"The first gbc game I got"

Quest for Camelot is an action/adventure game made by French developers Titus (yes, the ones that made the gaming travesty Superman 64), and based on a Warner Brothers cartoon. The game itself was one of the first games to appear on the Gameboy Color when it was first launched, but was overshadowed by games like Zelda DX and was quickly forgotten. It was the first gbc game I bought though, as it looked like an interesting adventure for a at the time amateur gamer. It was unfairly labeled as a substandard Zelda-clone by the masses, but while it is true that it borrows heavily from that series, it is still an entertaining game and this review explains why.

Graphics: The graphics in Quest for Camelot are a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand the colors are mostly bold and strong, with some nice-looking still pictures here and there in the game and great warp effects whenever you come to a new area in the game. But the animation of most of the characters is lousy, as the head is bigger than the rest of the body (though this is also evident in other similar gbc games as well), and the less said about the walking animation the better. In the end you have to remember that it is on a portable 8-bit machine and you can’t expect much more of a game with that sort of hardware available, and with that in mind the graphics are at least adequate.
7/10

Sound/Music: As it is a challenge to hear the difference between the best and worst sound-effects on the gbc, I skip right to the music part of the game. There are some catchy tunes in here, the kind that you move your head to while playing. The downside is that there are few different soundtracks, and the existing ones are repeating themselves a lot. The main gripe is that there is no separate boss-music, so while fighting one of the brutes, you are hearing the same music that you have heard time and time again before meeting it, which obviously spoils much of the mood. The overall impression of the music is still good, though.
7,5/10

Story: Pretty interesting if you care to follow it (I know a lot of people who do not) with some minor plot-twists. The problem with the story is that it just don't feel important to you, you're playing because your interested in finding out what happens next, nothing more. It is clichéd as well, but as I have not seen the cartoon this game is based on, I can’t judge it fully. The problems with the story are likely here because the developers wanted to be faithful to the cartoon. But all in all my impression of it is that we have a reasonably well written and solid storyline in here after all.
7.5/10

Gameplay: As mentioned earlier, the game is similar to the 2-D Zelda games, with a real time battle-system and lots of items that you acquire, and need to use wisely to have any hope of finishing it. Unlike the Zeldas, there is not one big world, rather many smaller ones that you are progressing through. The battle system is not as refined as Zelda’s, but it still works very well and you’re in for some great battles with common enemies and bosses alike. There is a lot of brain activity required as well, with many fun puzzles to solve on your quest. The saving system is on-cart, but it now costs money to save, making you less likely to save the game every five seconds. There is a good variation in the gaming worlds and the different challenges you’re facing. Mediocre control can not ruin a gameplay that mostly is brilliant fun.
8.5/10

Lastability/Replayability: For a gbc game, it is really a big game we have here, which will take you a pretty long while to finish. You’re also very likely to come back. I have restarted the game at least seven times and I am still getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. It is not in Pokemon’s league when it comes to playing time, but far superior to 90% of the other games on the format and worthy of a good mark here.
8.5/10

To Rent or to Buy?
I’d say buy. It is a bit unpolished and simple, but it gives you great value for the money and it is mostly a joy to play. Though it is not as good as Zelda or Pokemon, it's still among the better gbc games. Underrated and overlooked as it is, you’re probably going to have problems finding it, but if you see it in a store and you want a good, Zelda-like for the gbc (or GBA for that matter), you’re making a good choice if you buy it.

Overall: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/02, Updated 11/29/02