Roberta Williams' King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride

The Good
King's Quest VII (1994) features some impressive, cartoon-inspired animation and voice acting. It is clear that a tremendous amount of effort went into making the game look and sound like a Disney cartoon.

The game switches between two women; Valanice and Rosella as the attempt to escape from a magical kingdom.

It seems that a Troll King wants to marry Rosella, while Valanice finds herself trapped in a desert. As the game progresses, you switch between the two heroines, until finally facing off against the Troll King and an evil witch.

Actually, I think that the witch is a fairy. But in any case, she has been kidnapping royalty.

Generally, this game is shooting for a kinder, gentler, "family-friendly" atmosphere. The cartoon graphics are clearly set up to appeal to the younger audience.

As is the case with other Sierra adventure games, the player must explore his or her surroundings, interact with characters, pick up items and solve the various puzzle.

In comparison to previous games, the point and click interface has been made simpler to use. People new to the adventure game format should have no problem using the controls or figuring out what is going on.

If you have not played the previous Kings Quest games, then this game takes great pains to ensure that you do not need to be familiar with past events.

The Bad
Kings Quest VII feels like a rushed job, and with good reason. Cuts were made to ensure that the game was only on one disc, and the original release of the game was marred with severe glitches that made the game unbeatable.

Most of the glitches were fixed via a patch, but some still remain. Even without the annoying glitches, the game feels like it should have been longer and more epic than the final product.

The game has a few some dark, creepy moments, despite its kiddie, cartoon graphics, and the oversimplified gameplay mechanics take some of the fun out of the adventure gaming genre.

The Bottom Line
King's Quest VII (1994) features breathtaking, cartoon graphics and a large fantasy world to explore. Fans of adventure games, including newbies to the Kings Quest franchise should give this game a try.