''Knight 'n' Grail'' is a flick-screen

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

game released in 2009 for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. It was developed by Swedish indie studio Wide Pixel Games, and published by Psytronik Software. ''Knight 'n' Grail'' is set in a castle maze of approximately 100 rooms,

Plot

A demon curses a knight and kidnaps his girlfriend; the knight sets out rescue her and also to find the eponymous grail, the "vessel of restoration", which will lift the curse.

Gameplay

The room vary in dimension from a single screen to several screens wide; the name of the current room is displayed at the bottom of the screen at all times. The various rooms are divided into seven zones, between which the player can pass freely; they are the castle halls, the caverns, the sewers, the dungeons, Zmey Mountain, the Archmage Pass, and the Holy Path (in which lies the grail; finding it ends the game.) The player plays as a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in a

suit of armor Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, es ...

who can walk left and right, jump, and swing their sword, which automatically emits a magical

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found ...

blast with each blow. At the beginning of the game, the player's sword and armor are basic, but they can acquire new equipment that will grant them new abilities. They will also get items that simply grant powers, e.g., the Power of Ostrich bestows a double jump. There are numerous

runes Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...

hidden throughout the world that will give the player hints when found. The player can open a

map A map is a symbolic depiction of interrelationships, commonly spatial, between things within a space. A map may be annotated with text and graphics. Like any graphic, a map may be fixed to paper or other durable media, or may be displayed on ...

screen at any time, which tracks the player's current position and also displays the layouts of all rooms visited to that point. The game does not utilize both

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and

sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...

at the same time, but instead switches between them every few minutes.

Reception

''Knight 'n' Grail'' received positive reviews. The game received a 94% "Sizzler" rating from ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering Retrogaming, retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' ...

'', saying, "''Knight ’N’ Grail'' is hugely enjoyable to play, with tight controls, well-designed and sometimes rather devious locations, and some intense bosses." Jeremy Parish of

1Up.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conte ...

also praised the game, saying that, although the game is "somewhat hampered by the limitations of the C64", purchasing it was nevertheless a "moral imperative" for the reader. ''Retroaction'' awarded the game 91%, noting its "truly stunning appearance" and "brilliantly moody soundtrack", concluding that " ality is apparent in every aspect of ''Knight 'n' Grail''". John Dennis of ''Retro Gamer CD'' called it a "fabulous game", saying it had him "glued to the screen from start to finish" and gave it a perfect 5/5 score.

References

External links

*{{Lemon64 game, id=4184
''Knight 'n' Grail''
at GameBase 64 2009 video games Action-adventure games Fantasy video games Metroidvania games Commodore 64 games Commodore 64-only games Video games developed in Sweden Single-player video games