Top Ten Adventures @~To register your votes, just send in your choices, number them @~1st to 10th and preferably give brief comments on why you voted @~for each game. 10 points are awarded for 1st place down to 1 @~point for 10th place. @~Don't forget to send in your votes. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Grimwold's Top Ten (PC Adventures) 1. Day Of the Tentacle. 2. Unnkulian Underworld Series. 3. Ultima VII. 4. Secret of Monkey Island I 5. Humbug. 6. Multi-Dimensional Thief. 7. Jacuranda Jim. 8. Dungeons and Dragons (Ascii old version) 9. Four Symbols. 10. Helvera, Mistress of the Park. ----------------------------------------------------------------- TOP TEN ADVENTURES FOR THE ST By James Jillians Here's my contribution to the new chart. It is completely different from the last - in fact, there's only one game in both - Bloodwych. Well, that's what reading SynTax does for you, eh? Note:- No Dungeon Master and certainly no Elite 2! 1. LEVEL 9 ADVENTURES Yes, I love 'em! This is probably an unfair choice for a multitude of reasons, not least being that I've played very few other golden oldies and this encompasses more than one title! However, this is definitely my favourite text-adventure system due to the user- friendliness, variety of not too hard puzzles and jovial feel. The only duffer I've played so far has been Knight Orc. 2. LEVEL 9 ADVENTURES If only I were allowed... 2. BLOODWYCH Bloodwych is to me what Dungeon Master is to others. The first RPG I ever played, I loved it and spent a-a-a-ages playing it with different combinations of characters. I never completed it though. In fact, I'm still playing the Two Player version with James Judge, in the hope that some of his famed adventuring talents will rub off on me! 3. ISHAR 2 I hated this when I first got it. It was too slow (I'd just been playing Bloodwych... again) and, I am reluctant to admit, I could not get anywhere. Then the complete solution (published by Silmarils) arrived and spoilt things completely. About a year later - earlier this week in fact - I decided to start again in a new frame of mind and I was hooked until I finished it. A great game - go out and buy it, but avoid the solution like the plague! 4. EXCUSE ME, DO YOU HAVE THE TIME? My favourite STAC game, written by Jean Childs. It was perfectly presented with an extraordinary attention to detail. I loved the ability to confer with friends. Any chance of more? 5. CHAOS I used to play this on my Spectrum for hours after it arrived taped to the front of a now redundant Spectrum mag. When Martin Brownlow did the unofficial ST conversion I discovered it for a second time. I still play it on the rare occasions when I'm able con somebody else into having a go too. I really don't know how James Judge can so easily beat seven Level 8 wizards (a thousand curses upon him!). 6. CIVILIZATION Far more enjoyable than Railroad Tycoon and my favourite simulation. James lent me his copy so the best bit was entering "King James of the Jilli-folk" in all five spaces of his High Score Board. They've probably been replaced now though. 7. ULTIMA V The only Ultima game I have ever played. I picked this up at the local market - a perfectly legitimate and brand new copy too - wow! For days after I enjoyed following the trail of clues given by the other characters and wandering for hours across the huge map, between cities. 8. KNIGHTMARE Another good RPG. There are four levels each with a different theme and the only thing that makes this game less than great is the tedious second level which requires dozens of mindnumbing fights! 9. THE TEST I had initial difficulties with the AGT system. The first game I encountered of this genre was TimeSquared which had not been play- tested properly and was thus unplayable. Then came Mop and Murder and Deadly Labyrinth, both of which seemed to be fatally bugged. Reluctantly I tried out The Test - which turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable game, and allowed me to come out from behind the cupboard and face AGT games once more. 10. JILLIANSIAN ADVENTURE Only half finished, but darned good! What? I can't have it? Oh, well... 10. LEGEND It was hard getting a copy of this, but well worth the effort. It's a great RPG with more than your average crop of puzzles. It was, perhaps, a little too easy to complete. The free hint book probably had something to do with that. ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~The running total for 1994 is: 43 pts Dungeon Master 22 pts Civilization, Monkey Island I 21 pts Chaos Strikes Back 17 pts Eye of the Beholder II 14 pts Ultima V 12 pts Bloodwych, Uninvited 10 pts Elite 2, World of Xeen (Clouds and Darkside) Day of the Tentacle, Excuse Me..., Level 9 adventures 9 pts Simon the Sorcerer, Lemmings 2, Monkey Island 2, Amberstar, Ishar, Unnkulian Underworld series 8 pts Railroad Tycoon, Eye of the Beholder, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Cadaver, Ultima VII, Legend, Ishar 2 7 pts Chaos (PD), Bard's Tale 1, Journey, Dungeon Adventure 6 pts Drakkhen, Space Quest 3, Xenomorph, Hitchhiker's Guide, Faery Tale Adventure, Humbug 5 pts Captive, Obscure Naturalist, Hammer of Grimmold, Operation Stealth, BAT II, Shadowgate, Pool of Darkness, Black Crypt, Multi-dimensional Thief 4 pts Wizard's Crown, Knightmare, Deja Vu, Abandoned Places Jacaranda Jim 3 pts WYSIWYG, Trinity, Betrayal at Krondor, Knightmare, Dungeons and Dragons (ASCII version) 2 pts Return to Zork, Future Wars, Eye of the Beholder III, Deja Vu II, Space Quest, Golden Fleece, Four Symbols, The Test 1 pt Larry 2, Another World, Larry 1, Pirates, Space Quest 2, Helvera (Votes so far by Alex van Kaam, Greg Lord, Brian Burke, BMK, David Stocks, James Judge, Paul Vincent, Grimwold and James Jillians) @~The all-time SynTax Polls, which are updated each issue as new @~votes come in, or readers amend their votes, are as follows: 119 pts Dungeon Master 48 pts Chaos Strikes Back 41 pts Lurking Horror 39 pts Enchanter 38 pts Secret of Monkey Island 1 33 pts Wishbringer 32 pts Trinity 29 pts Lemmings 2 28 pts Leather Goddesses 25 pts Loom 22 pts Guild of Thieves, Civilization 21 pts Beyond Zork 20 pts HHGTTG, Sorcerer, Planetfall, Bard's Tale 1 18 pts Demon's Winter, Eye of the Beholder I 17 pts Eye of the Beholder II, Jinxter 16 pts Ultima IV, Secret of Monkey Island 2 15 pts Stationfall 14 pts Ultima VII, Ultima V 13 pts Humbug, Xenomorph, Infidel, Journey 12 pts Zork II, Larry 3, Uninvited, Bloodwych, Legend 11 pts Phantasie III, Spellbreaker, Manhunter San Francisco, Eye of the Beholder III, Captive 10 pts Crusaders of the Dark Savant, Lords of Time, World of Xeen (Clouds and Darkside), Elite 2, Day of the Tentacle, Excuse Me, Level 9 Adventures 9 pts Drakkhen, Red Moon, Ishar 1, Amberstar, Simon the Sorcerer, Pirates, Unnkulian Underworld series, Jacaranda Jim, Fish 8 pts Zak McKracken, Bard's Tale III, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Railroad Tycoon, Cadaver, Dungeon Adventure, Four Symbols, Ishar 2 7 pts Corruption, Price of Magik, Sorcerer, Ingrid's Back, Deja Vu 1, Operation Stealth, Knightmare, Chaos (PD) 6 pts Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes, Space Quest 3, Faery Tale Adventure, Larry 2 5 pts Obscure Naturalist, Ultima Underworld 2, Darkseed, Ultima Underworld 1, Manhunter New York, Dragonflight, Sleeping Gods Lie, Hammer of Grimmold, Bard's Tale 2, Suspect, Shadowgate, BAT 2, Pool of Darkness, Black Crypt, Space Quest 1, Multi-Dimensional Thief 4 pts Might and Magic III, Wonderland, Rigel's Revenge, Zork Zero, Abandoned Places, Wizard's Crown 3 pts Fool's Errand, Mortville Manor, Cortizone, Ballyhoo, Jade Stone, Witness, WYSIWYG, Betrayal at Krondor, Future Wars, Dungeons and Dragons (ASCII) 2 pts Zork 1, Keys of the Wizard, Spellcasting 101, Infestation, Legend of the Sword, Camelot, Bureaucracy, Deja Vu 2, Return to Zork, Golden Fleece, The Test 1 pt Colossal (Level 9), Plundered Hearts, Wizard's Tower, Jade Stone, Football Director II, Larry 1, Another World, Space Quest 2, Helvera (Votes by Alex van Kaam, Neil Shipman, Alan Beer, Mark Bradshaw, Sue, Colin Campbell, Graham Wheeler, Kathy Taylor, Ian Taylor, David Stocks, Roy Sims, Theo Clarke, Matthew Pegg, Steve Cook, Grue, Steve McLaren, James Judge, James Jillians, Mongoose, Grey Lord, Brian Burke, BMK, Paul Vincent, Grimwold) - o -