Once in a great while does a game like Kings Quest 6 come around.
A game that, when finished, will leave an emptiness inside of the player. Like
a great movie, it immerses one in its plot so perfectly that one will begin believe
that s/he is actually in the game. I, the reviewer, personally believe that Kings
Quest 6 is the best adventure game Sierra has ever produced, and it would
be one of my top candidates for the best adventure game of all time.

The
story of Kings Quest 6: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow takes place several months
after the ending of Kings Quest 5. The palace of Daventry has been restored
and Princess Cassima has been sent home to her homeland of the Land of the Green
Isles. Apparently, Prince Alexander was smitten with the fair Princess, and since
he got back, he has been asking around to get to the Land of the Green Isles.
Needless to say, he was not successful. While he is brooding in his palace, dreaming
of Cassima, the magic mirror on his wall lights up and shows Alexander a picture
of his princess, along with the stars outside her room. And so Alexander sets
out to navigate the stars and find his fair maiden. As he sails to the Green Isles,
there is a ferocious storm and he is shipwrecked on the main island of the Land
of the Green Isles. Though the basic back-story seems fairly simple, the plot
is much more complex. Alexander soon discovers himself in the middle of some strife
between the four islands that make the Land of the Green Isles. There are many
subplots throughout the game, but they all lead up to the climax. Overall, the
plot is excellent, so I give the plot an A.

The puzzles in the game
mainly consist of “pick up everything that isn’t bolted down and click your
inventory on everything,” with the exception of a labyrinth and a write-protection
puzzle. Most of the puzzles are logical and follow the standard Sierra format.
However, there was one overly annoying puzzle. If you do not talk to the clown,
Jollo, in the beginning of the game, Kings Quest 6 is impossible to win
(and you don’t discover this until the very end). I give the puzzles an A.

Kings
Quest 6 is a big game, and there are three possible endings. The game was
programmed in SCI so it is controlled by a graphical console, the commands being
walk, look, take, talk, and inventory. It is very playable, so I give the gameplay
an A.

Yes, Kings Quest 6 was released in 1992, but the graphics
are still superb. The backgrounds are hand-drawn, and the characters use lip-synching
technology. However, the game is sort of a pixel-fest in its glorious 256 VGA
colors. It doesn’t make a difference though–the backgrounds set quite an atmosphere.
I give the graphics an A.

Kings Quest 6 has some of the best
voice acting I’ve ever heard in a game. After the horrible voice acting in Kings
Quest 5, Sierra finally got smart and hired professional voice actors. Prince
Alexander is played by Robbie Benson, the same actor who voiced the Beast in Disney’s
Beauty and the Beast. And the music is great, even though it is mainly
GMIDI. The MIDI music fits the atmosphere and the end theme, “Girl in the
Tower” is CD quality music fit for the radio. I give the sound an A+.

Kings Quest 6 is a must-play. And if you haven’t played it,
you have no idea what you are missing …

Final grade: A

System
Requirements: DOS 6.0+
386
2 MB VGA card

Supported Sound card
10 MB free space