Game 19: Swords and Serpents (NES) - And Creepy Old Men

The looping music on this screen is the least enjoyable I've heard

Game 19

Title: Swords and Serpents
Released: September 1990
Platform: NES
Developer: Interplay Entertainment
Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
Genre: RPG (Dungeon Crawl)
Exploration - First-Person
Combat - Turn Based
Series - Standalone




Well, this is a first: a console RPG designed and produced solely in the US (although also released in PAL territories). I wasn't expecting to come across one so soon, but here it is. Interplay, known as a strong developer of computer RPGs, decided to take advantage of the growing interest in consoles and the lack of computer-style RPGs.

This game was released after Dragon Wars on the PC, but before Dragon Wars was ported to NES. Unfortunately, the port of Dragon Wars won't be played for this blog as it was only released in Japan. A final note, this game has nothing to do with Mattel's Swords & Serpents; notice the clear use of an ampersand in the latter.

Unattributed: Paul O'Conner (Initial design)

This is also the first console RPG that supports multi-player. I won't be taking advantage of this feature, but I'm interested to know if anyone has experience with it. Double Dungeons, Secret of Mana, and only a handful of others had support for more than one player. They games are unique enough that I'll probably point it out everything time I discover another.

2 players control odd or even characters; 4 players take control of one of each

We begin by selecting a new game, and creating a whole new party. There is a default party for a quick start, which--and I didn't realize this at the time of my selection--starts with the same classes I chose: 1 fighter, 1 thief, and 2 magicians. The manual states no less than three times that at least one magician is necessary to beat the game.

A fighter doesn't need intelligence right?

I should really take the time to read the manual before jumping in; I would have gone for better stats all around. I thought I was safe in settling for low intelligence for my fighter, but the manual suggests it's used to determine how often a character attacks. It's easy enough to roll new stats, just press the 'B' button and voila new stats, repeat ad nauseum. I rolled up four characters rather quickly.

Apparently so

The story, as the manual would have us believe, is that we are a group of adventurers gathered for a single purpose: kill the serpent on the 16th floor of the dungeon. To accomplish this we are to seek out 7 fabled ruby treasures once held by the ruby warrior.

In case you don't have the manual, here's what you're supposed to do

On the first floor I discovered many cryptic messages written on walls and floors (found just by being on the right square), an armory to trade in weapons and armor, and a temple that restores all wounds spell points.

You'd think the dragon would have removed them by now

Hidden in a corner of the map was the spell Sting. Spells are discovered rather than gained from levels. There is only the party level as well; individual characters only have their own attributes and inventory. Everything else is shared.

Who exactly are all you old men?

You can't take three steps in the dungeon (or even one in some cases) without running into a random encounter. I was lucky to find the temple when I did, as even with two mages I was running low on healing power.

Killian is hit!

Combat is as simple as mashing one button in most cases, but the mechanism for choosing turns isn't as simple as a round. Instead, an algorithm is used that takes into account the current weapon, intelligence, agility, and other factors. This means one character, or monster, can potentially have many turns in a row. The fighter is straight damage potential, but with his low intelligence I've already noticed my thief, Norick, going at least twice as often. The advantage to that is Norick has a critical attack that immediately kills a monster.

In the middle of running away, Pathos is already to safety

Successfully ran, the game gets in one last jab

There's an additional twist to combat tactics. In addition to spells, which are mostly ineffective since my weapons' damage potential is often greater at this point, the manual describes the choice to select a direction on the D-pad before attacking. Up will target the enemy's head, down targets the legs or lower body area, and left or right will target the body (default when nothing is pressed). Some enemies are more susceptible to targeted areas, but most will take additional damage at the cost of reduced accuracy.

How many of you are there?

I've only made it through the second floor, but have already discovered teleport traps and zoom tubes. Zoom tubes take the party up levels, and make it easy to get back up to the temple of healing. Temples are only on the 1st, 5th, and 10th floors, so I'm sure the tubes will be vital to my survival. Teleporters are a bit more questionable as they can potentially teleport anywhere; however, it's implied their destination is set for each square.

The graphical effects leave a bit to be desired

On the second floor, I found a locked gold door (noted for later), the shield spell to increase AC by 1 for a time, a plus 1 sword that also increases my AC, and a couple of helms. So far nothing too extraordinary, but we're only just getting started. To end the night, I found my way to the third floor after purchasing a plus 2 sword from the shop (the best sword available), and saved.

Want some candy?

Only after reading the manual did I learn the party always starts at the last temple visited when restoring the game. I also lose all experience points, but retain my level (currently 5). The auto-map, which I'm very thankful for, isn't saved either. I've been neglecting to map since it was there, but I may have to start making my own. I'm still not completely through the manual; once I am, I hope to have a better grasp on the intricacies of the game. I already managed to overlook examining items, which seems to give very detailed information on each piece of equipment. Another first.

Oh the joy

of a

password for

every character

and the game

Above are the passwords for the game at it's current state. For anyone curious or want to play along, here are the passwords I had at the start:

• KILLIAN - 9VQMCJVTB
• NORICK - 2LC2M??6?
• WEAVIL - PSSBC2SH?
• PATHOS - S6B6QL6ES
• GAME - BEPCS???3OEOEK

Hopefully in having screenshots I won't have too much trouble with the password system. Next session should progress much further, and with luck I'll have thought of something to write about.

Session Time: 1h36m (Total Time: 1h36m)