King's Knight

Plot

King's Knight follows the basic storyline that many NES-era role-playing video game displayed: Princess Claire of Olthea has been kidnapped in the Kingdom of Izander, and the player must choose one of the four heroes (the knight/warrior "Ray Jack", the wizard "Kaliva", the monster/gigant "Barusa" and the (kid) thief "Toby") to train and set forth to attack Gargatua Castle, defeat the evil dragon Tolfida and rescue her.

Gameplay

King's Knight is a vertically scrolling shooter, where the main objective is to dodge or destroy all onscreen enemies and obstacles. Various items, however, add depth to the game. As any character, the player can collect various power-ups to increase a character's level (maximum of twenty levels per character): as many as seven Jump Increases, seven Speed Increases, three Weapon Increases, and three Shield Increases. There are also Life Ups, which are collected to increase the character's life meter. There are also Life Downs which should be avoided. Other onscreen icons can affect the stage, such as hidden cave entrances/exits and a "secret revealer," which reveals hidden stones that block progress. Finally, there are four types of elements to be collected in each level, which are vital to the completion of the last stage. These elements are simply elements A, B, C, and D.

Each stage has various power-ups, an element of each type, and a cave. Because caves in any given level always house at least one element type (not to mention various powerups), it is vital that the player finds these. Caves are always hidden and are generally found in the middle of a stage. Caves also have statues that shoot fireballs, and at the end of each cave is a dragon to fight. Once the dragon is defeated, the player can exit the cave and continue with the level.

Differences between versions

Differences were present not only in the Famicom and MSX versions of King's Knight, but in the Japanese and North American versions as well.

The Japanese (Famicom) version and the American (NES) version of King's Knight differed little, with the title screen being the only disparity. Each title screen reflected the copyright and publisher.

The MSX version of King's Knight differed from the Famicom version in a variety of ways. The opening was modified so that prior to the intro screen, players could specify what type of controller they would like to use (either a keyboard or a joystick). The in-game dynamics were very similar, although some differences exist. In the MSX version, the flanks of the screen were "closed off," while the stage maps have moved slightly, and so some of the items appear to be out of their original locations. Finally, the MSX version may seem easier, because the characters can sustain more damage from attacks.

The developers also took advantage of technological capabilities available on the MSX. As an upgrade, the MSX port featured more sound channels than the Famicom, and as such many music tracks and sound effects were altered or improved. The MSX version also boasts a wider range of colors, updated graphics, new monster and boss designs (dragons at the end of caves, for example, were replaced with lizard-like monsters), and a new sidebar, which displayed the player's life meter, allocated power-ups, and allocated elements. Unfortunately, though, the MSX could not smoothly render vertical scrolling - unlike the Famicom - so the movement of the graphics is very "choppy" in comparison. Some of these changes are very similar to the changes that took place when Square's Final Fantasy was ported to the MSX2.

Remake

On September 18, 2016, Square Enix announced a remake titled King's Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon for iOS and Android as a part of the Final Fantasy XV universe. It was produced and directed by Daisuke Motohashi and developed by Flame Hearts.

Reception

King's Knight was given a 3/10 on IGN and 3/10 as well on Nintendo Life.