Wizards & Warriors 3
| a game by | Acclaim |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Platform: |
 NES
|
| Editor Rating: | 6/10, based on 4 reviews |
| User Rating: | 8.0/10 - 2 votes |
| Rate this game: | |
| See also: | Wizards and Warriors Series, Wizards & Warriors Games |
DownloadsTwo years ago atop Icefire Mountain, Kuros, the bravest, most popular, and best-dressed Nintendo Warrior of all time, triumphed over his arch-enemy, the dreaded Wizard Malkil. Little did NES players know that just after his defeat, Malki's ethereal spirit cast one last devastating superspell that shattered Kuros' mind, body, and soul. After months of agonized wandering in agony, Kuros has finally regained some degree of sanity just in time to find his worst nightmare has come true -- Malkil's back in town!
Malkil's ghostly form sized up the perfect body to possess -- King James of Piedup City. Now James is locked in a dark, dank dungeon, and Malkil's sitting pretty on the throne. Kuros must separate the crown from Malkil's head in Wizards & Warriors III, another epic side-view conquest from Acclaim.
Identity Crisis
Malkil's latest crime is so immense, so incomprehensibly evil that one man alone couldn't possibly bring him to justice. But Kuros is one man alone. So en route to the Palace of Piedup, where he faces Malkil in the final showdown, he learns the arts of three medieval professions, Knight, Wizard, and Thief. To join a "guild" and acquire the skills for each career, he must first hunt down a Statue as payment for his training. Then he must complete a rigorous test of his jumping and sword-hacking prowess (which serves as the bulk of this game's action) in order to be promoted, up to Level Three. Kuros' new-found abilities help him explore various locales, like the cavern and the castle area, which can be accessed from Piedup proper.
ProTip: You'll encounter warp doors in some of the testing sites. Enter them when they change colors, but watch out for those which drop you onto a bed of spikes!
Chivalry Reborn
As a proud Knight of the Acclaim Game, Kuros first wields a Long Sword, then a Throwing Axe, and finally a Shooting Sword. His swordsmanship, as in the previous titles, is hard-to-control in certain instances, but it's still razor sharp.
- To find the Knight's Bronze Statue, enter the castle area's giant door and head for the first door to the left.
- Once Kuros attains Level One as a Knight, return to the cavern and hack the ghoul to bits.
Thief of Fate
Kuros the Thief?? Maybe "catburglar" would be more accurate. As his five-fingered talents grow, he'll be able to pick certain locks and enter sealed-off areas. But don't be concerned, our honorable hero never actually resorts to illicitly pilfering Piedup's goodies.
- Look for the Bronze Thieve's Statue inside the bottom left-hand door on the lowest level of Piedup.
- Freeze the first boss Thief in his tracks with ducking sword-swipes.
- Sneak past the cavern guardian as a Thief.
Under the Wizard's Spell
Sometimes the spell is mightier than the sword. As a cunning wizard, Kuros summons incantations such as Fireball, Force Field, and Levitation. Who says you can't fight magic with magic?
- Look for the Bronze Wizard's Statue in the same cavern as the guild.
- To dispatch this bee hive, select your Level One Wizard, press the Up-Left direction while holding down the B button, and you'll fry it with fireballs.
- Scorch the worm mini-boss with the Wizard's flame attack.
A Warrior's Destiny
As in the previous Wizards & Warriors chapters, the third installment requires jumping and sword-hacking for success. However, some major changes in structure have occurred in Part III. Instead of fighting through multiple levels of play, Kuros must search through Piedup to find an item, use that item, then find another item, use that item, and so on and so forth. Besides the guilds' tests of valor, Kuros goes one-on-one against Malkil's ' thugs, rescues three damsels in distress, and retrieves the precious Mega Gems in order to enter sensitive locations.
- Stock up on keys at this inn near the beginning of the game. It's the best bargain you'll find for quite a while.
- Stand on top of people if you need an extra jumping boost.
- Save free food for when you need it most.
Continuous Problems
W&W III certainly sets the groundwork for a great game with cool character-swapping and some intriguing plot points, but a few quirks in design hold it back from the luster of the earlier entries. The linear structure, mentioned above, may even exhaust Warrior devotees with too much brain-straining item-tracking and not quite enough swordplay. Also, unlike Wiz I and II, in Part III there are zero, zilch, nada, 0 continues or passwords. This is particularly a shame because Acclaim reports this baby's about twice as long as Ironsword.
