Swords and Serpents

Step into a new world of gaming, where you not only play, you become. Embark on a quest to slay the evil serpent lurking in the inner most depths of the dungeon. Create a mighty band of adventurers, each having unique powers: A fearless warrior, a cunning thief, a wizard with mystical powers, and an enchanting mystic. While fighting skills are vital, Swords and Serpents will stretch your mind and your imagination. As you explore the dungeons, searching for the trappings of the legendary Ruby Warrior, you'll confront challenges and decisions at every turn. Will you fight? Will you run? Which of your inventory of strength, experience and magical powers will you use? The serpent is coiled, ready to strike. But you are the master of your destiny. Will you rise to the challenge? No NES game has gone this far before!

# 2018-08-08 15:11:21 - official description

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NES-WP-USA
1 player, 2 player, or 4 player simultaneous cooperative battles. There is no 3 player option. One of the players is chosen to lead and controls the party outside of battles but any player can interrupt to administrate his own character or cast spells. Apparently a new leader cannot be selected later. The game occurs entirely within one 16 floor dungeon that the party cannot leave. But their are teleporters, "zoom tube" shortcuts, and temples where the party can rest. There are also armories and places to buy things with the gold you find and collect from enemies. The main enemy is the Serpent King that the players must eventually find and kill. Battles are in pauseable real time with players able to fight, flee, or cast spells. There is also the Seven Ruby Treasures to collect. Game progress is saved via a 14 digit password and each character is saved via their own 9 digit passwords. So a complete save requires 5 passwords (50 digits). Players can be a warrior, magician, or thief that is randomly created or everyone can use a pre-generated party.

Controls:
During battle you press
A to attack the middle of the enemy.
↑+A to attack the head of the enemy (the most damaging, if you don't miss).
←+A to attack the right side the enemy (their right, not yours).
→+A to attack the left side the enemy (their right, not yours).
↓+A to attack the the enemies legs
(each type of enemy has different weakness)

Unofficial mapping guide:
Locations should be referred to by coordinates starting from the upper left most room of the 1st floor. The horizontal referred to by English alphabet lettering starting with A. The vertical by European numerals starting with 1 (not 0). The floor by Roman numerals starting with I. For clarification, a dash (minus sign) is optionally used to separate the three values instead of a comma, so that commas can be uses to separate multiple sets of coordinates. Thus the upper left (Northwest) corner of the first floor is a1I or a-1-I . All text in this game entry should use this system. All coordinates are considered spoilers because the game was designed so that mapping the dungeon is an intended goal.

Trivia:
The production of this game was apparently plagued with disputes. Brian Fargo, president of Interplay, refused to allow lead designer Paul O'Conner's name to be listed in the credits. The game was revised by Bruce Schlickbernd who refused to be listed as the sole designer since he had merely revised O'Conner's exiting work. Both designers were uncredited (officially). Also, Boris Vallejo was not paid for his cover art.

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(Zerothis) - # 2008-05-17 20:18:03