : )
Ironsword was my favorite of the trilogy. That opening music was bangarang, and they really expanded upon the original. I wish Rare would bring this series back.
Another great, informative vid! Catching up with the Works' series has helped keep me on my preferred side of sanity these past couple of weeks. I imagine the increase in quality as 87 comes to a close has also been a relief.
I adored this as a teenager. The music, especially. I had no idea it was a UK developed game at the time.
I always thought the music that starts playing when Kuros is low on health sounded so happy. It's a very upbeat tune for that particular situation :)
I loved this game as a kid and still love it today. When I visit my sister we play a lot of NES games and this one often gets a playthrough. Fun, silly, a little frustrating but not too demanding once you know how things work. :) Music is great too.
Love the music from this game.
My one complaint is that the music spends so much time in that "warning, death is imminent" tune. I think a simple "you're about to die!" tone is enough and maybe speed up the music instead of changing it to that ultra-repetitive tune.
@@zerobyte802 Funny enough, I actually find that repeating tune as one of the more enjoyable tunes in the game. It's not a jingle I would expect for the "You're about to die" warning at all, lol.
@@zerobyte802 I have to agree with you on this one. I loved this game but that "death warning" tune .... that thing Will. Not. Ever. leave my head. I hear it doing laundry, walking down the street, raking, whatever.
This is a game that I can never decide whether it or its sequels belong in my eventual NES library.
I definitely would say yes to this one. The sequels...not so much! 😆
Oh fuck, I have memories of playing this game a lot as a kid but I could never remember what it was. Great analysis as usual man
The eyes on the knight in w&w2 :)
This was my favorite game growing up.
A great video as always. Though it's worth mentioning that Dragon Buster is often believed to be the first game with a double jump, and it predates this game by about four years. So the concept certainly existed, it just wasn't commonplace yet.
Absolutely love this game. The box art is fantastic. Music and sound effects are super catchy. I really really miss this aspect of western developed games.
This being an early Rare game, it has so much in common with the kind of games they made on the ZX Spectrum under the name Ultimate Play The Game.
It's a natural progression from games like Underwurlde and Sabre Wulf.
Wizards & Warriors X on the Gameboy was my first experience with this series and it was pretty darn frustrating, but still quite enjoyable at the same time.
The happy and sinister music tracks were also quite memorable.
Never managed to beat it though. 😅
I think those same adjectives perfectly describe the first two NES games as well (still haven't tried the third one, so I don't know how that one fares): frustrating and enjoyable
Oh also--Wizards & Warriors is one of the "Rare Coin-It" games, which are designed like they were intended to be put in an arcade cabinet (as Vs. Slalom was). I know of four of these: Slalom, W&W, R.C. Pro-Am and (later) Cobra Triangle. They all list Rare Coin-It as their copyright holder (although they were made by Rare), they're all designed as tight arcade games right down to having attract modes, stall prevention and timers on menus, and they even have initial entry and scoreboards, although they all reset once the system is turned off. Very interesting from a design standpoint.
Makes you wonder if Rare initially planned this as an Arcade game. They would give you just three credits in many of their other titles.
One of my favorite games this week and next week! I look forward for 70 :D
Never played this one but got the 'Ironsword' sequel once for Xmas instead of the game I actually wanted. I could live with your sprite looking nothing like Fabio on the box art, but the fact your attack felt more like you're dangling a carrot than swinging an actual sword made it hard to love.
I loved this game as a kid.
Wizards & warriors I played that game when I was a kid and it's still good.
I loved this game.
Totally underrated channel please keep it up your videos are great. Subbed.
1:52 AVGN Made great use of the music in this game to assist in making his Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde NES Episode. 😀
Awesome episode. I Can't wait for Legacy of the Wizard, METROIDVANIA, Retrospect, or GINTENDO!
Magical game. THAT MUSIC! Gave it such an atmosphere. The legendary boss theme and the cave theme still pop up in my head at random. Check out Vomitron's medley of the game music. This game was great because of the unlimited continues. It allowed us to experience the different sights and sounds of the game. Other games at the time should have taken note
I love how the box art of all the Wizards and Warriors game have a buff, muscular barbarian ala Fabio but in the actual game he looks those dorky knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This may not be the greatest game, but I have a soft spot for it - it was one of those from my childhood that I loved to rent over a weekend. I always got a dark-ish vibe from it as a kid, and that music is just fantastic. I didn't realize until much later in life that it was a Rare game.
Double jumps were popularized with Dragon Buster in 1984, though that is mostly common knowledge I've played older games than that that also had them. I struggle to remember at the moment. Oddly I remember Lady Bug being an earlier female protagonist than Samus Aran though it's hardly relevant here.
My fav NES game of all time!
