I am genuinely impressed and astonished that you got to the end of this without a guide! I played through it only recently, and the major obstacle of the game wasn't so much the puzzles as how random everything was - how you're meant to know that you have to persevere picking up acorns until you get dried ones, or just leave the screen and try again if there's a bandit in the treehouse, and so on. Not to mention Sierra's usual traps of giving you limited doses of the fly/eagle potion. The timer mechanic is an interesting idea, but they didn't really take it far enough - like you mentioned, waiting 30 minutes for the ship is absurd, and you can turn Manannan into a cat within one cycle if you're quick, despite it appearing at first that this is the ultimate goal of the game. The whole game after that is very linear and Stair Quest-like, and it feels like it was all tacked on at the end as they desperately tried to get Alexander to Daventry within the span of the story. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and hope to see You'll Be Killed in the charts some time ;)
I don’t think we had guides or walkthroughs when these early Sierra games came out. You asked around for people that had finished it or you just figured it out.
@@hansgraichen8051 There were guides with highlighters or a 1-900 hint line. Otherwise you needed to talk to friends or know someone on a bulletin board.
I've been watching your videos for a long time - we had mirror childhoods in a lot of ways, and even without that I love your commentaries and playthroughs! I feel compelled to comment on this one, because this was my first adventure game - my dad bought it at a yard sale, installed it on his computer, and then realized he was a genius because I was now out of virtually all normal trouble for the next four months. You're right, this game was BRUTAL back in the day. I fell down the mountain or misspelled a single word in a spell countless times. The wizard terrified me (that sting!), the cat was a jerk, and there were so so so many ways to die. I eventually beat it by secretly calling the Sierra Hintline in the middle of the night and figuring out a couple evil puzzles. Anyway, great nostalgia, great review, and I look forward to everything you write/film/tape/post/etc.
Loved your take on KQ3. I played this the year it was released and like you, the wizard's materialization tune will be forever burned into my psyche. For months that wizard ruined my childhood. I thought I could escape him on the pirate ship, but nope! When I finally had the epiphany as to how to rid myself of him, I was literally shaking with excitement, impatient to see if it would work. I cannot think of a more sublime moment in any computer game than exploring the countryside without the fear of the wizard appearing out of nowhere and zapping you into oblivion. The clock became instantly meaningless and I could catch my breath and truly poke around the world, listening to animals speak and buying drinks at the tavern without a curfew. True freedom!
+LittleMikey "Hmm, should I read the comments on a video called "Take Back Te Ancestrl Homelndz" made by a guy called "ResurrectedAryanEmperor"?" *Music plays* You know what, probably not a good idea.
Oh man I remember playing this game when I was about 12 and having to learn to type with the speed of a coked up demon "Use mirror on medusa" because the game wouldn't let you pause when you typed and you had approximately 5 seconds to type out that sentence when the medusa finally appeared onscreen. Years later I realized you could type the sentence and leave it up to merely press enter once the action happened. I lamented having never know this information on my first playthrough, until I realized I just typed this comment in 15 seconds. Thanks, Kings Quest 3!
Ermegerd it makes me so happy to hear you talk about how obsessed you were with this game. It was the same for me, only with KQ6. I spend days in school just drawing a game I'd make up that for some strange reason was pretty much KQ6 with "different characters" and made up a mary sue to add into the bunch. I even got up the nerve to email ken williams about getting Roberta to take on my game and make it. He gave me a polite reply that even my 9 year old heart knew wasn't the reply I was looking for. But no matter.
Oh, man, the "you'll be killed song" is an instant hit! I also really enjoyed rewatching so many of your older videos and I'm very glad you're talking about adventure games again in your podcast.
That 'you'll be killed' song.. .LOVE it! :D The transition was perfect! This is my first time commenting on your RUclips videos 'scary wizard tune'...! Love your stuff, keep it up :)
I think this is one of the first games I ever played. I never knew you could save games when I was a kid, so every time I died, I had to start from scratch. It was the original XCOM for me.
Thanks for bringing back the memories of a great part of my childhood. Ironically this was one of the first two Sierra games I ever played. The other was Space Quest 1 - The Sarien Encounter. Eventually I owned and played nearly every game and every series, save for Hero's Quest, which if memory serves, was renamed Quest for Glory due to copyright issues. It's still possible to get these games and play them through Dosbox on modern PC compatibles, which I did about 8 to 10 years ago. it was amazing what I'd forgotten and what I could remember.
I love hearing stories of people's first game experiences. Couple that with the fact that I've wanted you to do King's Quest III so badly! Love how you take old games that most people have either forgotten or wouldn't give the time of day and bring them back into the spotlight for an earnest inspection. Great vid, PUR.
what you said about the temptation of having walkthroughs at our fingertips is so true. I try and only use them if I have been trying to solve a puzzle too logically.
Woah. This was my second game. Zork was my first. Super necessary to take notes in Zork as well I think. My favorite part of the game was reading the tombstones. And I played it on a Tandy.
It was my first Sierra game. After that I got into Space Quest, Hero’s Quest, Police Quest and the other Kings Quests. Kings Quest III was my favorite of the Kings Quest games.
So cool, I had this game growing up and spent months on it as well. I remember the first time I played thinking what an amazing view it was from the top of the hill.
This was the first game I played as well. I had no idea what was going on in it, and I didn't have the book, so it was all just about 'collecting as much stuff as possible and staying alive". I ended up using a walkthrough guide, so the memories no longer stuck once I boarded the pirate ship. Thanks for sharing!
9:03 - 9:24 , Well if you keep talking to Rosella before taking her back to the castle, there's a joke about Alexander having a unique birthmark on his butt, so... everyone knows he's Alexander because he dropped trou. Why not. XD I really enjoyed this game, even with the time limit and the spell book! Of the first three King's Quest games, I enjoyed 3 the most! Awesome review as always, PUR!
I remember the first couple of times my brothers played this game, they would find Manannan up in the tower, cursing at the townspeople before going on his journeys. So naturally, I assumed he was going to find and punish those people who did whatever it was that made him mad. Come to think of it though... it's never revealed exactly where he was going or what he was doing. So maybe I was right all along.
I just want to say I've really been enjoying your videos. You are a talented creator and I can really tell these games mean as much to you as they do to me
Tandy 1000 was my first PC, and this was one of my first PC games. Absolutely frustrating for a young gamer, but endlessly rewarding and hilarious misadventures ensue throughout.
This was the first Kings Quest game I played too! (It might also have been the first video game I played, but that would be ignoring the Apple II Dragon's Keep (also by Sierra) that I played for about 30 minutes when I was in Kindergarten.) The Tandy 1000 has a 3-voice chip, so you need to play it in Tandy Mode (sierra -t in dosbox) or force the machine to Tandy mode to hear the 3-voice versions. This is especially noticeable when the Wizard makes you exercise. But oh my god the manual for KQ3 (5.25" disk's) was so illegible to me at the time. My dad on the other hand managed to finish the game WITHOUT turning the wizard into the cat.
Kings quest III was also my first PC game, played on my fathers Tandy 1000 SX. It took me forever to complete it, but I loved playing it! Thanks for the review!
Those old boxes and manuals bring back so many memories... we had the first three KQ games and I loved them all as a kid, but this one especially. It is absolutely merciless so I hardly even got out of the house by myself, but that difficulty meant it remained tantalisingly unsolved for so long and I think that's part of its appeal. I still remember going to a PC store (which was barely even a thing that existed in those days) that had the game on display, and they were at the tree with the rope ladder down - it blew my mind. There's a LADDER in that TREE!? As soon as I got home I tried to figure out how to make the ladder drop... Not having an internet or large gamer community made some games extremely hard to solve, but in a way that made it a much longer, more personal experience. It took me a year to get the banana picker in Monkey Island because it never occurred to me to walk the monkey to the gate lever. On the other hand, sometimes early 80s games were just being downright sadistic. Like KQ1's Rumplestiltskin puzzle. How did Roberta Williams sleep at night? :P
The music that always scared me was the enemy in the room music from KQ2. Like when walking into the dwarfs house or grandmas house when the wolf is there. As a young kid playing these brand new PC games when I was used to Atari and hearing that music and then being chased made me afraid to boot up the game and play it.
This was also the first Sierra/Adventure game I played. I was given a copy from Roberta Williams herself at a presentation. Played it until the disks died. Great game memories. I was just a young kid at the time.
I've never played the original King's Quest games, only hearing of them in passing; and now with the most recent one, it's cool to be able to go back and check out where it all came from.
good memories watching this, i didnt play this until the kings quest compilation came out, but kq5 was my first adventure game. this game deserves a decent modern remake.
The time limit and initial oppressive atmosphere still make this one of my favorite King's Quest games, spellcasting woes aside. Finding all the ingredients while avoiding the Manannan's watchful eye was tricky, but it made finally beating him all the sweeter. Another great retrospective, Roses.
Those old Sierra adventure games were great. I used to play this game at my friends house, on his parents Tandy 1000 SL with a 20MB HD lol! We never got too far though. KQ2 I did manage to beat from start to finish without any help. It was a hell of an accomplishment for me at the time.
I've watched a ton of your videos in the last couple weeks, and it's been fascinating to get to know you lol. I never did any games in this genre, but seen that it's your favorite game when you were a kid is very interesting. My wife thinks that hitting on you, the honest truth is, it's just really interesting to learn about another person's self via RUclips. Thanks for sharing so many fun stories. I really like the murder she wrote stuff :-)
I, too, started my Sierra journey with King's Quest 3. Only, it was a hacked version that my friend had and during my first night (about 5 hours worth) of playing it, I wasn't aware that a 'manual' was part of the deal. So once he woke up and made a copy of it for me, the game started to make a LOT more sense. ;) Your "You'll Be Killed" song is now one of my new favorites! :D
Haha my first game that like you I spent ages on. I had many games before it like avoid the noid and stuff but this was the funniest game that hooked me and set me off on my Zelda and FF series love. This video is awesome and brings back so many fantastic memories. Thank you. God Bless Kings Quest 3
Lovely review :) When I was young we had a pirated version with no manual so we never got far with it, but I always just enjoyed derping around the house, taking naps, feeding the chickens and getting on Manannanananananananananan's nerves. Now that I actually have the manual, I enjoy the spellcasting aspect, it's strangely immersive to have a physical book with instructions like that.
This was the first game my family bought with our first computer - Tandy 1000SX - back in '87. I loved the game, but needed to order the little hint book with the marker that you used to decode the hints. I recently re-bought a Tandy 1000SX off of eBay just so I could play this again (as well as all the other classics - I know about DOSBox - I just wanted to collect the original hardware too) and I got stuck in the exact same spots that I got stuck in 30 years ago when i was a kid. (Not knowing to look on top of the wizard's closet for the key, and not knowing how to get past the spider...)
i think this is the best of the EGA Sierra games. I actually liked the spellcasting mechanic. It felt like a unique way to solve puzzles, kinda like how Lucasarts` Loom did the musical puzzles which was far more novel to me than pick-up-thing-combine-with-other-thing puzzles.
OMG this was the first game I ever played as well (at the age of four on the first computer my family ever bought, a 286). Still have the muscle memory to get down that mountain (and up again) without falling off. Unfortunately as it was a pirate copy a friend of my parents gave us as soon as you got on the boat the game crashed (ironic really). Memories...
Meeeeeemories! I personally started off with Kings Quest 1 on a Tandy 1000 as well. I was absolutely hooked on gaming and Sierra games as well. I too learned most of my typing skills from said games as well. Look at rock, pick up rock, move rock, smash face against rock endlessly.... I also remember those time when you are playing and you die... and then you realize you haven't saved the game in hours... oh the rage
This game intimidated me too much with the real time element, but I liked reading about it as a kid in the Kings Quest strategy guide I'd check out from the library, lol. Lovely video! Also, you and PBG need to cut an album together. I'd buy those hot jams!
My first video game was King's Quest 2. My dad came up with the game when I was 6 years old and I was instantly hooked. I still think KQ 1-6 are some of the best games ever made!
I think the biggest pain about the spell casting is when your own manual or an earlier version of the King's Quest Companion the one that covers 1-4 had misspellings in it making the game impossible to beat unless you were smart enough to remember write to Sierra for a replacement manual or had a friend who owned the game with a manual with the corrections for you to fix your manual like we did back in the day.
I always like hearing stories of games that inspired people as children, it's amazing how something so simple as a game can have such effects on our lives
After playing King's Quest(2015), I appreciate that you explained this game is Gwydion's(Alexanders) story. I had no idea, because I've never played the original versions.
My nostalgia favourite is Space Quest 3, the first adventure game I ever played. I was abut 14, my mom bought me my first PC, and another kid from school came visiting each afternoon and we'd play a little further in Space Quest 3 trying to figure it out.
Your reviews are awesome and you have me digging out my old King's Quest floppies right now. You should defiantly review Mask of Eternity. I never played it and it looks... interesting.
@Pushinguproses KQ3 was also the first sierra computer game I ever played. That pic of the computer is a Tandy tx1000 I believe, as It was the first Pc I got Xmas of'87. Ah the memories. No hard disk, that cost 300 $ for a 20 meg drive!
Hey there PushingUpRoses :) This was my second adventure game, and I did like it very much, but there is a HUUUUUUUGE problem wit' this game: it cannot be completed with the original walkthrough! In fact, it cannot be completed without the walkthrough because of the spells. Well anyways, the game is programmed badly and won't accept the correct sentence for the "turning one to a cat" spell, thus, making the game unwinnable without cheating.
Your first game is always important; for me, Missile Command. However, I was enamored by Sierra with King's Quest 1 and Space Quest 2. I played many after that especially in the Space Quest series. Branched out played Earthrise and others. Sadly, Lucas Arts wasn't big in my adventure gaming youth. Nice first game to have played and thank you for sharing your memory of it.
I too became a little older a little wiser started to grow hair in really weird places .. felt like I was turning into Sasquatch. 😂 hey Pushing Up Roses I love your channel. I watched your video about Clarissa Explains It All last night and I love your review on Kings Quest VI. Both videos were so well done, you capture so many subtleties about being a ‘90s kid and I love your Are You Afraid of The Dark videos just as much. I have a whole list of your videos to watch later! Thanks so much for your unique channel! 🌹💖
One of my top nostalgic favs too. Only mine wasn't quite so beautiful. I played it in 4 color CGA graphics on my 8.88 mhz "turbo" PC. I remember watching the game demo at Radio Shack on a Tandy, and drooling over the beautiful graphics (every time we went to the local mall). Mine was on 5.25 floppies, had to change disks during the game.. and wait for loading.. lots of it. It took me years to beat without any guide. What a game though! I also wrote a story based on ideas from the game, it was published in my school's anthology that year. Muahahahahahaaaaaah! Loves me some Gilligan and Manannaanaanannaaaan!
Leisure Suit Larry was my first Sierra game. But I didnt know English so I never reached far in the game. This was my second game, and I was hooked for years. Larry and this one are my favorites for sure.
What an amazing tale of someone bound to a game, I can't believe you played it for years, it really shows something about what a game can mean in our lives. I'm doing something like that for a game called "Survival Kids", it's for GBA. I'm not gonna look at the walkthrough, but hey, it looks like a million times easier than King's Quest III. Also nice song!! LOL!
It took a long time, just to figure out what you needed to do. There were a bunch of menial tasks that you had to concentrate on, so in the immediate you weren't learning much at all, other than the layout of the house/lair. The timer was their to remind you that you needed to be doing something. You had items for the wizard to eat - not knowing if you might need any of them later. There was no way to initially know how long the wizard's journey would be. There was also that path down the mountain, that by its nature took a lot of time. Each little bit of progress seemed earned. Progress seemed to come very slowly, but it every new thing unlocked felt like an accomplishment - revealing just enough of the story to progress to the next obstacle. If you took too long, then you found out what that timer was about, so it was definitely a good game for developing game saving habits. Personally, I liked the spells. It seemed like a really good exercise for a parser interface. Colossal Cave only accepted two word commands, except for rare occasions. Speaking of that, I think the hideout might have been inspired by the pirate chest in Colossal Cave. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it functioned similarly. This is also one of my favorites. It might be said that this was my first King's Quest game, though I had played parts of the original at Radio Shack before. That doesn't really seem to count, in my opinion, though. I am curious if you tried any of the King's Quest remakes? I'm sure you probably heard of them. They were attempts to remake the first few chapters into point & click style adventures with better graphics, like later Sierra games. In particular, there are a couple of remakes of King's Quest III from two different sources. One has a bit more primitive voice acting, but a bit more character, and they took a little artistic license in interpreting the scenery. The other one has a bit more professional sounding voice acting, but sticks to a more traditional interpretation of the scenery and story - making for an update that feels very recognizable and familiar. Personally, I like both interpretations. Even though point and click simplifies the gameplay, I think both versions are very worth checking out. They are both impressive work from EXTREMELY TALENTED game designers. They deserve recognition for what they accomplished. AGDI, aka Tierra Online and Infamous Adventures... I like both of their work.
This was my first game toooooooo! I agree with calling it nostalgic favorite! Also up there is Privateer and my second game Ikari Warriors (in the limited color scheme)
Love the video. One of my early gaming experiences on pc. Sierra games. So amazing. Space quest n police quest. Let's make a new Sierra style text game. Pirate era..
I LOVE this game, it was my first as well. I used a Tandy 1000 SX with 3 floppies. When I role play, I use the spells from the game, especially the cat cookie.I couldn't read cursive very well, I thought the the magic wand was the magic finger. Now I'll be saving that wizard sound effect to my computer, maybe use it as a ringtone for something.
King's Quest 3 is the first game I can remember playing. It has left a rather strong mark in my mind and many of the scenes are burned into it either due to their wonderful looks, style or mean bullshit. Looking at you yeti scenes, looking at you so hard. KQ3 and 6 are easily my favourites of the series and a lot of that revolves around solving puzzles by using magic spells. Its an interesting mechanic that while still being an inventory item puzzle at least offers a fresh way of solving the puzzles. Turn into an eagle to kill the spider, paint on the wall to make a door are far more refreshing over throwing a rock or using a key.
Awesome game. It has stuck with me ever since 1986. :) I have clear memories of going into Tandy in Melbourne city as a kid with my mum and brothers, and they reached up high on the shelf, and brought this down (we'd already played KQ1 and KQ2, but only copies of them, I think), and I marveled at the golden box, Manannan on the cover, looking menacing, and wondering "who even are these characters!?", and just absolutely loving figuring out who we were on top of this hill in this old house, with this scary wizard lording it over us. :) Brilliant. I want to make an immersive 3D adventure game that takes inspiration from many of the things I loved about KQ3. One day!
Had a similar situation playing Leisure Suit Larry 2 when it came out. Was stuck at the elevator to Nonookees lair on top of volcano for about a year real time, no joke. No internet, no walkthroughs. Finally put bag in hair rejuvenator. That command will be forever etched in my memory... Sadly internet has now forever ruined my patience for hard adventure games...
I think I've played them both. I can't remember which one it was, but you had to prove Rosella that you are Alexander by showing her a birthmark on your butt.
The "you'll be killed" song was AMAZING.
"Cop a feel"
"What's a cop?"
I died.
''whats a cop?''
he said with his hand right next to her breasticle, hmmmm
> Mix Police Quest II with King's Quest III
> Wave magic wand
> Cop a feel...
I am genuinely impressed and astonished that you got to the end of this without a guide! I played through it only recently, and the major obstacle of the game wasn't so much the puzzles as how random everything was - how you're meant to know that you have to persevere picking up acorns until you get dried ones, or just leave the screen and try again if there's a bandit in the treehouse, and so on. Not to mention Sierra's usual traps of giving you limited doses of the fly/eagle potion.
The timer mechanic is an interesting idea, but they didn't really take it far enough - like you mentioned, waiting 30 minutes for the ship is absurd, and you can turn Manannan into a cat within one cycle if you're quick, despite it appearing at first that this is the ultimate goal of the game. The whole game after that is very linear and Stair Quest-like, and it feels like it was all tacked on at the end as they desperately tried to get Alexander to Daventry within the span of the story.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and hope to see You'll Be Killed in the charts some time ;)
Thank you, but keep in mind that it DID take 7 years or so, haha!
I never came close to finishing this :( I also didn't know the manual had spells in it. That would have helped some.
I don’t think we had guides or walkthroughs when these early Sierra games came out. You asked around for people that had finished it or you just figured it out.
@@hansgraichen8051 There were guides with highlighters or a 1-900 hint line. Otherwise you needed to talk to friends or know someone on a bulletin board.
I've been watching your videos for a long time - we had mirror childhoods in a lot of ways, and even without that I love your commentaries and playthroughs! I feel compelled to comment on this one, because this was my first adventure game - my dad bought it at a yard sale, installed it on his computer, and then realized he was a genius because I was now out of virtually all normal trouble for the next four months. You're right, this game was BRUTAL back in the day. I fell down the mountain or misspelled a single word in a spell countless times. The wizard terrified me (that sting!), the cat was a jerk, and there were so so so many ways to die. I eventually beat it by secretly calling the Sierra Hintline in the middle of the night and figuring out a couple evil puzzles. Anyway, great nostalgia, great review, and I look forward to everything you write/film/tape/post/etc.
