Your top 10 games of all time - not just Sierra.

[Tawmis]

Right along with the other thread I just posted (Your top 10 Sierra Games), how about an all encompassing top 10 games, ever? Like the other thread, feel free to say why you love the games you pick. And same rules, can't just name an entire series, but each individual game!

[Rath Darkblade]

In no specific order, apart from the order in which I think of them...

a. Grim Fandango (LucasArts). Yes, I know this game has its detractors (yes, DPX, I know the movement system in this game is not the best! ), but I still like it for other reasons - mostly for the unconventional story, the beautiful neo-Aztec artwork, the funny characters, the great blend of jazz and neo-Mayan music, and the very witty dialogue. Created at a time when profit was not the only bottom-line, and adventure game creators at LucasArts were allowed to be truly creative (i.e. the mid-to-late 90s), before the low-risk Star Wars titles.

(And yes, I know that adventure games can be high risk in this day and age, and that without profit, there can be no future games. I know that. But all I've seen from LucasArts since 1998 are Star Wars games - and all I've seen since April 2013, of course, is *GRRRR* Disney). Don't mind me while I headdesk...

Anyway, sorry, rant over.

b. Maniac Mansion (LucasArts)... the one that started it all for LA, back in the mid-80s. I'm sure I don't need to add why it is great.

c. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis... see above.

d. The Monkey Island series... and again. I simply cannot fault any of the MI series; yes, I know that Ron Gilbert was not involved in MI3 or MI4. Then again, were it not for those two, fans of the Monkey Island series wouldn't have had the pleasure of the almost-iconic-by-now talents of Dominic Armato, Alexandra Boyd and Earl Boen (not to mention Murray the eeeevil skull).

e. A tie between Leisure Suit Larry 1 (EGA) and Quest for Glory 1 (EGA) - Sierra On-Line. After so many years, it's a bit of a toss-up - as in, I cannot remember if I played this game first or LSL1 (EGA) first, and thus which one got me into Sierra gaming in the first place! Regardless, they are both very special, for obvious reasons. Police Quest 1 (EGA) also sneaks in here, since it got me into the PQ series.

f. Quest for Glory 2 (EGA) - well, what can I say. Even after so long, even without fancy graphics, even without speech, this game is still my number 2 most-favourite Sierra game ever. Why? The characters - Abdulla Doo, the Sultan, Scoree and Sloree, Shameen and Shema, Ad Avis (mwah hah hah!! )... the story - the oh-so-many things you could do in Shapeir (especially as a thief, but really, as any class!) - the... I could go on. However, it's still a very close number 2, because my number 1 Sierra game is...

g. Quest for Glory 4: Shadows of Darkness. Oh, my goodness... the memories. Oh dear... it's nearly 20 years later, and I still remember the voice-acting (Jennifer Hale and John Rhys-Davies are particular standouts, but everyone did a superb job), the story, the characters, the atmosphere - oh my, the atmosphere! Oh, and of course - the three bantering farmers, and those avocado-and-garlic sandwiches! Then again, of course... error 52. (Commence boos and hisses at your leisure!)

h. And finally, non-Sierra or LA games... Neverwinter Nights (the original, not the remake). I had played AD&D (and D&D 3rd edition) before, but I'd never understood it (mostly) until I played this CRPG. Of course, there were other things to learn, but at least I'd grasped most of it. I still have my original NN CDs somewhere! I can't believe how much time I'd spent on this game, trying out every single class and combination... but all in good fun. And who can forget... "Deekin?"

i. Dragon Age 1: Origins. I came late to the party on this one (about 2 years after it was published, I think), but it still remains my favourite DA game. Less dark, and certainly much more straight-forward, than DA2 - not to mention that a certain someone will not stab you in the back no matter what you do, as he/she does in DA2!

j. Age of Empires series. I know! I know - a Microsoft game (boo!) But hey, after I played AoE2 for a while, I started wondering about how real all this was, and I started reading into the history - first, I started reading the accompanying history in the game itself, and later in books. 15 years later, I own a fairly considerable history library, and have written (and published) a few short biographies and historical stories. Since it was my dream, when I finished high school, to be published... well, yay. *waves a little flag*

and one or two other honourable (?) mention...

k. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion (Bethesda). I rarely play this game anymore nowadays, and I have to admit I was a bit of a late adopter - I tried TES3 (Morrowind) to begin with, but had never properly understood how to move, much less how to fight, and on my first go, I was killed by a crab. (How embarrassing! ) Anyway, TES4 properly got me into the Elder Scrolls world, and it's been a fascinating ride so far... if you haven't tried TES yet, and you're wondering about Skyrim, this is well worth trying. Just be warned: the TES games, being open-ended, are huge, and you can spend a looooooooooooooooong time in there! Still, they're nowhere near of a cash-cow as a certain war-craft-themed game...

l. Civilization 1 (Microprose). I know I'm going waaaaay back here - possibly into dinosaur-territory - but I have to mention this granddaddy of all world-builders. How many nights did I spend on this. (I assume just about any gamer, growing up in the early 90s, did too!) Yup, it's that infamous game where a spear-man can and does beat a tank - repeatedly! Oh, how we laughed... not...

and then there are... ah, but I should stop now before I go too far. (Too late! Sorry!) *blush*

[BBP]

1: Gabriel Knight 3
2: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
3: Minesweeper, oh, the aeons I've spent, listening to my favourite albums playing this... My record in Expert is 78.
4: Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail
5: Grim Fandango: fantastic but unfortunately the replay value isn't very high, although the "write your own instant beatnik poetry as read by Tony Plana" is awesome.
6: Tetris: so elegant, so simple, so addicting!
Pointless trivia: it's Tim Curry's favourite video game. You wouldn't think of him as a gamer, but he loved to play Tetris on his Gameboy.
7: Prince of Persia original. I beat it! I beat it!!
8: Lemmings: they'll never lose their charm, ever.
9: Toonstruck: live action adventure, Tim Curry, pushing Christopher Lloyd around, wonderful music, zany cartoony humour, S&M cow, need I say more?
10: The Incredible Toon Machine / Sid & Al's Incredible Toons: Besides the fantastic cartoony humour and art, and the music (bonus points for using Mozart's 25th symphony), those puzzles got seriously hard.

[Datadog]

Day of the Tentacle: Three playable characters, time travel puzzles, absurd comedy, and the inclusion of Laverne (my all-time favorite game character) make this my personal favorite. This game has no match.

Chrono Trigger: A perfect RPG. It has a great, intuitive battle system, wonderful characters, a well-paced story, and one of the best soundtracks ever written.

King's Quest 6: Another pinnacle of perfection from my perspective. The puzzle network between the five islands keeps the gameplay flowing, the writing and voice acting draw me in, and there's an epic quality to its presentation not found in many fantasy games.

Mass Effect 2: I love them all, but I think this one is the most well-designed. The climactic suicide run with multiple outcomes always draws me back as does the multiple possible romances. Anything you do in this game can completely change your experience in the next.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: The first game rewards your speediness by placing spikes everywhere. This game is designed to reward your speediness by making you look like an awesome player. Also: superb soundtrack.

Earthworm Jim: I had this on PC, Genesis and Game Gear. A difficult game to play, but worth mastering. Every level had a gimmick, the sets were fantastic, and again, music. Fighting Psycrow is my jam.

The Secret of Monkey Island: If there was an adventure game that summed up adventure games, this is it. You steal everything that isn't nailed down, look for treasure, and talk your way out of sword fights. I have the talkie on longplay in my movie folder at work just because I love listening to the conversations.

Super Mario Kart: The only racing game I ever keep returning to.

Grim Fandango: Didn't want to go the easy way with picking these, but it's hard not to pick Manny and Glotis for anything. The journey of the soul is a wonderful experience and I love how the game can completely change as the years go by.

The Lion King: Aladdin was probably the superior Disney game, but being good at this one was a mark of respect among my family and friends. It's tricky, but when you master it, it's beautiful. Also, singing along with the game was always a great perk.

[Tawmis]

I know if I give this too much thought, there will be other games I will have forgotten that would creep in there and throw this list into chaos... so going with immediate impulse... and jotting down 10 games that come to mind (in no order)

Realms of Arkania 2: Star Trail. This was the ultimate RPG to me. It had a lot of detailed information. So many random things could happen (like if you cross a river, one member of your party could lose their boot). Swords could break during combat. It had the prayer thing, so you could get blessings. There was hunting you could do while camping, and such. Random events could happen (NPCs giving you random quests, at random times).

Wizardry 8. I love the entire Wizardry series (well, except Wizardry 7... that game was impossibly difficult at the very end). The reason Wizardry 8 stands out is not because it had an amazing story (I actually enjoyed the story to Wizardry 6 more), but because when I began playing Wizardry 8, my wife took an interest and bought her own copy and we played side by side. (It's a solo game, but we played together, exploring the land and solving the riddles and such). We still, to this day, quote RFS-81's (a robot's) insane laughter (very funny sounding hearing a robot laugh and go crazy and attack your own party members). So this holds a special place for me.

Leisure Suit Larry 2 This was, without a doubt, the best LSL of the entire series. LSL3 comes VERY dern close, because I like switching between Larry and Patty. But LSL2 felt like such a huge game when I played it - like leaps and bounds bigger than LSL1, which made a massive impression on me. (Granted, the whole bag thing in the airplane at the end was pretty fubar'ed because of text parser limitations apparently or whatever the reason was). But I just loved every element about LSL2. It's very close to my favorite Sierra game of all time, when I think about it.

Space Quest 3 Space Quest 3 is my favorite of the Space Quest series, with SQ4 just a hair behind. I loved the puzzles of SQ3, and like LSL2, SQ3 seemed so much larger than SQ2. So I loved how much the game seemed to have improved over SQ2. Like LSL2, I loved all the puzzles and everything about SQ3. It was difficult without being impossibly so. And it had a lot of fun death scenes.

King's Quest 4 KQ4 was amazing to me. The fact that it cycled through night and day and had different things happening depending on the time, was just amazing. I also enjoyed the fact that they switched it up and made the lead character a female. That was a very amazing move, I think, for Sierra, to take their "flag ship" title and throw a female in the lead. Granted, KQ to me was always a family game, so it's not like it's "male-centric" - but still, felt this was a nice jump.

Mass Effect 2 Mass Effect 2, I think was the best of Bioware's games. It offered a lot of great choices that felt like there was an impact with. It also had the most interesting party members you could recruit into the group. Well written, great graphics, wonderful story, and with different classes, it offered different playability options.

Dragon Age: Origins DAO was the best thus far, of the DA series. Like ME2, it offered a lot of options. The over all quest was epic in feel, which I always enjoy (being the hero that determines the fate of the world kind of thing). I enjoyed all of the characters in DAO, perhaps a little more than ME2, but ME2 came across as much smoother, much more polished. Plenty of choices that can change different circumstances, different ending choices, etc. Solid, well thought out, game.

Gabriel Knight 1 This gave birth to my interest in New Orleans. GK1 was such a great game, because it was based in "reality" and yet still had that very supernatural feel (especially with Voodoo, which many consider very mysterious). Gabriel Knight was the guy I always wished I could be - smooth, cool, and could woe the ladies! So I enjoyed the game, because while I played it, I got to be who I always wished I could be! Added bonus came when, thanks to the interest in New Orleans, I was given the chance to meet Jules & Patrick, and hang out with them each time we have gone out there (except once, I think). As I suspected, I loved New Orleans! And find new things to love each time we visit.

Phantasmagoria Another one that has a special place. When Amiee and I moved back to CA from TN, we moved in with my childhood friend (since I'd known since the 4th grade). He bought a new computer and wanted a game to "push the limit" of his computer. And at the time, that game was Phantasmagoria. So the four of us (Aim, myself, Chuck and his wife Tammy), played that game together - and man, it was a creepy game (we'd play with the lights off and everything). I still remember the crib with the baby crying - freaked us all out. So that's why this game ranks up there (on top of being one of the best FMV games, in my opinion, with the writing, music, etc). Sure, it's cheesy NOW in today's standards, but back then it was mind blowing.

Torin's Passage Aside from being a very fun game, that I thought could have easily been a Disney cartoon (it was much better, I thought than KQ7, which had great cartoon quality, but felt too much like a side scroller) - Torin's Passage is special to me, because Aim and I played it together.

[Collector]

Torin's Passage Aside from being a very fun game, that I thought could have easily been a Disney cartoon (it was much better, I thought than KQ7, which had great cartoon quality, but felt too much like a side scroller)

I agree. I was disappointed with the style change of KQ with 7. Somehow, the cartoony style perfectly fit Torin's. A very fun game.

