Games worth playing, Vol. II -- 1986-1988

[Rincewind]

Check out this walkthrough of Fantasy Quest, for instance (to be added to the list yet); those 1-bit graphics are incredible:

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I hope you know what you're doing with Dark Castle, its definitely a straight action game. The Macintosh version is loads better than all the ports of it, but I'd be hard pressed to call it amazing on that system. Its one of those games where you have to die so you can memorize where enemies and hazards go. And the aiming system it has with its rocks and fireballs isn't exactly smooth there either, you move the mouse up and down to control the arc they throw in IIRC. Which is cool when the only frame of reference is keyboard aiming, not so cool in the years after Abuse was made.

 

[Rincewind]

I hope you know what you're doing with Dark Castle, its definitely a straight action game. The Macintosh version is loads better than all the ports of it, but I'd be hard pressed to call it amazing on that system. Its one of those games where you have to die so you can memorize where enemies and hazards go. And the aiming system it has with its rocks and fireballs isn't exactly smooth there either, you move the mouse up and down to control the arc they throw in IIRC. Which is cool when the only frame of reference is keyboard aiming, not so cool in the years after Abuse was made.

Nah, I should probably remove it, you're right... I just played it for like 10 minutes an hour ago and while I'm quite fascinated by the gfx, calling it an adventure is quite a stretch. Well, thanks for keeping me honest

I quite like it though and it seems to be in everyone's top 10 best Mac games lists. I remember playing it briefly on the C64 as a kid, where it sucked and the loading times took forever...

However, the sequel, Beyond Dark Castle, probably qualifies as an action/adventure:

This is definitely not the same beast as the original Dark Castle. Does it make it a worse game? No. The only reason the game is any worse is due to a few issues, but overall, this game focuses more on an adventure then the first game, making the game take a lot longer to beat despite having the same amount of levels. the game is one of the best sequels of game made, but still does not top the original, but is just about on par with it.

(source)

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

I quite like it though and it seems to be in everyone's top 10 best Mac games lists. I remember playing it briefly on the C64 as a kid, where it sucked and the loading times took forever...

Fair enough. My first exposure to the game was from the Angry Video Game Nerd episode, where he talked about the Sega Genesis and CD-i versions. Those versions are terrible through and through.

On another note, I'd reminded of the Star Trek games from the late '80s. While the text adventure have mixed opinions on them, one of the games was made by Mike Singleton, The Rebel Universe. And Singleton can do no wrong even when he's doing wrong.

 

[Rincewind]

On another note, I'd reminded of the Star Trek games from the late '80s. While the text adventure have mixed opinions on them, one of the games was made by Mike Singleton, The Rebel Universe. And Singleton can do no wrong even when he's doing wrong.

Cheers, sounds interesting. Adding Starlord too while I'm at it.

 

[flyingjohn]

Balance of power should get a edit.
The original game called "balance of power" released in 1985,your list entry should be renamed the 1990 version.(since that was the official name).
Also, wondering why Amiga isn't listed as the preferred versions? It has full color compared to the mac version?

 

[Rincewind]

Balance of power should get a edit.
The original game called "balance of power" released in 1985,your list entry should be renamed the 1990 version.(since that was the official name).
Also, wondering why Amiga isn't listed as the preferred versions? It has full color compared to the mac version?

Corrected the game's title, thanks. You're right, there's not much reason to pick the Macintosh version over the Amiga in this case. I did not have the time to do an extensive research on each individual title, and I guess I wanted to raise the number of Mac titles a little bit. But in this case seeing colour-coding on the maps is a big improvement, indeed.

 

[Ladonna]

I played through Might and Magic 1 and 2 on C64, and the party can be ported across with them. I also played M&M2 on Amiga, and had no issue with a new party.

 

[Rincewind]

I also played M&M2 on Amiga, and had no issue with a new party.

I was going by octavius' comment. Please explain yourself!

