Magera

User Score
9.0

Presentation - 8.0
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 9.0

The game begins with the story of a boy who becomes King of a run down little kingdom.  The player starts out with 12 townsfolk’s, all carefree, lazy adults whom if spoken to, seem not to be interested in the kingdoms welfare.  The King must call these townsfolk into service and transform the run down kingdom into a vibrant and bustling town, one with a church and all for the townsfolk’s to get married in and have children.

The first quest is simple:  The Kingdom has no money, go treasure hunting and find some.  The king, and up to 5 of the townsfolk’s can rummage through a small playing area looking for some holes to dig, each within containing buried treasures.  Once this quest is complete, the Kingdom can begin to build and grow.

Building plays a vital role in the beginning of Little King's Story as each building either allows the kingdom to grow in population, allows the player to call for a greater amount of servants, or provides various jobs for the townsfolk’s.  Each unique job a building provides will allow the player to progress throughout the game. i.e. a farmer is good at digging holes or can uncover cracks in the field, a Soldier can fight against Uma's, enemy creatures scattered throughout the game, or lumberjacks can cut through large tree trunks blocking your path.  All the King needs to do is send a carefree adult, or an adult who already has a different job, into the desired 'job building' to change that adults career.

The control method is very simple for the game and for some reason, they have not implemented the IR pointing which is rather strange as it would fit very well into this type of game.  The King is controlled by the Nun-chucks joystick.  The king can speak to townsfolk’s by pressing the A button or call them to follow by pressing the B button.  Once the King has the desired amount or maximum limit of townsfolk’s, simply by pressing the A button again will send the unit for attack, or digging, or chopping, whichever task is designated by where you send them by facing in the direction of the target.  One must be careful to what the unit is sent to do as a soldier can fall into holes and get injured, or a farmer cannot cut the large tree trunks blocking the path.

The team did a great job designing the graphics as some of the scenery, while basic, is still very beautiful to look at while playing.  The game is designed around a cute, 3D cartoon style and the cut scenes are animated to look pencil coloured.

The music selection for this game is an absolute charm.  The choice of songs are very 'Kingly' and players will recognise them instantly as they would have heard them played for many 'royal' engagements in movies and the like.

At first, the game seems to be very short and easy to complete but as the player progresses, they will discover an expanded world and many quest requiring completion.  Cing. Inc. have done a great job getting this game out on shelves at a lower retail price.  It's of high quality and high value for anyone interested in strategy, Role playing, adventure games with a difference.