Here is the list of games, with timestamps: 00:20 - The Dig (1995) 01:31 - Cruise for a Corpse (1991) 02:35 - Discworld (1995) 03:34 - Maniac Mansion (1988) 06:16 - Beneath a Steel Sky (1994) 07:10 - Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995) 09:45 - Shadow of the Comet (1993) 11:00 - Sam & Max: Hit the Road (1993) 13:07 - Lure of the Temptress (1992) 14:13 - Leisure Suit Larry (1987) 15:40 - Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis (1992) 16:42 - Simon the Sorcerer (1993) 18:11 - Gabiel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993) 19:23 - King's Quest VI (1992) 20:48 - Monkey Island (1990) 21:50 - It Came From the Desert (1989) 23:29 - Space Quest V (1993) 24:25 - Full Throttle (1995) 25:48 - Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992) 27:00 - Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness (1993)
Maniac Mansion was the first adventure game I ever played and I feel like for a lot of people that would be a good place to start, just because the story's so contained. Great video btw, really enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for dropping in. I played DotT before playing MM, but Maniac Mansion is arguably the genesis of the modern adventure game. Good point, well made! 👍
Excellent video, gentlemen. As an old-school PC gamer, adventure games have long been my primary love (ever since the 'text only' adventures from my beloved BBC B as a young boy) and always remember that sadness in the late '90s when the genre very much crumbled away on a mainstream level. I'll copy-and-paste my thoughts on both channels, my thoughts on some of the entries (LONG post ahead... I keep threatening to start my own channel as I love this stuff so much) * The Dig: An interesting LucasArts entry that indeed experiments with the 'serious' route over the trademark 'wackiness'. I did get a copy of this some years later (early 2000s) but for some reason was one of the very few golden-era LucasArts games that I just couldn't get into. * Discworld: It's famed for it's difficulty, but maybe that's why I rank it as one of the best adventure games of all time (bearing in mind it was v rare for me never to finally complete one, in the days long before online walkthroughs). I actually purchased this game before I knew what Discworld actually WAS, but was blown away by the quality writing, the suitable graphic style, and beyond all the stellar voice cast. I actually beat this without walkthrough - the only bit that initially stumped me for a bit was simply down to obscure pixel hunting. The sequel was okay but I actually missed the challenge of the original and didn't like the more cartoonish graphics. * Maniac Mansion - along with Monkey Island, once of the benchmarks in the genre. I actually played the NES version first (I was only a brief NES owner as they lacked many adventure games), which generally is superior, especially in terms of music, but does have famous censorship issues. The PC version shown here is from a later enhanced CD version which does improve on the chunky graphics of the original. The whole layout of the game is great - I love how you're free to wander around the house, not being 'shoehorned' into situations as with so many adventure games, and whilst I as equally love 'Day of the Tentacle', I do wish they'd continued with the "choose your characters" thing as it makes for so much more chances of game outcomes. * Flight of the Amazon Queen - I remember buying this game mid '90s and then having to wait several years as I hadn't realised my PC specs at the time didn't meet requirements! :) Either way, a really nice game, very LucasArts influenced. The humour and dialogue sharpness is nowhere near the LucasArts level, but as an independent release, it's a definite "If like the LucasArts games then why not try this as well" entry. The only thing I recall is that I found the ended a bit of a damp squib (you don't even even the game flying the Amazon Queen IIRC)... oh and I'd never noticed the '36D BRA' on the side of the plane before now! * Shadow of the Comet - Has been on my list of "to play" adventures for a year or so after seeing it on several retro game channels. Looks great... and I intend to play it very soon. * Sam and Max - Just as you thought LucasArts couldn't get any wackier, along came this classic. Seriously wonderful, and I think the key with LucasArts is that they don't allow the 'wacky' to eclipse the content (as some wannabes sometimes did) so there's still a decent challenge in there. I agree with those who say plotwise it's not the strongest, but there's so many fun locations and characters to meet that this is easily forgivable. The only thing I felt let down on was the last stages of the game, with the Bigfoot convention, and the rather limp "...What was THAT?" ending which didn't match the heights of the general overall quality. I know there was, years later, the episodic download series, but I always longed for an official LucasArts sequel and never knew why they didn't make one. * Leisure Suit Larry - I remember when my dad bought our first PC home, a chunky 386 that he had acquired from work, and a box full of 5.1/4 floppies of a few copied adventure games (I was in haven). In amongst a few early Space Quests and Kings Quests I found LSL, and knew instantly it was 'naughty'. Whenever my parents were out for the evening (frustratingly rarely!) I would boot this up, bluff my way through the 'age verification' quiz, and enjoy this so much. But it wasn't simply because it was 'a bit naughty' - I'd had a few other cheeky games over the years and 10 mins after the novelty had worn off they were pretty boring; but Larry thrived on good writing and being very well executed. I've always felt the early, crude DOS graphics suit LSL so well, and the later VGA actually loses something. The text input interface also works very well with LSL as there's far more mischief to be had which becomes limited by point-and-click-only. I've