King's Quest: Quest for the Crown

When Ken and Roberta Williams decided to create an adventure game for the Personal Computer, they decided on King's Quest. And they couldn't have made a better choice. As this was the game that started it all.

King's Quest was followed by seven sequels, and fantasy adventure games are now plenteous. And although I did not enjoy this game as much as it's sequels, and even though it's crude when compared to today's standards, this was the game that started quality gaming.

The story: You are Sir Graham, a knight of the Kingdom of Daventry who has been summoned by King Edward the Benevolent to retrieve the 3 stolen treasures of the realm. If you should succeed you will be proclaimed his successor (Edward is old and has no heirs). Graham spends the game searching the kingdom for the treasures and encounters many puzzles and adversaries along the way.

This is the first King's Quest game released way back in 1984 (19 years old as I type this) and unsurprisingly is by far the simplest and most primitive of the series. The game is fairly short (the only necessary quests you need to do are the reclaiming of the 3 treasures - everything else is optional) and practically all of the puzzles you encounter are from well-known fairy tales, including Rumpelstiltskin (did anyone actually spell his name correctly in his challenge?), Little Red Riding Hood (well the wolf at least), Hansel & Gretel, Jack & the Beanstalk and many others.

The game is operated by text commands typed on the keyboard (search, pick up, talk, look etc.) with the arrow keys controlling movement. Simple stuff really, but hey it worked and it would remain the standard control system in the series until King's Quest 5 (which replaced the text commands with an icon-based system using the mouse).

All in all its nothing special by today's standards but worth a look if you're interested in seeing how the entire King's Quest series began. The game was re-released in 1990 with updated graphics and the aforementioned icon system replacing the text commands but from what I've heard the puzzles and the like all stayed the same. A classic of its time.

This is the first game in the 'King's Quest" series of games. By today's standards the graphics are very primitive, as if they were made in MS paint, but remember this was the early 1980s. The beauty of the game is not in the graphics however but in the gameplay and the storyline based on classic fairy tales. You get to choose what action to take and the game has been programmed to respond with many different responses. It is in this was a pioneer of point and click adventure games that Sierra would become known for over the following couple decades (with all their Quest games, not just King's Quest Games but other games that contain the word Quest, such as Space Quest or Quest for Glory.) An interesting thing to note, and is the case with a number of the sequels, while the game is called King's Quest, the character you play as is not yet a King during the playable portion of the game.

In today's video game environment, first-person shooter games are unquestionable at the top of the pack. Whether it be the Call of Duty series or those all-night Halo marathons, games that show the action from your perspective (as well as armed with a variety of weapons) are the most popular sellers. Yet, older (or, as I prefer, "more seasoned") gamers will remember a time when a different kind of gaming experience was paramount, with the King's Quest series leading the pack.

King's Quest I: The Quest For The Crown was released in 1984 and, though crude in the graphics department (by today's standards the screen is filled with little more than multi-colored blobs and a crudely-pixilated protagonist), was a landmark in terms of its gameplay and plot style. Basically, you control Sir Graham of the Kingdom of Daventry, who is sent on a mission by the King to retrieve the country's three most prized possessions (a sword, a magic mirror, and a chest full of gold). That's where things really start to get interesting.

As you leave the King's chamber and are escorted out of the castle, you find yourself surrounded by Daventry...with no instructions on how to proceed. Much in the style of the later "Myst" games, the onus is placed on you (not any game prompts) to figure out what to do. This requires a great deal of exploration, as well as the ability to pick up certain items and use them at your discretion. Roberta Williams (the game creator) tries to make the solution of each puzzle relatable to some sort of fairy tale in order to help you along, but it will still take a decent amount of thought and maybe even a few nights sleep to get things squared away. If you are short on patience, this is where you get off. However, if you take great satisfaction in taking in your surroundings, exploring at will, and slowly but surely figuring out what you need to do, then you will be hooked! Though many gamers will not agree with this statement, and find these types of games to be akin to watching paint dry, to me there is no greater feeling than finally making a "huge breakthrough" after struggling for so long to figure out your next move.

Before I get too ahead of myself, though, I highly recommend (unless you absolutely require the original version for some reason; in which case good luck finding a hard-disk drive these days) downloading a newer version of this game. This is crucial for two reasons: 1. The graphics are actually passable, and you won't have to spend hours clicking on every little pixel to make sure you didn't miss anything; and 2. The re-makes do away with the text-based command system (which can feel like an albatross) in favor of the point-and-click interface that makes things oh so much smoother. I recommend the "4.0" version from AGD Interactive for the best gaming experience.

So, I highly recommend two groups of gamers to check out this old classic: Those who are a fan of DOS-based gaming in general, or those of you who played this back in the day and would like to experience it again with better graphics and an easier format. Either way, controlling Sir Graham on your quest through Daventry will immerse you and leave you wanting more. While not by any means the best game of this series, this first effort does succeed in introducing the public to a new form of gaming...the adventure.