Wizards & Warriors (NES, 1987)
Graphics-7 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-8 Story-?
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some interesting gear (boots of force - open locked chests without the key+kick enemies (can be used at the same time as the dagger, some enemies are only vulnerable to these), semi-flight/hover upwards a bit via the potion of levitation (can then jump again sort of like a double jump), glide jump with the feather, shield - auto-blocks some projectiles, cloak - reduce damage from non-boss enemies (which only helps against a few enemies) but makes it harder to see the position of your avatar and the effect wears off after some time (can be toggled), horn - shows nearby hidden doors, boots of lava - walk on lava and stand on fire pillars)
Items carry over between levels and are kept after dying or continuing, however the rightmost inventory item is called a special item (these are the boots of force, wand/ice staff, cloak, lava boots, staff of power/fire staff and horn) and it's replaced by the next one you pick up so you need to memorize where these are if you want control over which one you're carrying and when. One other exception exists which is the sub weapon (the axe replaces the dagger)
Smart bomb power-up (triggers on touch though and will destroy moving platforms like bubbles, random enemy drop but also sometimes found on the ground or in an acorn/torch)
Stop watch power up (freezes enemies when picked up; Zelda 1?)
Some hidden gems (jump repeatedly to get more gems similar to SMB)
Temporary invincibility and time stopper potions
Sub weapons (throwing knife and axe (stronger but only found in level 3) - both act like a boomerang and you can grab items with them (Zelda 1), these also break open acorns and torches (regular item containers), can upgrade the range of the knife and axe up to three times - hold the button down to throw further+the rate of fire for the axe (throw 2 at a time if you collect 4 upgrades); two more which are triggered with the select button: fire staff - spread shot, ice staff - temporarily freezes enemies (can't stand on them)) - Castlevania)
Temporary high jump potion (pink) and speed+longer jump potion (blue) - these respawn a few seconds after running out
No death pits
Can bounce on some enemies to reach higher
+/-
No save feature but you have unlimited continues and respawn on the spot even after using a continue (Castlevania; lose only your score and your sub weapon upgrades)
Maze Platformer w/ locked chests and doors (color coded - later used in Doom)
Collectathon Platformer (Forced collecting of 100-200 diamonds (some are worth 2 or 3 however) and one exit key per level)
Vertical platforming focused levels
No level maps - you're only given a vague world map view in-between levels as an intermission screen
The levitation potion, feather and blue potion are necessary for completion and the first two are missable but can be found in more than one level
Frequently respawning enemies (Starquake, Antiriad) besides in the hidden diamond-filled rooms
Upgradeable life bar but only one life and no continues in the JP version
Health refill between levels
-
Constantly respawning enemies in most areas
Some control issues (can’t turn around in mid-air, vertical focused jumps, can’t attack straight upwards nor downwards, loose upward scrolling)
Too much vertical platforming with tight jumps (have to sometimes redo fairly long segments if you fall down)
Some difficulty spikes (second boss)
A somewhat annoying jingle starts playing when near death
Sometimes inconsistent volume levels on sfx and music
Notes:
-Other regional differences: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Wizards_%26_Warriors/Regional_differences
Level Design-6.5 Frustration-8.5 Fun-6.5 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-6.5
+
Some interesting gear (boots of force - open locked chests without the key+kick enemies (can be used at the same time as the dagger, some enemies are only vulnerable to these), semi-flight/hover upwards a bit via the potion of levitation (can then jump again sort of like a double jump), glide jump with the feather, shield - auto-blocks some projectiles, cloak - reduce damage from non-boss enemies (which only helps against a few enemies) but makes it harder to see the position of your avatar and the effect wears off after some time (can be toggled), horn - shows nearby hidden doors, boots of lava - walk on lava and stand on fire pillars)
Items carry over between levels and are kept after dying or continuing, however the rightmost inventory item is called a special item (these are the boots of force, wand/ice staff, cloak, lava boots, staff of power/fire staff and horn) and it's replaced by the next one you pick up so you need to memorize where these are if you want control over which one you're carrying and when. One other exception exists which is the sub weapon (the axe replaces the dagger)
Smart bomb power-up (triggers on touch though and will destroy moving platforms like bubbles, random enemy drop but also sometimes found on the ground or in an acorn/torch)
Stop watch power up (freezes enemies when picked up; Zelda 1?)
Some hidden gems (jump repeatedly to get more gems similar to SMB)
Temporary invincibility and time stopper potions
Sub weapons (throwing knife and axe (stronger but only found in level 3) - both act like a boomerang and you can grab items with them (Zelda 1), these also break open acorns and torches (regular item containers), can upgrade the range of the knife and axe up to three times - hold the button down to throw further+the rate of fire for the axe (throw 2 at a time if you collect 4 upgrades); two more which are triggered with the select button: fire staff - spread shot, ice staff - temporarily freezes enemies (can't stand on them)) - Castlevania)
Temporary high jump potion (pink) and speed+longer jump potion (blue) - these respawn a few seconds after running out
No death pits
Can bounce on some enemies to reach higher
+/-
No save feature but you have unlimited continues and respawn on the spot even after using a continue (Castlevania; lose only your score and your sub weapon upgrades)
Maze Platformer w/ locked chests and doors (color coded - later used in Doom)
Collectathon Platformer (Forced collecting of 100-200 diamonds (some are worth 2 or 3 however) and one exit key per level)
Vertical platforming focused levels
No level maps - you're only given a vague world map view in-between levels as an intermission screen
The levitation potion, feather and blue potion are necessary for completion and the first two are missable but can be found in more than one level
Frequently respawning enemies (Starquake, Antiriad) besides in the hidden diamond-filled rooms
Upgradeable life bar but only one life and no continues in the JP version
Health refill between levels
-
Constantly respawning enemies in most areas
Some control issues (can’t turn around in mid-air, vertical focused jumps, can’t attack straight upwards nor downwards, loose upward scrolling)
Too much vertical platforming with tight jumps (have to sometimes redo fairly long segments if you fall down)
Some difficulty spikes (second boss)
A somewhat annoying jingle starts playing when near death
Sometimes inconsistent volume levels on sfx and music
Notes:
-Other regional differences: https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Wizards_%26_Warriors/Regional_differences