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King's Quest Collection Review
User Submitted King's Quest Collection Reviews
Date: 2010-03-06
Addendum to gmontag451's review
I posted the original gmontag451 review, but it seems somehow I changed my screenname and can't edit that review. Oh well!
I have discovered an easy way to start your game once doing all the stuff I listed in my previous (gmontag451) review. Create a shortcut of DOSBox on your desktop, the right click and select Properties.
In the Target box, enter:
[...helpfully deleted by Amazon...]
Obviously, 0.72 in the above example will depend on what version of DOSBox you have, and change kq2 to whatever game you want to play. Use [...] for KQ 1-4, SIERRA.EXE for KQ 5-6. Use KQ7 as described in my previous post.
MB
Date: 2009-12-02
Memorable Classics with a Faulty Implementation
I was ecstatic when I originally saw the collection with the "Runs on Windows XP" banner on the box. I have been a fan of Roberta Williams ever since I first played King's Quest back on a 286 computer. I looked forward to being able to play all of the King's Quest games on my XP computer, especially KQ6. I've found many other classic games that were redone in a truly Windows-compatible manner (such as using DirectX), so I expected the same from this collection. However, I was deeply disappointed once I installed everything.
To start with, no manuals are included in the box. Almost all of Sierra's DOS adventure games required the manual to get past copy protection. Since Activision packaged up the original DOS versions, the copy protection is still there. Also, the manuals provide additional information regarding the games. So, the choices are to either dig through the PDF manuals each time, or just go ahead and burn some ink to print out a hardcopy. The downfall of this is that the original manuals were much more compact, better-looking, and just plain fun to have. I would've paid an extra $10 to see manuals included. There are many of us who can no longer find our originals.
The biggest problem is that it was a sloppy release. Instead of being a Windows remake, the games are the original DOS versions and are run inside of an open-source DOS emulator. The one they used was still early in development, so many problems were present. Also, the configurations for each game need tweaking by hand -- not something for the casual user. To figure out how to resolve a certain problem, one has to rely on community forums. Even though my XP system uses name-brand components, I never could get this to work correctly (bad graphic glitches, speech studdering), so I shelved it for a couple of years.
I plan on revisiting it using both XP and Vista systems, except this time I will download the newer version of the emulator from the source. It has been 3 years since this collection was released, so the emulator has had improvements. If you are adept with a computer and are able to tweak the emulator configuration, this is a nice collection to have. However, this just doesn't cut it for the average casual gamer.
Date: 2009-11-11
King's Quest Collection
It's a present for my mother and I know that she'll love it!! They are some really great games!!
I got it really quick and in perfect condition!
Date: 2009-07-29
Games are great, Vivendi can suck it.
It's important, before starting this review, that we understand that the creators of these games had very little to do with putting out this product. The King's Quest series, for many who can remember the 80's, will forever be beloved and remembered as some of the best and most innovative video games of all time. Sierra single-handedly created the graphic adventure with games like Mystery House and Time Zone, and took it to new heights with this series. Every game, especially the first and the fifth, set a new adventure game standard, and part six is undeniably one of the ten very best adventure games of all time. So why do we get the DOS version of KQVI included here and not the original Windows CD version? Who cares if their character art isn't high-res? Nostalgic video game dorks like us care, that's who! And why isn't the original 1984 King's Quest here, which was made in the same engine as parts 2 & 3? If we're going to play those why would we be offended by the simple yet beautiful graphics of part 1? I would see no problem having the remake here if the original were not absent. And where's King's Quest 8? The last game's not even included. Not to mention that every time I would save my game in the older ones, all sorts of text residue would be left on-screen, until I left the screen entirely. I couldn't (well, wouldn't) even play part 6, opting instead for my original CD from back in '92, which I had to futz with for a few hours before I could even get to function in Vista. And speaking of Vista, part 7 won't even play in it unless you change your color scheme in your display properties, and the intro and ending movies fail to function at all. I had to watch crappy versions on Youtube. I know this is for XP (and I don't know how well it works there), but dammit that means it should work in Vista too (which it does... mostly). In the end the only installment included here that I felt was flawless was King's Quest V. So five stars for the games, and one star for Vivendi's half-arsed repackaging, and I guess that evens out to three. Get it, but be prepared to grumble if you're an old-school Sierra fan.
Date: 2009-05-21
Original Sierra games rock!
I grew up playing these games and Sierra Online was the leader in games back in the day (before they sold out that is) Roberta and Ken Williams were gods and always pushing the envelope with new games.
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