prisoner in Castle IronSpire, deep within the forests of Elrond. The brave knight Kuros, is summoned to venture through the forests of Elrond. He is armed with the legendary Brightsword, a sword that is powerful enough to beat demons, insects, undead, and the other creatures under Malkil's spell. With the sword, he ventures out through the forests of Elrond and the various caves and tunnels and to Castle IronSpire, to defeat Malkil and rescue the princess. Development Wizards & Warriors was developed by the UK-based Rare for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released by Acclaim in North America in December 1987; and in Europe on January 7, 1990. It was released in Japan by Jaleco with the title on July 15, 1988. It is Rare's second NES release, after Slalom. The soundtrack was composed by video game composer David Wise. Reception Wizards & Warriors was reviewed in Nintendo Fun Club News, the precursor to Nintendo Power. Nintendo Power called it the best game for the NES Advantage controller, allowing concentration on strategic gameplay. In 1989, it nominated the game for "Best Graphics & Sound" and Kuros for "Best Character" in its "Nintendo Power Awards '88", but it did not win in either category. VideoGames & Computer Entertainment lauded the game's challenge, the need for problem solving to use various items to defeat some enemies and make progress, the need to find hidden rooms for items, the high difficulty being offset by continues, the "excellent graphics and sound", and the arcade-style gameplay. Power Play praised the graphics, sound, and extras, but criticized its "stale gameplay". Arnie Katz reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, stating that "Wizards & Warriors refutes the claim that all video games are unrestrained target shoots. This engaging and well-programmed action quest offers a satisfying, well-rounded gaming experience." In a retrospective of the entire Wizards & Warriors series, UK-based magazine Retro Gamer gave a positive review of the first game, saying that "Kuros's first adventure was a unique experience for NES gamers in 1987, and technically well ahead of other games for the console at the time." The review said that the platform game emphasizes hunting treasure and items, and that most gamers disliked the relatively easy difficulty level due to unlimited continues. According to the retrospective, in 1988, Rare showed Wizards & Warriors to Zippo Games, who was touring Rare and its NES library. Rare