Loved your take on KQ3. I played this the year it was released and like you, the wizard's materialization tune will be forever burned into my psyche. For months that wizard ruined my childhood. I thought I could escape him on the pirate ship, but nope! When I finally had the epiphany as to how to rid myself of him, I was literally shaking with excitement, impatient to see if it would work. I cannot think of a more sublime moment in any computer game than exploring the countryside without the fear of the wizard appearing out of nowhere and zapping you into oblivion. The clock became instantly meaningless and I could catch my breath and truly poke around the world, listening to animals speak and buying drinks at the tavern without a curfew. True freedom!
I really need that sound effect to play whenever I think of reading RUclips comments... It would stop me quickly.
+LittleMikey
"Hmm, should I read the comments on a video called "Take Back Te Ancestrl Homelndz" made by a guy called "ResurrectedAryanEmperor"?"
*Music plays*
You know what, probably not a good idea.
Oh god sameeeee. RUclips comments are so disgusting.
2:21-2:29
When is the new mixtape gonna drop?
:P
Best song ever!
Oh man I remember playing this game when I was about 12 and having to learn to type with the speed of a coked up demon "Use mirror on medusa" because the game wouldn't let you pause when you typed and you had approximately 5 seconds to type out that sentence when the medusa finally appeared onscreen. Years later I realized you could type the sentence and leave it up to merely press enter once the action happened. I lamented having never know this information on my first playthrough, until I realized I just typed this comment in 15 seconds. Thanks, Kings Quest 3!
Reminds me of KQ4. "Put board over chasm." :-P
The solution to that was easy, type it before you get to that screen.
I was a huge Sierra fan and I actually remember every single one of these scenes in the game.
Ermegerd it makes me so happy to hear you talk about how obsessed you were with this game. It was the same for me, only with KQ6. I spend days in school just drawing a game I'd make up that for some strange reason was pretty much KQ6 with "different characters" and made up a mary sue to add into the bunch. I even got up the nerve to email ken williams about getting Roberta to take on my game and make it. He gave me a polite reply that even my 9 year old heart knew wasn't the reply I was looking for. But no matter.
You beat the game without a walkthrough? Now that's hardcore. ;D
"The RUclips comment section.
You'll never find a more wretched hive of scumm and villainy."
Oh, man, the "you'll be killed song" is an instant hit! I also really enjoyed rewatching so many of your older videos and I'm very glad you're talking about adventure games again in your podcast.
5 years late.. but also my first favorite game as well! Thank you for posting this nostalgic video
I always like how spontaneous you are in your vids. Now that song's in my head! :D
Idk how I've watched PBG and Brutal Moose for years and have just now found you through a Jordan Underneath comment. SO MANY WASTED YEARS.
PUR even did some videos with PBG
That 'you'll be killed' song.. .LOVE it! :D The transition was perfect! This is my first time commenting on your RUclips videos 'scary wizard tune'...! Love your stuff, keep it up :)
Hahaha, thanks!!
I think this is one of the first games I ever played. I never knew you could save games when I was a kid, so every time I died, I had to start from scratch. It was the original XCOM for me.
Same!
Thanks for bringing back the memories of a great part of my childhood. Ironically this was one of the first two Sierra games I ever played. The other was Space Quest 1 - The Sarien Encounter. Eventually I owned and played nearly every game and every series, save for Hero's Quest, which if memory serves, was renamed Quest for Glory due to copyright issues. It's still possible to get these games and play them through Dosbox on modern PC compatibles, which I did about 8 to 10 years ago. it was amazing what I'd forgotten and what I could remember.
I love hearing stories of people's first game experiences. Couple that with the fact that I've wanted you to do King's Quest III so badly!
Love how you take old games that most people have either forgotten or wouldn't give the time of day and bring them back into the spotlight for an earnest inspection.
Great vid, PUR.
what you said about the temptation of having walkthroughs at our fingertips is so true. I try and only use them if I have been trying to solve a puzzle too logically.
Woah. This was my second game. Zork was my first. Super necessary to take notes in Zork as well I think. My favorite part of the game was reading the tombstones. And I played it on a Tandy.
This was my first Sierra game, I fell in love with this game back in the day. Plus I learned to type really fast thanks to the spells and timer :)
Same. I got the whole 7 games (at the time) on CD and this was my favorite. #6 was good too. Didn't like 7. Never played 8.
I still love this game. It's my favorite after 6. I just love the spell book and escaping the wizard at the beginning.
Oh god, This is hitting me like a ton of Nostalgic bricks. Thanks for showing me this again PUR :)
The fact that you beat this game without a walkthrough is absolutely amazing to me. I beat it with a hint book and it was still tough haha.
It was my first Sierra game. After that I got into Space Quest, Hero’s Quest, Police Quest and the other Kings Quests. Kings Quest III was my favorite of the Kings Quest games.
So cool, I had this game growing up and spent months on it as well. I remember the first time I played thinking what an amazing view it was from the top of the hill.
This was the first game I played as well. I had no idea what was going on in it, and I didn't have the book, so it was all just about 'collecting as much stuff as possible and staying alive". I ended up using a walkthrough guide, so the memories no longer stuck once I boarded the pirate ship. Thanks for sharing!
I used to take the manual on road trips and read and reread it. I loved looking at all the spell recipes...maybe even more than the game.
9:03 - 9:24 , Well if you keep talking to Rosella before taking her back to the castle, there's a joke about Alexander having a unique birthmark on his butt, so... everyone knows he's Alexander because he dropped trou. Why not. XD
I really enjoyed this game, even with the time limit and the spell book! Of the first three King's Quest games, I enjoyed 3 the most! Awesome review as always, PUR!
I remember the first couple of times my brothers played this game, they would find Manannan up in the tower, cursing at the townspeople before going on his journeys. So naturally, I assumed he was going to find and punish those people who did whatever it was that made him mad. Come to think of it though... it's never revealed exactly where he was going or what he was doing. So maybe I was right all along.
When I stood in front of the telescope, Manannan started cursing up and down every time 😂😂😂😂😂
My favorite Sierra game to date! So hard, but satisfying once you beat it.
I just want to say I've really been enjoying your videos. You are a talented creator and I can really tell these games mean as much to you as they do to me
Tandy 1000 was my first PC, and this was one of my first PC games. Absolutely frustrating for a young gamer, but endlessly rewarding and hilarious misadventures ensue throughout.
This was the first Kings Quest game I played too!
(It might also have been the first video game I played, but that would be ignoring the Apple II Dragon's Keep (also by Sierra) that I played for about 30 minutes when I was in Kindergarten.)
The Tandy 1000 has a 3-voice chip, so you need to play it in Tandy Mode (sierra -t in dosbox) or force the machine to Tandy mode to hear the 3-voice versions. This is especially noticeable when the Wizard makes you exercise.
But oh my god the manual for KQ3 (5.25" disk's) was so illegible to me at the time. My dad on the other hand managed to finish the game WITHOUT turning the wizard into the cat.
I honestly had no idea you could finish the game without turning Mannanan into a cat.
Yeah, how is that possible? Is there enough time to do the entire pirate ship and saving Rosella bit before the Wizard wakes from his nap?
Also my first computer game, and I play through it every few years for nostalgia. There will never be another KQ3!
I love hearing personal gaming stories. Thanks for the quality content!
Kings quest III was also my first PC game, played on my fathers Tandy 1000 SX. It took me forever to complete it, but I loved playing it! Thanks for the review!
Those old boxes and manuals bring back so many memories... we had the first three KQ games and I loved them all as a kid, but this one especially. It is absolutely merciless so I hardly even got out of the house by myself, but that difficulty meant it remained tantalisingly unsolved for so long and I think that's part of its appeal. I still remember going to a PC store (which was barely even a thing that existed in those days) that had the game on display, and they were at the tree with the rope ladder down - it blew my mind. There's a LADDER in that TREE!? As soon as I got home I tried to figure out how to make the ladder drop...
Not having an internet or large gamer community made some games extremely hard to solve, but in a way that made it a much longer, more personal experience. It took me a year to get the banana picker in Monkey Island because it never occurred to me to walk the monkey to the gate lever.
On the other hand, sometimes early 80s games were just being downright sadistic. Like KQ1's Rumplestiltskin puzzle. How did Roberta Williams sleep at night? :P
The music that always scared me was the enemy in the room music from KQ2. Like when walking into the dwarfs house or grandmas house when the wolf is there. As a young kid playing these brand new PC games when I was used to Atari and hearing that music and then being chased made me afraid to boot up the game and play it.
If "You'll be killed" is not on the playlist don't even bother calling me to the club! U_U
This was also the first Sierra/Adventure game I played. I was given a copy from Roberta Williams herself at a presentation. Played it until the disks died. Great game memories. I was just a young kid at the time.
What a fantastic video! I’m hooked. 👏
I've never played the original King's Quest games, only hearing of them in passing; and now with the most recent one, it's cool to be able to go back and check out where it all came from.
Great video! I laughed out loud a few times! Thanks for bringing back memories too. I loved this game when I was a kid.
good memories watching this, i didnt play this until the kings quest compilation came out, but kq5 was my first adventure game. this game deserves a decent modern remake.
There's nothing like the nostalgia for one's first game. Always great to hear about.
These whole series is fucking awesome! I gotta watch 'em all! Thanks for so many awesome uploads. :D
The time limit and initial oppressive atmosphere still make this one of my favorite King's Quest games, spellcasting woes aside. Finding all the ingredients while avoiding the Manannan's watchful eye was tricky, but it made finally beating him all the sweeter. Another great retrospective, Roses.
I’m a big fan of kings quest but the one who is called Graham is my favourite
Those old Sierra adventure games were great. I used to play this game at my friends house, on his parents Tandy 1000 SL with a 20MB HD lol! We never got too far though. KQ2 I did manage to beat from start to finish without any help. It was a hell of an accomplishment for me at the time.
I demand a 10. minute 90´ties inspired remix of: "You get killed"!!
I've watched a ton of your videos in the last couple weeks, and it's been fascinating to get to know you lol. I never did any games in this genre, but seen that it's your favorite game when you were a kid is very interesting. My wife thinks that hitting on you, the honest truth is, it's just really interesting to learn about another person's self via RUclips. Thanks for sharing so many fun stories. I really like the murder she wrote stuff :-)
0:33 wait you could already 3D print the save icon in the early 90s?
I, too, started my Sierra journey with King's Quest 3.
Only, it was a hacked version that my friend had and during my first night (about 5 hours worth) of playing it, I wasn't aware that a 'manual' was part of the deal. So once he woke up and made a copy of it for me, the game started to make a LOT more sense. ;)
Your "You'll Be Killed" song is now one of my new favorites! :D
Haha my first game that like you I spent ages on. I had many games before it like avoid the noid and stuff but this was the funniest game that hooked me and set me off on my Zelda and FF series love. This video is awesome and brings back so many fantastic memories. Thank you. God Bless Kings Quest 3
Absolutely lovely review
Lovely review :) When I was young we had a pirated version with no manual so we never got far with it, but I always just enjoyed derping around the house, taking naps, feeding the chickens and getting on Manannanananananananananan's nerves. Now that I actually have the manual, I enjoy the spellcasting aspect, it's strangely immersive to have a physical book with instructions like that.
