Line #26 VideoGame/KnightsOfTheRound


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knights_of_the_round.png]]
2	''Knights of the Round'' is a BeatEmUp UsefulNotes/ArcadeGame released by Creator/{{Capcom}} in 1991, and later ported to Platform/{{SNES}} in 1994. It was rerelased on Platform/{{Steam}}, Platform/PlayStation4, Platform/XboxOne and Platform/NintendoSwitch in two collections: the ''Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle'' in 2018, and ''Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium'' in 2022. Much as the name implies, it is loosely inspired by Myth/ArthurianLegend. The game is a rather straightforward BeatEmUp with a [[CharacterLevel 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 [[CastFromHitPoints 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.
3
4	The story starts out with young Arthur training and finally pulling down ExcaliburInTheStone 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 Myth/{{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.
5
6	There are three playable characters:
7
8	* '''Arthur''', wielding {{Excalibur}}, a broadsword although one which evolves into more elaborate-looking weapons as he levels up. He's [[JackOfAllStats 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. He has the unique ability of performing a slow but powerful slash attack.
9	* '''Lancelot''', wielding a SinisterScimitar. He's a swordsman [[WalkingTheEarth traveling all over the world]] looking for a worthy king to serve. He's the FragileSpeedster, 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. His unique ability is a quick jump kick.
10	* '''Perceval''', wielding a giant axe. Son of a [[TheBlacksmith blacksmith]], Perceval is a GentleGiant who's willing to help Arthur on his quest. He's also remained undefeated due to his great physique. He's the MightyGlacier, powerful and durable but really slow, although his unique ability is a dash that can give him more mobility. The dash can also be cancelled into a powerful "Giant Swing" of his axe. He changes the most as he levels up, losing his blond hair and getting bald, plus growing a beard.
11
12	The enemy forces are comprised of:
13
14	* '''Scorn, the First Challenge'''. A tall and skinny fully armored knight wielding a poleaxe. He has a tendency to laugh in the middle of the fight.
15	* '''Braford, the Swordsmaster'''. A mounted knight who [[DualWield Dual Wields]] an arming sword and a shortsword, and is capable of [[SwordBeam shooting energy out of them.]]
16	* '''Arlon, the Silver Emperor'''. Garibaldi's younger brother, who has taken over Castle Fort. He's a massive man wielding a [[CarryABigStick spiked mace]] and [[PowerFist spiked knuckleduster]], and can create shockwaves by jump stomping.
17	* '''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 [[SpikeBallsOfDoom spiked balls as hands]].
18	* '''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.
19	* '''Muramasa, the Blood Armor'''. A {{Samurai}} who's somehow entered Garibaldi's service. He uses a katana, and can use fire magic to attack his enemies.
20	* '''Garibaldi, the Golden Emperor'''. The FinalBoss, a PaletteSwap of his brother Arlon, albeit beefed-up considerably. He starts the fight mounted on a horse, and using Braford's energy blasts. In the second phase he removes his helmet and leaps off his horse, fighting like a harder version of Arlon from there.
21
22	----
23	!!This game provides examples of:
24	* ActionBomb: 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.
25	* AmazingTechnicolorWildlife: Where did a guy like Braford get a ''Blue Warhorse'' from?
26	* AnachronismStew: Many of the weapons and armor of several characters like the RedShirt knights loyal to Arthur, Scorn, the "Bird Man" enemies, Phantom (and by extension the "Mask Man" and "Sky Walker" enemies),Muramasa, Arlon (and by extension Garibaldi), and Arthur after leveling up, 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).
27	* AnimalsLackAttributes: Averted with the Mad Tiger enemy, which when knocked into the air is revealed to have a sizeable pair of balls between its legs. In the SNES version, it bursts into flames the frame before it would have shown this.
28	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The below-mentioned ability to divide up recovery and treasure items is a huge help in multiplayer, when more than one character may be in dire need of healing when you come upon food.
29	* ArrowsOnFire: It does ''not'' take long for the Barbarian mooks to start doing this.
