Regarding Cryptic's top games of the 80's:
1st: Wasteland
2nd: Ultima IV
3rd: Enchanter Trilogy
I really think that the best of the 80's was FTL's Dungeon Master.
Besides being a great game in it's own right, it was the inspiration for many of the dungeon/magic/RPG games that followed.
The game has an intelligence in design that I feel has never been matched. There is more pure wit in that game than in any ten other games that I can recall.
The sequels were unfortunately not in the same league. Chaos Strikes Back was a very thin knock-off, that they did much too quickly to have any real depth. Then Interplay picked it up, and did Dungeon Master II, which was just like all of the other DM knock-offs, only worse than many.
Dungeon Master has legs. It was reported that it took six months before anyone completed the game. Even after you finished the game, there was a lot of variation in the groups that you could assemble, to give it replayability. For increased challenge, you could use a smaller group. You would normally have a group of four characters, but some people managed to complete the game with as few as one.
hmmm, I see what's happening to me... time to slowly back - away - from - the - computer.
-rcv-
1st: Wasteland
2nd: Ultima IV
3rd: Enchanter Trilogy
I really think that the best of the 80's was FTL's Dungeon Master.
Besides being a great game in it's own right, it was the inspiration for many of the dungeon/magic/RPG games that followed.
The game has an intelligence in design that I feel has never been matched. There is more pure wit in that game than in any ten other games that I can recall.
The sequels were unfortunately not in the same league. Chaos Strikes Back was a very thin knock-off, that they did much too quickly to have any real depth. Then Interplay picked it up, and did Dungeon Master II, which was just like all of the other DM knock-offs, only worse than many.
Dungeon Master has legs. It was reported that it took six months before anyone completed the game. Even after you finished the game, there was a lot of variation in the groups that you could assemble, to give it replayability. For increased challenge, you could use a smaller group. You would normally have a group of four characters, but some people managed to complete the game with as few as one.
hmmm, I see what's happening to me... time to slowly back - away - from - the - computer.
-rcv-