Sword of Xolan 1.0

A village has been attacked by an evil wizard. The houses have been set on fire, and villagers dragged in cages. What better recipe is there? Take up your sword and go fight monsters and rescue maidens!

Sword of Xolan is an action platformer that plays and feels like a classic NES title. The pixel art graphics are very well done and the controls are surprisingly sharp.

Xolan is equipped with a longsword and can shoot fireballs after drinking a magic potion. Besides that, our hero needs good timing in order to advance through each level.

On his way, he can discover and free villagers and also find the local treasure chests. Whacking boxes and vases will drop coins. Monsters will drop coins too, but not without endangering the hero.

Most monsters have fixed paths and only hurt you when you touch them. Others on the other hand will react to your presence, attack and even follow you until they die, or you lose your last hitpoint. You only get three to start, and you rarely find more. That's a pity. Remember that what I said about old school gameplay? Well, there are no checkpoints in Sword of Xolan. There are levels of course, but if you fail a level, you will not get any coins and also lose any progress you have done.

Coins are fairly useful. Once you get enough, you can buy a game card. These are permanent upgrades. Some give extra coin drops others give you full mana when you start.

The campaign takes you through three different settings and there are plenty of levels in each. There's also a challenge mode, in which you battle the clock at hitting as many targets as you can.

Conlcusion

In other words, if you enjoyed or want to taste gameplay form the olden days, you mustn't pass on this one. Sword of Xolan is a highly polished game that deserves to be experienced by any gamer.