The significant number of new features was praised, as were the gameplay improvements. Reception of The Age of Kings was positive. The design team focused on resolving significant issues in Age of Empires, but noted on release that some problems remained. Despite using the same game engine and similar code to its predecessor, development of The Age of Kings took a year longer than expected, forcing Ensemble Studios to release Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome in 1998 instead. There are three additional single-player game modes, and multiplayer is supported.
There are five historically-based campaigns, which constrict the player to specialized and story-backed conditions. Players aim to gather resources, which they use to build towns, create armies, and defeat their enemies. They are the Britons, Byzantines, Celts, Goths, Teutons, Franks, Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Persians, Saracens, Turks and the Vikings. The Age of Kings is set in the Middle Ages and contains thirteen playable civilizations. A Dreamcast port, by Konami, was canceled. A PlayStation 2 version was released by Konami in 2001, and a Nintendo DS spinoff, Age of Empires: The Age of Kings was developed by Backbone Entertainment in 2006. An expansion, The Conquerors, was released in 2000. Age of Empires 2 The Age of Kings Released in 1999 for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems, it was the second game in the Age of Empires series.