[Tawmis]

Torin's Passage Aside from being a very fun game, that I thought could have easily been a Disney cartoon (it was much better, I thought than KQ7, which had great cartoon quality, but felt too much like a side scroller)

I agree. I was disappointed with the style change of KQ with 7. Somehow, the cartoony style perfectly fit Torin's. A very fun game.

I get why they did the cartoony style with KQ7. To me, KQ7 was always a "family" game - so what better way to snag the younger children's interest than an interactive cartoon? I just don't think they did it completely right in KQ7. Something is missing in it - like it felt very side scrolling to me, where as in Torin's Passage, it felt like a huge area to explore (even if it wasn't). If KQ7 had the same "vibe" as Torin's Passage, I think the cartoon style would have been more acceptable to handle (for lack of a better way of expressing what the heck I am trying to say).

[dotkel50]

Gabriel Knight 1 This gave birth to my interest in New Orleans. GK1 was such a great game, because it was based in "reality" and yet still had that very supernatural feel (especially with Voodoo, which many consider very mysterious). Gabriel Knight was the guy I always wished I could be - smooth, cool, and could woe the ladies! So I enjoyed the game, because while I played it, I got to be who I always wished I could be! Added bonus came when, thanks to the interest in New Orleans, I was given the chance to meet Jules & Patrick, and hang out with them each time we have gone out there (except once, I think). As I suspected, I loved New Orleans! And find new things to love each time we visit.

woe the ladies? Aren't you still doing that?

[Collector]

Torin's Passage Aside from being a very fun game, that I thought could have easily been a Disney cartoon (it was much better, I thought than KQ7, which had great cartoon quality, but felt too much like a side scroller)

I agree. I was disappointed with the style change of KQ with 7. Somehow, the cartoony style perfectly fit Torin's. A very fun game.

I get why they did the cartoony style with KQ7. To me, KQ7 was always a "family" game - so what better way to snag the younger children's interest than an interactive cartoon? I just don't think they did it completely right in KQ7. Something is missing in it - like it felt very side scrolling to me, where as in Torin's Passage, it felt like a huge area to explore (even if it wasn't). If KQ7 had the same "vibe" as Torin's Passage, I think the cartoon style would have been more acceptable to handle (for lack of a better way of expressing what the heck I am trying to say).

I see what you are saying. I would have to see what KQ7 would have been like if the screens had been handled better/smoother/more organically? It may have made it less irritating.

[Tawmis]

Gabriel Knight 1 This gave birth to my interest in New Orleans. GK1 was such a great game, because it was based in "reality" and yet still had that very supernatural feel (especially with Voodoo, which many consider very mysterious). Gabriel Knight was the guy I always wished I could be - smooth, cool, and could woe the ladies! So I enjoyed the game, because while I played it, I got to be who I always wished I could be! Added bonus came when, thanks to the interest in New Orleans, I was given the chance to meet Jules & Patrick, and hang out with them each time we have gone out there (except once, I think). As I suspected, I loved New Orleans! And find new things to love each time we visit.

woe the ladies? Aren't you still doing that?

I'd like to think so... rather than scaring them away!

Torin's Passage Aside from being a very fun game, that I thought could have easily been a Disney cartoon (it was much better, I thought than KQ7, which had great cartoon quality, but felt too much like a side scroller)

I agree. I was disappointed with the style change of KQ with 7. Somehow, the cartoony style perfectly fit Torin's. A very fun game.

I get why they did the cartoony style with KQ7. To me, KQ7 was always a "family" game - so what better way to snag the younger children's interest than an interactive cartoon? I just don't think they did it completely right in KQ7. Something is missing in it - like it felt very side scrolling to me, where as in Torin's Passage, it felt like a huge area to explore (even if it wasn't). If KQ7 had the same "vibe" as Torin's Passage, I think the cartoon style would have been more acceptable to handle (for lack of a better way of expressing what the heck I am trying to say).

I see what you are saying. I would have to see what KQ7 would have been like if the screens had been handled better/smoother/more organically? It may have made it less irritating.

Oh, rest assured, I agree with you. Make no mistake. I think another huge problem is when you look at HOW WELL KQ6 was written (story, puzzles, characters, plot, etc) - and then to follow up with KQ7, which I thought felt like a step backwards. It seemed overly simplified compared to KQ6, in just about every regard. But then I thought KQ6 was far more mature than any of the other KQ games. (And they may be why they went with what they did in KQ7 - perhaps, despite our thoughts, there was general complaining that it was too advanced for kids to enjoy? Who knows...)

