As with just about all point and click adventures, I’m finding it extremely difficult to stick with this game, so I’m doing this topic. I’m playing this off the Netherlands release of the King’s Quest Collection released in late 2006. Everything I’ve come across is in English, so if you see what I have available and are wondering whether you’ll have any issues with it, from my experience, you shouldn’t. This collection comes with DOSBox and each game pre-configured to run, so simply clicking on the Launch game button should work perfectly. This isn’t my first exposure to the series, as I’ve beaten the first game and played a little of one of the later titles about 20 years ago. So, on to the game.
After watching a very condensed version of the back-story set to “Greensleeves” on PC Speaker, I’m plopped onto a beach. Unlike the previous P&C game I did, Jurassic Park (SegaCD), the outside world is a nice grid. Because of that, Microsoft Excel works perfectly for mapping it out. I’ve done a little exploring and, if you want to follow along, I will put my starting sector as cell D7. I’m not going to pick up anything as I map out as much of the world as is possible with no items, assuming some areas will need an item to access it. Unfortunately, unlike KQ1 in this collection, which uses the version with mouse support, KQ2 relies wholly on text commands. There is nothing in the starting sector, as I can’t climb the palm trees to get the coconuts, although the game hints that I might be able to get them in the future. Heading west by swimming, after 3 uneventful sectors with only a fish leaping out of the water, I’ve gone too far out to sea and can no longer swim. This is cell A7, hence why I put the starting sector in D7. If I don’t turn around and swim east, I’ll drown for a game over. Back in D7, I head north along the beach to D6. D6 has some interesting rock formations, but nothing else of note. Going west has the same ocean sectors as A7-C7, and this holds true for the remaining oceans segments as I move north.
Continuing north along the beach, D5 has a trident, D4 just has palm trees, D3 has a clamshell on the beach as well as a log that I can’t do anything with, D2 has nothing but palm trees, D1 has nothing but palm trees, and then it wraps back to D7. Time to venture east. E7 has several shade trees, which you can’t climb, flowers you can’t pick, and the corner of a wooden fence. After a little bit, Red Riding Hood appears, looking troubled. Talking to the girl, someone stole her basket of goodies while she was picking flowers and asks me to help her find it. Yay, a fetch quest! With nothing to do here, I start heading north. E6 is home to the evil witch Hagatha’s cave. I got the little Easter egg of the Batmobile driving out and then back in, accompanied by the theme from the Adam West TV series. Entering the cave, Hagatha is stirring her cauldron, but doesn’t notice me due to her poor eyesight. There’s a nightingale in a cage that I can set free by opening the cage, but I leave it for now. If you try to take the cage, the bird will start chirping, causing Hagatha to catch you and throw you in her pot. Talking to Hagatha is also a death sentence as she’ll capture you and throw you in her pot. You can stand right in front of her, but unless you make a noise, she won’t do anything. Interesting… When I reloaded, she wasn’t in the cave and I was able to take the cage with the bird in it for 2 points. Since I don’t want anything in my inventory at this point, I reload.
I guess I should back up a little to state what the object of the game is. I must travel to the kingdom of Kolyma and find three keys to open the three doors to an enchanted land where I will rescue the maiden Valanice from the evil witch Hagatha in order to make her my bride so I can produce an heir. Now, back to exploring the land of Kolyma.
Continuing north, E5 has some shade trees and a small lake. I can’t do anything here, except drown in the lake if I don’t start swimming, so I move on to E4. E4 just has a handful of shade trees, but there’s a sign on one of them (I wondered what that weird black shape was) that you can read from anywhere in the sector. Reading the sign, it’s an advertisement for the upcoming Space Quest and King’s Quest III, (C) 1986. On to E3, and one of the trees here has a stake leaning against it, which I ignore. E2 has more shade trees, and Red Riding Hood can also appear here. E1 has more shade trees with another small lake, this one with a tiny island with a tree on it.
