King's Bounty: The Conqueror's Quest for Genesis

Image: MobyGames

King's Bounty: The Conqueror's Quest

The Dread Pirate Rob is here for your soul!

Genre: strategy - turn-based tactics

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Year: 1991

System: Genesis

Gameplay Score: 2

Gameplay Notes:

No one's going to confuse this with Shining Force or Fire Emblem, but it's not a complete disaster either. It looks and plays like one of those games if it was made by a 10-year-old. The battles in particular are incredibly simple and you can move one or two spaces depending on which unit type you have. You can attack adjacent tiles on a 4x4 or maybe 5x5 grid. There's a little bit of rock paper scissors, I think. Some units deal little or no damage to others, but beyond that there's no real strategy that I can discern. You just battle in hopes that you earn more money than you lose by having your units destroyed. Feels very much like a game of luck and attrition.

Level Design Score: 2

Level Design Notes:

There's an open world to wander around in. You encounter enemies on an overworld. They're almost unavoidable, kind of like the random battles that appear in Zelda 2. Visit towns to rent a boat or obtain siege weapons to lay siege to a castle. Ultimately, the game is just a long series of these random three to five minute battles.

Theme Score: 1

Theme Notes:

The theme feels like Ultima or every other English made RPG of the time. Your king sends you out to fight and earn money and complete some quests. Feels very generic. Enemy units include gnomes which look like wizards, giants, elves, orcs, etc. One of your foes is named The Dread Pirate Rob. Who knows, maybe there's a six-fingered man later in the game.

Art Style Score: 0

Art Style Notes:

Again, this game looks archaic. Like something a 10-year-old drew in MS Paint.

Audio Score: 2

Audio Notes:

The music isn't horrible but it's nothing to get excited about. There's a lively battle song and then a cute town song. Each song is just a couple of measures that repeat so it's not a soundtrack you'll want to spend time with.

Overall Score: 35

Review ID: 1021