played the whole series but still consider the original DOS entry the best. * Simon the Sorcerer - Amazingly never played it (Amazing as I KNOW I'll love it); along with Shadow of the Comet it's on my "to play this Winter" list (I have actually got an old floppy disk version but am holding out for the CD talkie version) * King's Quest VI - widely considered the best of the KQ series, I do love this one but KQ4 (a very under-dog entry that doesn't get mentioned as much) has always been my favourite by far as I was so engulfed in the fairly tale world it created and was so sad when it was finally over. KQ6 is still a goodie though - maybe I'm not as close to it as it was the only entry I didn't get to play originally, only finding it online (ahem) many years later. It's better than the Disney-fied KQ7 and the "In name only" final KQ game, though. * Monkey Island - along with Maniac Mansion, the other benchmark of adventure gaming (maybe even more-s). Wonderful on so many levels. I have to confess... I love MI2 even more (it's an age old debate) though both are golden classics. The third entry when the resurrect the series was pretty good though I didn't take to the slight shift in graphic style (a bit over-cartoony) and humour style, as the series traipsed on and felt need to go 3D (one of the nails in the coffin for the golden era of adventures) I didn't much like at all, but the first two, maybe even three, are some of LuscaArt's best ever output. By the way, I agree that the original DOS version is best (there's a later CD enhanced version I've never yet played); the HD remakes felt somehow hollow; the only decent thing with them is that you can flip to the original graphics and finally have a talkie version of the original game. * Space Quest V - Space Quest III is the first thing I ever played on that chunky old 386 my dad bought home from work, and I was blown away. I still regard it personally as the best in the series (and not just for nostalgia reasons), rivalled only by SQ4, which had a great time-travelling premise but seemed rather short for it's era. Oddly, like KQ6, SQV is the only one I didn't get to play originally, filling in the gap some years later, so again maybe that's why it doesn't top my list. Either way, although LucasArt's gets all the attention in retro reviews, Sierra's output, especially with the Space Quest series, isn't to be overlooked - beyond the infamous number of deaths, there are some really good concepts and some very funny moments in the series. * Full Throttle - Mixed feelings on this one, as it was from a time when the adventure market was starting to get the wobbles, and LucasArts clearly wanted to do 'something new' (which is fine) to try and recapture the market. As a result I find it a game with some okay elements but is unsure quite what it wants to be, is all over the place in terms of it's content and it's tone. It's also quite short (apparently midway through production the project was seriously curtailed). I wonder if I played this now if I'd take to it more - I lent my CD to a then-workmate many years ago and never got it back...! * Star Trek 25th Anniversary - Quote "There is exactly one good Star Trek game..." ...have you ever played ST:The Next Generation's 'A Final Unity'? A very similar adventure game, again with full voice cast and like 25th Anniversary, is AWESOME, one of my favourite adventure games ever. Anyway, 25th itself is wonderful - and I get the gist of the "only good ST game" in that the adventure genre lends itself so PERFECTLY to the franchise. I really loved playing this one; I also recall some sort of follow up with more missions, I'll have to read up and refres my memory on that one. So there's my lengthy thoughts on each. Recommendations for more? (This video needs a part two!) 'Day of the Tentacle', obviously, as it's legendary (you know what, I only ever played this on floppy, the final game before I got a CD drive... I should actually play the talkie version one day). * 'Toonstruck' - Virgin's early exploration into the point-and-click market which famously lost them loads of money and a compromised development history similar to Full Throttle, but starring Christopher Lloyd and good fun, worth checking out. * 'Gobliiins' - Very bizarre won't be everyone's cup of tea in terms of the puzzles involved but I really enjoyed it. * 'TeenAgent' is in the vein of 'Flight of the Amazon Queen' in that it is extremely LucasArts influenced, Amazon Queen maybe does it better but is still a charming indie game that should please old-school fans of the genre. * 'Grim Fandango' has hordes of fans, deservedly so for it's concept and storyline, though it marked the move to 3D which I never liked much in adventure games. * 'Alone in the Dark' - early (and not very nice) 3D graphics that were dated even when the game was released; however look past that and there is a serious scare-fest in this (one of the very few games ever to creep me out slightly). ...Lengthy review over. I really should start that damned RUclips channel I keep threatening, considering the time I seem to put in on the bloody comments section, it would be easier!! :)
Anyone who says "There are no good Star Trek games" obviously hasn't played Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. It is like really being there, inside an episode of the show. Plus it has all the shooting action from Quake 3 where it got its engine. The perfect blending of FPS and Star Trek!
Every time someone says "There are no good Star Trek games" there's always someone who says "What about Elite Force". I have played it. I will concede it is one of the best Star Trek games.
Good god, you're recommending Discworld to a beginner? I seem to remember getting a key from a guard and the puzzle involved custard, prunes, an octopus and an outhouse. Can you honestly say that anyone solves these puzzles without resorting to guessing every possible combination of things or just looking up the answer?