Since the map wraps, I turn east. F1 has what appears to be a poisoned lake, and if you enter the lake, you will in fact get poisoned and die. With nothing else to do here, I start heading south. F2 has a poison river that it calls a lake, which feeds the poison lake in F1. The river continues through F3. The river bends to the east in F4, and it looks like there might be something important on the opposite shore in the shape of a gray blob that, with some imagination, kinda looks like a figure of a person. Continuing south to F5, I’m back among the shade trees. The trees’ shadows create an interesting shape. A tree by the normal lake has fallen and the entire trunk has broken. The fallen tree is hollowed out, and I can see a sapphire and diamond necklace inside. Leaving the necklace, F6 is another patch of shade trees with a branch lying on the ground that can’t be interacted with. Continuing south, there’s a cottage in F7. Looking at the mailbox, the cottage is Grandma’s House. I can open the mailbox and find Red’s basket, but I leave it for now. I can enter the house and talk to grandma to find out that she’s in too poor of health to offer me a cup of tea. I can’t do anything in here, as far as I can tell, so I leave. Snaking my way through the outdoors, I head east.
G7 is more shade trees and another place where Red will appear. Turning north, G6 has a tree that’s been turned into a house, complete with stovepipe chimney, and I’m told dwarves are known to steal items. It’s a good thing I’m not carrying anything. Entering the house and heading down the ladder, I find the dwarf along with a trunk. The dwarf is a fast little bugger, and once he touches me, I’m poofed outside. So, I’ll need to luck into him not being at home to do anything here. But that’s not a problem, since I just have to quickly exit the screen before he can catch me and re-enter, repeating until he’s not there. I can somehow take the cooking pot while it’s extremely hot, which shows up as chicken soup in the inventory, as well as open the trunk and take the earrings inside. Or, rather I’ll take those items in the future after I've finished mapping out the kingdom. Hopefully, if he steals something from you while outside, that item will be in this trunk instead of being one of those cases of something stealing an item required to beat the game and it disappearing forever. Oh, that’s awesome… If you climb up the ladder to leave and don’t center yourself enough, when you try to get off, you’ll fall to your death… Seriously?
G5 is more shade trees with the top part of the fallen tree from F5, but nothing else of note. G4 puts me back at the poisoned river. A castle can be seen on what I’m told is an island. I’m guessing this is where my future bride is. I can’t get to it due to the poisoned river that is more aptly called a moat. Since I can’t continue directly north, I turn around to take advantage of the cylinder world. G1 is like G4 in that my path is blocked by the moat. Unable to get to G2 and G3, I head east to H1. The moat bends south here and opposite of it is a normal lake, but nothing else. Oh, wait, after a bit, a fairy appears and sprinkles some dust on me, which protects me from something for a limited time. Well, it doesn’t protect against the poisoned moat. The moat flows north-to-south through H2. The moat continues through H3, but with a tree that’s fallen into it. After a bit, an evil enchanter appears and walking into him with the protective fairy dust applied causes him to disappear in a cloud of smoke. The moat turns west in H4. H5 is more shade trees and another place you can encounter the dwarf. Oh, the fairy dust protects against it, too, as he leaves me alone after making contact with me. The dwarf appears again amongst the shade trees in H6, and again the dust repels him. Continuing to H7, a monastery is found here. Its entrance isn’t in this sector, so I head east to I7 and enter.
Entering the monastery, a monk is praying at the altar. Talking to him does nothing, so I approach the altar and pray. The monk asks my name, and answering Graham, he gives me his cross, which will protect me from evil. Since that gave me points and an item, I reload. Continuing north into I6, a lovely chasm is found, and if you’re distracted for a little bit (especially if you’re on a higher speed), there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll fall into the chasm and die, since it’s not very far from the bottom of the screen to the cliff’s edge. There’s a rickety bridge across the chasm and simply crossing it gives you a point. You can do this 7 times and on the 8th trip, the center planks will break, sending you to your death. Staying on the west side of the chasm, I continue north. Nothing of note in I5 other than the dwarf thief can appear here. The chasm veers to the east, and I continue on to I4. Other than a lake that stretches across the entire sector, nothing is here, so I swim across it and enter I3. The enchanter makes another appearance here and the still active fairy dust protects me again. There are only a handful of evergreens, so I continue north to I2. An antique shop is located here, so I read the sign in the window, which informs me that it’s closed. I can’t make out anything through the window, so I finish off this stripe of the map and head to I1. There’s a pond here with a boulder with an opening in it. I don’t see anything in it, and if I try to enter it, it says I can try to go there, but I can’t figure out how to do that. Maybe I need to get shrunk? Anyway, since I can’t do anything here right now, I turn east to continue my exploration.
Entering J1, I think I’ve hit the eastern edge of this world, as there’s a mountain range running along the eastern side of the sector that I can’t climb. Turning south, J2 holds the back of the antique shop with the mountain range continuing. Again, I can’t see anything through the shop’s windows, so I continue south. J3 just has trees and the mountain range. The mountain range runs into the chasm in J4. In J5, there’s a door in the middle of the other side of the chasm. Looking at the door from afar, I’m informed that it will lead me to my heart’s desire. Since the chasm blocks my travels southward, I turn around and will try to access this from the south, taking advantage of the cylinder world. Now in J7, the chasm ends up looping around and running back into the mountain range, so the only way to access the door is by crossing the rickety bridge in I6. Crossing the bridge, J6 has nothing of note. Now that I can get to the door, I read the inscription on it, which states, “Whosoever chooses to seek the key for this door will undoubtedly make a splash.” My guess is that I’ll have to do something in the ocean, probably related to the trident. Since I don’t want to use up bridge crossings and possibly cause an unwinnable situation, I reload.
So, now that I’ve fully mapped out everything I can access, this is what’s available for me to do:
D3 -- Take clamshell and then bracelet (7 pts)
D5 -- Take trident (3 pts)
E6 -- Take cage with bird in it (2 pts). Opening the cage and letting the bird fly away gets you nothing, so I’m pretty sure you don’t want to do that
F5 -- Take necklace (7 pts)
F7 -- Open mailbox (1 pt) and take Red’s basket (2 pts)
G6 -- Take pot for chicken soup (2 pts), open trunk and take earrings (7 pts)
I6 -- Cross bridge up to 7 times (1 pt for each crossing)
I7 -- Pray at altar (2 pts), then answer “Graham” for cross (2 pts)
So, let’s start getting points. I first grab the trident (3/185) and bracelet (10/185) from the beach. I then cross my fingers that Hagatha’s out of her cave, which she is, and take the caged nightingale (12/185). I then grab the necklace from inside the log in F5 (19/185), avoiding Hagatha, as she makes an appearance this time, by exiting and re-entering the sector. At Grandma’s house, I open the mailbox (20/185) and take Red’s basket (22/185). Being a gentleman, I close the mailbox before moving on. Making sure the dwarf isn’t at home, I take the chicken soup from above the fire (24/185) and earrings from inside the chest (31/185). Finally, I pray at the altar in the monastery (33/185) and tell the monk my name for the allegedly protective cross (35/185), leaving the bridge crossing points until later. While I’m in the monastery, the fairy dust finally wears off. I don’t know if it will do anything, but I put on the cross, wearing it like a necklace. I tried the other pieces of jewelry, but none fit me.
Back in one of the sectors that Red can appear in, she magically appears and I give her her lost basket. As thanks, she gives me her bouquet of flowers (41/185) and takes her goodies to her grandma. Checking out Grandma’s house, Red didn’t show up, but since I have some chicken soup, I try giving her it, and lo and behold it works (43/185). She then tells me to check under her bed for a reward. Checking under it, I find a ruby ring and black cloak (47/185). Looking at my newly acquired ring, it has C.D engraved on it. Since it lets me, I put on both the ring and cloak. Putting on the cloak must be important, since doing so is worth a few points (50/185). It would be nice if there were some indication as to what you’re wearing. Out of curiosity, I instantly re-enter grandma’s house after leaving and the big bad wolf has somehow taken her place in bed. I quickly leave and enter again, and it’s back to being the real grandma.