Funny story about those Video Power cartoons with all of the Acclaim characters, they were made by basically the same people at DiC that made Captain N, so they were making the Nintendo promotional cartoon and its Acclaim ripoff/equivalent simultaneously. IIRC, I think they even share some of the same video game sound effects between the shows.
So if anyone is out there wanting to watch more Captain N episodes but instead starring Kuros and Bigfoot the monster truck, start searching CZcams
Your review is spot on. Wizards & Warriors is one of those games that's not bad, but not great either. It was enjoyable enough for me to rent it a couple of times back then, but not good enough that I wanted to buy it.
Please keep the videos coming! I seriously enjoy watching them every Wednesday! Thank you!
Thank you for all your videos. I enjoy all of them.
Still one of my favorites
Playing this on a friend's NES, watching the debut of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on television... oh yes, those were good times indeed.
It is very unlike Rare to give you infinite continues. In fact, I wonder if this was the game that convinced them to limit continues to two for many of their games, a nasty habit they didn't seem to break until the Nintendo 64 era some years later.
Also, there was a game with double jumps before this one! 1986's Xain'd Sleena, aka Solar Warrior, gave your hero a boost when you tapped the jump button in mid-air.
I absolutely adore this game and its sequel! Thanks for the review, Jeremy. Hope all is well.
It’s like early Elden Ring! I remember this well.
I just got thought a playthough of this one its still very fun in that take you mind off things and relax and also quite beatable with the infinite continues with no lost of progression
I enoyed this games as a kid, as well as its sequal.
Another year in the bag! I hope you finish this series unlike Dr. Sparkles with Chrontendo. It’s daunting, I know but if there’s anyone’s opinions I care about listening to they’re yours.
I didn't hear any mention of the kick attack in the review: it really helps out.
5:05
Thou hast discovered
Rose-tinted Nostalgia Glasses.
Yep. This game is really bad. Never played it back in the day, never could get into it later on because it's baaaaad.
Hey hey hey. If you want bad Wizards and Warriors games, try the third one. No continues, no idea where the heck to go, and tiling up the wazoo.
Hell, I never even OWNED this, and don't think I ever saw it being played until recently.
One of my favorite games, if only for it being one of the first I completed.
Nice.
You know, funny thing is I was watching the Wizards and Warriors X episode of Game Boy Works just yesterday
Next episode is going to *rock, man*
Looks nice! Thanks man you found me something to play.
This video reminds me I still have to beat this game, the last time I played it I was defeated at Merlin's tower.
I really enjoy these videos, keep 'em coming.
"feather of featherfall" is a great name
69 dudes! Wizards & Warriors was also a game that I liked, which is nice.
I played this game a lot when I was 5 or 6. I have vague memories of getting my mom to buy it for me in some department store.
"69.. feels nice" .. heheh. The 69 jokes that are a bit more subtle, or are double entendres, are the best ones..
I recall reading an article that the coding for the invisibility cloak was not implemented correctly. You couldn’t see Kuros but enemies could.
It was partially correct, in that when in use, it reduces all damage to 1, but it's hard to notice.
I believe the first time a double jump was used in video games was in Dragon Buster.
Borrowed it from my dad's friend growing up. They didn't seem too keen but I didn't know why. I LOVED W&W. As an adult though, I can see its flaws as you point them out. Still enjoyable nostalgia for me. Thanks for your series. I love your work.
I had Wizards & Warriors 3 when it came out and it was the most frustrating game I'd played until then.
Got a NES for Xmas 88. My dad said he wouldn't buy me another game until I beat Super Mario. I beat it 3 months later. I got Wizards and Warriors. I loved it.
As a kid who grew up in Germany, I could never tell Wizards & Warriors and Wizard of Wor, the Gauntlet/Tower of Druaga style game for Commodore 64 apart.
Which confused me to no end.
FREAKIN' CLASSIC
Congrats on 50k subscribers!
Love your NES series bro the best on CZcams
Best of the W&W series.
Wizards and warriors this gamei liked alot as a kid I also remember it being scary I don't know maybe I need to replay this that was 30 years ago lol
Man, now you've got me wondering what game first introduced double jumping.
According to like 5000 people who commented here, it was Dragon Buster.
Episode 69, nice
At this point I'm wondering if it was a dream or not, but wasn't there an arcade game that was eerily similar to wizards and warriors regarding character and item design?
Still awaiting that sequel where Kuros is in the future.
0:22 "Watch me 'swooce' right in!"
Love this one. :)
Underwurlde is a more apt reference point than Knight Lore/Sabrewulf for the genesis of Wizards and Warriors.
For being an early title I thought it had pretty good graphics
Nice
Great video, love these videos. I've always wondered why the box art of this & ironsword had nothing to do with the game .