30	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Hitting a Treasure Chest/Bowl of Salad will divide it into smaller portions. What's even more bizarre is that the combined value of the portions is always greater than the whole, resulting in more points earned/health recovered.
31	* AsteroidsMonster: Rather than enemies, large treasures and food items can be split into by several smaller portions by hitting them. This is mainly used to share the spoils with your fellow player(s). There is some variance in the number of smaller items the larger ones can divide into, so you can end up with a set of smaller items with a greater or lesser combined value than the original item. On rare occasions, some items can turn into a powerful item after being hit instead of splitting.
32	* BadassCape: Arthur's final upgrades give him a nice crimson one to complement his golden, full plate armor.
33	* BalanceSpeedStrengthTrio: Arthur is the balance, Lancelot is the speed and Percival is the strength.
34	* TheBeastMaster: Phantom.
35	** MarionetteMaster too, considering he uses (and likely has built) the Iron Golem.
36	* {{BFS}}: The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Sword Man"]] mooks carry these.
37	* BigBad: Garibaldi.
38	** TheDragon: Both Arlon and Phantom.
39	* BlindIdiotTranslation: The arcade demo is specially hilarious.
40	--> '''Merlin:''' ''"Only the holy grail can release this world from attain the chaos."
41	** During the game's demo, the heroes' have one move written as "diffense".
42	* BlockingStopsAllDamage: Blocking an attack will make you invincible for a few seconds, allowing you to attack safely. However, blocking too early and for too long will make you tired. Bird Man and Metal Buster cannot be damaged if they have their shields up.
43	* BossSubtitles: All bosses are given one before battle, as seen above.
44	* CarryABigStick:
45	** Arlon and Garibaldi use spiked maces in tandem with [[PowerFist spiked gauntlets.]]
46	** Buster series enemies carry spiked clubs along with shields.
47	* CastFromHitPoints: As was the norm back then with Beat'Em Ups, the "[[LimitBreak Mega Crush]]" drains some health if it connects.
48	* ColorCodedMultiplayer: Similarly to ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', only up to three players can play simultaneously this time.
49	** Arthur: Red
50	** Lancelot: Blue
51	** Percival: Green
52	* {{Crossover}}: The three main and a few bosses appear as challengers in the quiz game ''Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 2''.
53	* DeathFromAbove:
54	** Muramasa can summon a rain of fire. Garibaldi does the same with blue flames before you unhorse him.
55	** The Iron Golem can make either debris or barrels fall down when it hits the ground.
56	* DegradedBoss:
57	** Scorn appears later as a standard enemy named ''Tall Man''. And he gets hit with this ''fast,'' showing up as an EliteMook in only the third level.
58	** The Phantom shows up again in the last level with a shorter life bar and minus most of his better tricks from the first battle, but he at least gets the dignity of being a proper miniboss.
59	* DoppelgangerAttack: 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.
60	* DualWielding: Braford wields a shortsword-and-arming sword combo.
61	* DumbMuscle: Balbars.
62	* TheEmperor: Arlon and Garibaldi carry this title.
63	* EasterEgg: Play close attention the names in the Ranking section, and you'll notice they spell: "Capcom CPS System Knights of the Round. Please challenge this game with friends! From Knights of the Round development staff to players. Thank you".
64	* EvilLaugh: Scorn is quite prone to this.
65	* EvolvingWeapon: Arthur's presumably using Excalibur throughout the entire game, but the sword he wields gets gradually more elaborate the more levels he builds.
66	* FatBastard:
67	** The [[MeaningfulName aptly named]] "Fat Man" {{Mook\|s}}.
68	** The ''Buster'' series of mooks encompassed both the "Fat" and the [[DemonicSpiders "Bastard"]] parts. They were portly soldiers armed with a spiked club, a shield and heavy armor. Not only are they more durable and aggressive than most other mooks, they employ more advanced combat techniques such as shielding your attacks then countering with a nasty jumping attack, riding horses and [[Main/TheComputerShallTauntYou taunting]] after they kill you.
