It is very difficult to review a game 14 years after it was released. The graphics, sound, and even gameplay are far inferior to games of the current era. Because of this, I was lenient on the ancient graphics and sound. But a warning to devout Kings Quest fans: you might be angered by this review.

Kings Quest 2: Romancing the Throne was released in 1985 and was heralded as a marvel in modern technology, probably just like the reactions of our ancient ancestors as they discovered the wheel. The biggest differences between the wheel and Kings Quest 2? The wheel lasted thousands of years and is still trendy, and people wouldn't even know Kings Quest 2 existed today if it weren't for the recent releases of Kings Quest 7 and 8--the general audience deducing that if there is a seventh game in a series, there has to have been a first, second, and so on. It is a horribly boring and unspectacular with pointless puzzles and a laid-back plot.

The story of Kings Quest 2 is bland and full of clichés. King Graham, recently dubbed King of Daventry, gets a vision from the king he succeeded, telling him to marry. Logically, he throws a party to which all the eligible women of the kingdom are invited. However, none of the maidens tickle his fancy, so he retreats to his room in defeat. Graham asks the magic mirror on his wall why he can't find the right girl. The mirror, not exactly answering his question, shows him a lovely woman named Valanice trapped in a magic tower in the land of Kolyma. Graham sets out to this mystical continent populated by creatures out of Disney movies in an attempt to marry a woman he has never even met. Needless to say, the plot of Kings Quest 2 is extremely cheesy, so I give it a C.

The game could have been saved by some good puzzles, but alas, there are none. Most of puzzles are unusually illogical. An example: Graham enters a mystical door into a small stretch of coastal land. The only thing there is a fishing net. Any attempt to swim in the water ends in drowning. What is Graham supposed to do? Why, fish, of course, until he catches a large golden fish. Then, obviously, Graham must throw the fish back into the water so it will thank him for his kindness and give him a ride across the ocean. There are no hints to this situation, and the entire game is plagued with these sorts of puzzles. I give the puzzles a D-.

Kings Quest 2 is extremely short--I beat the entire game in three days, playing only about a total of six hours. The game is programmed in Sierra's tried-and-true engine, AGI (short for Adventure Game Interpreter). Therefore, the gameplay is solid. The entire game is parser-based, and there is no mouse support. Kings Quest 2 has built-in macros for swim and jump, making the game easy to play. Therefore, I give the gameplay an A.

Kings Quest 2 uses a total of 16 colors, making the graphics are horribly pixelated and dated. This can't really be helped, considering its age. Compared to other adventure games of the time of Kings Quest 2 (namely, Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry), the graphics are right on par. Though they look horrible, they were good for their age, so I give the graphics an A.

However, sound is virtually nonexistent. There are annoying Tandy 3-Voice remixes of Greensleeves, Batman, and the Romeo and Juliet theme using the PC speaker. Other than that and a few scattered sound effects, there is no other sound to speak of. The lack of sound effects is not because of its age--other old games, like Leisure Suit Larry 1 and Space Quest 1, have plentiful sound effects. Because of the lack of sound effects, I give the sound a B-.

This boring and mediocre game left me disappointed. After playing Kings Quests 4 through 7, I expected this to be much better. I was wrong. The average adventure gamer will be as disillusioned as I was.

Final Grade: C

System Requirements:

PC:
IBM PC Junior/Tandy+

Macintosh:
512k required, Macintosh, Macintosh II
Double-sided drive required
Color or B/W monitor