With nothing obvious to do, I start wandering around the world to see if any new events trigger. Oh, yeah, I forgot about the stake next to the tree in E3, so I grab that (52/185). Looking at it, it turns out to be a tent stake. Heading back to H1, I get my fairy dust protection reapplied. Back in the monastery, the monk has left. The fairy can also appear in the sector with the monastery’s door. The antique shop is still closed. I’m completely stumped, and since I don’t feel like racking my brain for hours, I consult some outside help. Finding out that I need to look in HOLES, instead of trees (because looking in a tree when looking in a log worked before makes no sense), I start searching things that yielded nothing before. Back in H5, I look in the hole in the tree by the rocks and take the mallet from inside (54/185). Back at the suspect boulder in I1, looking in the opening (55/185), I find a diamond and sapphire brooch, so I take it (62/185). Going through every sector, I just give the command “Look in hole” as soon as I enter it, and it’ll either say “You see nothing special” if there are none in the sector, or that I can’t see inside it from here if there is one.
Since I get seven bridge crossings, and there are 3 keys I need to find, I try crossing it (63/185), reading the inscription on the magic door, and returning (64/185) to see if anything changes. I’m guessing it’ll have something to do with water, given the inscription saying I’ll need to make a splash. All the way back at the western beach, a mermaid appears, laying on one of the rocks a little way into the water in D2, meaning reading the inscription was probably the needed flag to be tripped. Looking at her, she’s beckoning me to her, so I swim the little distance. You can give her any of the jewelry, and she’ll summon a magic seahorse for me to ride while losing the points gained when you found the jewelry. However, giving her the bouquet of flowers Red gave you gets you points (66/185) as well as summoning the seahorse. Riding the seahorse (68/185), it instantly submerges and automatically takes you to King Neptune. I guess its magic is allowing you to breathe underwater while riding it. If you leave the sector before speaking to him, you’ll have to give up some jewelry to the mermaid to summon the seahorse again. So, I’m guessing the game would become unwinnable if you’re stupid enough to keep leaving Neptune’s screen without doing what you need to do and run out of items to give the mermaid. I give the King back his trident and receive a bottle (72/185), which holds a large piece of cloth inside it, and he uses his trident to open the large clam beside him, revealing a Gold Key. I take the key (77/185) and leave. I key down, two to go. The mermaid is no longer on her rock, so I think I’m safe in assuming I did all that was needed.
Let’s see what’s changed. Maybe the store’s open. Nope. I wonder if the magic door’s inscription has changed, cluing me in on my next task. Crossing the bridge (78/185) and reading the inscription on the magic door, it has not changed. Unlocking the door, another one appears (85/185). The inscription on this one says I’ll need to set my sights high to get the key. Well, my guess is I’ll have to climb a tree, mountain, or magic beanstalk, but I have no beans for a beanstalk. Looking at, or trying to climb, the mountain hints at needing to fly like a bird. I have a caged bird in my possession, so maybe the nightingale will get the key for me. I’d just have to figure out what map sector to release it in if that’s the solution. Trying out the sectors on this side of the chasm don’t work, and I reload after each attempt. I cross the bridge again (86/185) and try the remaining easternmost sectors. It doesn’t work in any other mountainous sector, so that’s not the answer. I did get a reapplication of the fairy dust by the monastery entrance while doing so, so I accomplished something.
Oh, hey, the antique shop is finally open. The store is pretty sparse, with just about everything inside a wall of display cases. The only item outside of the case is the classic-styled genie lamp sitting on a table. Talking to the shopkeeper, she points out the lamp, thinking I’d be interested in it. Trying to take the lamp, it tells me that I need to buy it. Bummer. Offering to buy it, the old lady tells me it’ll cost me two unknown treasures or bringing back the nightingale that Hagatha stole from her. How convenient. Giving her the caged nightingale, she’s overjoyed and gives me the oil lamp as promised (92/185), and then promptly kicks me out and closes up shop. Looking at the lamp, its description states that it’s tarnished, so I polish it (94/185), which surprise, surprise, summons a genie. Rather than granting me three wishes, he gives me a magic carpet. Polishing it again (96/185), the genie gives me a sword. A third polishing (98/185) gets me a leather bridle and the lamp disappears. Riding the carpet (102/185) takes me to a flat section high in the mountains. Continuing from where it drops me off, my way is blocked by a poisonous viper. Simply typing, “kill viper” dispatches it with the sword (104/185) and I can continue on my merry way. Checking out the hole in the rock in the next screen, I get treated to another ad for Space Quest, this time with gameplay footage! Moving along, I enter the cave here. Inside, laying on a flat rock is the 2nd gold key. I take the key (109/185), then ride the carpet back to the antique store’s entrance. Crossing the rickety bridge (110/185), I unlock the 2nd door (117/185) and yet another door appears. The inscription on this one states it requires the final key and that I’ll need a stout heart to find it. Hmm… Kill the big bad wolf and take his heart?
I cross the bridge again (118/185) and head to Grandma’s house. Can’t kill the wolf. Oh, I can take the cloth out of the glass bottle (120/185). With nothing to do at Grandma’s house, the dwarf’s house, Hagatha’s cave, or the antique shop, I start zigzagging up and down the land, arriving due south of the castle in the middle of the poisoned moat. There’s now a cloaked figure in a boat at the south edge of the moat. Interesting. Heh… “Talk to figure”. “You get no response from the figure”. “Give figure cloth”. “I don’t understand ‘figure’”. What? Attempting to board the boat, the figure recognizes the ring and cloak that I’m wearing and allows me to board, taking me to the other side. Now I get to figure out what word it accepts, as it doesn’t understand “disembark.” “Get off boat”… Nope. Ok, so “exit boat” works. Oh, lovely, straying from the winding path kills you as you walk into poisoned thorns. And it’s not real easy determining if you’re at the edge of the path. This reminds me of climbing the beanstalk in KQ1. You’ve gotta be kidding me. The trees seem to turn into 2-D and you have to account for what should be sticking up and being in front of you actually protruding into the path. I’m at the point where I’m saving every few successful steps. Finally successfully navigating my way to the castle door, a couple ghosts appear, guarding it. I simply walk up to the door and they’re also fooled by the ring and cloak I’m wearing and promptly dissipate, allowing me to pass.
Entering the castle, I’m treated to “Toccata in Fugue” played by the PC speaker. Paths lead east and west from the entrance, so I head east into the dining room. A ham with a bite taken out of it is on the table, so I take it (122/185). I can eat it, but that doesn’t seem to do anything but remove it from my inventory, so I reload. North from this room is a spiral staircase leading up, which is probably loads of fun trying to stay on it while ascending, and to the east is stairs leading down, which is also going to be loads of fun trying not to fall off the side of. Wanting to explore the ground floor, I instead turn back and go west from the entrance. Well, the first screen to the west is a spiral ramp leading up. Going back and trying the stairs down, I’ll need a light to navigate them. Trying the stairs north of the dining room, the stone stairs are flush against the wall, which makes them easy to ascend. At the top is a just an old chest, which is locked, and I don’t have the key. So, the spiral ramp is my only option right now. Reaching the top of the ramp, there’s a room with a bed and dresser. The bed seems to hold no secrets, but I find a candle in the dresser, which I take (124/185). Now I need to find a way to light it. Walking up to the lit torch on the wall below, I light the candle (125/185). Making it down the now lit staircase, I enter the door to the west and am in a chamber with a coffin. Opening the coffin, I find what must be Count Dracula (so that’s what “C.D” on the ring stands for). Oh, no! Simply typing, “Kill Dracula” makes Graham use the mallet and stake to do the deed (132/185). Dracula turns into dust and I find a Silver Key. Before taking the silver key, I see what else in the coffin. I happened to reload and found out that Dracula may not be in and the coffin will be open. Simply exiting and re-entering will rectify this, possibly after a few tries. Back to the coffin after killing Dracula and the only other thing in it is a satin pillow. I take the silver key (134/185), then take the pillow to reveal a gold key. I take the gold key (139/185) and head back to the tower behind the dining room. I unlock the chest with the silver key (140/185) and open it to find a diamond and sapphire tiara, which I take (147/185). Having done everything there is to do here, I leave the castle. You should get points for successfully navigating the path to the castle door.
I hope I got everything I can from the castle because the boatman is no longer there. First thing first, I get my dose of protective fairy dust. I then head back across the rickety bridge for the final time (148/185) and open the third, and final, door (155/185). I pass through and into a new world, which has a really bad color scheme. I’m on a path with insurmountable mountains to the west and water to the east. Entering the water is instant death. I follow the path south, which just leads to the end of the path I’m on. Turning back and going north, I find a waterfall coming from the western mountains. There are also spider-web-like cracks in the ground. The Look command tells me that those cracks are actually a fishing net. I take the fishing net (156/185) and fish with it. I quickly draw a huge golden fish onto the path (158/185) and take the fish. I then immediately throw it back in (161/185) -- it'll quickly die while in your inventory and you'll need to fish again to catch another. As thanks, it offers to give me a ride across the ocean. Taking it up on its offer, I ride it (162/185) across to a small island.
After getting thrown onto the beach, I start exploring. There’s nothing on my landing point, so I head south to another uneventful sector. Continuing, the southwest corner of the island also has nothing, so I turn east. This area has what looks like a castle tower in the north with a stream flowing from it. Oh, it’s not a stream, but a bluish path. Approaching it, I’m moved to the next sector and what I though was an opening is actually the door. Since I don’t want to enter it before fully exploring the island, I continue north and find an amulet, which I take (165/185). I examine the amulet to fine HOME engraved on it, and then continue east. Reaching the opposite side of the island, another, even smaller island can be seen, but I can’t reach it due to the turbulent sea. Turning south, the remaining two sectors of the island have nothing of note in them. So, it’s time to enter the castle in the center of the island.
Entering, it turns out to be just a tower with a spiral staircase, which means ample opportunity to fall to my death while ascending. I just love how it always starts a new screen with you moving to the left to ascend, even though you left the previous screen moving to the right. Reaching the top of the thankfully not very tall tower, a hungry, but luckily chained-up, lion is waiting for me. Woohoo. You can either kill the lion for 2 pts, or feed the lion the ham for 4 pts. I’ll go with the higher points and give the lion the ham (169/185), which he devours and goes to sleep. Opening the door the lion is guarding, I find the maiden the magic mirror showed me (174/185). Running to me, she tells me her name and asks mine and is extremely grateful for me rescuing her, willing to follow me anywhere. Well, almost anywhere. Trying to take Valanice with me, she won’t follow me down the dreadful spiral staircase. I then kiss her and recall the back of the amulet and say, “Home” (177/185). We’re instantly teleported back to the monastery where we get married, with several of the characters and enemies in attendance. Back at Graham’s castle, I’m asked to ask my dealer for the availability of KQ3 and then the game’s credits are shown.
So, what were the 8 pts I missed? Looking it up, I missed:
2 pts for not putting the cloth from the bottle over the birdcage
3 pts for not putting the bridle on the viper rather than killing the viper
2 pts for not talking to the viper after putting the bridle on it
1 pt for not eating the sugar that I would have received from the viper if I would have used the bridle -- this apparently will protect you from the poison plants along the path to the castle entrance
All in all, it wasn’t too difficult of a game. The biggest stumbling blocks for me were figuring out the correct commands. The few things I had to look up, I was actually doing, but I just wasn’t using the correct commands (like “use net with water” instead of just “fish”, or “kiss” instead of “kiss girl”). My suggestion to anyone trying this game out would be to type, “look in hole” as soon as you enter every map sector. Maybe the original release (and other releases) has a list of commands the game recognizes, but this release does not. About the only unwinnable situation I could realistically see someone falling into is accidentally crossing the rickety bridge an extra time, unless the dwarf can steal a vital item and you can’t get it back. For the other possibilities, you’d pretty much have to really try to box yourself into them. The most arcane thing I can think of would be to use the bridle on the viper for the extra points, and I'm not quite sure why you'd think of covering the birdcage with the cloth. But you can just kill the viper like I did and still complete the game. I give it a 7/10.
