"I don't think this could possibly be any better."

Introduction
This is the sixth game in the legendary King's Quest series by Roberta Williams. This game takes place directly after the events King's Quest V. Cassima has been liberated back to her homeland in The Land Of The Green Isles and things couldn't be worse for her...

Story: 10/10
King's Quest VI features a very similar beginning to King's Quest II. Alexander sees Cassima in the magic mirror (yes, she's in a tower too) and his desire to see her increases so much that he forms a crew and sails off to The Land Of The Green Isles... so, our adventure begins.
The story in this game is great, with many twists and turns. The villain is a suave, charismatic Vizier named Abdul Alhazred, and throughout the game you will be startled to discover how truly evil he is.
This game features many optional things to do for extra points, and absolutely phenomenal characters. You get to know each character, and they all have superb voice acting (more on that later).
All in all, the story in this game is incredible, and easily on par with all the others of this series.

Gameplay: 10/10
This is a standard point and click adventure game, and it does the job perfectly. The interface in this game is the best of any King's Quest game, hands down. It operates the same way as the interface for King's Quest V, but it looks much better. You can use different icons to walk, talk, use, and look. As you gain items, they are added to your inventory, which you can then you by clicking them on the things you wish to use them with.
The gameplay for this game is great, and does not need any improvement.

Graphics: 8/10
Graphics do not make a game, although nice graphics are good as a bonus. This game has excellent graphics for the year it was made in, and the graphics are definitely nice enough for me. The backgrounds are lush and have amazing detail. The characters look slightly out of place against the backgrounds, but they still look great.
Where the graphics really shine, however, are the character's dialogue portraits. They look incredible, and are easily some of the best work ever done with 256 Colours. The lip-synching seems a tad bit off at times, but personally I've never really noticed it.
The graphics of this game are a definite plus, and while they do not make the game, they do vastly improve it.

Sound: 10/10
The music in this game is absolutely phenomenal. Each kind of music is perfect for it's respective area. For example, when you journey to the Winged Ones city, the music is a heroic, proud sounding music. Conversing, in places like the Catacombs, the music is dark and sinister sounding.
The sound effects are great. Each sound perfectly represents the respective action. No complaints here.
The best point of the sound in this game is the voice acting. Each actor does a brilliant job playing their character. This game has Tony Jay, and he does the voice of three different characters. In my opinion, that right there brings the score up for voice acting. Josh Mandel returns to voice his character, King Graham, although he only has one or two lines.
This game's voice acting is some of the best I have ever heard.

Replay Value: 9/10
King's Quest VI is an adventure game, and thus is doomed to low replay value. Once you solve the puzzles, you can't solve them again, can you?
But wait!
King's Quest VI has the best replay value of any King's Quest game! Thankfully, King's Quest VI has many side quests and alternate ways of completing the game, each resulting in a different ending. You will want to play this game again and again, until you achieve the perfect score. And even then, it's worth playing through again simply to ''relive'' the adventure. Each time you play, you might try a different approach, so that you can see the game through all of the possible angles.

Conclusion
King's Quest VI is the best of the King's Quest series. It is worth buying if you can. If you want this game, you should buy the ''King's Quest Collection''. This includes 1-6. The entire series is terrific, but none more so than VI.
I always look at 10/10 rating skeptically, but this is a game that truly deserves it. If you don't already have a copy, I strongly urge you to buy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/03