Category: Role Playing and Adventure Games

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Simon Woodroffe GAME DEVELOPER:Adventuresoft GAME PUBLISHER:Adventuresoft Copyright 1996, Adventuresoft From the creators of sleeper hit Simon the Sorcerer comes this truly epic adventure game that redefines the term “value for the money.” Every CD in this 4-CD game jammed packed (and I mean packed) with puzzles,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1993, Sierra On-Line Designed as an on-line multiplayer game, Shadow of Yserbius and Fates of Twinion unfortunately faded into oblivion with the demise of INN, Sierra’s on-line gaming service. Stripped off its multiplayer features, they are still decent…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Tomahawk GAME PUBLISHER:Coktel Vision Copyright 1991, Coktel Vision Fascination is, thank goodness, the last game in Coktel / Tomahawk’s short-lived line of risque, mature-themed adventures that began with Emmanuelle. Aside from its eye-catching “mature” label, the game is a rather mundane story about a…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Joiner GAME DEVELOPER:MicroIllusions GAME PUBLISHER:MicroIllusions Copyright 1988, MicroIllusions Faery Tale Adventure is the PC version of the Amiga classic that is unfortunately much worse than the Amiga version due to poorly implemented graphics, and bad scrolling. That probably explained why the game never sold well…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Paul S. Mudra & Brett W. Sperry GAME DEVELOPER:Westwood Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1992, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Westwood’s Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2 remain today two of the best real-time RPGs ever produced. They feature great graphics for their time,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Paul S. Mudra & Philip W. Gorrow GAME DEVELOPER:Westwood Studios GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1991, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Westwood’s Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2 remain today two of the best real-time RPGs ever produced. They feature great graphics for their time,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Infogrames GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1992, Infogrames Eternam is a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi game featuring a confusing pastiche of a plot (explore the wonders of pleasure planet Eternam) and graphics style, illogical puzzles, and annoying combat. Its only saving grace is probably the game’s wacky sense…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Richard Seaborne & Alan Murphy GAME DEVELOPER:Electronic Arts GAME PUBLISHER:Electronic Arts Copyright 1990, Electronic Arts A “light” RPG with a healthy dose of humor, Escape from Hell is based on an interesting premise: you are a typical guy who’s one day mysteriously “zapped” into Hell. And…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Virtual Xperience GAME PUBLISHER:Virtual Xperience Copyright 1996, Virtual Xperience Escape from Delirium is a fun shareware game by a small German company Virtual Xperience. The game’s plot sounds as if it were borrowed from one too many Indiana Jones movies, but with some neat…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Coktel Vision GAME PUBLISHER:Coktel Vision Copyright 1989, Coktel Vision In this early Coktel Vision game, your play a smitten lad who’s desparately trying to find Emmanuelle, the girl of your dreams, in an island resort and make sure you can keep her satisfied with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:VJ Lakshman & Ted Peterson GAME DEVELOPER:Bethesda Softworks GAME PUBLISHER:Bethesda Softworks Copyright 1992, Bethesda Softworks One of the most all-encompassing RPGs ever created didn’t succeed commercially due to hefty hardware requirements for its time. Nine man years in the making, Arena heralds a new level of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Matt Gruson GAME DEVELOPER:Interstel GAME PUBLISHER:Interstel Copyright 1990, Interstel In Matt Gruson’s first adventure game, you play an astronaut / scientist who is rudely awaken from cryo sleep by the ship’s alarm. Explore a deserted space station overtaken by weird aliens and avert an asteroid’s crash…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Event Horizon GAME PUBLISHER:Interstel Copyright 1990, Interstel This is the forerunner to classic The Summoning. I actually like the plot of this game more than its descendant’s, even though it has more outdated graphics, small figures that are hard to see, and repetitive puzzles…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Dreamforge Intertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1993, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) In a departure from EH’s normal adventure/RPG norm, Dungeon Hack is a straightforward hack-n-slash dungeon crawl that is best described as a modern version of ASCII classic Rogue. Randomly-generated dungeons, with…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:R?mi Herbulot GAME DEVELOPER:Cryo Interactive GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1990, Virgin Interactive A neat adventure/strategy hybrid from Cryo, this game casts you as Paul Atreides, the protagonist in the classic Dune series by Frank Herbert. Although the game is fairly linear, there’s enough strategy elements to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Creative Reality GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1991, Creative Reality Dreamweb: a dark, brooding game set in a dystopian near-future. It is not a game for pacifists or vegetarians. Nor is it a game for those who value deep and intricate plots, characters with depth, or…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Jason Rubin & Andy Gavin GAME DEVELOPER:Naughty Dog GAME PUBLISHER:Baudville Copyright 1987, Naughty Dog Essentially a “one hit wonder” company, Baudville released many sub-par adventure games in mid 80s, except this game which turns out to be a surprisingly interesting adventure about the influences of dreams…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Draconian GAME PUBLISHER:Infogrames Copyright 1990, Draconian Betrayal at Krondor is usually credited as the first RPG to use first-person, 3D landscape. But as you can see here that’s definitely not the case: Drakkhen, released in the U.S. by MicroProse, was way ahead of its…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Matt Gruson GAME DEVELOPER:MicroProse GAME PUBLISHER:MicroProse Copyright 1994, MicroProse After the disappointing Return of the Phantom, Matt outdid himself with this game, incidentally the very last he’d have produced for MicroProse. The game casts you as a king of a faraway kingdom who must journey across…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brian Fargo GAME DEVELOPER:Interplay GAME PUBLISHER:Interplay Copyright 1990, Interplay The true successor to Interplay’s acclaimed Bard’s Tales games that unfortunately never got as much attention, Dragon Wars is an epic fantasy game that combines the best elements of Interplay’s previous RPGs. Fans of classic sci-fi RPG…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:ICOM Simulations GAME PUBLISHER:Viacom Newmedia Copyright 1995, ICOM Simulations ICOM’s last game (although no longer in their name), in contrast to the horrible Sherlock Holmes games earlier that used the same FMV-based engine, is a surprisingly good adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Mike Singleton GAME DEVELOPER:Beyond Software GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1995, Beyond Software Chris Wild did a superb job on unofficial PC conversions of Lord of Midnight and its sequel Doomdark’s Revenge, Mike Singleton’s epic RPGs first released for the Spectrum and Commodore 64. Like Mike Singleton’s later…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Accolade GAME PUBLISHER:Accolade Copyright 1989, Accolade The one and only RPG from Accolade is a refreshing game set in modern-day haunted house. Control a party of four intrepid adventurers as they battle over 100 spooks in a muti-level maze. Innovatice touches include making alchemical…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Perfect 10 Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1997, Psygnosis Two of the most underrated adventure games ever, both Discworld games are based on Terry Pratchett’s pun-filled fantasy Discworld series, in which the whole world is carried through space by a turtle, and idioms and puns…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:David Johnston & Gregg Barnett GAME DEVELOPER:Perfect 10 Productions GAME PUBLISHER:Psygnosis Copyright 1995, Psygnosis Two of the most underrated adventure games ever, both Discworld games are based on Terry Pratchett’s pun-filled fantasy Discworld series, in which the whole world is carried through space by a turtle,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Dreamers Guild, The GAME PUBLISHER:Turner Interactive Copyright 1996, Turner Interactive The intriguing fantasy world of Dinotopia by celebrated writer/artist James Gurney is brought to life in this underrated adventure game for kids of all ages. You are Nathan, a young lad who found himself…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Seth Robinson GAME DEVELOPER:Robinson Technologies GAME PUBLISHER:Freeware Copyright 1997, Robinson Technologies Dink Smallwood is a fun “light” action-based RPG from originally released as shareware. Despite the almost nonexistent plot, Dink Smallwood features excellent isometric graphics, and fun physical puzzles and gameplay similar to console hit Zelda…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Graeme Bayless & David Shelley GAME DEVELOPER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Copyright 1986, Strategic Simulations Inc. (SSI) Quietly released by SSI in 1986 and 1987 were 2 PC conversions of their classic Apple II RPGs: Demon’s Winter and The Shard of Spring.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Kelly Flock GAME DEVELOPER:Micro Forte GAME PUBLISHER:Strategic Studies Group (SSG) Copyright 1988, Micro Forte This relatively unknown top-down dungeon romp was one of the first RPGs that include a full-fledged dungeon editor program that allows you to design dungeons easily with a mouse-based interface (as shown…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:ICOM Simulations GAME PUBLISHER:ICOM Simulations Copyright 1986, ICOM Simulations Unarguably the best game ICOM ever produced, Deja Vu 2 continues the storyline of the first game, only this time you no longer have an amnesia. As an ace private detective, use your sleuthing skills…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:ICOM Simulations GAME PUBLISHER:ICOM Simulations Copyright 1985, ICOM Simulations The first ICOM game, Deja Vu 1 introduces multiple-window user interface, mouse support (back in 1986– when not many people knew what a “mouse” is ), and true WYSIWYG. In this game, you wake up…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Glen Dahlgren GAME DEVELOPER:Legend Entertainment GAME PUBLISHER:Legend Entertainment Copyright 1994, Legend Entertainment Death Gate is a great fantasy adventure based on best-selling novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. As young Haplo, member of the despised Patryn race, you are tasked with finding all pieces of…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Eldritch Games GAME PUBLISHER:Millennium Copyright 1992, Eldritch Games Created by the same team that brought us atmospheric text adventure The Hound of Shadow, Daughter of the Serpent suffers from almost nonexistent puzzles and short length. Nevertheless, the plot, which involves ancient Egyptian curse and…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Event Horizon GAME PUBLISHER:Binary Zoo Copyright 1990, Event Horizon Dreamforge’s first game as Event Horizon is a solid overhead RPG that deftly combines real-time action and physical puzzles (e.g. traps, switches) with traditional RPG gaming. The plot which involves arcane artifacts and the usual…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Arnold Hendrick GAME DEVELOPER:MicroProse GAME PUBLISHER:MicroProse Copyright 1992, MicroProse One of the very best RPGs ever produced, and definitely the BEST historical RPG ever, Darklands was unfortunately plagued with a slew of bugs when it was first released, many of which could critically damage system files.