For England and Robin Hood.
An interesting game, is Defender of the Crown. A strange mix of strategy, action and arcade stylings draped in middle-England goodness. Basically the idea of the game is to lead your knight to victory against those pesky invaders and eventually be crowned king of all England. You do this by engaging in a multitude of mini-games, including jousting, battlefield strategy, raiding castles and so on. It’s an idea that could either work really well, or really horribly. Unfortunately for this game, most of the time it doesn’t really work even though it tries so hard. The main thing that drags it down is that control is abysmal in nearly all the aspects, resulting in a rather slow-paced and at times very clumsy game. However, I’ve got to give points for ingenuity as well as an inexplicable sense of fun, and to be fair, the game as a whole isn’t that bad.
Graphics: 6/10
Not fantastic, even by NES standards. There are some pretty screens, but on the whole things are a bit messy, especially the battlefield sequences, which are extremely simplistic and not in a good way.
Sound: 5/10
Pretty much the standard NES sound palette used in a bad way. The music is alright though.
Value: 7/10
It’s one of the few NES strategy games that were ever made, and with the variety of play types involved Defender of the Crown is definitely worth a play. It could keep you playing for a while, although on the whole it’s not too challenging. Some people are going to love this game, some will hate it. Most people are probably going to be like me, simply thinking ‘meh’. Take it or leave it. If you can pick it up cheap, you might as well give it a twirl.
Tilt: 6/10
Good.
Pros:
NES strategy games are few, and one with the variety this one involves is a mysterious and rare beast indeed. I also like the setting, but that could just be because I’m one of those crazy Britlanders who actually has history and whatnot.
Cons:
It futzes with that history, though. Control is pretty bad throughout, it’s too slow paced for my tastes and frankly it fails in a number of areas.
Conclusion:
For retro collectors, faux history buffs, and anyone else who wants to give this interesting blend a try.