Old Adventure Games

[bigsleepj]

(I do appologize if there is such a thread)

I'm talking about Old School Adventure games, approximately from 1980 - 1997, the fifteen years in this was possibly most the popular genre around before being taken down by first-person shooters and strategty games. Do you still feel the like playing an old King's Quest or Space Quest games (the type-in kind and their poin-&-click cousins) as well as the Monkey Island & Sam and Max games?

And off course, what were your favourite games of the 'good' old days?

Just asking.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Grim Fandango was a classic, Hugo's House of Horrors series were pretty good, The Lord of the Rings and Gauntlet for Atari were good and some others I can't remember at the moment. I wish to find an emulator so I can play some of those games on these days computers.

(Most of the old skool games I enjoyed were racing games and strategies - but I enjoyed a good advenutre that's for sure). I never really got into King's Quest though - the endless dunes in Kings Quest 7? (maybe) irritated me to no end and I never escaped them.

There were some great games back in the day!

[bigsleepj]

King's Quest 7 (the one that resembles a Disney movie) was a rather overlong and difficult game - a rather stupid entry in the series that might have been the beginning of the end of adventure games. The puzzles were highly bizarre - I think to enter a "faux" shop at one part (which is a magical shop with a magical door) for instance you had to lick salt crystals or something (I fail to see the logic in that one) to get in. It tried too hard to be challenging and endec up being totally absurd.

That said the Kings Quest series were not my favourites - I was more into the other Sierra games (and similar titles from different companies).

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Yep, 7 is the one I played. Highly bizarre like you said. There were many great Sierra adventure games but I can't for the life of me remember what they were!?

[bigsleepj]

Sierra games, eh?

Space Quest series
Kings Quest (earliers)
Police Quest series
Manhunter series (2 games)
Quest for Glory series
Gabriel Knight series
Dr Brain series
EcoQuest series (2 games)
Gold Rush!
Codename: Iceman
The Adventures of Willy Beamish
Heart of China
Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist (a favourite of mine)

[shooraijin]

I preferred the Infocom text adventures.

[bigsleepj]

As far as I know Infocom games were not really very popular over here. Or at least not in my area.

[TurkishMonky]

the dwarf throws a knife at you! it misses.
you are in a series of winding tunnels
a pile of jewels is here.
a dwarf's knife is here.

(you have to think classsic adveture to really be oldsckool, but i've played both ecoquests too, as well as some time travel sierra game that i can't recall)

[uc pseudonym]

I've played some of the King's Quest games and some of the Hugo games. Personally, older puzzle games tended to annoy me, because they were based on randomness (or warped syntax) instead of logic. For example, in the first Hugo game, you have to break open the pumpkin to get the key to enter the house. Yes, that isn't too hard, but why? Furthermore, you can't "break pumpkin" you have to "take pumpkin" and then "drop pumpkin."

One old adventure game I did enjoy was Zeliard (not sure how old it actually was, though). Unfortunately, my disks corrupted before I finished the game.

[TheMelodyMaker]

A few years ago, I bought the Roberta Williams Anthology directly from Sierra which has King's Quest 1-7 (both versions of #1), the two Laura Bow games, both versions of Mixed-Up Mother Goose, Chapter 1 of Phantasmagoria, and five Apple text adventures (with Apple II emulator). Good but challenging times... ^_^

I've also played the Hugo games and one text adventure game on the VIC-20 called Adventureland (which Mom somehow figured out before I did... ).

[bigsleepj]

I'm not familiar with the Hugo games. In fact, I'm stumped. (either that or I'm not just understanding what you are referring to). What were they about?

[Zilch]

Ah, yes, Space Quest...I love those games.

King's Quest 5 was t3h awesome in my day *insert crusty cackle*

By the way, BiSlJ...

1997-1980=fifteen?

[Myoti]

Hugo's House of Horrors, I believe?

Those were interesting games, though a bit... disturbing to me sometimes (name the beginning of the second one).

