In front of a fireplace, a black cat roams around
while a grandma sitting in a rocking chair decides
to read a story to a young girl munchkin. Take
control of the little girl, pick up the book on the
floor and hand it over to 'gamma. Leave the scene
alone and the cat will meow and lick its paw while
pacing back and forth. Leave it alone for an hour
and the kitty will pace around while grandma sits
around like a stone golem.
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 backdrop. 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. This
would be a good time to practice the Princess' moves
since the knight isn't particularly aggressive in
his attacks and is akin to a dummy trainer who acts
as a punching bag.
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.
