King's Quest VI

     By Todd Hethmon

     If you have ever played Sierra adventures games before you'll
     immediately feel at home with King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone
     Tomorrow. Sierra's point-and-click interface makes playing a breeze.
     Although a mouse is only recommended, I would not even THINK about
     playing KQVI without one. As is becoming the case with games these
     days, KQVI is quite large in size. It comes on nine (9) 3 1/2" HD
     diskettes. Granted, some of this space is taken up with the audio
     files for the over two hours of original music; however, the quality
     of the graphics and the video-captured live actors add spice to an
     excellent game. Sierra has enhanced KQVI with more flexible playing
     options. Solving puzzles can be done in almost any order. I found
     that the order that things get solved is quite important as to some
     of the animation and actions of the other characters. But don't let
     that fool you, the game can be solved with very little depending on
     the order that you solve the puzzles. In fact, nearly half the puzzles
     in the game do not have to be solved to win. Sierra has even provided
     multiple endings depending on choices you make as you play.

	As in the other King's Quest games, you play to role of a member of
     the royal family of the Kingdom of Daventry. This time around it's
     Prince Alexander. You have decided to search for Princess Cassima of
     the Land of the Green Isles who you met in King's Quest V. After
     months at sea you are shipwrecked on the beach of a small island.
     Yes, you guessed it, in the Land of the Green Isle. Unfortunately,
     it seems Cassima is in mourning for her recently departed parents
     and is not accepting visitors. The vizier, who has most nicely taken
     over, kindly asks you to leave as Cassima is in love with him and
     they plan to be married.
	
     Well by now you should have the storyline. You are there to restore
     peace to the islands of the Land of the Green Isles and keep
     Princess Cassima from marrying the vizier. Sierra has included many
     thought provoking and some downright hard puzzles and obstacles to
     overcome on your way to saving Cassima. Things such as the Logic
     Cliffs of the Ancient Ones and the Catacombs will have you
     scratching your head for hours. If not for the handy-dandy Guide
     Book to the Land of the Green Isles, most of the more difficult
     puzzles would be unsolvable without sheer luck. I must admit that
     even with four people playing, we resorted to getting hints from
     Sierra's BBS on CompuServe. The moral of our getting hints, and my
     hint to you: "Read between the lines and use your imagination and
     funny bone when stumped with a hard puzzle." I want to point out
     what I believe is the best feature of this game -- there is more
     than one way to win. Whether you go through the Land of the Dead, or
     sneak into the Palace by other means, having the option of a
     different ending is great. After writing this I plan on going back
     through the game to try and solve it using an alternate path.
	
     This game will proved countless hours of fun and agony as you
     struggle for solutions and delight in the animation and sound. For
     what it's worth, a sound card really adds to the game. I started
     playing before I bought my sound card and the sound effects were
     okay. Boy, once that sound card was fired up, the music, audio, and
     sound effects were Great. Anyone interested in this type of game,
     is going to love King's Quest VI. Sierra has come up with another hit.

     Sierra On-Line
     Street price: $50
     Requirements: 286 or better, VGA-256, EGA-16, Tandy VGA,
          Hard disk 8-12 meg.
     Recommended: Mouse
     Supports: Thunderboard, Pro Audio Spectrum, Adlib, Sound Blaster,
          MT-32 Compatible, General MIDI Sound Source.