As far as making you gasp in awe of the graphics, Cinemaware has done it again!
Graphics:
Before anything else, the very nice main menu and opening screen greet you welcome to this board-style strategy game. You select your knight and you get to see their portraits and their values for jousting, leadership and swordplay. It all looks very inviting and colorful.
The graphics during the tactical phase are not exactly breathtaking as you move your campaign army around the map (in the shape of a flag), but rather dull and boring. This all changes though as soon as you get started with the mini-games as you go raiding enemy castles or attempt to rescue a kidnapped lady. The game changes into a side-scrolling action game and you progress through the gate of the castle, the castle grounds, inside the castle and if you are trying to save a fair Saxon lady you even get to fight in the fragile maiden's bedroom! If you succeed you will see an animated cut-scene of the lovers kissing. These scenes are amazing (not just because of the girls) and the light- and shadow-play that the environment produces while you fight is nothing short of stunning. Depending on what girl you rescue, the face in the cut-scene looks different. There are a total of four different young ladies to save. The other mini-games include jousting and laying siege. The jousting part sports some very nicely drawn stills and awesome animations and graphics throughout. As one of the knights is unseated a new game starts, this time you're equipped with a morning-star and a shield for defense. You try to bash your opponent down to score another point. The visuals are astonishing with huge sprites and powerful coloring. As you progress through the game a couple of cool stills show up once in a while and they all look great. As far as I'm concerned, the most impressive piece of graphic is when you "ride" to the tournament, I thought that was impossible on the GBA. The siege part looks very good too as you see the mighty siege engine from behind and by pressing the A button flings boulders and disease toward your enemy. If you get a good hit with a boulder armed with Greek fire, one of the towers of the castle in siege goes up in flames. As far as making you gasp in awe of the graphics, Cinemaware has done it again!
93%
Sound:
The music is well written, but not very well produced as some of the sounds (instruments if you will) sound awful. The songs and the short tunes are all well written and nice to listen to though. The sound effects are really good and as you fight you can hear war-cries and your commander shouting orders, rallying the troops to different formations. The sound of massive battle is overwhelming. The sound as you hit the shield of your opponent with the ball-and-chain-morning star during the final part of the tournament (after the jousting) is my favorite. All these superb sounds and the unbelievable graphics combined create an original and very medieval atmosphere and set the mood for conquering and uniting a torn England perfectly.
84%
Game play:
The game is a menu based strategy game with several action elements. You start off by transferring troops and creating a campaign army that you use to move armies around and conquering new territories. If you choose not to attack, you have the choice of buying armies (Soldiers, knights, catapults or castles (to be built on any of your territories)), go raiding an enemy castle, hold a tournament, visit Robin Hood in the Sherwood or pass. The sword-fighting during raids is incredibly simple with two different attacks and a block. Works well but gets tedious quickly. The jousting is basically steering your lance and try to unhorse your opponent. A cool thing is that if you accidentally (?) impale the mount you get banned from all tournaments for the duration of the game. Simple yet genius controls. The dismounted part of the tournament consists of one kind of attack and the possibility to block with your shield. Simple as always, but entertaining, especially if you were the one that got knocked off your horse and seek revenge. As you lay siege on castles you have six days to try to break down the defenses of the castle in siege. One boulder represents one day. You can choose between three types of boulders; plain, Greek fire and disease. Greek fire and disease kills of the defending soldiers in time so make sure to infest the castle with disease early on during the siege for the best effect. All these action elements, though very simplistic, break the game off nicely and add variation to the boring map. Before a battle you can visit Robin Hood and he will aid you by sending extra manpower into battle for you. You can visit Robin three times during the game. The actual battles are menu operated and let you choose whether to stand and fight, to outflank, attack ferociously or use your catapults. You watch the numbers of the armies go down and the one who reaches zero first loses the battle. Simple but effective. You also have the choice to retreat of course. One more thing that breaks down the game play and enhances the gaming experience is the random event; "Danes invade England", "Your catapults have been sabotaged", "A Saxon lady has been kidnapped, she needs your help", "Civil unrest has been spread across your kingdom. You lose a territory" etc. These happenings can be seen as the "random cards" if this would have been a board game. It plays much like one and since I like board games I might appreciate this release more than most people. The game is simple and easy to get into and very enjoyable.
81%
Lastability:
Replay value is of course high as with all strategy games. But, since it plays like a board game it's very short and except trying to beat the game on different difficulties, using different heroes, there's not much to do once you've gotten tired of the mini-games. This game has many games to compete with that have much longer longevity.
59%
Overall:
A good game, which is nice to play a few times and you'll probably play it a few more times due to the good presentation and audio and visual effects. It stays true to the original game, which is both good and bad. Why not a multiplayer Vs mode? The story Defender of the crown is based on (Ivanhoe) is a really cool and engrossing story, why not implement more of the storyline into the game? Still, in my opinion it stands the test of time well.
64%