SNES

Knights of the Round

Knights of the Round may not quite live up to the Final Fight series, but it's lush medieval setting is a welcome change from gritty urban streets. The wide variety of moves at your disposal also makes it exciting to play. If you've always wanted to be a knight in shining armor, here's a good place to start.

This is another side-scrolling, hack-and-slash medieval adventure where you can choose from one of three fighters. The two-player simultaneous is a big plus and the bosses are challenging. A good translation of the arcade.

Reasonably playable but there are so many similar games that offer much more.

What - another Final Fight clone from Capcom? This one or two-player medieval hack-n-slasher has weapons and progressive experience levels, but it's essentially the same game as King of Dragons (And Legend...and Golden Axe...and etc.).

There's nothing all that bad about Knights of the Round, but it's not spectacular enough to stand out from the crowd. For the most fun, stick with the two-player mode. If you cut your teeth on Golden Axe and other classic hack-n-slash carts, Knights of the Round will be the kind of crusade you'll enjoy. If you can't abide this type of action/adventure, let someone else search for the Holy Grail.

Im mittelalterlichen England brechen die Helden Artus, Lanzelot und Parzival auf, um dem kriegerischen Treiben finsterer Zauberer und heidnischer Ritter ein Ende zu machen. Erst wenn sie das Böse ausgerottet und den heiligen Gral wiedergefunden haben, wird das Reich in Frieden geeint.

Hacking up endless bad guys gets monotonous, and there's not much diversity between the three playable characters. By far the coolest feature is the ability to knock a knight off of his horse and mount the horse yourself. Unfortunately, there's only two or three opportunities to do this trick in the entire game. The two player simultaneous action is fun enough, but slowdown runs rampant at times. And while the music is excellent, the sound effects are horribly muffled. Knights of the Round is no classic, but fighting fans with an appreciation for 16-bit graphics should take a look.

While it may recall the glory days of side-scrolling arcade-style titles, Knights of the Round succeeds mainly in reminding you of the better, more entertaining entries in the genre. Ah, King of Dragons, where are you now?