69	* FragileSpeedster: Lancelot is the fastest of the knights, but also has the weakest defense.
70	* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: Your chosen character will get a spiffy set of gold armor when they reach a high enough level.
71	* HeavilyArmoredMook: Birdmen and Buster enemies.
72	* HitboxDissonance: The animation for Perceval's attacks extends further than the hitbox actually does, resulting in enemies having blows pass harmlessly through them.
73	* HyperactiveMetabolism: You regain health by eating assorted food.
74	* ItsUpToYou: The ally soldiers that you see and have to rescue actually have an attack animation. The programmers ultimately decided that you should do most, if not all, of the fighting.
75	* LargeAndInCharge: Both Garibaldi and Arlon are quite humongous. If they're bigger than Balbars isn't clear due him being completely covered in armor.
76	%%* LevelUpFillUp
77	* LongSongShortScene: [[https://youtu.be/yfym_YGGRiA This lovely piece of ear candy]] starts once a coin is inserted, but many won't hear it because the Start button is usually pressed immediately afterward.
78	* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Birdmen and Buster series enemies carry shields, so they can block your attacks.
79	* MagicKnight: Garibaldi given that most any attack he does with his mace and gauntlet also throws projectiles, and while on his horse can call flames down on you.
80	* MechanicalMonster: The Iron Golem boss Garibaldi sic on the knights, resembling a steampunk-style giant robot as large as the room it's in. And it can only be defeated by damaging it's core.
81	* MesACrowd: Phantom can create four doubles of himself during battle.
82	* MightyGlacier: Perceval as already noted. Balbars, Arlon and Garibaldi as well.
83	* MisplacedWildlife: There are tigers...in medieval England. No explanation is given.
84	* MoneySpider: Enemies will often drop treasure chests upon death.
85	* NoblewomansLaugh: Scorn has one, oddly enough.
86	* {{Ninja}}: Phantom seems to invoke this combined with a stereotypical swashbuckler.
87	* PaletteSwap: Most {{Mook}}s, per the norm. FinalBoss Garibaldi turns out to be a buffed-up, gold-swapped Arlon.
88	* PeltsOfTheBarbarian: The barbaric boss Balbars wears arm wrappings, boot coverings, a coat, and a hood made from the pelt of what appears to be a large bear-like creature.
89	* PlayingWithFire: Muramasa and Phantom make good use of fire magic. Garibaldi uses blue flames in his attacks.
90	* PoweredArmor: 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.
91	* PowerUpMount: Horses that you can sometimes find, usually used by enemies, and can be ridden to do some extra damage or just to keep enemies from using them against you.
92	* PublicDomainArtifact: The HolyGrail (called the "Legendary Grail" in the SNES port) and {{Excalibur}}.
93	* RaceLift: Bizarrely happens to Perceval in-game, starting off as a blonde-haired, clean-shaven Caucasian and, as he levels up, into a bald, bearded, AmbiguouslyBrown man.
94	* RareCandy: The scepter, which is an instant level up--as is the trope namer.
95	* RedBaron: Every boss (except The Iron Golem, which is {{Justified\|Trope}} as it's essentially treated as an extension of [[MarionetteMaster Phantom]]) gets introduced with nickname that relates to their theming in some way:
96	** ''Scorn, The First Challenge'': He is the first boss you fight, and his [[TheWorfEffect Worf Effect]] introduction where he defeats three heavily armored knights (one in the SNES version) with one strike shows that he ''will'' be a challenge compared to the generic {{Mooks}} you fought earlier.
97	** ''Braford, The Sword Master'': {{Dual wield\|ing}}s two different kinds of swords (a shortsword and an arming sword) with great skill, showing that he is a master swordsman.
98	** ''Arlon, The Silver Emperor'': A TinTyrant wannabe monarch wearing fancy silver armor.
99	** ''Phantom, The Nightshade'' : A Trickster fighter who uses mysterious and dark tactics and techniques in his fights, and is heavily associated with night and darkness.
