Knights of the Round
by
, 28 Nov 2010 at 01:36 PM (75856 Views)
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.