King's Quest

The Good
As Sir Graham, help King Edward recover the three lost treasures of Daventry - a magic mirror, a treasure chest of gold, and an enchanted shield, while meeting Rumplestiltskin, the Leprechaun Kingdom, Goliath, and the witch from Hansel and Gretel.

This game like Police Quest, used the "text to action" format. That works so well, but also had the point and click of such adventure games like "Monkey Island" and "The Flight of The Amazon Queen" (Both great games/game series check them out).

The Bad
This game was a bit repetitive and had a mediocre point scoring system, but that's understandable for the time this was designed and coded. It was the first adventure game to feature object blocking to allow a moving character on screen to go behind and in front of objects, thus creating Sierra's "3-D Animated Adventure".

The Bottom Line
This game, has great graphics for the time and it has rich sounds. This game will fill you with the same feeling as when you first play Zelda64 Ocarina of Time (I'm reffering to the lush deep graphics and bright forestry atmosphere)

The Good
Everything. The gameplay was complex and new for the time of release, as were the graphics. In a time when computer games consisted of black screens with dots on them and a lot of numbers to keep up with, Kings Quest showed what a computer game could be. I, along with many, many other people, was completly engrossed in this game for months during 1984 and 1985.

The Bad
The hardest thing about Kings Quest is that when compared to todays games it appears very old and dated. This is not a fault but something to be understood. The gameplay strongly overplays this and a good run through Kings Quest will give a modern gamer an understanding of his roots.

The Bottom Line
At the time of release Kings Quest was everything that a computer game tried to be. Over the test of time the gameplay has paled, as have the technical elements; but Kings Quest is still one of the classics, as it will always be. Anyone interested in where the computer games of today come from, why Sierra is a major player in the computer game world today (despite their recent work and reputation) and why the Kings Quest series of games have sold millions and millions of units should take a look at this game.

The Good
The one that started it all. If you want to play the original Sierra adventure game this is it. If you want to experience some nostalgia from your childhood or something you and your family can play together and have fun. This is a good game for you.

The Bad
Quite dated by today's standards. If your computer doesn't have the ability to run an old DOS program you probably won't be able to enjoy this game. Also if you are looking for good graphics, sound, and a nice mouse interface you are looking at the wrong game.

The Bottom Line
This was the grand daddy of all adventure games. The one that started it all. Before Kings Quest these type of games didn't exist. A couple of weeks ago I played this game for the first time in about 15 years and I must say it brought back a lot of memories. Sure it's quite dated by today's standards. But even now its still fun and challenging to play.