• Platform: ColecoVision
• Release Date: 1983
• Similar Games: Joust (Arcade), DragonHawk (Commodore 64/128), Joust (Commodore 64/128), Joust (Atari Video Computer System), Joust 2: Survival of the Fittest (Arcade), Joust (Atari 5200), Joust (Nintendo Entertainment System), Joust (Atari Lynx), Joust (Atari 7800), Joust (Atari ST), Joust (Atari 400/800/XL/XE)

Game Description

In Sir Lancelot for the ColecoVision, you portray the title character. As Sir Lancelot, King Arthur's bravest knight, you ride a winged horse named Pegasus and wield a charmed lance. You are a defender of women and have rescued Queen Guinevere numerous times. Your current mission is to save fair maidens Carolyn, Lauren, Sarah and Elisabeth from imminent death at the clutches of four flying dragons (one dragon per damsel in distress). Prior to reaching each helpless victim, you must first battle a screen full of evil flying creatures.

The first creatures you must face are snakes, which fly in horizontal patterns. Then you must rescue Carolyn, who is being held captive in a castle by an old dragon. Next, you must destroy a plethora of monster bees, which fly in horizontal patterns and reverse directions. Sarah awaits rescue in the next level from her captor, a young dragon by the name of Grok. Prior to reaching screen number six, you must make it through a swarm of killer dragonflies that fly horizontally in both directions and will frequently swoop down for the attack.

Screen six has you trying to rescue Lauren from Jarek the Speedy, a dragon known for its quickness. Screen seven introduces invisibility to the mix. Here you must face the Invisible Invincibles, a type of creature whose blinking eyes are the only visible aspect of their bodies. These creatures are very fast and can fly all over the screen. Lastly, you must defeat Hanek the Horrible, an incredibly fast dragon whose captive is the fair maiden Elisabeth.

The basic creature-battling action in Sir Lancelot is similar to that of Joust in that you must repeatedly push a button to flap your steed's wings, and you must fly above your opponent in order to win a face to face duel. If you are facing away from or are lower than the creature at the point of a head to head collision, you will lose a life. If both you and an enemy are the same height at the time of collision, or you are both facing away, you will bounce safely off of one another.

In each rescue screen, a dragon moves back and forth across the top of the playfield while a woman lies helplessly near a lava pit. You should avoid the stunning effects of the dragon's fiery breath and the lava pit below while trying to pierce the dragon's soft stomach with your lance. If you do not defeat the dragon quickly enough on any given screen, the lava pit will rise to consume the maiden and yourself. Another way to die is to touch the dragon in a place other than its stomach.

Sir Lancelot is built for two, but players must take turns. After you finish all eight screens, the action continues from the beginning at a harder pace. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

According to Arthurian Legend, Sir Lancelot was King Arthur's bravest knight, eventually superseding Sir Gawain as Arthur's champion. A protector and great lover of women, he was descended from kings named Galahad and was the father of Sir Galahad.

Sir Lancelot for the ColecoVision is basically a stripped-down version of Joust, which hit the Arcades in 1982 and the Atari 2600 in 1983. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

If you've played Joust you'll see this game as nothing better than a watered down copycat. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

Like DragonHawk for the Commodore 64, Sir Lancelot is heavily influenced by (if not a downright rip off of) Joust, one of the more popular Arcade games of 1982. Unless you have an adapter that lets you play Atari 2600 cartridges, you cannot play Joust on your ColecoVision console, so Sir Lancelot must stand in its place.

Forgetting Joust for a moment, let's examine Sir Lancelot on its own merits. The backgrounds don't look much better than your average Atari 2600 game. The standard levels of play feature a simply drawn castle and countryside, and the dragon levels offer a semi-convincing cave scene. In terms of foregrounds, the enemies are nothing to scream about, but they are varied and clever in design; the blinking effect of the Invisible Invincibles is especially creative. Character animation is adequate.

Although the enemies in this game are diverse in design, they move horizontally more often than not. Some of the enemies never move out of their horizontal pathways while others move vertically only sparingly. Each level begins feeling the same after a while. The computer AI (artificial intelligence) needs to be turned up a few notches. However, the enemies get very fast after awhile, so there is plenty of challenge.

When compared head to head with Joust for the Atari 5200, Sir Lancelot falls apart. Unlike Joust, Sir Lancelot has no platforms, no hatching eggs to collect, no pterodactyl and no Troll of the Lava Pits. Also, in Sir Lancelot you can't walk, you can only fly. The one feature this game has over Joust is the dragon screen, which appears every other level. This is an interesting and challenging mini-game of sorts, but its one-trick objective doesn't make up for all the things lacking in the game.

Joust proved that flying jousting matches are inherently fun. The designers of Sir Lancelot simply copied the basic gameplay elements pioneered by Joust and churned out a less than stellar product. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

The enemies are interesting in design, but the overall look of the game is one of simplicity. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Very good introductory theme followed by adequate sound effects during jousting matches. A nicely done dramatic melody plays while you attempt to slay the dragon. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Those who like a challenge will stick with the game because the enemies get very fast in later rounds. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

Each level is explained in detail. Point values and controls are exhaustively covered. Overall, this is one of the better third-party instruction manuals for the ColecoVision. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide