MSX Games #3

Knightmare (1986)
By: Konami Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: MSX First Day Score: ???,???
Also Available For: Nothing

Not the most exciting title screen...

Back in the 80s which, as everyone knows, was the undisputed king of decades, there was a children's adventure game show here in the UK called Knightmare. Episodes featured a team of four youths, one of whom would don the vision-obscuring 'Helmet of Justice' and is then placed into a fantasy medieval environment while the other three attempted to guide him or her through obstacle and puzzle-filled dungeons. It was rather ahead of it time too, featuring some CGI and even some virtual reality bits and was pretty cool. More recently, word reached me of an MSX game called Knightmare too. What was a game based on a British adventure game show doing on a Japanese home micro? As it turned out, it wasn't. It appears to have nothing to do with it, in fact. Naturally, this both confused and intrigued me considerably so I immediately (i.e. a few years later) sought to find out what the devil it actually was.

Enemies can walk across the water while you cannot...

As you might expect for something with 'knight' in its name, it's set in the days of yore. The players role in this fantastical era is that of the excellently-named Popolon who, whether acting on orders or of his own volition, ventures forth into dangerous realms to rescue the fair princess Aphrodite from the evil clutches of a priest named Hudnos. Standing between Popolon and, one would hope, an enthusiastic show of gratitude from Aphrodite, are eight vertically-scrolling stages. I say 'scrolling' but Popolon apparently must undertake his quest on foot and the stages move so slowly and jerkily that it's hard to describe it as scrolling. That's okay though, it doesn't affect the gameplay which, along with most other aspects of the game, is pretty basic: simply move the armour-clad Popolon around the flat terrain, shooting his trusty bow and arrow up the screen at enemies advancing down from the top.

These pesky skeletons are a pain in the arse...

The enemies start off super-basic too. The first type you encounter are merely black spheres. Or flat black circles from our vantage point I guess. These are swiftly followed by swooping formations of bats though, and more formidable foes begin showing up soon thereafter, such as fellow knights (evil ones, presumably), skeletons, goblins, and other spooky creatures which look like trolls, minotaurs, grim reapers, and stuff of that nature (or should that be unnature?). The stages also feature some stuff to help Popolon overcome these terrible abominations as well though. Dotted seemingly randomly through the stages are blocks featuring question marks. Shooting these enough times will reveal a bonus, most commonly just points, but you might find a barrier, an enemy-freezer, a smart bomb, or even an extra life.

Ghosts and grim reapers launch a combined assault...

You will also find 'P' symbols which cycle through five colours when you shoot them. These either give you more points or offer defensive power-ups such as a front shield, invisibility, or invulnerability (for 45 seconds each for the latter two). As far as weapons are concerned, you start with single arrows but will find weapon icons about as often as 'P' icons. Again, shooting them cycles through the weapons on offer. The selection is the same from the first time you find one until the last, and includes double arrows, swords, fire arrows, fireballs, or boomerangs. The last two are a bit whiffy by my reckoning, even with them being the only options that don't just fire directly forward (the fireballs are a three-way shot and the boomerangs wibble all over the place). It's always one of the other three you'll find me using though, usually swords. I just wish the many pick-ups included a speed-up as Popolon take a while to lumber around!

Goblins formations are pretty easy to shoot...

The stages are all the same length and take approximately 5 minutes each to get through, assuming you don't keep dying and having to restart (you don't go all the way back but you do lose your power-ups). Each unsurprisingly ends with a boss too. These are giant (well, larger than normal) monsters such as a skull, winged demon, knight, ogre, etc, most of whom aren't all that hard to defeat, but the stages leading to them can get pretty tough. One thing I found that leads to deaths quite often is fannying around with the power-ups, trying to get the ones you want, which can obviously distract you from the enemies whose bullets can get quite plentiful as the stages wear on. There are many lone attackers (circles, knights, trolls) but some types of enemy attack in formation or in their own pattern, and there are a couple of types (clouds and fireballs) that zoom down the screen at you which are equally troublesome.

No bridge for the next river? Try the question mark!

Aside from a few small details such as bits of scenery down the sides of the screen, the only real difference between the stages are the colour schemes and any new enemy they might introduce. Popolon can loop sideways across the screen when there is no scenery in the way and the stages all play in the same way, just with increasing numbers of enemies. They look pretty decent though. There's a little bit of flicker when things are busy but you won't see too much of it, and the sprites are great. I mean, there isn't much in the way of animation or anything, but they are appealing enough. Even better is the catchy music which is excellent (I've already 'acquired' it for my collection!) and makes playing Knightmare even more enjoyable. It's a simple game, even for its time, but what it does, it does well. The controls are responsive, it presents a decent challenge, and it's 'simply' good fun and addictive to play. Another MSX corker.

RKS Score: 8/10

Gameplay Video: here's a video of the whole game being played by one of the talented fellows at World of Longplays (check out their great channel here). Oh, and don't watch if you want to avoid spoilers!