If you are looking for a good old-fashioned side-scrolling action-adventure classic on your SNES, then look no further than "Knights Of The Round." This title by Capcom first graced the arcade scene in 1992, before being ported over to the SNES in 1994. From playing the game extensively, I can state that both versions are nearly identical to each other, in almost every way.
Overview
The story in Knights Of The Round is taken from the classic Arthurian tale. According to the legend, Arthur, a young knight, pulls the fabled "Excalibur" sword out of the stone. Whoever successfully does this is automatically destined to be king of all of England. However, at this time, Arthur was considered to be too young, and none of the other lords & knights of England wanted to serve such an insignificant "boy king." This caused a lot of war, turmoil & disaster in the land. Arthur, unsure of exactly how to solve the problems, sought out the wise "Merlin" for advice & guidance. He was then told by Merlin about the Legendary Holy Grail, which was a powerful religious symbol, & icon that could ultimately unify all of Britain under the rule of Arthur. This Holy Grail had been lost to the world for many centuries, so Arthur decided to seek the help of his trusted friends Sir Lancelot & Percival, in joining him on a long, & dangerous journey to battle evil, find the Holy Grail, & heal the land from chaos.
Graphics 8/10
I played the SNES version of Knights Of The Round, and I have to say that it is almost the same in quality as the original arcade version. The characters are all well animated, & the backgrounds all have very accurate detail to them, especially on the castle & forest stages. Overall, the graphics are very colorful, which is a typical staple of Capcom games in general. Even though the graphics look dated, the game correctly looks like its set in the Arthurian Era, & it's all very pleasing to the eye.
Gameplay/Controls 7/10
You control your character of choice using the control pad or an arcade stick to move around the screen. You use the attack button for various hack & slash combinations on your enemies. Arthur uses the fabled Excalibur, Lancelot battles with a long-curved sword, while Percival wields a big axe. Each character has their strengths and weaknesses in regards to their Power, Defense, & Speed rating. What makes this game really interesting is that there is a block button, which was not typical in action-adventure titles in the early 1990's. You use the block button to defend against all frontal attacks, only. If you successfully defend against an attack, your character starts to flash for a couple of seconds. During this time, your character is completely invincible. So you can use this to your advantage by counter-attacking your enemies. This is really the key to defeating tougher enemies & of course, the end-of-stage bosses. Still, if things get too difficult to handle, you can use the "Mega Crush Sword Attack" to knock away any foe you might encounter. This move decreases your health meter every time you connect with it, so you have to use it carefully. Another cool thing about the gameplay is your ability to actual mount a horse, and ride it into battle! While mounted, you have a bit more of a speed & power advantage when it comes to slashing with your weapon. It's too bad you can only ride horses a total of two times in the game.
Sound/Music 5/10
This is probably one of the game's weaker points. I'll admit it's an early 1990's Capcom title, but the the sound effects are a little bland, and the music doesn't always get you in the mood for some side-scrolling fun. To its credit, the music in certain stages turns "dark" & sinister to match the settings you are current in. Also, the music always changes by typically becoming more fast-paced once you start battling a sub-boss, or an end-of-stage boss.
Replay Value 7/10
Even though Knights Of The Round is a typical side-scroller for it's time, its Replay Value is actually higher than you might think. You might play the game again to see just how far you can get, using your "defense-and-counter-attack" method of fighting. Also, there are three different endings, depending on what difficulty setting you beat the game on (Easy, Normal, & Hard). And this game is not as easy to beat as you might think, regardless of the difficulty you set it on.
Overall 7/10
Simply summed up, as far as side-scrolling action-adventure titles go, Knights Of The Round is an oldie but goodie. Easy to play, but challenging to beat. Great old school graphics, with a few gameplay innovations added. It's definitely worth adding to your classic collection of games. Also, old school beat-up fans should get their hands on this one, if they haven't already. Recommended.
- MASTER-WARRIOR