100	** ''Balbars, The Hammer'': An enormous, heavily armored barbarian wielding an equally massive hammer, and even when he doesn't attack with the hammer he seems to prefer crushing and smashing attacks.
101	** ''Muramasa, Blood Armor'': A samurai wearing blood red armor, and is heavily associated with fire and the color red in general (this was changed to "Dark Armor" in the SNES version, possibly due to violence related issues due to the use of the word "blood").
102	** ''Garibaldi, The Final Conflict'': The BigBad of the game and the FinalBoss.
103	* RedShirtArmy: Plenty of soldiers loyal to Arthur pop up throughout the game, usually to get killed almost immediately.
104	* RoyalRapier: Phantom and the {{Mooks}} styled like him wield one.
105	* RuleOfCool: It's hard to imagine how King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, and Sir Percival end up in Asia somewhere fighting a samurai warrior...but who cares? It's awesome!
106	* SadlyMythtaken: As usual in this type of setting, {{Excalibur}} and [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield the Sword in the Stone]] are [[ExcaliburInTheStone one and the same]].
107	* {{Samurai}}: Muramasa.
108	* SinisterScimitar: Lancelot, albeit without the "sinister" part since he's one of the heroes. Played straight with the "Barbarian" enemies though.
109	* ShockwaveStomp: Arlon and Garibaldi.
110	* ShoutOut: Mainly to ''{{Film/Excalibur}}'': The three playable characters are main characters in the movie.
111	** The intro scene depicts the driving of Excalibur into the ground/stone (rather than pulling it out). Uther did so in the movie to keep his enemies from having it. The depiction of the sword's blade, guard, and pommel even resembles the one in the film.
112	** Merlin's appearance is also taken from the film, notably the shiny skull cap.
113	** Arthur in his first few levels looked like how Nigel Terry appeared in leather armor at the time he pulled out the sword. The eventual beard also matched Arthur's character portrait.
114	** The NPC knights in the game are colored with a silvery-blue hue like the Knights of the Round Table in the film.
115	** The main antagonist Mordred wore gold armor. In the game, Garibaldi is a gold-armored PaletteSwap FinalBoss.
116	** A likely ShoutOut to Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure can be found with the second stage boss Braford, whose name is rendered in Japanese in the exact same way as [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Bruford the Black]]. Said boss also has a similar physique and hairstyle to Bruford as well.
117	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Perceval (which ''may'' count in itself) is consistently typo'd ''Parceval'' when he defeats a boss and during the ending.
118	* StabTheSky: The VictoryPose of all three heroes upon completing a stage. Also, the three heroes and a host of good knights do the same in the ending.
119	* StormingTheCastle: Both Stage 03 and 07.
120	* SwordBeam: Braford and Garibaldi can do this.
121	* TeleportSpam: The Magician {{Mooks}}.
122	* ThrowDownTheBomblet: 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.
123	* TinTyrant: Garibaldi. Arlon and Balbars look the part too.
124	* UnderwearOfPower: About halfway through his level-up cycle, at the same time he shaves his head and grows a beard, Perceval starts wearing trunks too.
125	* UnflinchingWalk[=/=]NoSell: Balbars has no stun animation.
126	** TheJuggernaut
127	* VideoGameCaringPotential: There are a few instances in certain stages where you find blue-armored knights being attacked by enemies (and will get killed if you leave them). Helping has them leave a treasure chest behind for you.
128	* WalkingShirtlessScene: The whole game is one for Perceval, who doesn't get a shirt in any of his look-upgrades. [[UnderwearOfPower He eventually loses the pants, too.]]
129	* TheWorfEffect: Scorn gets introduced by killing three allied knights at once in the arcade version, though it's reduced to just one in the SNES port.
130	* YoungerThanTheyLook: Judging by his craggy good looks, solid build and full beard, you'd assume Arthur was in his late 20's at the very youngest or somewhere in his 30's, but nope; according to the original arcade flyer, Arthur is supposed to be only ''17''.

Context VideoGame / KnightsOfTheRound