I also had these Indian Jones games like that. I always got to this part in a library where you had to break these tiles and go underground... then I got lost. O_o

[Nate]

How come no one's mentioned the game "Adventure" for the Atari 2600 yet? That game was crazy hard on the higher difficulty settings (invisible mazes + 3 dragons = BAD).

[FadedOne]

lol...not quite 'adventure' games b/c of the learning aspect, but MECC's Trail games were awesome. Amazon, Oregon, Yukon(mm...gambling and gold). When learning company took over, I think they started to suck. either that or i was just getting old. LoL.

[Arnobius]

Back then I had an Atari 800XL

I liked the old Ultima when it was a grid type layout. Once they got to Ultima V and later, I thought the game got too complicated for it's own good.

There was an ancient game "Twelve Labors of Heracles" that was pretty fun as well

[bigsleepj]

Space Quest 4: Roger Wilco & the Time Rippers was the best for me. It was the most inventive.

By the way, BiSlJ...

1997-1980=fifteen?

I flunked math. Guess why?

[uc pseudonym]

I'm not familiar with the Hugo games. In fact, I'm stumped. (either that or I'm not just understanding what you are referring to). What were they about?

There were three, titled:
Hugo's House of Horrors
(second title I've never seen)
Hugo and the Jungle of Doom

In the first, you're a guy who enters a haunted house to rescue your girlfriend. In the second, I believe you are that girlfriend and you have to solve a murder mystery (from what I hear, this one is the most difficult). In the last, Hugo crashes in a jungle and his girlfriend is bitten by a spider. You then have to find a way to cure her and get away.

Though I like some aspects of such old games, one thing that prevents me from truly enjoying them is the occasionally ridiculous logic required to solve the puzzles (or, at times, there is no logic at all). For example, at the very beginning of Hugo 3 you can find five different items: a sandwich, clay, a water flask, bullion cubes, and some pins.

Later on in the game, a tribal magician locks you in a cage. What do you do to get out? Naturally, one would suspect you have to create a distraction, or manipulate some of the things near enough to your cage to be altered. But no, actually, you have to voodoo the magician. Not only that, to make the doll out of clay, you have to type "Make effigy" (nothing similar works), then stick it with pins. Of course. Silly me for not catching that right away.

[Godly Paladin]

I loved the Might and Magic games...call me crazy, but there it is.

[TheMelodyMaker]

(second title I've never seen)

In the second, I believe you are that girlfriend and you have to solve a murder mystery (from what I hear, this one is the most difficult).

I can fill you in, UC. The second one is simply called "Hugo II: Whodunit!" and throughout most of the game the player is in control of Hugo's girlfriend, Penelope.

Of the three Hugo games, I did find the second one to be the hardest because of the hedge maze and the fact that you have to be able to not run into the side of the bridge while holding the matches (saving before trying it helps... ^_^; ).

Yet, Hugo II is actually the one that got me hooked on the other adventure games I mentioned in my previous post on this thread. Good times... ^_^

[Mithrandir]

"Someone get this frickin' duck away from me!"


(Sorry, had to do it).

I played most of the sierra games, and a few of the other ones here. I'm surprised no one mentioned ultima underworld or bards tale, though. Those were my faves.

[Destroyer2000]

It was in 97 that OoT and FFVII were released...or was that 98.

[Godly Paladin]

Bard's Tale is...like...the granddaddy king of this genre.

[Myoti]

Later on in the game, a tribal magician locks you in a cage. What do you do to get out? Naturally, one would suspect you have to create a distraction, or manipulate some of the things near enough to your cage to be altered. But no, actually, you have to voodoo the magician. Not only that, to make the doll out of clay, you have to type "Make effigy" (nothing similar works), then stick it with pins. Of course. Silly me for not catching that right away.

Ahhh that makes sense! No wonder I couldn't get out.

Hugo II kinda freaked me out at the beginning. You know, when you look through the lock and see that guy getting stabbed? I was kinda like O_O .