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RighteousBlaze· September 2026
BoughtNinja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
Swords and Serpents
- $13.99
- Regular price
-
$16.99 - Sale price
- $13.99
- Unit price
- per
The cartridge or disc on its own, cleaned and tested — no box or manual. Game condition guide →
Ships in 1–2 business days·Tracking on every order·Signature required on orders $250+
Item Condition
Game only: the cartridge in a protective holder, no box or manual. For the specifics, look to the photos — they're of this exact cartridge. Every cartridge's shell, label and board are checked for authenticity when it comes into the store, and it's tested before it's listed. It ships in a collector's bag or a hard plastic case.
Item Description
Four friends, one dungeon and a single NES: Swords and Serpents was built for a kind of party play that console RPGs almost never attempted in 1990. Interplay, the studio behind the computer classic The Bard's Tale, designed it so control of the adventuring party could be split among one, two or four players, with four-player sessions running through the NES Satellite or a similar adapter. One player leads the march through the corridors while everyone else handles their own characters in battle, which turns every fork in the tunnel into a group decision.
The quest itself is classic dungeon crawling. Your party descends through sixteen levels of an underground labyrinth, hunting for the trappings of the legendary Ruby Warrior and the serpent coiled at the very bottom. The screen splits between a first-person view of the passage ahead and a map, and turn-based battles let you attack, cast or flee, with a neat twist: holding a direction while attacking aims your blow at a specific part of the monster. Warriors soak up punishment, thieves are quick and can land instant-kill critical strikes, and magicians cast spells that heal the party, blast enemies or make the maze easier to navigate. Every staircase down raises the stakes, and creeping forward on low hit points with the next level still unmapped is where the tension lives.
The production had real pedigree. Boris Vallejo painted the cover art, and the music comes from George Sanger, the composer PC players know as The Fat Man, alongside David Warhol. Progress is saved through a set of passwords, one for each character and one for the party's overall progress, a very 1990 ritual that pairs perfectly with hand-drawn maps on graph paper.
Reviews were mixed at release, but the game has since earned a following as a standout among the NES's small group of first-person dungeon crawlers, and its co-op design still feels unusual today. It is the cartridge to reach for when you want the Wizardry-style grind of mapping, rationing and surviving, with friends on the couch arguing over which corridor to take next.
Fast factsgame data via IGDB
- Released
- 1990
- Publisher
- Acclaim
- Developer
- Interplay
- Players
- Single player, Multiplayer, Co-op
About the game
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!
Summary from the IGDB community database — the condition and contents of this listing are described above and in the photos.Watch gameplaySwords and Serpents on NES
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NES
Swords and Serpents
$13.99
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NES
Swords and Serpents
$13.99
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