Game Collection Comparison
If you are considering purchasing a King’s Quest collection, you may be confused as to which one to get, especially since there are several out there! Is it worth the money to get a collection if you already have some of the King’s Quest games already? Is it worth the money to get a second collection if you already have another collection? Most people will recommend at least one collection, even if you already own a couple games. However, since each person may be interested in different goodies that each collection contains, here is a detailed list of everything unique that you can find or not find in each collection. The collections are listed from newest to oldest. There is a comparison chart at the bottom of the page.
King’s Quest Collection for Windows XP
In 2006, Sierra (now under the control of Vivendi) re-released the King’s Quest Collection for Windows XP. Much to the disappoinment of fans, it was badly flawed. The games have not been updated to work for XP; rather, Sierra simply included the freeware program DOSBox, a program designed to help older programs work in XP. Furthermore, only the remake of KQ1 was included – the original was conspicuously absent. Finally, all the “goodies” – other games like the Laura Bow series, various minigames, demos, and videos – have been removed from the discs. Of course, Mask of Eternity is not included either, so if you’re looking to pick that up, it will be a separate purchase. Here is the link to the Amazon page where you can purchase it; however, it is strongly recommended that you find a copy of the older collection with much more material if you are interested in the extra content. King’s Quest Compilation on Amazon.
King’s Quest Collection Series
The King’s Quest Collection Series was released in 1997. Also known as the King’s Quest Collection 2, it is more like a hybrid of the previous two collections mentioned below.
It contains three CD-ROMS with the following games: King’s Quest 1 AGI, King’s Quest 1 SCI, King’s Quest 2, King’s Quest 3, King’s Quest 4 SCI, King’s Quest 5 CD-ROM, King’s Quest 6 CD-ROM, King’s Quest 7 version 2.0 CD-ROM, Laura Bow 1, Laura Bow 2, 1995 Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe, Mystery House, Wizard and the Princess, Mission Asteroid, and Time Zone.
This collection does not contain the 1986 Mixed Up Mother Goose AGI game, the 1990 Multimedia Mixed-Up Mother Goose game, the second audio CD that originally came with the Mixed-Up Mother Goose Deluxe game, Phantasmagoria Chapter 1, Dark Crystal, or any foreign language games.
As for goodies, it contains: Inside the Chest, Behind the Developer’s Shield, Royal Scribe, King’s Quest trivia game, and Nick’s Picks Checkers/Backgammon with Graham.
As for movies, it has: King’s Quest 6 Intro Avi, Making of King’s Quest 6 Avi, the 3 King’s Quest 7 Finale Avis, an updated Mask of Eternity Sneak Preview Avi that is slightly different than in the Roberta Williams Anthology. This sneak preview shows more of the on-screen game action.
As help aids, it contains: saved games and helpful screenshots of the Laura Bow belltower, the King’s Quest 3 caverns, and the King’s Quest 4 whale tongue. It does not have online copies of the game maps, the King’s Quest 6 Winged Ones Alphabet, the Laura Bow 1 fingerprints, or the King’s Quest 4 passwords.
The game manual has some of the historical information found in the Roberta Williams Anthology manual, but it lacks some time lines and interviews. Aside from that, it is almost identical to the Roberta Williams Anthology manual. Some of the game sections only contain excerpts from the original manual, like the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles. The errors in the King’s Quest 3 spells are found in this manual, but they are corrected in the README file. King’s Quest: Collection 2 on Amazon.
Roberta Williams Anthology
The Roberta Williams Anthology was released in 1997. It can be viewed as the “other/unofficial” King’s Quest Collection.
It contains 4 CD-ROMs with the following games: King’s Quest 1 AGI, King’s Quest 1 SCI, King’s Quest 2, King’s Quest 3, King’s Quest 4 SCI, King’s Quest 5 CD-ROM, King’s Quest 6 CD-ROM, King’s Quest 7 version 2.0 CD-ROM. It does not contain any foreign language versions. Instead, the collection contains other Roberta Williams games: Laura Bow 1, Laura Bow 2, 1986 Mixed Up Mother Goose AGI, 1990 Mixed-Up Mother Goose Multimedia, Mystery House, Wizard and the Princess, Mission Asteroid, Time Zone, and Dark Crystal, as well as a playable demo of Chapter 1 of Phantasmagoria 1.
