Swords and Serpents is a first-person dungeon-crawling RPG that Interplay Productions developed and Acclaim Entertainment published for the NES in 1990. Up to four players can each control an adventurer — Warrior, Thief, or Magician — guiding the party down through 16 dungeon levels to confront the serpent that gives the game its name.
How to Play
The screen splits between a first-person view of the dungeon and an overhead map of your position, which switches to health gauges when a fight breaks out. Combat is turn-based: each character can attack, cast a spell, or flee, and holding a direction on the D-pad while attacking aims for a specific part of the enemy for extra damage. You can use the standard NES controls to play in your browser:
- Move: Arrow keys
- Attack / Confirm: Z
- Cancel / Alternate action: X
- Start/Pause: Enter
- Select: Shift
Tips
- Warriors and Thieves hold the front line while Magicians hang back to heal and cast offensive spells — balance your party rather than stacking one class.
- Aiming attacks at a specific body part with the D-pad does more damage than a plain attack, so use it once you’ve identified an enemy’s weak spot.
- The game saves progress with five passwords (one per character plus overall progress), so write them down in order rather than relying on memory between sessions.
Leave a Comment / Review: