I had played the first one a bit, and this one a small bit 8 or 10 years ago, but had never beaten them before.
Lots of resets yesterday night and I got it. It is not too difficult.
The jumping mechanics on the clouds is a bit weird, but doable after a few tries.
 

Haha! You know I've got a soft spot for sandafloor   <3

It's Wednesday and only two people, you and guts, have officially completed the first level.


 

People should work harder, then, I guess!  
I found this game to be just a bit harder than Paperboy, which is fairly unimpressive when it comes to difficulty. It could have been the Fabio cover keeping me motivated, but still.

It will be a bit tricky to shave points from my run, but defeating the game isn't too hard once you understand the jumping mechanic needed to beat the air stage and how to defeat the opponents.
I foresee a lot of people basking in the power of Fabio manly, manly muscles and beating this game till Sunday.  

I probably won't get to jump in on this one, but I'll be back guns blazing next week.

A late nice job to everyone on Paperboy, I finally beat the game and only hit participation score.

After "playing" all morning. I believe I can officially say this is the worst "game" I have ever played. Worse that pacman worse than qbert. This is the most infuriating thing I've ever touched. I've only snagged the egg once and didn't even make it to the eagle after that because all my lives and health were drained. Maybe if swinging the sword actually did something....

Believe it or not, the second section of the first level is much more frustrating. You're at the easy part.

 

Hahaa! That's right on. 

Wait until we play Rollergames....

I seriously don't get all the hate for this game nor do I get its' perceived difficulty. We've played much,much harder games that many have gotten far into or beaten and I figured if those games could be beaten (or at least gotten decently far into) that this game would be an absolute cake walk.

I do get that his attacks suck and the enemies constantly cheap shot you,but this is definitely not the worst game ever. 

Yes it helps quite a bit that I played this a lot as a kid,but I wouldn't call beating Ironsword some amazing difficult gaming feat.

The initial learning curve must be one of the worst among NES games. It's Wednesday and there are only five score submissions and only you and Bea have completed the first level.
 

Try to see it this way.
Those who have completed the first level have beaten the game.
Thus, as soon as people start beating that dreaded first level, they too will start beating the game!  

It is just a matter of feeling the Fabio, letting him into you!  

 

267015, died at the fire boss. It's all coming back to me, I should be able to post up a much better attempt later this week.

http://imgur.com/Sb2U0tC...

Oh, and I kick ass at Rollergames   I loved that show!

The clouds really suck though. Bouncing high requires pressing jump at just the right moment after landing on a cloud and you _have_ to be able to do it consistently. I can't do it consistently. Maybe there's a trick to it. Meanwhile lots of annoying enemies are draining your life and trying to bump you off the platforms. So until you know precisely what to do, you'll keep getting knocked down and slipping off clouds and having to climb back up as your health bar depletes. To top it off, the "combat" is laughable. The cover art shows a muscle bound warrior with a huge sword, not a dinky knight wiggling his useless metal dick while getting his ass kicked. So yeah, this is not fun. Maybe it gets more fun later. From what I've seen the difficulty becomes much more reasonable after this.
 

Congrats on getting that far in this game, man.  Finally someone else beats the first level.

Roller Games is one of those games that I rented frequently and loved as a kid, but I haven't played in years. I remember it being challenging but fun.

 

I just hold the jump button down the entire time I'm in the clouds, personally(except at the boss).

I was thinking there might be some simple trick for jumping on the clouds.

I was having trouble with the springboards in Adventure Island II until I figured out that you don't press jump when landing on them and they spring you automatically.

 

Thanks! I'm going to try and remember not to pick up the treasures of Saradin on my next run. Got both the book and gauntlet this time. 

I love Rollergames, but I remember being really disappointed that the game was nothing like the show. It was like WWE on skates.
 

All I'm saying is everyone here is too skillful of a player to let Ironsword get the best of them.

Not wanting to play it because they don't like it is a different story. I really wish more people liked it,I think it and the other two in the trilogy are great games.
 

Yeah, as Jandrem said, just hold the jump button at the clouds.

I might give this a try. It could be that I'm frustrated because I'm just playing it all wrong.

 

I have the same problem I have with Super Empire Strikes Back.  The constant attacks give me anxiety or something.

 

Definitely hold the jump button down to consistently jump higher. For the tornadoes,when they approach you,just turn your sword to them. That usually fends them off. At least they don't damage you. The eagles are the main problem. 

Honestly I usually die at least once in the cloud area. I never,ever die in the water level. And the boss of that stage can only hurt you one way and it's easily avoided if you stay close to him.

For the cloud boss,keep a reasonable distance to be able to shoot the projectiles which will destroy them but also hit the boss. And pretty much all you need to do is button mash until he's dead. Of course you need at least half your magic bar full I believe. Mine is usually full just in case.

Also be sure to get the silver fleece spell in the underwater part of the water stage. There are only two chests and one key in that area. The blightwater spell is hidden behind a fake wall. When you enter the area,start descending down and to your right until you can't go down farther. Jump left through the fake wall to get the spell. Go back out through the fake wall and then walk along the floor to the right until you get a key. Then go up until you reach an area to jump to on your right. Go that way and when you get to the chest open it and get the silver fleece spell then follow the path straight back up. In the top are where the boss is there is an area with a big diamond. The higher platform to the right has a secret magic bubble stash as does an area at the water level to the right. Then get really close to the boss and shoot him in the face. The projectiles he shoots will not hurt you,but they will turn you the opposite way. So jump,tap right if he pushes you left,shoot...repeat. 

Thanks for the tips. Maybe I can beat this.

I once completed two loops of Batman without a game over, I should be able to make progress in Ironsword.


 

SCORE: 17669


Give me my participation points and lets never speak of this game again, onto the next

Oh my gosh, you can keep jumping by holding in the button. I didn't know you can do this. This changes everything.