As extra goodies, it contains: Inside the Chest, Behind the Developer’s Shield, Roberta Williams game box covers, and King’s Quest 7 artwork. The Nick’s Picks game, Royal Scribe, and Trivia game are not included.
As for movies, it has: Ken & Roberta Sierra in the Beginning Avi, Roberta Williams Designer Interview Avi, the King’s Quest 6 Intro Avi, and the 3 King’s Quest 7 Finale Avis, and a Mask of Eternity Sneak Preview Avi that is older than the one on the King’s Quest Collection. It has more interviews with the development team.
As help aids, it contains: saved games, the King’s Quest 6 Winged Ones Alphabet scan, the Laura Bow 1 fingerprints scan, and the King’s Quest 4 passwords scan … in case you don’t have your manual handy. Helpful screenshots of the Laura Bow belltower, the King’s Quest 3 caverns, and the King’s Quest 4 whale tongue are included as well as maps of Laura Bow 1 Misty Acres Estate, Laura Bow 2 Leyendecker Museum (and guide), and the Mixed Up Mother Goose World.
The game manual has a lot of historical information, time lines, and some interviews to outline Roberta Williams’ impact and progression through the computer gaming industry. Unfortunately, some of the game sections only contain excerpts from the original manual, like the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles. The errors in the King’s Quest 3 spells are found in this manual, but they are corrected in the README file. The Roberta Williams Anthology on Amazon.
King’s Quest Collector’s Edition
The King’s Quest 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition was released in 1994. It is also known as the King’s Quest Collection or King’s Quest Collection 1.
It contains 2 CD-ROMs with the following games: King’s Quest 1 AGI, King’s Quest 1 SCI, King’s Quest 2, King’s Quest 3, King’s Quest 4 SCI, King’s Quest 5 CD-ROM, and King’s Quest 6 CD-ROM. As a bonus, it also contains the French floppy diskette version of King’s Quest 5 (the infamous sled easter egg does work in this game), and the German floppy diskette version of King’s Quest 6 (the intro movie is different than the CD-ROM version). This version does not contain any other of Roberta Williams games like Laura Bow or Mystery House or Mother Goose. It is definitely “pure” King’s Quest.
As extra goodies, it contains: an Inside the Chest program full of King’s Quest articles, a Behind the Developer’s Shield program full of other King’s Quest articles, an Royal Scribe file full of King’s Quest/Sierra Historical information, a King’s Quest trivia game, and a Crazy Nick’s Picks Checkers/Backgammon with Graham.
As for movies, it contains: The Fun has Just Begun Avi, King’s Quest 7 Promo Avi, Two About King’s Quest 7 Interview Avis, Sierra Technology History Avi, 15 Years of Products Avi, Roberta Williams Inspiration Interview Avi, Ken & Roberta Sierra In the Beginning Interview Avi, Ken & Roberta Sierra Future Interview Avi, Roberta Williams Designer Interview Avi. Just for King’s Quest 6, it has The Making of King’s Quest 6 Avi, the Intro Sequence Avi, and King’s Quest 6 Art Slideshow Avi (which can also be found on original King’s Quest CD-ROMs).
Just to make it more confusing, the collector’s edition came out in two versions. The original version only had the promo movies for King’s Quest 7. The later version actually included a playable demo of King’s Quest 7.
The game manual for this collection actually contains the full text of the original manuals, not just excerpts. You get the entire Guidebook to the land of the Green Isles in this collection. Many game manuals are missing the page numbers to the King’s Quest 3 spells, but the spells themselves are usually correct. All corrections needed can be found at Sierra Planet or at Sierra’s Technical Support site.
The downside to this collection is that there are no saved games or maps included. This Collector’s Edition came in three different boxes. One box is the a dark pinkish box with an icon of King Graham pointing towards the left. The other box has an overhead view of the entire royal family descending down a spiral staircase into a castle, which is an earlier 1993 stand-alone version. I am not sure if there is anything different between it and the other box version, but the actual CD-ROMs look identical in design and in number. However, the box with the royal family may be the one that contains the playable demo of King’s Quest 7. The third box design seems to be of the European release, and it is navy blue with an image of the King’s Quest 6 minotaur in the middle. King’s Quest Collection (Sierra Collector’s Series – 15th Anniversary) on Amazon and another listing with a different box.
