Quest for King's Quest

[Flack]

On the way to visit my mom today I swung by a new thrift store. They only had one console game (John Elway II, Genesis for $2) but next to that they had several PC titles which I had fun digging through. They had Front Page Sports '94 and '95, Welltris by Spectrum Holobyte, and several other games for a buck or two. At the bottom of the stack was the original King's Quest.

I don't collect PC software or anything but I remember when King's Quest first came out. I played that game a lot, both on our old XT and on our PC Jr. I looked over the artwork and decided I'd like to have this on my shelf. Before taking it up to the counter to buy it, I thought I'd open it up and check it out. Inside the box were all the original manuals, paperwork ... and three pirated diskettes with the words "King's Quest" hand written on them! I put it back on the shelf.

In retrospect, I probably should have picked it up anyway, just for the box. I was a little surprised to see copied disks right on the shelf, but then again the software was sitting next to copied VHS tapes (never understood that at thrifts either) so I just had to laugh.

[Achika]

Maybe someone can post a link, because for the life of me I can't remember... but there is a website where a group of people were redoing some of the KQ I think, and it's all distributed freely.

I was a fan of the series until "8" (since I don't think it was called that) 3-6 were the pinnacle I think, 7 was definately the mark of the downfall. It just happens that it's all numerical

[Aussie2B]

I was a little surprised to see copied disks right on the shelf, but then again the software was sitting next to copied VHS tapes (never understood that at thrifts either) so I just had to laugh.

Haha, yeah. My boyfriend is convinced that someday he's gonna find somebody's home-made porn at a thirift store.

[Cirrus]

There was a write up on those remakes of KQ in a recent Game Informer. I have no idea where it is though...

[Kamino]

7 made baby jesus cry.
5 is excellent. A damn classic.
I wish i'd had 5. But 7 froze up mid game on my crappy 486sx25.

[Griking]

Maybe someone can post a link, because for the life of me I can't remember... but there is a website where a group of people were redoing some of the KQ I think, and it's all distributed freely.

I was a fan of the series until "8" (since I don't think it was called that) 3-6 were the pinnacle I think, 7 was definately the mark of the downfall. It just happens that it's all numerical

AGDInteractive

[AB Positive]

augh! They're doing QFG II first? I played through QFG I soooo many times, I was hoping they'd have a remake of that too... oh well, heh.

I never played much King's Quest, admittedly. I always stuck to QFG.

-AG

[Mr. Smashy]

The only King's Quest that I played much of was King's Quest VI (which I really like). I'll probably start playing the others someday. I have a sealed King's Quest for the Master System that I might open someday and I have King's Quest V for the NES. That's a pretty good start, I guess. I'd get a complete PC version for the right price even if the floppies no longer worked. That's a shame about the pirated discs.

[Sylentwulf]

AGDInteractive

NICE!

[NeoVenom]

I'm a fan of King's Quest. I have all of them except the 3D one which was VIII. Majority of the old games run perfectly on my PC, without sound though. :/

[Jred]

KQ3 was so good. I can still remember the awe I felt playing it to this day. 1, 2, and 5 were great too.. Never did play 4. I should do that some day.

[Achika]

augh! They're doing QFG II first? I played through QFG I soooo many times, I was hoping they'd have a remake of that too... oh well, heh.

I never played much King's Quest, admittedly. I always stuck to QFG.

-AG

Sierra had done an official VGA remake way back when. I *think* the two copies on eBay right now are EGA, but it's out there somewhere.

[Jorpho]

Actually, there's also a copy of the Quest for Glory Anthology up right now which would also have it, I think.

[Promophile]

My fav was the one where you were the slave of the wizard and had to defeat him before you could leave the house and he randomly checked up on you every so often.

[thehistorian]

I was a little surprised to see copied disks right on the shelf, but then again the software was sitting next to copied VHS tapes (never understood that at thrifts either) so I just had to laugh.

