SweetNES!

7. The ones about beardy wizards and Fabio packaging

The games: Wizards and Warriors series (NES)
Published by: Acclaim
You played them in: 1987-1992

What's Cool: Armor-clad, personality-free Kuros may just be another knight in pursuit of his princess in the original game, but as the series carried on it added new gameplay elements (swapping bodies was pretty cool) and larger medieval worlds to investigate. And though its main character lacked spark, the original title remains one of the hardest and flat out nuttiest NES games ever.

You're simply thrown into some woods with a tiny sword and have to fight splotches of color (maybe monsters?) among impossibly large trees. Jump around for a while, maybe stab something and move on to another mazey cave or forest. In the days before the Interweb, Warriors stumped us all. Please bring the magic back. But lose the Fabio-endorsed box art.

Saving the princess one more time?Swords and beards are all the rage, but probably not.

Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE.