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In times of old, when knights were bold and chivalry
took priority in life over a tin opener for your suit
of armour, proving yourself a man was the most important
thing in life (things never change) although what you
had to go through then was a little harder than today's
untaxing rigmarole.
Taking
the role of a knight in Mastertronic's latest release
offers no exception, and proving your worthiness to
join the esteemed Knights of the Polygon table plays
a vital part in the game. You can, if you wish, be a
callous and scoundrelous knave and not complete your
task properly, but then you won't become a proper knight
and you will lose the love of the girl you cherish (things
never change).
The
event leading up to your quest is an age-old problem,
one still common today. Your liege, the King of Isbisma
is stuck for a birthday present for his lush daughter
Germintrude. Since you're a magical knight and quite
a cool cookie, the king assigns you the task of getting
something highly unusual for the gorgeous Princess.
Before you can argue about it, you're spirited off to
Spriteland to complete your quest.
What
should you do now? If you're a good knight then you
go about your quest without question, but on the other
hand if you're a scoundrel, then you'll grab what you
can get and try to escape the castle (and let the Princess
down).
The
game starts at the king's throne, with its encumbent
imperiously waving you on your mission, and thence it's
to Spriteland where lies fame and fortune, along with
evil strength-sapping meanies and death.
The
castle is essentially made up of platforms around which
are dotted objects that can be picked up or examined.
If you think an object may come in useful you can pick
it up, trouble being that you can only carry a limited
amount of things, so pick up objects with discretion.
There are 'traders' at each end of the castle, and two
on every level, and these people trade, buy or sell
objects that you pick up. Some objects can be used in
conjunction with others to make better and more valuable
items. If you sell objects then the money raised from
the sale is totalled up. Once this total reaches a required
amount, you can buy something special for the Princess.
On
exploring the castle you'll discover two huge 3D mazes.
These have to be negotiated to reach other parts of
the complex and there are holes and gates which have
to be explored and examined to do so.
To
thwart your present-seeking quest are the many meanies
of Spriteland, creatures that roam the castle and, if
you touch them, sap value from your energy bar. If the
bar diminishes completely then you'll lose one of your
five lives.
When
you have enough money to buy a present, you can go for
it or try to actually escape from the castle with lots
of goodies and money, all for your very own selfish
person . . . and be a REALLY unchivalrous meanie (things
never change).
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