King's Bounty - Retrospective of the Original

John Walker writes a loving retrospective on the original King's Bounty on the Mega Drive.

So I went in blind, beyond the peculiar future-vision of knowing how the remake plays, 20 years later.

You pick one of four classes – Barbarian, Knight, Sorceress or Paladin – and are then immediately commissioned by the King to find the lost Sceptre of Order. To do this you must wander the four continents, taking over castles from various scum and villainy, in order to acquire puzzle pieces to form a map of the sceptre's location.

As you wander (read: slide sideways on a horse across a top-down map, or sail a capsized boat) you encounter gangs of enemies, at which point you enter the game's turn-based combat.