Quest for Camelot isn’t the primary kusoge that Nintendo has placed on certainly one of its Nintendo Swap On-line retro catalogs, however it might be the strangest. I imply, was it that straightforward to get permission from Warner Bros? Certainly, nobody requested for this. Nobody at Nintendo may have probably been an inventory of GBC video games and zeroed in on this as one thing that completely wanted to be on the service. I believe each sport, no matter how unhealthy, deserves to be obtainable on fashionable platforms, however from a enterprise sense, why would anybody select this sport?

What really satisfied me to play it’s the truth that it’s developed by the bane of my existence: Titus. As I at all times say, “It ain’t no enjoyable if there’s a fox on the field.” However, extra unusually, it was revealed by Nintendo themselves. That could be a part of what helped it get its spot within the Swap’s Recreation Boy Colour channel, however it additionally raises extra questions.

We eat ham and jam and spam lots

Quest for Camelot is a 1998 movie that I keep in mind present. I keep in mind watching it, however I don’t keep in mind anything. So, I did what any video games journalist would do: I learn the plot synopsis on Wikipedia. Because it seems, the sport (additionally launched in 1998) form of form of follows the plot.

You play as Kayley, who desires of following in her useless father’s footsteps and changing into a knight. In the meantime, Ruber has his personal ambitions of stealing Excalibur from King Arthur. Errors occur, and Excalibur falls right into a Forbidden Forest. Kayley then embarks on a quest to acquire the enchanted cutlery and defeat Ruber, as a result of revenge would simply be so candy.

The sport itself borrows closely from The Legend of Zelda: Hyperlink’s Awakening, which might be the nicest factor somebody may say about it. The stock works largely the identical, with you mapping particular gadgets to the 2 buttons. It doesn’t use the identical world design, as an alternative selecting a level-based construction with a number of very context-specific gadgets. I assume what I’m saying is that it doesn’t profit in any way from copying a greater sport.

The second nicest factor that may very well be stated is that its moment-to-moment gameplay isn’t that unhealthy. You hit issues together with your sword, and people issues die after a couple of hits, and it feels okay. You acquire expertise and stage up, however there’s no option to view how shut you’re to the following stage. And that’s about it. That’s the moment-to-moment gameplay. Every part past that’s terrible.

Actual cinema

I don’t usually count on a lot from film tie-in video games. There are actually examples of some good ones, however they’re crowded out by the extra widespread cash-grabs. It’s not obscure. Builders usually work beneath strict deadlines to fulfill the film’s launch, publishers can have some unreasonable expectations, and it’s arduous to get excited when working primarily based on a license they may have no real interest in.

Quest for Camelot largely exudes that. It’s such a slapdash sport, that I had to make use of a information to determine its logic. As an example, on the finish of the primary stage, you combat Ruber. After swatting him sufficient, he begins spinning on the spot earlier than launching towards the highest of the display. I adopted him, solely to see him give one other pirouette earlier than disappearing completely.

Then I used to be left standing there. Nothing had occurred. I waited for the extent to finish, however it didn’t come. I circled the room, on the lookout for a approach out, however there was none. So, it was off to discover a information. Because it seems, I needed to stroll to the very backside of the room, then a gap would open up, and I used to be alleged to fall into it. Oh, proper. Clearly.

Additional on, after one of many worst top-down platforming sections I’ve but to come across, I needed to accumulate dragon eggs. I used to be certain that I had all of them, however the dragon simply stored telling me to go get all of them. Nearer inspection of the information was essential. I needed to exit the cave I used to be in after which soar proper to an exit that regarded prefer it shouldn’t exist. There was no spot to land. It regarded like another non-specific barrier within the sport. I’d have perpetually wandered in circles earlier than even pondering to leap over there.

Missingno’s revenge

These types of moments crop up all through the sport. There’s one stage the place it’s a must to backtrack from one finish to the following simply to get a horse so you’ll be able to return again to the place you have been. One of many worst moments includes a boss that requires you to make use of a persist with hurt it. Nevertheless, the collision detection for the stick requires you to get inside a single pixel of the boss to ensure that it to detect. It’s excruciating.

The moments the place you’re not having points like these pushed beneath your fingernails really feel so refreshing. That’s although Quest for Camelot is filled with technical points. I’m not sure if these exist within the unique launch, however the Swap model has visible glitches (like when my complete stock changed into Missingno) and noticeable load instances. Typically talking, it’s not unhealthy wanting sport. Though, Kaylee appears to stroll with a limp that I don’t suppose was intentional.

It’s at all times weird to see loading instances in a ROM-based sport. However whereas merely going forwards and backwards between ranges leads to some seconds of ready, speaking to a personality includes some hesitation as effectively, simply to carry up the dialogue field. These aren’t terribly lengthy, thoughts you. Nevertheless, it does make Quest for Camelot really feel much more sluggish than simply about every little thing else of the period.

Candy mercy of dying

Dying in Quest for Camelot can also be fairly nasty. There’s no checkpoint system, so the one option to proceed is to take action from a save. The save system, nevertheless, is tied to an merchandise in your stock. That’s no so unhealthy, however then it’s a must to pay 30 gems simply to make use of it. Then it’s a must to watch for all of the loading screens, so finally, I simply turned to utilizing the Swap’s save states. It’s form of neat that you may’t even depend on the naked minimal relating to Titus video games.

Generally, Quest for Camelot isn’t the worst movie-licensed video games I’ve performed. I nonetheless can’t consider I performed by everything of Complete Recall on NES. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless not superb, and it’s primarily based on a license that wasn’t nice to start with. The one motive I see for it being on Swap’s Recreation Boy Colour channel is that it was initially revealed by Nintendo, however that also means they’d want permission from Warner Bros. I’m guessing they’re not all that protecting of the license.

Titus was additionally planning an N64 sport primarily based on Quest for Camelot however canceled it in 1999. I really feel like that’s in all probability a blessing, however on the identical time, I’m at all times curious to know the reply to the query, “Simply how unhealthy may it probably be?”

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