Home 9 Games 9 Games G-K 9 King’s Quest (series) 9 King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella

King's Quest IV

The Perils of Rosella

Developer: Sierra On-Line

Publisher: Sierra On-Line / Activision

Release Date: 1988

Platforms:

    • MS-DOS
    • Apple II
    • Apple IIGS
    • Amiga
    • Atari ST

King’s Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella was developed in both the AGI and SCI engines since it was going to target both older hardware and newer hardware. Regardless of the version, though, the game included some exciting new features such as a day/night experience, and a much-expanded world. There was some initial blowback because of the main character being a woman as the game was from the perspective of Princess Rosella as she tried to find a cure for her father’s ailment. However, there was a large adoption rate among women who enjoyed playing games as well so most of the gender criticism was largely unfounded.

AGI Version

Created in tandem with the SCI version, the game is a screen-by-screen copy with lower resolution and color depth. It is, however, an absolutely gorgeous game, proving that even on a low-spec system, the artists at Sierra were able to create magic.

SCI Version

The SCI version would become the definitive edition of the game in most households, since computer adoption was expanding quickly, and the newer models often had updated graphics capabilities compared to even slightly older models.