Haha, yeah. My boyfriend is convinced that someday he's gonna find somebody's home-made porn at a thirift store.

Whew, glad to know I'm not the only one.

[tyranthraxus]

Do you remember if it was a grey boxed version? KQ had several early
releases with different packaging that are a lot more collectable than the
common gold box one you usually see.

[charitycasegreg]

KQ3 was so good. I can still remember the awe I felt playing it to this day. 1, 2, and 5 were great too.. Never did play 4. I should do that some day.

IV is the perells of Rosela, the first one I ever played. It is a really fun game, the remakes of the games are the ones I played when I played them. THe ones I own are 4, 5, and 6, and all 3 are really great games. The only thing I hated about 4 was that you had to enter a word from a book that came with the game, to be able to paly it, and the work would be different each time, and we always lost that damn book! THe internet is a great thing.

[SoulBlazer]

Big fan of the series. Enjoyed every game, but 5 and 6 were the best for sure.

My first exposure to the series, actually, was renting KQ 5 for the NES. Konami did a really nice port of the game. Later when I got the CD version of the game I knew what to do so it went a lot easier.

And yeah, even if the discs were pirated, the box and manuals if in good shape can command some good money.

Side note -- I've played the remakes of KQ 1 and 2 from that site. Fun games, very good, but the originals also still have their charm.

[calthaer]

Don't even bother with VIII, Neovenom. It was an atrocious game that tried (unsuccessfully) to blend fighting with the classic KQ formula. Mask of Eternity was categorically dumb.

I actually disliked V and VI more than I did the previous ones. Too many puzzled based not really on logic, but that required you to first help someone else in an entirely unrelated place (who would then come back and rescue your fat from the fire later). III was my favorite KQ, with IV a close second.

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Wow..a thread about King's Quest?! Kick ass...

I have played all of them except for VIII. I heard it was horribly bad and basically could have been called something else for what it was worth.

My first KQ game I actually bought and played was the original 256k release of KQ4: The Perils of Rossella. I had a blast with it, even though we played as a girl. Most of the puzzles weren't that difficult to figure out, though I do recall using the 900 hint line a few times on that one. I later found a friend who owned the upgraded 512k EGA version of KQ4, and promptly formatted my original disks to the 256k version and copied the newer version to them. I still have the manual, and the questions were the same so no loss.

I also later played and loved KQ3. I loved it so much that since I only had just the disks that a friend gave to me when he couldn't find anything else, I made my own spell book with all the poems and ingredients listed. As I recall it took me forever to put it together because I did in FPS First Publisher and created a lot of graphics for it.

KQ5 was okay, but the VGA version is the one to get. I originally played 5 in the EGA mode as I didn't own the game and my buddy only had the EGA version. I was never a fan of KQ6...sorry but the puzzles were way to easy, and I just can't stand that "Girl in the Tower" song...

Now KQ1. hehe...I never owned this one back in the day. But in the early 90s Sierra did a lot remakes. I took advantage of most of these offers and have the EGA enhanced version of KQ1. It came in an embossed box that I never saw for sale at the stores back in the day. However, when I got my SQ1 VGA enhanced version...it came in the standard Space Quest I box that the original 256k game came in?! Only difference was a new label on the requirements stating it was the VGA version etc. I also don't recall ever seeing this version sold in stores in the old box. Only the newer style with the red border around it.

Of all the Quest series that Sierra On-Line made...these are my favorite ones:

Space Quest 1
Space Quest 3 (Just awesome..and still my favorite..)
Conquests of Camelot
Conquests of the Longbow (One of my all time favorite PC games...)
Colonel's Bequest
Quest for Glory I, II, and IV.

I also own the VGA remake for QG1. My buddy...owns the first release of QG1 back when it was still called...Hero's Quest. He still has the box and knew as soon as the lawsuit with Milton Bradley happened that it was a keeper...

Sierra On-Line...you guys will be forever missed. I realize that the name is still around..but Sierra isn't but name these days..kinda like another classic company I know...hmm...