King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow, often abbreviated KQ6.
- Release Date: 1992
- Developers: Sierra Entertainment. Notably Roberta Williams and Ken Williams.
- Platform: PC, MS-DOS (later a Windows Version appeared), or Macintosh. 386 required (for PC), mouse required, Sound Blaster / Adlib recommended. VGA (320x200 256 color) required.
- Availability: No longer available. Last release I am aware of was in King's Quest collection, which was a release of KQ1 - KQ6.
- Medium: The first release was on nine floppy disks, and later on a compact disc.
King's Qust VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow picks up where King's Quest V left off. Prince Alexander, son of King Graham, had, at the end of King's Quest V, met a Princess Cassima, of The Land of the Green Isles.
The story picks up as Prince Alexander sets sail for The Land of the Green Isles, after seeing a vision of Cassima, allowing him to locate her by the stars outside her window. You must play as Prince Alexander, in his attempt to rescue Cassima from Abdul Alhazred, the former King's advisor who has usurped the throne with the help of his genie, Shamir hamazel.
In my opinion, this was the very peak of the Sierra Entertainment adventure game franchise. This game was absolutely breathtaking (at the time), as far as its beautifully rendered landscapes, excellent control, and great storyline. It was just about right as far as the balance of difficulty and fun. It was definitely one of the best looking VGA games ever made.
One of its claims to fame was that it was one of the first (if not the first) computer video game distributed on Compact Discs (around late 1992, shortly after the floppy disk version came out). Every line was completely vocalized, which was quite revolutionary, and featured the voice talents of Robbie Benson, among others. The CD of the game also had a second track, which is the song Girl In The Tower performed by Bob Bergthold and Debbie Seibert.
After this release, Sierra went downhill in its adventure game department, especially with the release of King's Quest VII, a cell-shaded adventure game with lack-luster sales.