Games I’ve Recently Beaten – Knight ‘n’ Grail – Commodore 64

2012 – Psytronik Software

Published in 2012, Knight ‘n’ Grail is a Metroidvania-style action platformer for the Commodore 64. You begin by controlling a knight presumably looking for the legendary Holy Grail. In order to find this item, you must traverse dangerous areas laden with traps and enemies. As you progress, there are upgrades to your weaponry and armor that are themed to certain elements. What is unique is that every enemy in the game is also themed as such. So if a enemy is fire colored and you have the fire armor, you cannot be hurt. Adversely, if you use the first weapon on that enemy, they will not be hurt either. There is also variety thrown in for enemies being a certain element and having a different elemental projectile. This little bit of strategy is an amazing little touch.

The graphics in Knight ‘n’ Grail are very well done for the Commodore 64 with the character sprites looking amazing and the backgrounds giving off a nice atmospheric tone. The music is simplistic and turns off for a spell after it completely loops a song time. I’m not sure if that is because of the medium I was playing it on? However, I do have the deluxe disk copy and I will have to make some comparisons. Controls are done as well as they can be for the one button C64 controller. Any game that you experience the up jump frustration harkens back to the Commodore days as this is the agreed upon standard, leaving the single button for an attack. Many NES titles were simply lazy ports with programmers not properly utilizing the extra button, however on the Commodore it was more acceptable.

Overall, Knight ‘n’ Grail is an excellent platforming experience and one that every fan of the genre should check out. This will also be covered in depth in Hidden Gaming Gems: Generation by Generation!

Link to Purchase the book and read more about this game

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