This was the first game my family bought with our first computer - Tandy 1000SX - back in '87. I loved the game, but needed to order the little hint book with the marker that you used to decode the hints. I recently re-bought a Tandy 1000SX off of eBay just so I could play this again (as well as all the other classics - I know about DOSBox - I just wanted to collect the original hardware too) and I got stuck in the exact same spots that I got stuck in 30 years ago when i was a kid. (Not knowing to look on top of the wizard's closet for the key, and not knowing how to get past the spider...)
i think this is the best of the EGA Sierra games. I actually liked the spellcasting mechanic. It felt like a unique way to solve puzzles, kinda like how Lucasarts` Loom did the musical puzzles which was far more novel to me than pick-up-thing-combine-with-other-thing puzzles.
OMG this was the first game I ever played as well (at the age of four on the first computer my family ever bought, a 286). Still have the muscle memory to get down that mountain (and up again) without falling off. Unfortunately as it was a pirate copy a friend of my parents gave us as soon as you got on the boat the game crashed (ironic really). Memories...
kukamukies
I just got around to watching this. lol. I love your commentary.
defs y favourite nostalgic game. when i defeated manannan i was sooooo chuffed. i stillgo throuh this game in my mind.
Meeeeeemories! I personally started off with Kings Quest 1 on a Tandy 1000 as well. I was absolutely hooked on gaming and Sierra games as well. I too learned most of my typing skills from said games as well. Look at rock, pick up rock, move rock, smash face against rock endlessly....
I also remember those time when you are playing and you die... and then you realize you haven't saved the game in hours... oh the rage
This game intimidated me too much with the real time element, but I liked reading about it as a kid in the Kings Quest strategy guide I'd check out from the library, lol. Lovely video! Also, you and PBG need to cut an album together. I'd buy those hot jams!
My first video game was King's Quest 2. My dad came up with the game when I was 6 years old and I was instantly hooked. I still think KQ 1-6 are some of the best games ever made!
The first Adventure game I've played on my first IBM PC 286 With dosshell, King's Quest IV Pearl's of Rosella. I also have Hoyle Classics Volume 1
I think the biggest pain about the spell casting is when your own manual or an earlier version of the King's Quest Companion the one that covers 1-4 had misspellings in it making the game impossible to beat unless you were smart enough to remember write to Sierra for a replacement manual or had a friend who owned the game with a manual with the corrections for you to fix your manual like we did back in the day.
Much love to the Kings Quest series!
What a "first game", though! I'm surprised you didn't smash the monitor a few times out of frustration!
I always like hearing stories of games that inspired people as children, it's amazing how something so simple as a game can have such effects on our lives
After playing King's Quest(2015), I appreciate that you explained this game is Gwydion's(Alexanders) story. I had no idea, because I've never played the original versions.
My nostalgia favourite is Space Quest 3, the first adventure game I ever played. I was abut 14, my mom bought me my first PC, and another kid from school came visiting each afternoon and we'd play a little further in Space Quest 3 trying to figure it out.
Your reviews are awesome and you have me digging out my old King's Quest floppies right now. You should defiantly review Mask of Eternity. I never played it and it looks... interesting.
@Pushinguproses KQ3 was also the first sierra computer game I ever played. That pic of the computer is a Tandy tx1000 I believe, as It was the first Pc I got Xmas of'87. Ah the memories. No hard disk, that cost 300 $ for a 20 meg drive!
What a great beginning. Thanks.
This was my favourite KQ. And now I play the Remake. Graphics upgrade and fully voiced! The voice of Manannan is so great
Yes! That'd be awesome if that dramatic sting played when something when wrong. I'd probably be cheered right back up again because of the nostalgia.
Hey there PushingUpRoses :)
This was my second adventure game, and I did like it very much, but there is a HUUUUUUUGE problem wit' this game: it cannot be completed with the original walkthrough! In fact, it cannot be completed without the walkthrough because of the spells.
Well anyways, the game is programmed badly and won't accept the correct sentence for the "turning one to a cat" spell, thus, making the game unwinnable without cheating.
Your first game is always important; for me, Missile Command. However, I was enamored by Sierra with King's Quest 1 and Space Quest 2. I played many after that especially in the Space Quest series. Branched out played Earthrise and others. Sadly, Lucas Arts wasn't big in my adventure gaming youth. Nice first game to have played and thank you for sharing your memory of it.
I too became a little older a little wiser started to grow hair in really weird places .. felt like I was turning into Sasquatch. 😂 hey Pushing Up Roses I love your channel. I watched your video about Clarissa Explains It All last night and I love your review on Kings Quest VI. Both videos were so well done, you capture so many subtleties about being a ‘90s kid and I love your Are You Afraid of The Dark videos just as much. I have a whole list of your videos to watch later! Thanks so much for your unique channel! 🌹💖
Roses, you're bloody hilarious. Thank you for being an amazing person.
