Little King's Story

Overview/Gameplay

Little King's Story can be described as cross between Pikmin and SimCity. The game revolves around a small boy named Corobo Bread, who finds a crown that gives him the magical ability that people obey the orders he gives them. He is found by a knight named Howser, who, after seeing his abilities, makes Corobo the new King. Rather than using his new powers and title to be a mind controlling super-villain, Corobo decides to use his abilities to help the kingdom flourish. Howser will give Corobo stat reports like unemployment rates, money, and updates when Corobo is not in town. The King will need to earn money by going treasure hunting, defending the kingdom by fighting monsters and the more that is done to benefit the kingdom the further it will grow. The player can build farms and soldier houses at first, though more buildings become available eventually.

As the player progresses through the game, they'll get to build more structures that will offer different types of jobs for the citizens like archers, carpenters, ect. The citizens follow a daily cycle and have their own schedule. They also have their own individual A.I. One example is that a citizen will look sad when walking down the same road as he once did with a friend, who has recently died. For whatever reason, the citizens will also get more obedient as they get older. Each citizen has a name, a daily life, a job, and a personality.

As the King, Corobo has to divide resources equally among his subjects. There are events according to the daily time periods, such as during dusk or at night. The player will have to earn the respect of the people over time. They also have their own health meters that gets weaker as they age into wrinkly old men and they will need to dig a hot spring to rejuvenate. When a citizen dies a funeral is held for them. More people arrive in the kingdom through various means, one example is that they wash up on shore.

The kingdom is always growing and never shrinking. Once the town square is built it becomes the central hub of the kingdom. When the King and his soldiers win a battle against a monster, citizens will hold a gruesome festival and dance around the head of the monster perched on a wooden stake. They will also mail the King hints or praise him through the mailbox which is located near the town square. There are 7 other Kingdoms, each with a King of its own with a unique personality. They will all try to challenge and destroy Corobo before his Kingdom can get too powerful, which means they will have to be dealt with before further expansion is possible. Each Kingdom also houses its own princess, which are rescued when that nation's King is defeated. The player will also have to collect gold to can unlock further missions. There are mid and end level bosses as well. As the player progresses through the game, they can unlock new features and upgrades that will greatly help in running their kingdom.

Characters

Corobo

He fell into a sort of story book land and found a crown. When he put it on he took on the responsibilities for an entire kingdom. Throughout the course of the game he will act as ruler of his kingdom and commander of his army.

Howser

He is a bull knight that was searching the land far and wide for a proper king. He helps Corobo with the help of

his cow Pancho in military matters. He also guides Corobo in building and expanding his kingdom.

Liam

He is a very arrogant and demanding servant of Corobo's. He acts as sort of a tutorial character throughout the game. Corobo is able to ask him at any point about different aspects of the game and he will provide as much information on the subject as possible. Don't be surprised if he demands a raise every now and then.

Verde

She often disagrees with Corobo's business decisions and believes he is unfit as king. She is the scribe of Corobo's palace and keeps information about the kingdom. This info includes Corobo's approval ratings, economy and jobs in the kingdom. She is also who the player must visit to save the game.

King Onii

The first of the rival Kings that Corobo fights. King Onii is a larger version of the common Onii monsters (sort of look like chain chomps with horns and bodies) who throws things from his throne rather than fight directly. He is keeping Princess Apricot prisoner, a fairly transparent Princess Peach parody who likes to travel.

King Duvroc

One of several Kings that are available to fight after Onii, Duvroc controls his kingdom like a giant, endless party under a massive cherry blossom tree. He is able to strike at Corobo's unit from the top of a stack of empty beer crates, which must be knocked over in order to directly attack him. He employs his various breath attacks (created by liquor) to whittle down the King's numbers if he gets too close. The princess he keeps prisoner is Princess Bouquet, a bookish princess in glasses who speaks in math equations.

King Shishkebaboo

A somewhat effete overweight King who calls himself the "glutton of Versailles". His boss fight is a fairly arbitrary pinball game where the player must knock him around the table so he loses weight and then impale him on a giant pastry fork. He has imprisoned Princess Spumoni, an equally overweight princess who loves food.

King Omelet

A King who loves riddles and is fairly dour, Omelet hides inside a giant egg shell forcing Corobo to solve his brainteasers, which often involves characters and music from the game. He surrenders when Corobo finally beats all his tests. He also releases the enigmatic Princess Shizuka, an equally odd young woman who can speak with animals and aliens.

King TV Dinnah

An odd King with a TV for a head who challenges Corobo to find him on the world map that comprises his boss fight arena. Successfully finding him forces Corobo into a small battle with a gun-toting cowboy T.V. Dinnah, whereas failure forces Corobo to dodge hazards from various other made-up TV shows. He imprisoned Princess Kokomo, an upbeat Princess angling to be a superstar singer and idol.

King Long Sauvage

One of the longest boss fights is against Long Sauvage, a massively bearded King obsessed with his height. To beat him, the player must climb the mountain he resides upon (avoiding dangers as they go) and then stack all of the remaining units in Corobo's group on top of each other with Corobo at the very top to surpass Long Sauvage in height. Doing so turns him harmlessly insane. His captive Princess Ferne is a sultry woman who loves jewellery.

King Jumbo Champloon

An utterly bizarre 100 ft tall construct made of junk who alternates attack patterns like a giant Transformer. He is assisted by numerous servants who bring him food and extra weapons. He speaks using random words like Hamburger or Olympics in no particular order, creating gibberish. His captive is Princess Martel, an energetic girl obsessed with her car and setting records.

Music

All of the music barring one track are rearrangements of famous classical pieces. Rearrangement duties for the game were taken up by Yutaka Minobe and Yoko Shimomura.

"Trio" from "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D" (Land of Hope and Glory) by Edward Elgar

Used as the title screen music. Also known as 'The Graduation March' in the USA and as 'Land of Hope and Glory' when coupled with lyrics in the UK.

"Rondo" from "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This is the piece the player hears the most in Little King's Story, as it's the music played inside the castle.

"Ranz des Vaches" from "William Tell Overture" composed by Gioachino Rossini

Used in many Saturday morning cartoons to signify daybreak, as it does here during 'The First Day'.

"Finale" from "William Tell Overture" composed by Gioachino Rossini

This is what many people know as 'The Lone Ranger' theme. Is played when the player confronts the Cow Bones boss.

"Galop Infernal" from "Orpheus in the Underworld" composed by Jacques Offenbach

Best known as 'can-can' music with a chorus line of women kicking their legs in the air. Used for one of the later bosses in the game.

"Chanson du Toreador", "Habanera" and "Boléro" from "Carmen" composed by Georges Bizet

Boléro is used during the opening video before the title screen.

"Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (drinking song) from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi

This is the piece that plays when the town is having a celebration.

'Tea' from 'The Nutcracker' by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

When an important message appears on screen or someone gets married, a bar of this is played.

"Gnossienne No. 1" from "Gnossiennes" composed by Erik Satie

"Dance of the Little Swans" from "Swan Lake" composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

"Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from "The Nutcracker" composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

"Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen" from "Symphony No. 1 in D" composed by Gustav Mahler

This sounds like a sad version of Frère Jacques... because it is. It's the same melody in minor key.

"Golliwogg's Cakewalk" from "Children's Corner" composed by Claude Debussy

Contest

The developers of the game began a contest that allowed people to design a UMA for the game. The designs would be sent to the developer and the winners would get their UMA featured in the game as an actual enemy. Other people would also get their designs featured in the game via collectable artwork. This artwork can be found and put in Corobo's castle when collected.