I agree that it looks like two characters swordfighting. After doing some googling on sword and shield in video games here is a list of games that probably AREN'T those figures:
The artwork looks naggingly familiar to me as something I played on the C64 in the days of yore (really dating myself here), but I can't quite place it.
I wonder if the figures go along with the background image in some way?
C64 game Aztec Challenge?