Knights of the Round (video game)

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Knights of the Round is a Beat'Em Up Arcade Game released by Capcom in 1991, and later ported to SNES in 1994. Much as the name implies, it is loosely inspired in the myths of King Arthur. The game is a rather straightforward Beat'Em Up with a level-up system which changes the clothing and looks of the characters and weapons, while increasing their strength and speed. Other game mechanics include the typical special move which drains life, a block action that grants a short invincibility after blocking an attack and the ability to mount horses found on certain stages.

The story starts out with young Arthur training and finally pulling down the Sword in th-eh, Excalibur in the Stone, and thus becoming the King of England. However, most knights aren't pleased to find out they must follow this "boy king", and thus rebellion and war break out over the land. Arthur goes to Merlin for advice, and he reveals that only the Holy Grail has the power to unify the war-torn England under his rule. So, he and two of his best friends (Lancelot and Perceval) set out to find it, eventually discovering it is on the possession of an evil knight known as Garibaldi.

There are three playable characters:

• Arthur, wielding Excalibur, a broadsword. He's the most balanced out of the three, with average strength and speed. He starts out wearing leather armor and a red tunic, and as he level ups he gets more armor pieces, eventually ending in full-body armor.
• Lancelot, wielding a scimitar. He's a swordsman travelling all over the world looking for a worthy king to serve. He's the Fragile Speedster, fast but with weak attack and defense. Lancelot has long blond hair and wears a blue tunic, which is replaced by plate armor as he levels up.
• Perceval, wielding a giant axe. Son of a blacksmith, Perceval is a Gentle Giant who's willing to help Arthur on his quest. He's also remained undefeated due to his great physique. He's the Mighty Glacier, powerful and durable, but really slow. He changes the most as he levels up, losing his blond hair and getting bald, plus growing a beard.

The enemy forces are comprised of:

• Scorn, the First Challenge. A tall and skinny fully armored knight wielding a halberd. He has a tendency to laugh in the middle of the fight.
• Braford, the Swordsmaster. Cavalry knight wielding twin swords, and capable of shooting energy out of them.
• Arlon, the Silver Emperor. Garibaldi's younger brother, who has taken over Castle Fort. He's a massive man wielding a morning star, and can create shockwaves by jump stomping.
• Phantom, the Nightshade. A mysterious man with illusion techniques. He uses knives as well as trained eagles. He also owns and commands the Iron Golem, a giant armor puppet suspended by chains which has spiked balls as hands.
• Balbars, the Hammer. Garibaldi's Advanced Guard and a massive armored behemoth wielding a big hammer. He has super armor (he doesn't flinch when hit) and a grab/pound move.
• Muramasa, the Blood Armor. A Japanese Samurai who's somehow entered Garibaldi's service. He uses a katana, and can use fire magic to attack his enemies.
• Garibaldi, the Golden Emperor. The Final Boss, a Palette Swap of his brother Arlon, albeit beefed-up considerably. He starts the fight mounted on a horse, and using Braford's energy blasts.

Tropes used in Knights of the Round (video game) include:

• Action Bomb: The Buster Drones in the section just before the Iron Golem. Whenever anything hits them, whether your blade or the ceiling spike balls, they'll blow up in a short-range flame scatter.
• Anachronism Stew: Muramasa's weapon and armor would not be developed until several centuries after the time when the Arthurian legends were supposed to take place. Then again, the same could be said for the kind of tourney that takes up the first part of Stage 4 (and more than a few French retellings of the Arthur legends).
• An Axe to Grind: Perceval. The Bird Man mook uses a small axe too.
• Animals Lack Attributes: Averted with the Mad Tiger enemy, which when knocked into the air is revealed to have a sizeable pair of balls between its legs.
• Arrows on Fire: It does not take long for the Barbarian mooks to start doing this.
• Badass Beard: Perceval once he levels up enough.
• The Beast Master: Phantom.
  • Marionette Master too, considering he uses (and likely has built) the Iron Golem.
• BFS: The "Sword Man" mooks carry these.
• Big Bad: Garibaldi.
  • The Dragon: Both Arlon and Phantom.
• Blade on a Stick: Scorn uses a long halberd. Several Mooks wield pickaxes, spears and the like.
• Blind Idiot Translation: The arcade demo is specially hilarious.

Merlin: "Only the holy grail can release this world from attain the chaos."

