Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II — stories left

Rare assisted with the sound, and all of the game's background music was composed by video game composer David Wise, who Pickford said "did a fantastic job on IronSword".

Pickford wanted to show off the possible graphical capabilities of the NES; he said, "I wanted to do something 'flashy' early in the game, trying to show off my amazing graphic art skills on the rather primitive NES.

Pickford planned to use, and completed, an Ironsword logo of his own when Acclaim made him use their planned logo, which he said "was a bit more bland and blocky, with detail that didn't work very well at such a low pixel resolution".

Steve Harris said that the game was very large and expansive, noting that it "is so big, and has so much to offer, most of the competition pales by comparison".

Jim Allee praised all the aspects of the game, saying "if you liked Wizards & Warriors, you'll love Ironsword".

The game would also be featured in the magazine's September 1989 issue, in which it was named the magazine's "Game of the Month"; it also featured the game's box art, with Fabio, on the cover.

They praised its well-detailed and thought-out graphics, the inclusion of well-drawn out large bosses and supporting characters, the sound which "has an eerie tone that sets the mood for the whole game", and additional features which expanded upon the game's predecessor.

They concluded that Ironsword was "one of the most welcome Nintendo Entertainment System games in a long time".

Game Players magazine awarded Ironsword the "Game Players NES Excellence Award" as one of the best games for the console in 1990.

Matt Regan said that he was not impressed with the game, saying that similar platforming games such as DuckTales and Gremlins 2: The New Batch were superior to Ironsword and had a more original approach in gameplay.

Julian Rignall also said that the game was fun, but it was not spectacular.

However, just as Regan noted, Rignall said that the game did not offer anything special like with better titles such as Mega Man 2 or Super Mario Bros. 2.

Both reviewers said the game was well-presented with good introductions and a password mode, easy controls, fair challenge, and "fairly good tunes and effects which fit the action well".

Overall, they said that Ironsword was "a fun but ultimately limited game that will appeal to platform fans".

Reviewer Sam Claiborn said that the game was more expansive than its predecessor and that it featured many of the good graphics, gameplay, and usage of Middle English.

Website GamesRadar praised the game's music, especially the title theme; Brett Elston said it set a serious tone for the game, saying "its heavy, droning beats mix with a fantasy-minded melody that make it sound like a funeral dirge in the Shire".

In a retrospective of the NES for the console's 25th anniversary, Nintendo Power wrote that "the game's quality will be forever overshadowed by Acclaim's choice of Fabio as the cover model".

It was mentioned as a future game in the May 1989 premiere issue of video gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly.

Finally, it was previewed by Nintendo Power in its July–August 1989 issue.

Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II was initially reviewed and received positive ratings in the June 1989 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.

The game would also be featured in the magazine's September 1989 issue, in which it was named the magazine's "Game of the Month"; it also featured the game's box art, with Fabio, on the cover.

The game was also one of the featured games in the November–December 1989 issue of Nintendo Power, where it received six pages of coverage and featured a poster of the game.

Jim Allee praised all the aspects of the game, saying "if you liked Wizards & Warriors, you'll love Ironsword".

They praised its well-detailed and thought-out graphics, the inclusion of well-drawn out large bosses and supporting characters, the sound which "has an eerie tone that sets the mood for the whole game", and additional features which expanded upon the game's predecessor.

He also criticized the fact that players cannot hit enemies while in mid-air.

Website GamesRadar praised the game's music, especially the title theme; Brett Elston said it set a serious tone for the game, saying "its heavy, droning beats mix with a fantasy-minded melody that make it sound like a funeral dirge in the Shire".

Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II was developed by UK-based computer game company Zippo Games, headed by Ste and John Pickford; this was the first game Zippo developed for fellow UK-based video game company Rare.

Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II was first unveiled in North America as part of the 1989 Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada and was displayed with other games to be released later that year by Acclaim.