Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power - Reception

Reception

Wizards & Warriors III received preview coverage in the November 1991 issue of Nintendo Power. There, the magazine praised the graphics as being "eye-grabbers", saying that "Rare has a knack for bold, colorful graphics". They also lauded the game's expansiveness and challenge. However, a couple months later, they accounced that the game's release was delayed. The game would eventually receive a rating in its "George & Rob's Now Playing" review section in its April 1992 issue, but it did not receive a review.

Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power sold 30,000 copies in North America and 300,000 copies in Europe, according to company figures. It was also one of the featured reviews in the February 1992 issue of GamePro magazine. There, reviewer "Slasher Quan" compared the controls to the previous Wizards & Warriors titles, saying that Kuros "is hard-to-control in certain instances, but it's still razor sharp". His criticisms of the game included frustrating item-tracking due to the game's nonlinear structure, lack of fighting, and the lack of continues or passwords; he added that, with regard to the lack of continues or passwords, that "this is particularly a shame because Acclaim reports this baby's about twice as long as Ironsword". Overall, he said that Wizards & Warriors III was "slightly blurry compared to its predecessors".

In a retrospective review of the game in 2008, Destructoid's Conrad Zimmerman criticized Wizards & Warriors III for many issues. While he initially praised the game for its depth, he criticized the game by comparing Kuros to the previous games in the series, saying that he is "still a good-looking knight with a useless sword which he holds as if it were his manhood when jumping" and adding that he "is still one of the most inept fighters in videogame history". He also criticizes the game for its lack of action and fighting, saying that it is "more of a platforming game with the occasional boss fight". Other criticisms include slow and unresponsive controls and hard-to-defeat bosses. Overall, he says that Wizards & Warriors III "isn't a bad game, just one that has some great ideas hampered by serious flaws".

Wizards & Warriors III received praise from Retro Gamer magazine in September 2010, as part of its retrospective on the Wizards & Warriors series. They said that the third installment was the best game in the series as well as developer Ste Pickford's personal favorite, despite the fact that it did not sell as well as its predecessor Ironsword. Developer Ste Pickford said: "Wizards & Warriors III was more like a game that I really wanted to make. IronSword was pretty much a straight sequel for a game dropped in our lap; we look at it and tried to make a new version with some improvements." Pickford added that, while he could have done better with both Ironsword and Wizards & Warriors III, he wished he would have been able to see the latter to its completion.

While Wizards & Warriors III hinted at a sequel at the end of the game, it has not happened. The publishing rights for the series remained with Acclaim, who went bankrupt in 2004, with their intellectual property rights going to Throwback Entertainment. As of late 2010, the Toronto-based company has no plans for any future games in the series.