A Matter of Honor
Most NES gamers already know and love the Wizards & Warriors saga. As a standalone title Acclaim's third installment is better than a run-of-the-mill blade-chopper, but because of the linear structure and the lack of continues, Visions of Power is slightly blurry compared to its predecessors. All the same, the gauntlet's thrown down, and in true knightly fashion, you must decide whether to accept or refuse the challenge. Each team has four plays on offense and defense, usually featuring two passes and two runs. On offense, you control whoever has the ball -- the quarterback and then the running back or a wide receiver. On defense, you can select any player prior to the snap, and then you can automatically switch to the player closest to the ball once the play is in motion.
- On defense, immediately press B when the ball is hiked to control the player closest to the ball. Keep pressing B on pass plays so you can shadow the designated receiver.
- You control your kicker on kickoff, so immediately bring him down the field to cover the return.
The graphics are monochrome versions of those from the NES version, which is good and bad. You get nice extras such as the end zone celebrations and the half time show. However, with 22 players bouncing around, it's often difficult to keep track of your players, especially when you pass.
A Football Fix
Tecmo Bowl isn't an extremely challenging game. It's intended more for people who want to play an "arcade" football game without sideline strategizing. But if you want a rock 'em sock 'em gridiron gut buster to go, Tecmo Bowl scores!
Download Wizards & Warriors 3
System requirements:
- PC compatible
- Operating systems: Windows 10/Windows 8/Windows 7/2000/Vista/WinXP
- P-200, 32 MB RAM
Game Reviews
This game, Wizards & Warriors III - Kuros: Visions of Power, is an installment of Wizards & Warriors for the Nintendo Entertainment Systems. This story tells that the evil wizard Malkil was not actually defeated in the second game's end. Actually, after the grand battle with Kuros, Malkil withdrawed to the near castle kingdom and captured it. Kuros then have to try to make Malkil get out of the kingdom.
There are various guilds all over the game that are devoted to training knights, thieves, and also wizards.
The game-play proceeds up a huge vertical city with hazardous, monster-filled hallways and caves. Kuros have to kill monsters, collect money, buy goods and services. He must raise his class-levels, release various imprisoned princesses and get special jewels, all in order to fight with Malkil once more.
You've fought with the evil Malkil several times before but he keep s coming back. His evil magic is strong and this time he now controls not only the royal Palace, but also the minds of all the people in the city of Piedup.
Your mission is to get to the Palace and defeat Malkil. However, to do this you must first locate and obtain the four sacred Mega Gems as only with them, will you be able to get to the palace. These gems are spread out throughout the mines, labyrinth and dungeons of the Underworld of Piedup. Protecting these Gems though, are huge creatures, Guardians and the fearsome Dungeon Masterr.
You can get help. Some of the people will grant you a transformation power if you find and return important statues. Do this and these people will grant you the power to change into a silver knight, a wizard or a thief. Each has different powers and abilities. In addition, by being disguised, you may be able to sneak past some of the Guardians instead of having to fight! It's the longest and hardest quest yet but with patience and perseverance, good will overpower evil once again!
The evil Malkil has returned in Acclaim's Wizards and Warriors 3. Malkil's power has increased dramatically since he now controls not only the Royal Palace, but the citizens in the quiet town of Piedup. Kuros must find the sacred Mega Gems, as they are his only hope of reaching the Palace. This time, Kuros can even change his disguise to sneak past guards and possible foes!
People say:
Although the adventure aspects of this series have been explored more thoroughly in part three, the action is still pretty much the same. I'm not a big Wizards and Warriors fan, but for those of you who are, you will appreciate the extra detail in graphics and animation that the latest title has picked up in its evolution.
The Wizards series continues to get longer and harder with each new game. Those who liked the older versions may not like the RPGish direction that this cart is going in but games evolve and with very few fun quasiRPGs around Wizards may have just found a new niche to expand into.
Sequels that don't improve on their predecessors have a history of not doing well. The graphics aren't as good as in 2, and the sounds are nothing to jam through a stereo. The game play is OK but doesn't keep my interest for long. RPG's with Mario style game play just don't seem to make an outstanding cart.
Wizard and Warriors III could use a little innovative thought. This isn't a sequel, it's a rehash of the same game! A real sequel should incorporate so many new techniques and levels that it blows the last one away. W&W III uses the same repetitive action and graphics as the previous two, with not enough improvements.
Snapshots and Media
NES/Famicom/Dendy Screenshots