…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Cyberdreams GAME PUBLISHER:Cyberdreams Copyright 1992, Cyberdreams One of the most memorable (and few) science fiction- horror games ever released, Dark Seed is an interesting horror/scifi story based on the haunting artwork of H.R. Giger, creator of Aliens. As writer Mike Dawson, you must travel…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Ian Boswell GAME DEVELOPER:Brderbund GAME PUBLISHER:Brderbund Copyright 1990, Brderbund Arguably one of the best RPGs ever, this game has managed to somehow be excluded from every single Hall of Fame lists. Dark Heart of Uukrul rivals the best RPGs out there! Turn-based combat with great (albeit…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Russell Lees GAME DEVELOPER:inSCAPE GAME PUBLISHER:Time Warner Interactive Copyright 1996, inSCAPE Important note: The download here is NOT a zip file – you have to rename it first – please read the Technical Notes below after you download! Sorry to put this in the review text,…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Beam International GAME PUBLISHER:Philips Media Copyright 1995, Beam International In case you’re wondering (like I did), this is the same Beam Software that published Melbourne House’s adventure games back in the ’80s. Too bad not many people in the U.S. knows of this fun…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Imagitec Design GAME PUBLISHER:GameTek Copyright 1993, Imagitec Design One of the few underdogs that failed commercially despite an ambitious marketing campaign… which in this case includes a 30-min “The Making of Daemonsgate” video with the first copies.. mine still works . The game really…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robert Toone & Ian Sabine GAME DEVELOPER:Core Design GAME PUBLISHER:Core Design Copyright 1992, Core Design A good example of the “good concept butchered by poor execution” syndrome, Curse of Enchantia‘s only feature that is worth mentioning is the fact that it was one of the first…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Silmarils GAME PUBLISHER:Silmarils Copyright 1990, Silmarils The precursor to highly successful Isharseries, Crystals of Arborea‘s story is Waterworld meets AD&D: as prince of Arborea, last refuge in the submerged world, embark on a quest to find 4 crystals and defeat the evil Morgoth to…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Philippe Chastel & Paul Cuisset GAME DEVELOPER:Delphine Software GAME PUBLISHER:Interplay Copyright 1991, Delphine Software Cruise for a Corpse is a fun murder mystery that is long on presentation but short on gameplay. The plot is heavily inspired by Agatha Christie’s Murder on The Nile: the game…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Starbyte GAME PUBLISHER:Starbyte Copyright 1993, Starbyte Yet another casualty of the “good idea, bad execution” syndrome, Crime Time has an interesting (if overused) plot: framed for a murder and trapped in a hotel with a friend, you must find the real killer and clear…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Steven Redpath GAME DEVELOPER:Impressions GAME PUBLISHER:Impressions Copyright 1993, Impressions This is a neat little adventure game that was released only in Europe with little fanfare. As the prodigal son whose father was arrested for crime he didn’t commit, it’s up to you to track down the…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Brent Erickson & Chris Jones GAME DEVELOPER:Access Software GAME PUBLISHER:Access Software Copyright 1990, Access Software Similar to Access’ early Tex Murphy adventures, Countdown has an incredible amount of “pixel-hunt” puzzles and several pointless “arcade” sequences. The plot of this game is quite interesting, though (although they…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Codemasters GAME PUBLISHER:Codemasters Copyright 1993, Codemasters Cosmic Spacehead is a decent arcade adventure drawn in the illustration style of the 1950s (TV’s The Jetsons comes to mind). Bright graphics, a simple point-and-click interface for the adventure elements, interspursed with enjoyable arcade romps will keep…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Christy Marx GAME DEVELOPER:Sierra On-Line GAME PUBLISHER:Sierra On-Line Copyright 1993, Sierra On-Line Christy Marx followed up on the underrated Conquest of Camelotwith another excellent historical epic that, unfortunately, is also severely underrated and undersold. As none other than the fabled “Prince of Thieves” Robin Hood, here…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER: GAME DEVELOPER:Viacom Newmedia GAME PUBLISHER:Viacom Newmedia Copyright 1996, Viacom Newmedia A decent adaptation of the Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name (or more precisely, the movie that followed), Congo suffers from frustrating action elements and overly obscure puzzle solutions. In one offending puzzle, you…

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs GAME DESIGNER:Robert Clardy GAME DEVELOPER:Synergistic Software GAME PUBLISHER:Virgin Interactive Copyright 1992, Virgin Interactive The fourth game by Synergistic traces the adventures of well-known comic book hero Conan from his humble beginnings as a blacksmith. The World Builder engine, which has remained more or less the same for…