As the story begins, a mighty blue muscled demon is seen in a hall full of dead soldiers while tufts of flames flicker briskly in the background. Three knights arrive to beat back the creature but are quickly bounced backwards to groans. A knight and a blue-cloaked wizard remain and the magic user calls upon lightning to strike the creature. No good. More soldiers arrive but are beaten back also. The Queen decked out in armor enters the fray and splits the creature in two, leaving it a mass of bones. Women hold the power in Princess Crown.

Twenty five years later a new princess is crowned by the wizard to take over the reign of the kingdom. After the coronation, colored paper falls from the sky and Gradriel's assembled court is at attention.

Before the actual game starts, Gradriel will have a practice fight against one of her knights which is a good time to practice moves since the knight isn't particularly aggressive in his attacks.

Controls
TRIANGLE - Item Select Screen
LEFT TRIGGER - Alternate Item Select Screen
RIGHT TRIGGER - Overhead map of local area
CIRCLE - Swing Sword or Talk depending on situation
D-PAD DOWN + CIRCLE - Rushing Attack
D-PAD UP - Jump

Gradriel may dash by tapping the D-pad left or right twice in quick succession.

The graphics are beautifully drawn with bookcases full of volumes, flickering candles, wood furniture, tapestries on walls, and mottled brickwork inside the castle. Outside the bastion, manicured grounds are in place along with shrubbery, weapon racks, and torches which illuminate areas.

Castle Exploration
Gradriel has to do a fair amount of exploration inside the castle before leaving through the front gate. After leaving Gradriel's boudoir, make sure to speak to both ladies inside their respective rooms in order to be able to leave the top floor. Once headed downwards, descend to the first floor and move towards the left to leave the main gate. At the first attempt to leave, the guard will call you back. Head back into the first floor and soon a glowing cherubim will descend from the ceiling and chat with Gradriel. The cherubim then heads to the front gate to send the guard on a wild goose chase so Princess can vamoose.

Into the Wilderness
The game proper starts with Gradriel and cherubim on a forest path. Many trees with plump fruit line the road and Princess may jump up to grab the fruit for eating later. The purple fruit may be consumed to regain Gradriel's health. Only 8 items may be stored in inventory so grab sparingly since many treasures and items may be picked up later. The first enemy is a dodo bird which squawks and struts around without much intelligence. It's an easy target and as it flutters around, feathers unravel and fly around the screen. When battling, creatures will release items from their bodies for pickup when they're smacked. After killing the dodo, a treasure chest will burst from its carcass which contains 6 coins and a fruit. If the fruit isn't picked up after a few seconds, a gnome appears from the bottom of the screen to snatch it. The gnome will be a common sight whenever treasure is left on the ground due to bulging inventory coffers. Groups of enemies appear from time to time but only one will attack at a time while the others wait in the wings. Battles only take place on the roads between major cities and Princess is safe once she's inside a town.

Upon reaching the edge of the first trail, an option to go to Valenadine City will appear. The town has a bar and a lively atmosphere as conveyed by the background chatter of people and the polka music that blares once Gradriel enters. The second town is called Nutsbill which contains an inn and three huge ducks and two ducklings. There's also a weapon shop which has no wares at first and the shopkeep looks more like a carnival barker than a merchant. A bakery is the last shop which also has no wares for Princess to buy.

The first major battle takes place at Wornhut where a red witch named Proserpina has turned two children into animals. Proserpina attacks while riding on a broom and running around. She uses a spin attack as well as magic spells which take out multiple hit points.

Wrap-up
Princess Crown plies traditional platform action with a simple fighting system which results in a fulfilling action-adventure. As Gradriel reaches her goals, the little girl and grandma from the beginning will read additional books to take the player on new adventures.

Screen Options
The screen may be customized with eleven types of borders which constrain the action within a four walled border. There's a second option where the borders are only on the right and left with four different types of designs. Finally, the game may just played in widescreen where the game takes over the entire screen with no borders.

View the back cover and screenshots.

Jan Code: 4984995900254

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