Comparison Chart
Below are charts listing all the major definitive items that are included in the various collections. KQC1 is the King’s Quest 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, RWA is the Roberta Williams Anthology, and KQC2 is the King’s Quest Collection. A “yes” means that collection contains that item, and a “no” means it does not contain that item.
So depending on what you are most interested in (movies, extra games, historical info, help files, etc.) one collection may be more to your liking than another. To me (Kimmie), although the 1999 King’s Quest Collection is the most popular (since it is still the easiest to find), the first two seemed to be the best since I loved the little movies and “hidden” goodies that were included. Well, hopefully that cleared something up … or made it even more confusing. grin Since the first three collections are no longer published by Sierra, your best bet of finding them is at Ebay where they generally run for $45-$120 depending on demand and condition or at the Game Trading Zone. Just make absolutely sure the collection comes with the game manual or you will not be able to finish (or even start) some games.
NAME OF GAME | KQC1 | RWA | KQC2 | KQCXP | King’s Quest 1 AGI | yes | yes | yes | no | King’s Quest 1 SCI | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 2 | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 3 | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 4 SCI | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 5 CD | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 5 French | yes | no | no | no | King’s Quest 6 CD | yes | yes | yes | yes | King’s Quest 6 German | yes | no | no | no | King’s Quest 7 Version 2 | no | yes | yes | yes | Laura Bow 1 | no | yes | yes | no | Laura Bow 2 | no | yes | yes | no | Mystery House | no | yes | yes | no | Wizard and the Princess | no | yes | yes | no | Mission Asteroid | no | yes | yes | no | Time Zone | no | yes | yes | no | Dark Crystal | no | yes | no | no | Mixed Up Mother Goose AGI | no | yes | no | no | Mixed Up Mother Goose Multimedia | no | yes | no | no | Mixed Up Mother Goose Deluxe | no | no | yes | no |
NAME OF GOODIE | KQC1 | RWA | KQC2 | KQCXP | Inside the Chest | yes | yes | yes | no | Behind the Developer’s Shield | yes | yes | yes | no | Royal Scribe | yes | no | yes | no | Crazy Nick’s Picks | yes | no | yes | no | Trivia Game | yes | no | yes | no | King’s Quest 7 Artwork | no | yes | no | no | Game Box Covers | no | yes | no | no |
NAME OF HELP AID | KQC1 | RWA | KQC2 | KQCXP | King’s Quest 3 Caverns | no | yes | yes | no | King’s Quest 4 Passwords | no | yes | no | yes | King’s Quest 4 Whale Tongue | no | yes | yes | no | King’s Quest 6 Alphabet | no | yes | no | yes | Laura Bow Fingerprints | no | yes | no | no | Laura Bow 1 Belltower | no | yes | yes | no | Laura Bow 1 Misty Acres Map | no | yes | no | no | Laura Bow 2 Leyendecker Map | no | yes | no | no | Mother Goose Map | no | yes | no | no |
NAME OF AVI MOVIE | KQC1 | RWA | KQC2 | KQCXP | The Fun Has Just Begun | yes | no | no | no | 15 Years of Products | yes | no | no | no | Roberta Williams’ Inspiration | yes | no | no | no | Roberta Williams Designer | yes | yes | no | no | Sierra in the Beginning | yes | yes | no | no | Sierra in the Future | yes | no | no | no | King’s Quest 6 Intro | yes | yes | yes | no | Making of King’s Quest 6 | yes | no | yes | no | King’s Quest 6 Artwork | yes | no | no | no | King’s Quest 7 Preview | yes | no | no | no | About King’s Quest 7 | yes | no | no | no | 3 King’s Quest 7 Finales | no | yes | yes | no | Mask of Eternity Preview Old | no | yes | no | no | Mask of Eternity Preview New | no | no | yes | no |