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jyoung

Knights of the Round

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Replaying the arcade version of this on the PS2 Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2.

I never saw it anywhere in the arcades back in the day, but I rented it at least three or four times on the SNES. Never could beat it on the SNES, with the limited continues and two-player support (arcade version allows for 3 players).


What a bitch this game is to beat. I am pretty good at beat 'em ups -- they are my favorite all-time genre; I can get to the last level of Final Fight on one credit, but Knights of the Round is just damn tough. Maybe the toughest of the Capcom side-scrollers I've played.

Admitedly, I have not played Aliens vs. Predator, and I hear that one is pretty tough, too.

But damn, Knights of the Round gives you 2 lives, no 1ups during the game, and a battle system where guys will block you and counter attack your basic blows.


The boss fights are actually the easier part of the game. And really well-done, for the most part -- but the last boss is basically a gold reskin of previous bosses. Really lame way to end the game.

Basic enemies are the ones that give me the most trouble, due to all the blocking and counter attacking. I wish there was more enemy variety.

The colors really come to life in the arcade version. Nice Medieval ambience with the country-sides, villages and castles.

The soundtrack is great when it's not repeating itself. Half-way through the game, the composer just quit making new songs and started remixing old ones by adding weird effects to them.


Overall, this feels like a slightly above-average beat-em-up.

Great atmosphere and backgrounds, but the enemy variety and recycled songs bring it down a bit.

I thank Merlin for the option in Capcom Classics Collection that lets you turn down the sound effects independently of the music.

All that clanking and squeaking when you hit armored guys gets annoying real quick.

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Updated 28 Nov 2010 at 01:39 PM by jyoung

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  1. jyoung's Avatar
    Interesting note about the scoring system:

    You receive a bonus for killing consecutive enemies of the same type. I did not know that until reading it online.

    Perhaps the score multiplier lets you level up faster, making the difficulty more manageable.

    I still prefer King of Dragons between the two games, though.
  2. YellerDog's Avatar
    Every time I think about Knights of the Round, my mind jumps automatically to how much better Mysteria is.

    It's more or less on the same level as the first D&D game, though!
  3. Doc Holliday's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by YellerDog
    Every time I think about Knights of the Round, my mind jumps automatically to how much better Mysteria is.
    ???
  4. jyoung's Avatar
    Yeah the two arcade D&Ds were tons better than King of Dragons or Knights of the Round.

    But man the D&D series was a ridiculous quarter muncher.

    King of Dragons was at least possible to one-credit once you knew the boss attack patterns.

    There was a local Putt-Putt place that used to have Shadow over Mystara. I think it took me about $15 in quarters to beat it back in the day.



    Tower of Doom was a little easier, but I still remember dumping tons of money into it to beat it.

    I remember they had it at a "Q-Zar" laser-tag center.

    The other games there were Mortal Kombat II and NBA Jam TE.

    Good times.

    Updated 28 Nov 2010 at 04:49 PM by jyoung
  5. jyoung's Avatar
    Another inexplicable gameplay mechanic in Knights of the Round:

    The slow, strong character (Percival) has a dash.

    The other two characters do not.

    Percival also gains momentum while walking, to the point where he can outrun both the "balanced" character (Arthur) and the "weak, fast character" (Lancelot) over long distances.

    Percival's jump attack also deals heavy damage, whereas Arthur and Lancelot have weak jump attacks.

    Basically, if you don't play as Percival, you are at a huge disadvantage.

    I remember fighting over who got to play Percival in the SNES game.

    As he levels up, Percival also goes bald and grows a goatee. That one always made me laugh.
    Updated 28 Nov 2010 at 04:57 PM by jyoung
  6. Geen's Avatar
    I remember playing the SNES version of Knights of the Round a good deal at a friend's house. Fun time.

    I loved Shadow Over Mystara, quarter munching and all. I think having a group of friends who actually had a campaign set in Mystara didn't hurt increasing my love of the game, though.
  7. Some Stupid Japanese Name's Avatar
    I was just playing this and King of Dragons on PSP over the weekend. Fun games both.

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