King's Valley

King's Valley is the very first game in Konami's Egyptian-themed puzzle platformer series.

Sub-Pages#

Version Differences#

The game was originally planned for release on both ROM cartridge and floppy disk formats, as advertised in the October 1984 edition of the Konami Computer Software Catalog. However, for reasons unknown the disk version was shelved and the game was initially released on ROM cartridge only.

A few years later the disk version would finally be released as part of Konami Game Collection Vol. 1, on Disk 2 by itself. This means the game can be launched directly from the disk without needing to open the main menu on Disk 1 first.

Title Screen#

The disk version has a sparkle added to the very top of the screen in the center to distinguish it from the cart version. Additionally, the pyramid is much bigger in the disk version's title screen, and the logo has also been redesigned.

ROM	Disk

Level Editor#

The most significant addition to the disk version is a level editor. Players can create their own levels and save to either disk or tape.

Understandably, this feature was omitted from the cart version. This was remedied in the sequel King's Valley II by allowing the player to save to the Game Master 2 cartridge in a second slot or tape or a blank disk.

Stages#

ROM	Disk

The cart version only has 15 stages in total, while the disk version expands this to 60 stages (the same amount in King's Valley II), spread over 4 areas with 15 levels each. While the cart version only has one overhead map for its 15 stages, the disk version's stages are spread over 4 maps in total, following the course of the Nile River south from Lower Egypt to Upper Egypt.

Additionally, while the order of the cart version's levels are quite linear, the disk version's levels feature branching paths and also allow for backtracking.

Passwords#

The disk version also features support for passwords over the cart version. These are given every 15 levels, in sharp contrast to the sequel which gives a password at the end of every level.

To enter the passwords, press Ctrl + K during gameplay. A one-line text field will pop up where the player can enter the password.

Ending#

The cart version ends after 15 levels with the player character exiting the pyramid and the game showing the final score. The disk version shows this screen after each map is complete instead.

The disk version also has an additional ending not seen in the cart version. After all 4 maps and 60 levels are completed, the player character is shown entering a tomb with dancing mummies.

Watch on YouTube

After this, the disk version will start over again at the first level but numbered consecutively after the last level (e.g. "Pyramid 61") and continue from there.

Music#

This being an earlier MSX game from Konami, the soundtrack for this game is quite short, with only one main theme playing during gameplay along with some jingles.

Even then, however, the disk version gets an additional song over the cart version, as part of the new ending included:

Note that while Konami Game Collection Vol. 1 supports the SCC (namely the Sound Cartridge included with Snatcher) like with other volumes, King's Valley is the only game in Vol. 1 that saw no added enhancement whatsoever.

Sound Effects#

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Some sound effects used in the disk version are absent from the cart version, presumably due to those effects being tied to the additional features found in the disk version.

Hidden Stage Messages#

While the original ROM version didn't contain any hidden messages in its stages, the disk version features quite a few hidden messages in some of its stage layouts. The sequel King's Valley II would also go on to feature some hidden messages in its stages as well.

(Source: Manuel Pazos (Twitter, MSX Image Hosting))

Pyramid Stage	Map	Message
10		Features a frowny face as part of the stage layout.
11		Has the system name "MSX" spelled out as part of the stage.
16		The first half of the game's title "KING" is spelled out.
28		The second half of the game's title "VALLEY" is spelled out.
60		The word "END" is shown, obviously since this is the last stage of the game.