A point-and-click fantasy adventure game from Sierra. Split into six acts, follow the adventures of Queen Valanice and Prince Rosella as they try to reunite, and stop the world from being destroyed by the evil fairy Malitia. While appealing to kids, some of the puzzles are deeply treacherous, some of the dialogue is certain to go above a child's head, and death lies in wait around every corner. There is no save mechanic - you simply start over from before you died, encouraging you to explore every corner of the world.
This game has an identity problem. Its colorful animation seems designed to reform those little girls who, despite an enlightened upbringing, dismay their parents by yearning for Barbie dolls. Yet the game’s unhurried pace, requiring repented visits to locations to discover clues and acquire useful objects, is better suited to young adults. If you’re old enough to enjoy the game — at times very entertaining — you’ll probably smirk at the frilly plot, which reminded me of vintage Smurfs.
The lead character is a yellow-haired valley girl of a princess who introduces herself by singing a little ditty saccharine enough to make Barney the dinosaur purse his purple lips. Pressured on the subject of marriage by her mother, the queen, the princess hops into a pond and discovers a world inhabited by trolls, a fiendish sorceress, and a handsome, though hooded, prince. In the role of either the princess or the queen, you attempt to save the world and reunite with either your mother or daughter, depending. It’s a perfect recipe for entertaining little girls.
But the action in King’s Quest is far too plodding for most little girls. They're virtually guaranteed to start squirming and complaining mere seconds into the game. I’ve had the pleasure of playing the game separately with one seven-year-old and one nine-year-old, and both harbor vivid memories of the queen laboring across the screen at the speed of spilled oatmeal. Most characters take more than a minute to cover the grand length of 640 pixels, so consider having some coloring books or finger puppets nearby to entertain the kiddies.
The animation in previous volumes of King’s Quest has been compared with Disney’s, but though Quest VII's backgrounds are well executed and the use of color is reminiscent of Disney classics, each scene is seen from a single all-encompassing camera angle — most un-Disney-like. The ability to examine the items by picking them up and twirling them around in three-dimensional space is a nice touch. But the characters are crudely executed and flat.
The Last Word King’s Quest VII offers two endings, with differing consequences for the prince. As either queen or princess, you have lots of opportunity to die, but you can usually immediately recover to where you left off. The music is a bit grating, and the documentation fails to warn you that all heck breaks loose if you don’t switch to 256 on-screen colors. But if none of this bothers you, then King’s Quest VII serves up hours of fun. And despite the title, don't look around for a king; the women struggle to save themselves without male rescuers — a welcome break from standard fantasy role-playing fare.
McClellan, Deke. (January 1996). King's Quest VII: The Princeless Bride. Macworld. (pg. 75).
(225.81 MiB / 236.78 MB)
/ CDR image, zipped
492 /
2014-04-14 /
2023-04-28 /
7f6e4a988c30a9767356f4f26832eb56d8bebea9 /
/
68K + PPC (FAT)
From Mac OS 7.0
up to Mac OS 9.2
Compatibility notes
68040
System 7.0.1 or higher
8MB RAM
20MB Hard Drive space
256 Color or Grey Scale
13 Inch Monitor
Double Speed (2X) CD-ROM
Roland MT-32 and General MIDI compatible
Basilisk II is recommended, however, this user found successful emulation of this software using SheepShaver running 9.0.4
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
SheepShaver
Sierra On-Line, Inc.
Games
out of 10 (1 vote)
KQ7CD.cdr_.zip