[dotkel50]

don't you mean woo the ladies?

[Collector]

Another big plus of Torin over KQ7 is normal save games. Not quite save points in KQ7, but not being able to keep your old save games sucks.

[Rath Darkblade]

don't you mean woo the ladies?

Come to think of it, Gabriel Knight does woe the ladies - to a certain extent...! Come to think of it, so does Guybrush (at least in Monkey Island 2, IIRC). Witness the following comment:

Anything to shut you up. That was the longest story I'd ever heard.

(Granted, Guybrush had just told Elaine the entire story of the game - so she was justified in telling him to shut up!)

Hmm... and now some things have just occurred to me re: Guybrush and Elaine, but since I don't wish to hijack your thread, Tawm, I'll start a new thread for that!

(Edit to include link... and, whoops, some thoughts re: LeChuck too...) *blush*

[gumby]

Here are mine with release dates:

Zork (1977-80) - Not the first text adventure, but certainly one could argue the most influential

Rogue (1980) - One of the original dungeon crawlers, based on Hack.

Super Mario Brothers (1985) - My introduction to the Nintendo Entertainment System. Every time I encounter a side-scroller, I find myself comparing it to this game.

Kings Quest 4 (1988) - This was the first SCI game that I played and was blown away with this adventure-game incarnation. Those EGA graphics still are amazing to me.

Curse of Azure Bonds (1989) - RPG that I played hours on end. Sure, there were others like it (Bards Tale for example), but this was the game for me. Played this on my PC-XT in stunning 4-color CGA graphics.

Red Baron (1990) - The first flight simulator that I could actually play & fully kept my attention. I seem to remember this as one of the first/best VGA games I encountered.

Doom 2 (1994) - Better than Wolfenstein & Doom (both great games) because of full 360 degree 'free look' with the mouse. Great immersive experience.

XCOM - Terror from the Deep (1995) - Turn-based strategy game that continues to scare me to this day. Damn aliens hiding around corners.

Tales of the Arabian Nights (1996) - My favorite pinball game, hands-down. This game got me interested in pinball - I don't have a pinball table in my home yet, but I will someday.

Starcraft (1998) - The campaigns were amazing, trumped only by multiplayer. The best LAN party game ever.

[Tawmis]

don't you mean woo the ladies?

See how clueless I am.

Another big plus of Torin over KQ7 is normal save games. Not quite save points in KQ7, but not being able to keep your old save games sucks.

I agree...

d. The Monkey Island series... and again. I simply cannot fault any of the MI series; yes, I know that Ron Gilbert was not involved in MI3 or MI4. Then again, were it not for those two, fans of the Monkey Island series wouldn't have had the pleasure of the almost-iconic-by-now talents of Dominic Armato, Alexandra Boyd and Earl Boen (not to mention Murray the eeeevil skull).

j. Age of Empires series. I know! I know - a Microsoft game (boo!) But hey, after I played AoE2 for a while, I started wondering about how real all this was, and I started reading into the history - first, I started reading the accompanying history in the game itself, and later in books. 15 years later, I own a fairly considerable history library, and have written (and published) a few short biographies and historical stories. Since it was my dream, when I finished high school, to be published... well, yay. *waves a little flag*

I could have swore one of the rules was you can't name a SERIES, but specific games of the series...

1: Gabriel Knight 3
2: Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers

Clearly a GK fan if GK is ranking your top 10 all games... So... when you coming to New Orleans?

Day of the Tentacle:

How is that not some Hentai Anime p0rn thing?
Sounds like it...

Earthworm Jim: I had this on PC, Genesis and Game Gear. A difficult game to play, but worth mastering. Every level had a gimmick, the sets were fantastic, and again, music. Fighting Psycrow is my jam.

Good call, which makes me think - see, I knew my top 10 would shift. Somewhere in there I would have to throw in the original ]i]Toejam & Earl[/i] game...

Here are mine with release dates:
Zork (1977-80) - Not the first text adventure, but certainly one could argue the most influential

Makes me think - surprised not to see the text adventure Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy in anyone's top 10 yet...

Rogue (1980) - One of the original dungeon crawlers, based on Hack.

I still play variations of Rogue...