I can watch these types of videos endlessly 😊
One of my top nostalgic favs too. Only mine wasn't quite so beautiful. I played it in 4 color CGA graphics on my 8.88 mhz "turbo" PC. I remember watching the game demo at Radio Shack on a Tandy, and drooling over the beautiful graphics (every time we went to the local mall). Mine was on 5.25 floppies, had to change disks during the game.. and wait for loading.. lots of it. It took me years to beat without any guide. What a game though! I also wrote a story based on ideas from the game, it was published in my school's anthology that year. Muahahahahahaaaaaah! Loves me some Gilligan and Manannaanaanannaaaan!
I would absolutely love to see you do a let's play of King's Quest III and/or King's Quest V.
Leisure Suit Larry was my first Sierra game. But I didnt know English so I never reached far in the game. This was my second game, and I was hooked for years. Larry and this one are my favorites for sure.
I remember playing this on my dad's black-and-white laptop. I played this one, Perils of Rosella, and Leisure Suit Larry 2.
What an amazing tale of someone bound to a game, I can't believe you played it for years, it really shows something about what a game can mean in our lives. I'm doing something like that for a game called "Survival Kids", it's for GBA. I'm not gonna look at the walkthrough, but hey, it looks like a million times easier than King's Quest III. Also nice song!! LOL!
Funny, I search reviews for Colonel's Bequest and King's Quest 3 to find two really awesome reviews.
What a blast from the past! :)
It took a long time, just to figure out what you needed to do. There were a bunch of menial tasks that you had to concentrate on, so in the immediate you weren't learning much at all, other than the layout of the house/lair. The timer was their to remind you that you needed to be doing something. You had items for the wizard to eat - not knowing if you might need any of them later. There was no way to initially know how long the wizard's journey would be. There was also that path down the mountain, that by its nature took a lot of time. Each little bit of progress seemed earned. Progress seemed to come very slowly, but it every new thing unlocked felt like an accomplishment - revealing just enough of the story to progress to the next obstacle.
If you took too long, then you found out what that timer was about, so it was definitely a good game for developing game saving habits. Personally, I liked the spells. It seemed like a really good exercise for a parser interface. Colossal Cave only accepted two word commands, except for rare occasions. Speaking of that, I think the hideout might have been inspired by the pirate chest in Colossal Cave. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it functioned similarly. This is also one of my favorites. It might be said that this was my first King's Quest game, though I had played parts of the original at Radio Shack before. That doesn't really seem to count, in my opinion, though.
I am curious if you tried any of the King's Quest remakes? I'm sure you probably heard of them. They were attempts to remake the first few chapters into point & click style adventures with better graphics, like later Sierra games. In particular, there are a couple of remakes of King's Quest III from two different sources. One has a bit more primitive voice acting, but a bit more character, and they took a little artistic license in interpreting the scenery. The other one has a bit more professional sounding voice acting, but sticks to a more traditional interpretation of the scenery and story - making for an update that feels very recognizable and familiar.
Personally, I like both interpretations. Even though point and click simplifies the gameplay, I think both versions are very worth checking out. They are both impressive work from EXTREMELY TALENTED game designers. They deserve recognition for what they accomplished. AGDI, aka Tierra Online and Infamous Adventures... I like both of their work.
This was my first game toooooooo! I agree with calling it nostalgic favorite! Also up there is Privateer and my second game Ikari Warriors (in the limited color scheme)
Love the video. One of my early gaming experiences on pc. Sierra games. So amazing. Space quest n police quest. Let's make a new Sierra style text game. Pirate era..
@PushingUpRoses What's really funny is when I was around 7 or 8 I wrote a story based on Warcraft the same way you did with this game! You rule, girl!
I would love to see you do some video play throughs of some of these, or really even contemporary games! I think you'd be great at it!
I LOVE this game, it was my first as well. I used a Tandy 1000 SX with 3 floppies. When I role play, I use the spells from the game, especially the cat cookie.I couldn't read cursive very well, I thought the the magic wand was the magic finger. Now I'll be saving that wizard sound effect to my computer, maybe use it as a ringtone for something.
King's Quest 3 is the first game I can remember playing. It has left a rather strong mark in my mind and many of the scenes are burned into it either due to their wonderful looks, style or mean bullshit. Looking at you yeti scenes, looking at you so hard.
KQ3 and 6 are easily my favourites of the series and a lot of that revolves around solving puzzles by using magic spells. Its an interesting mechanic that while still being an inventory item puzzle at least offers a fresh way of solving the puzzles. Turn into an eagle to kill the spider, paint on the wall to make a door are far more refreshing over throwing a rock or using a key.
Awesome game. It has stuck with me ever since 1986. :)
I have clear memories of going into Tandy in Melbourne city as a kid with my mum and brothers, and they reached up high on the shelf, and brought this down (we'd already played KQ1 and KQ2, but only copies of them, I think), and I marveled at the golden box, Manannan on the cover, looking menacing, and wondering "who even are these characters!?", and just absolutely loving figuring out who we were on top of this hill in this old house, with this scary wizard lording it over us. :)
Brilliant.
I want to make an immersive 3D adventure game that takes inspiration from many of the things I loved about KQ3. One day!
Had a similar situation playing Leisure Suit Larry 2 when it came out. Was stuck at the elevator to Nonookees lair on top of volcano for about a year real time, no joke. No internet, no walkthroughs. Finally put bag in hair rejuvenator. That command will be forever etched in my memory... Sadly internet has now forever ruined my patience for hard adventure games...
Another great review!
Did you know? There are two fan remakes of King's Quest III, created by AGDI and Infamous Adventures.
I think I've played them both. I can't remember which one it was, but you had to prove Rosella that you are Alexander by showing her a birthmark on your butt.
That's some undeniable pixels. :D