 

[Ladonna]

I also played M&M2 on Amiga, and had no issue with a new party.

I was going by octavius' comment. Please explain yourself!

I started a new game in M&M2 on Amiga, and easily gained a few levels and was on my way. I wouldn't call myself the greatest CRPG player either, so if I can do it, I would say most people could.

 

[octavius]

Of course you can, but the game is still balanced for an imported party. There are some fixed encounters in Middlegate that are death traps for lvl 1 parties. Some of the fixed encounters are different on the Amiga and DOS versions, though, so maybe the Amiga version is easier.

 

[EtcEtcEtc]

This is good shit my man, but Wizardry IV on SNES isn't Return of Werdna, it's a Wizardry IV Gaiden game - japanese only Wizardry w/ samurai's and feudal japan stuff from what I remember.

Still cool, but not the real Wizardry IV.

Also you mention HD installs for a bunch of the Amiga games, where you getting those?

 

[Rincewind]

This is good shit my man, but Wizardry IV on SNES isn't Return of Werdna, it's a Wizardry IV Gaiden game - japanese only Wizardry w/ samurai's and feudal japan stuff from what I remember.

Yeah, I've changed my mind on a few things since I published these lists. Now I prefer the C64 versions of Wiz I-IV, or the later DOS ports from the Wizardry Archives. I don't really have time to update all that stuff... but the lists are still useful as they are, I think.

Still cool, but not the real Wizardry IV.

Yep, came to the same conclusion; I actually don't like the console remakes.

Also you mention HD installs for a bunch of the Amiga games, where you getting those?

I'm mentioning WHDLoad a lot in these lists, but these days I prefer an emulated A500 + HD system. Most games have official HD installers and many that don't can be manually installed by copying the files over to the HD, plus some trickery in some cases. I'll eventually write about this in my Amiga gaming article series... when I'll get to it (too many projects, too little time...)

The ones with the "Has official HD installer" remark contain some installer script or Workbench program you can run and the game installs itself to your HD. These require an A500 + Kickstart 1.3 + HDD system, of course. Sometimes the installer is not on the first floppy, so check all floppy images.

https://blog.johnnovak.net/2023/01/02/gaming-on-the-amiga-part-1-amiga-500-is-all-you-need/

 

[EtcEtcEtc]

Yep, came to the same conclusion; I actually don't like the console remakes.

No, I mean it's a completely different game, not a remake. The original three scenarios are remade on SNES and I think they are superior to the DOS versions - but there is no SNES Werdna.

https://wizardry.fandom.com/wiki/Wizardry_Gaiden_IV:_Throb_of_the_Demon's_Heart

Someone who posts here helped translate it (and the other gaiden, empire games) I believe.

 

[smaug]

I would mention the Where Are We mapping tool (https://www.eskimo.com/~edv/lockscroll/WhereAreWe/) for M&M 1-5, Wizardry 1-5, BT 1-3 for the DOS versions.
And the Gold Box Companion for the Goldbox games (https://gbc.zorbus.net/)
Also rikkles is working on a companion tool for Death Lord (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0a3AxOxGFo, https://twitter.com/RikRetro)

I tried getting Eskimo to work for an hour and never could. Have you gotten it to work?

 

[Grauken]

I would mention the Where Are We mapping tool (https://www.eskimo.com/~edv/lockscroll/WhereAreWe/) for M&M 1-5, Wizardry 1-5, BT 1-3 for the DOS versions.
And the Gold Box Companion for the Goldbox games (https://gbc.zorbus.net/)
Also rikkles is working on a companion tool for Death Lord (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0a3AxOxGFo, https://twitter.com/RikRetro)

I tried getting Eskimo to work for an hour and never could. Have you gotten it to work?

I use GridCartographer as my go-to tool for mapping dungeon crawlers, so I never needed to use Where Are We, though I saw enough discussion around various forums that gave me the impression that at least some people must have gotten to run it