King's Quest VI:Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
                Sierra RRP œ39.99-œ45.99
 (Icon-controlled animated fantasy adventure for PC and Amiga)

              Reviewed on PC by Joan Dunn

In King's Quest VI, Prince Alexander is pining for his lost love,
Princess Cassima, who he rescued from the evil Mordack in King's
Quest V. Looking in the magic mirror he sees her image, in which
she is bemoaning the fact that she is alone. He tells his Mother
that now he can find her, navigating by the stars he saw in the
mirror.

So he boards a ship and sets sail on his quest. The graphics at
this point are excellent, especially the storm at sea. The ship
breaks up in a terrific storm, the crew escape in a small boat.
Alexander, however, is tossed into the sea and wakes up alone on a
beach. This is where you start the adventure. He has landed on the
first island of the Green Isles ... The Isle of the Crown.  Now
you need to explore, collecting items and talking to people you
meet.  This often gives you help in your problems. On this island
there is a castle, a ferryboat ... out of action, but the ferryman
is very helpful. He will give you advice to enable you to travel
to the other islands. There is also a pawn shop and a book shop.
The owner of the pawn shop has several items on the counter and
once you have bought one of these, you can return and exchange it
for a different one. You manage to get into the castle and speak
to the Vizier who has plans to marry Cassima and sends you off
with a flea in your ear. The guards are all dogs in uniform and
very cute they are too, but unfriendly.

The other islands are The Isle of Wonder, The Isle of the Sacred
Mountain, and The Isle of the Beast. There is a fifth island but
you cannot get there until later in the game.

There are puzzles to solve before you can make any headway on all
of the islands, but they are not too difficult. I should have
progressed much quicker if I had first read the guide book to the
Land of the Green Isles. In this game it is important that you
read this as it contains a lot of information including the
riddles to help you climb the Cliffs of Logic, and also the
Ancient One's alphabet ... very necessary.

There is a short demo which is very useful for anyone not familiar
with the icon method of playing. The graphics are excellent
especially the backgrounds, with leaves moving in the wind and
various animals wandering around.  Each island has a storyline of
its own based on a fairy tale or myth. I really liked the oyster
beds and the bookworm ... some of the text is very funny.

Another plus is the fact that there are two endings ... a short
one and a long one. They were both quite different and make the
game good value for money. I played the short one first and
enjoyed it, but the long end game was much better with more
locations and extra puzzles. Also in this game there are NO arcade
sequences ... thank goodness. They do hold up play if you are not
good at them.

The ending was most satisfying with a realistic sword fight in
which you defeat the Vizier. Then there is the wedding of
Alexander and Cassima, all very pretty but it did go on a long
time and with all the credits following it was a trifle
boring ... time to put the kettle on and let them get on with it.

I very much enjoyed the game and was sorry when I finished it.
Don't miss it if, like me, you enjoy an animated adventure with
first class graphics.