Arcade, Capcom

Knights of the Round, Arcade

7 Comments

Knights of the Round is a three-player hack-and-slash arcade game, developed and distributed by Capcom in 1991. The fact that the developers – for whatever reason – neglected to include the word “Table” at the end of the title of their game hints at some hilariously bad translation, and plenty of terrible spelling mistakes, which is exactly what you get in this game…

This is, of course, loosely based on the story of King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, the sword Excalibur, and Arthurian legend – interpreted from a Japanese perspective. You’re sent out by Merlin the wizard, to overthrow the evil King Garibaldi and his forces, and to unite Britain.

Players can choose between three characters: Arthur, Lancelot and Perceval [sic], each with their own different fighting technique. Player characters can power-up to three different levels by gaining experience, and also by collecting gold that is dropped by defeated enemies. As a player’s level increases, their weapons and armour change, becoming more powerful.

Fighting relies heavily on blocking, which is done by pressing the attack button, then pushing the joystick away from the enemy just as it strikes. If successful, the player becomes invincible for a few seconds, and can also counter-attack. If no enemy strikes a character who is holding a block, though, they will tire and drop their guard, making them vulnerable to attack. In some instances, blocking is vital to employ, as some bosses can only be damaged after first blocking their attack.

Players can also use a ‘desperation’ attack if they press both the attack button and the jump button at the same time. This will unleash a powerful attack, knocking down multiple enemies, but uses up a portion of the player’s health every time it is used.

Another interesting feature is the ability to ride horses, which is similar to riding on beasts in Golden Axe (which this game is obviously influenced by). Enemies will occasionally appear on horseback, and if you can knock them off, then jump onto the horse, you can then attack from an elevated position. Horses can also stomp on enemies, if you push the joystick forward twice while riding one.

Knights of the Round is not very original, but it does have some interesting gameplay elements. Graphically, the game is very good, and the sound effects and music are decent too. Gameplay-wise, the game is challenging and fun, especially multiplayer. With three players and unlimited credits, I’d say that Knights of the Round is a worthwhile party game. I don’t think that it’s quite as good as Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder, which is still my favourite of this type of game, but it’s not far off.

Knights of the Round was fairly successful in arcades – particularly in Japan – and was ported to the Super Nintendo in 1994.

More: Knights of the Round on Wikipedia

7 thoughts on “Knights of the Round, Arcade”

  1. What a great game. What a great art. What a harsh difficulty! I played several times the Super Nintendo version, and wet very far, but never did beat the game.

    Then, with the advent of emulation I have played many many times the arcade one, and — man oh man — it’s tough! And also, I never finished it… you my wonder why?

    I am adept of a certain religion called THREE COINS, where the most important thing is:

    “THOU SHALT NEVER USE MORE THAN THREE COINS IN A ARCADE GAME.”

    So… I play the arcade titles up to where just 3 coins could take me. Never. Ever. In my life, I will use more.

    Rá! Ha ha ha ha!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Hahaha. I like the three coins technique. I usually just used one and moved on to another game, because I liked to play as many as possible. I would sometimes put ten (or more) coins into Space Invaders, though. I was addicted to that game for a short while. 😀

      Like

      Reply

  2. Remember this game vividly – it was in the arcade at the local mall (back when the mall had an arcade…next to the food court). I think I might have even beaten it once upon a time, with enough quarters.

    There was something social about gathering in a specific place to play – even with random strangers – that we’ve lost in our era of highly individualistic and online gaming.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. I agree about arcades being social, not just for friends and strangers, but also for family. I have vivid memories of playing Atari’s black and white basketball game (with the two trackballs), with my dad, who was a basketball player IRL.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    2. Yeah… and what about the underground feeling (a bit scary when you are 9 years old) of the arcades back in the end of 80’s?

      Around 1986, 87 I was 9 to 10 years old and used to go to the only arcade in my hometown, a smallc city in southern Brazil.

      At the time, all machines were pirate ones (bootleging arcade was huge in Brazil) and I used to go there with my friends (other kids around 10 years old) just to see “adults” playing Moon Patrol, Ghosts and Goblins, Vulgus and, the star for me — GREEN BERET.

      A mysterious environment full of older guys, tabacco smoke and our parents — Don’t go there! It’s not a good place! Hahahaha!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Hahaha. The arcades here in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s were similar. Dark, loud, and full of smoke! But they were always alluring to me. I usually had to wait until we went on our summer holidays, where there were always lots of arcades, although there was always a travelling fair that came to my hometown every year, and they always had lots of arcade machines. Outside of arcades I would often see just one or two machines in local swimming baths, video rental stores, and sometimes even fish and chip shops (which are common here in the UK, not so much in the rest of the world), so I would often play those.

        Games that blew my mind in arcades: Tempest, Star Wars, Dragon’s Lair, and Pac-Man. I remember seeing Pac-Man when it first came out, but it was always occupied by adults and I could never get on, but I was happy just watching! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  3. And I have a crush on Vulgus until today! Pac-Man I don’t remember seeing it on (the only one in my town) arcades… I bet they had one, but — for me, it was like my Atari 2600 games, console I had at the time.

    I was looking for something more… Green Beret! Missiles! Tanks! Bazookas! Ha ha ha! Regards!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.