King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown Remake (PC, 2001/2008)
Graphics-7 Sound-7.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-6 Story-5.5
Level Design-5.5 Frustration-8 Fun-6 Originality-7
Overall Score-5.5
+
No Dead-Ends mode
Based on the 1990 version (more forgiving, more detailed and defined visuals, different art direction)
Decent voice acting (each piece of dialogue can be skipped, can be turned off)
Improved graphics (almost on par with Conquests of the Longbow for the most part)
Skippable walking animations (Esc)
Improved interface (roughly on par with early 90s Sierra games, no need to type what you want to do, less picky about positioning)
Game speed options
Some good humour (sarcastic, silly (the Italian rat))
Many ways to die
Points system (get more points for better solutions to puzzles and being thorough)
Some alternate solutions (the troll, the gnome, the leprechauns), better goat pathfinding
+/-
Save anywhere outside of a cutscene (nameable saves, 20+ slots)
Pop-up interface at the top of the screen (fairly easy to accidentally trigger)
No health (you can fall from a tree over and over?)
Very open ended beginning (no directions given, many accessible screens right away)
Would've been nice to be able to type out actions as an option (to try out different things and see the result)
No in-game map
Enemies don't follow you to the next screen (would've made the optional giant solution where you run away until he gets tired a bit more interesting)
The dwarf can't steal anything at all from you in the no dead ends mode
Can't fall off the beanstalk in this version
The backstory is in the manual
The world wraps around (keep walking in one direction and you'll end up where you started)
-
Trial & error (Graham drowns after less than a minute of swimming, unexpected need for carefully controlling Graham (to avoid falling down a platform for example - gets annoying as platform edges are poorly defined and looking at the branches on for example the trees gives you no warning from the narrator), figuring out that the witch isn't always home when you get to her house, only leprechauns respond to the fiddle, the gnome's name? (Rumplestiltskin - only clue you get is to think backwards from a note in the witch's house meaning you should type the name backwards), limited uses for the ring of invisibility, invisibility suddenly stops working as you walk into the witch's cottage, the goat walks away if you don't immediately exit the stall (changing screens inside the stall makes it appear outside so you lose time))
Can't quickly cycle between the items (could've been done by right clicking the item icon in the pop-up menu)
Can't skip several in-game cutscenes (like Graham getting dizzy after falling from the large tree or playing the fiddle (hitting escape here cancels the playing) - can skip the long one with the witch but the 'falling from the mountains' one is almost as long and can't be skipped)
No clear indication of where there is or isn't an exit to an interconnected area (such as the walk icon changing or whatnot; it's not always obvious where you can walk into the horizon for example))
Some odd color choices (dark turquoise icons) and sometimes smudgy shading/sprite definition (the dragon actually looks worse than in the 1990 version)
So-so animation
Pretty limited options (can't shoot the rat (the slingshot killed a giant before), can't make the woodcutter give you the axe after helping him?, can't climb the castle vines even when invisible or when the guards aren't there near the end of the game, 'you weren't invited into the gnomes house' (invisibility doesn't help), can't cut the rope, can't jump (except for when you want to grab onto the condor apparently), can't be evil)
The protective spell is given to you randomly (?) by an NPC and wears out after a while (no timer shown; would've been better if it was taught so you could cast it when needed)
Inconsistencies (can't dive in lakes, can avoid the witch or sorcerer by turning invisible but not make the squirrel climb the walnut tree/avoid the wolf/avoid the witch when in her house), sometimes need to manually move close to an object to inspect or interact with it without there being a platforming challenge involved)
While the new interaction interface is much more user friendly overall it can cause problems (such as when trying to grab the bucket from the well - the game assumes you want to go in the bucket instead so you have to pull out the knife (without first knowing that you needed to cut the rope by looking at the bucket) and use it on the rope/bucket)
Pointless winding path in the cave to the mountain forest
Harder to spot the pebbles/small rocks at the beach than in the 1990 version (they blend in with the background more here)
Uneven VA quality (acting and sound quality)
Hard to grab onto the condor and you only get three tries before having to re-enter the screen (the spot you need to stand in is also slightly different than in the 1990 version)
No action hotkeys (see Maniac Mansion Deluxe)
The snake and squirrel are red herrings (distractions with no real use)
Can't cancel the move while Graham is walking towards an object you're trying to interact with
Level Design-5.5 Frustration-8 Fun-6 Originality-7
Overall Score-5.5
+
No Dead-Ends mode
Based on the 1990 version (more forgiving, more detailed and defined visuals, different art direction)
Decent voice acting (each piece of dialogue can be skipped, can be turned off)
Improved graphics (almost on par with Conquests of the Longbow for the most part)
Skippable walking animations (Esc)
Improved interface (roughly on par with early 90s Sierra games, no need to type what you want to do, less picky about positioning)
Game speed options
Some good humour (sarcastic, silly (the Italian rat))
Many ways to die
Points system (get more points for better solutions to puzzles and being thorough)
Some alternate solutions (the troll, the gnome, the leprechauns), better goat pathfinding
+/-
Save anywhere outside of a cutscene (nameable saves, 20+ slots)
Pop-up interface at the top of the screen (fairly easy to accidentally trigger)
No health (you can fall from a tree over and over?)
