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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Lord Gregory's Top Ten ---------------------- I thought I'd have a crack at a Top 10 in the light of my recent renewal of adventuring interest. I'm a bit confused at the inclusion of the likes of Civilization in the list - to my mind they're part of the Strategy genre & as such don't qualify as 'Adventure' games, but hey - it's a free country... @~A quick comment from me; I count strategy, sims and wargames as @~all being eligible for inclusion in SynTax - in fact, it's games @~like Doom that I don't count as coming under the adventure @~umbrella; what do the rest of you think? ... Sue 10) Midwinter 2 (ST) Is it an 'adventure'? (see above). It definitely had adventuring elements along with all the action & strategy stuff, so it'll do. One of the more involved games on my ST & a great combination of action & strategy - for its time good 3D & graphics too. Pity I never quite finished it... 9) Bard's Tale (ST) Very basic graphics, almost non-existent animation, no sound - a text RPG with pretty pictures, really - but very engrossing & engaging. Huge; hard work, but worth it. 8) Ishar - Legend of the Fortress (ST) The first 1st-person perspective RPG I ever played & for its time (I thought) brilliant graphics, sound & atmosphere. Must be easy, though - I finished it without having to ask that nice Sue for the solution. 7) Dungeon Master (ST) (sorry, James) Need I say anything that hasn't already been said? OK, I will: revolutionary for its time & still a good bash: good-looking pseudo-3D, intuitive controls, great interactivity & flexibility, multiple characters, ugly monsters, challenging & Big. I might even finish it one day. Did it spawn a new lifestyle? Is that a good or bad thing? Does God exist? Who knows? Who cares? (By the way, thanks for the review of DM2 - I was thinking of buying it - sounds awful.) 6) Ultima Underworld (PC) I've only just bought it (on budget re-release) & I can't get the !x@*@!! sound to work, but even with the tiny forays I've made into the Abyss it looks superb. 3D the likes of which I've never seen. Expect it sounds good as well... ('Spose I should buy UU2 now - or Doom 2, for that matter). 5) The Secret of Monkey Island (ST) The grand-daddy of comedy adventures - beautifully drawn, intuitive controls, challenge level just right, & full of complete prats. Stan of Stan's Previously-Owned Ships still has a special place in my heart. Refreshing to see a game that refuses to take itself seriously. 4) Monkey Island 2 - Le Chuck's Revenge (PC) As above - & the PC one's got music! Must be good - I can play it with my girlfriend. And Stan's in it again! 3) Ultima V (ST) The RPG I cut my teeth on & still the standard by which I judge all that have come since. Primitive graphics (by today's standards), annoying controls & repetitive combat, but such brilliant plotting, attention to detail, & sheer scale can't help but draw you in to the magical world of Britannia & the Avatar. 2) Ultima VI (PC) Subtitled 'Why I Wanted To Buy A PC'. All the good bits of Ultima V - plus great graphics, greatly improved controls & sound FX & music. I love gargoyles, really, I do! 1) Ultima VII - The Black Gate (PC) Full screen graphic Britannia! Beautifully atmospheric music, sound & speech! More gameplay than you can shake a Lightning Wand at! Lots of blood! And the Avatar even gets his rocks off! (so to speak). Now that Sue's given me the solution, maybe I can finish it. Ultima VIII must be really good! Greg Lord (alias 'Lord Gregory') ------------------------------------------------------------------ @~The Top Ten for 1996 is, so far: 18 pts Civilisation 16 pts Ultima Underworld II 14 pts Dungeon Master 11 pts Secret of Monkey Island 10 pts Ultima VII:The Black Gate,Sentinel 9 pts Chaos Strikes Back, Day of the Tentacle, Aliens, Betrayal at Krondor, Descent, Ultima VI 8 pts Doom/Doom2, Dungeon Master 2, Guild of Thieves, Ultima V 7 pts Ravenloft 2: The Stone Prophet, Lurking Horror, Jet Set Willy, Secret of Monkey Island II 6 pts Ishar 2, Elite, Frontier:Elite 2 5 pts System Shock, Nord and Bert, Colonization, Ultima Underworld I 4 pts Ultima 8: Pagan, Populous, Lords of Midnight, Ravenloft 1:Strahd's Possession 3 pts Little Big Adventure, Lands of Lore, Wolfenstein 3D, Simon the Sorcerer, Ishar 1 2 pts Bloodwych, UFO:Enemy Unknown, Sim City, Bard's Tale 1 pt Multi-dimensional Thief, Death Gate, Captive, Emerald Isle, Midwinter 2 @~Votes so far by Alex van Kaam, Laura Duncan, Adrian Sill, @~James Judge and Greg Lord. - o -