• Blond Guys Are Evil: Phantom. Averted by Lancelot though.
• Boss Subtitles: All bosses are given one before battle, as seen above.
• Carry a Big Stick: Arlon and Garibaldi use Morning Stars in tandem with spiked gauntlets.
• Cast from Hit Points: As was the norm back then with Beat'Em Ups, the "Mega Crush" drains some health if it connects.
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: Similarly to Final Fight, only up to three players can play simultaneously this time.
  • Arthur
  • Lancelot
  • Percival
• Crossover: The three main and a few bosses appear as challengers in the quiz game Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2.
• Death From Above: Muramasa can summon a rain of fire. Garibaldi does the same with blue flames before you unhorse him.
  • The Iron Golem can make either debris or barrels fall down when it hits the ground.
• Degraded Boss: Scorn appears later as an Elite Mook named Tall Man.
• Doppelganger Attack: An oblique version occurs when Phantom's second group of escorts appears. Two of them are Sky Walkers, Mooks that look just like him... and these are a one-time case where even the colors are the same! However, they do not attack in the same fashion, their only special attack being to throw a dagger straight ahead.
• Drop the Hammer: Balbars.
• Dual-Wielding: Braford wields a sword-and-longsword combo.
• Dumb Muscle: Balbars.
• The Emperor: Arlon and Garibaldi carry this title.
• Evil Laugh: Scorn is quite prone to this.
• Fat Bastard: The apptly named "Fat Man" Mook.
  • The Buster series of mooks encompassed both the "Fat" and the "Bastard" parts. They were portly soldiers armed with a spiked club, a shield and heavy armour. Not only were they more durable and aggressive than most other mooks, they employed more advanced combat techniques such as shielding your attack then countering with a nasty jumping attack, riding horses and taunting after they kill you.
• Fragile Speedster: Lancelot as already noted, plus Phantom and the Mooks Sky Walker and Mask Man.
• Hair of Gold: Lancelot.
• Hyperactive Metabolism
• Knife Nut: Phantom throws these.
• Large and In Charge: Both Garibaldi and Arlon are quite humongous.
• Level Up Fill Up
• Me's a Crowd: Phantom can create four doubles of himself during battle.
• Mighty Glacier: Perceval as already noted. Balbars, Arlon and Garibaldi as well.
• Money Spider: Enemies will often drop treasure chests upon death.
• Ninja: Phantom looks quite like one.
• Palette Swap: Most Mooks, per the norm. Final Boss Garibaldi turns out to be a buffed-up, gold-swapped Arlon.
• Playing with Fire: Muramasa and Phantom make good use of fire magic. Garibaldi uses blue flames in his attacks.
• Powered Armor: Arthur and Lancelot get covered in armor as they level up, Arthur ending up in a full-body gold armor, and Lancelot in full-body silver armor.
• Public Domain Artifact: The Holy Grail and Excalibur.
• Race Lift: Bizarrely happens to Perceval in-game, starting off as a blonde-haired, clean-shaven Caucasian and, as he levels up, into a bald, bearded, Ambiguously Brown man.
• Royal Rapier: Phantom and the Mooks styled like him wield one.
• Sadly Mythtaken: As usual in this type of setting, Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone are one and the same.
• Samurai: Muramasa.
• Shockwave Stomp: Arlon and Garibaldi.
• Sinister Scimitar: Lancelot, albeit without the "sinister" part since he's one of the heroes.
• Spell My Name with an "S": Perceval (which may count in itself) is consistently typoed Parceval during the ending.
• Stab the Sky: The Victory Pose of all three heroes upon completing a stage. Also, the three heroes and a host of good knights do the same in the ending.
• Storming the Castle: Both Stage 3 and 7.
• Sword Beam: Braford and Garibaldi can do this.
• Teleport Spam: The Magician Mooks.
• Three-Man Band:
  • The Hero: Arthur.
  • The Lancer: Lancelot.
  • The Big Guy: Perceval.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: One of Phantom's attacks involves leaping straight up, then flinging a firebomb straight down as he begins to fall. The impact sends flames scattering in several directions. It's worth noting that if he lands on a slow flame, Phantom himself will be knocked down, although not hurt.
• Tin Tyrant: Garibaldi. Arlon and Balbars look the part too.
• Unflinching Walk/Won't Work On Me: Balbars has no stun animation.
  • The Juggernaut
• Video Game Caring Potential: There are a few instances in certain stages where you find blue-armored knights being attacked by enemies. Helping has them leave a treasure chest behind for you.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Perceval, who doesn't get a shirt in any of his look-upgrades.
• Wasted Song: The fanfare at the end of each level.