Very open ended beginning (no directions given, many accessible screens right away)
Would've been nice to be able to type out actions as an option (to try out different things and see the result)
No in-game map
Enemies don't follow you to the next screen (would've made the optional giant solution where you run away until he gets tired a bit more interesting)
The dwarf can't steal anything at all from you in the no dead ends mode
Can't fall off the beanstalk in this version
The backstory is in the manual
The world wraps around (keep walking in one direction and you'll end up where you started)
-
Trial & error (Graham drowns after less than a minute of swimming, unexpected need for carefully controlling Graham (to avoid falling down a platform for example - gets annoying as platform edges are poorly defined and looking at the branches on for example the trees gives you no warning from the narrator), figuring out that the witch isn't always home when you get to her house, only leprechauns respond to the fiddle, the gnome's name? (Rumplestiltskin - only clue you get is to think backwards from a note in the witch's house meaning you should type the name backwards), limited uses for the ring of invisibility, invisibility suddenly stops working as you walk into the witch's cottage, the goat walks away if you don't immediately exit the stall (changing screens inside the stall makes it appear outside so you lose time))
Can't quickly cycle between the items (could've been done by right clicking the item icon in the pop-up menu)
Can't skip several in-game cutscenes (like Graham getting dizzy after falling from the large tree or playing the fiddle (hitting escape here cancels the playing) - can skip the long one with the witch but the 'falling from the mountains' one is almost as long and can't be skipped)
No clear indication of where there is or isn't an exit to an interconnected area (such as the walk icon changing or whatnot; it's not always obvious where you can walk into the horizon for example))
Some odd color choices (dark turquoise icons) and sometimes smudgy shading/sprite definition (the dragon actually looks worse than in the 1990 version)
So-so animation
Pretty limited options (can't shoot the rat (the slingshot killed a giant before), can't make the woodcutter give you the axe after helping him?, can't climb the castle vines even when invisible or when the guards aren't there near the end of the game, 'you weren't invited into the gnomes house' (invisibility doesn't help), can't cut the rope, can't jump (except for when you want to grab onto the condor apparently), can't be evil)
The protective spell is given to you randomly (?) by an NPC and wears out after a while (no timer shown; would've been better if it was taught so you could cast it when needed)
Inconsistencies (can't dive in lakes, can avoid the witch or sorcerer by turning invisible but not make the squirrel climb the walnut tree/avoid the wolf/avoid the witch when in her house), sometimes need to manually move close to an object to inspect or interact with it without there being a platforming challenge involved)
While the new interaction interface is much more user friendly overall it can cause problems (such as when trying to grab the bucket from the well - the game assumes you want to go in the bucket instead so you have to pull out the knife (without first knowing that you needed to cut the rope by looking at the bucket) and use it on the rope/bucket)
Pointless winding path in the cave to the mountain forest
Harder to spot the pebbles/small rocks at the beach than in the 1990 version (they blend in with the background more here)
Uneven VA quality (acting and sound quality)
Hard to grab onto the condor and you only get three tries before having to re-enter the screen (the spot you need to stand in is also slightly different than in the 1990 version)
No action hotkeys (see Maniac Mansion Deluxe)
The snake and squirrel are red herrings (distractions with no real use)
Can't cancel the move while Graham is walking towards an object you're trying to interact with