I mention the puzzles being hard, and definitely slate the moon logic. I even said it's harder to recommend than any other game on this list. Not sure why you're taking umbrage regardless of that but okay 👍 It's a really fun game with lots of good points. After you've played 19 other adventure games I'd say you wouldn't be so much of a beginner 😁
If you know a bit of German you can also check out the advertisement adventures we had over here, especially Telekommando 2 and Dunkle Schatten, the former a game sponsored by the Deutsche Telekom and the later by the state as an anti neonazi game. And being more RPG than adventure you could check out Vision A 5th Dimension Utopia, which was partially sponsored by the Sparkasse and the LBS.
Telekommando 1, 2 and Dunkle Schatten 1, 2 and 3 are actually freeware. Beware that Telekommando 1 is somewhat strange to play, part two is like a modern point and click, tough. And much better. Unless you are a completionist listen to the lioness, skip the first. :)
Here is the list of games, with timestamps:
00:20 - The Dig (1995)
01:31 - Cruise for a Corpse (1991)
02:35 - Discworld (1995)
03:34 - Maniac Mansion (1988)
06:16 - Beneath a Steel Sky (1994)
07:10 - Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995)
09:45 - Shadow of the Comet (1993)
11:00 - Sam & Max: Hit the Road (1993)
13:07 - Lure of the Temptress (1992)
14:13 - Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
15:40 - Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis (1992)
16:42 - Simon the Sorcerer (1993)
18:11 - Gabiel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993)
19:23 - King's Quest VI (1992)
20:48 - Monkey Island (1990)
21:50 - It Came From the Desert (1989)
23:29 - Space Quest V (1993)
24:25 - Full Throttle (1995)
25:48 - Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)
27:00 - Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness (1993)
Pinned for legendary effort post! Thanks Shane!
It was great coming together finally on this mate!
I need to come up with the next one. As you said, really great 👍👍
Maniac Mansion was the first adventure game I ever played and I feel like for a lot of people that would be a good place to start, just because the story's so contained. Great video btw, really enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for dropping in. I played DotT before playing MM, but Maniac Mansion is arguably the genesis of the modern adventure game. Good point, well made! 👍
Excellent video, gentlemen. As an old-school PC gamer, adventure games have long been my primary love (ever since the 'text only' adventures from my beloved BBC B as a young boy) and always remember that sadness in the late '90s when the genre very much crumbled away on a mainstream level. I'll copy-and-paste my thoughts on both channels, my thoughts on some of the entries (LONG post ahead... I keep threatening to start my own channel as I love this stuff so much)
* The Dig: An interesting LucasArts entry that indeed experiments with the 'serious' route over the trademark 'wackiness'. I did get a copy of this some years later (early 2000s) but for some reason was one of the very few golden-era LucasArts games that I just couldn't get into.
* Discworld: It's famed for it's difficulty, but maybe that's why I rank it as one of the best adventure games of all time (bearing in mind it was v rare for me never to finally complete one, in the days long before online walkthroughs). I actually purchased this game before I knew what Discworld actually WAS, but was blown away by the quality writing, the suitable graphic style, and beyond all the stellar voice cast. I actually beat this without walkthrough - the only bit that initially stumped me for a bit was simply down to obscure pixel hunting. The sequel was okay but I actually missed the challenge of the original and didn't like the more cartoonish graphics.
* Maniac Mansion - along with Monkey Island, once of the benchmarks in the genre. I actually played the NES version first (I was only a brief NES owner as they lacked many adventure games), which generally is superior, especially in terms of music, but does have famous censorship issues. The PC version shown here is from a later enhanced CD version which does improve on the chunky graphics of the original. The whole layout of the game is great - I love how you're free to wander around the house, not being 'shoehorned' into situations as with so many adventure games, and whilst I as equally love 'Day of the Tentacle', I do wish they'd continued with the "choose your characters" thing as it makes for so much more chances of game outcomes.
* Flight of the Amazon Queen - I remember buying this game mid '90s and then having to wait several years as I hadn't realised my PC specs at the time didn't meet requirements! :) Either way, a really nice game, very LucasArts influenced. The humour and dialogue sharpness is nowhere near the LucasArts level, but as an independent release, it's a definite "If like the LucasArts games then why not try this as well" entry. The only thing I recall is that I found the ended a bit of a damp squib (you don't even even the game flying the Amazon Queen IIRC)... oh and I'd never noticed the '36D BRA' on the side of the plane before now!
* Shadow of the Comet - Has been on my list of "to play" adventures for a year or so after seeing it on several retro game channels. Looks great... and I intend to play it very soon.
* Sam and Max - Just as you thought LucasArts couldn't get any wackier, along came this classic. Seriously wonderful, and I think the key with LucasArts is that they don't allow the 'wacky' to eclipse the content (as some wannabes sometimes did) so there's still a decent challenge in there. I agree with those who say plotwise it's not the strongest, but there's so many fun locations and characters to meet that this is easily forgivable. The only thing I felt let down on was the last stages of the game, with the Bigfoot convention, and the rather limp "...What was THAT?" ending which didn't match the heights of the general overall quality. I know there was, years later, the episodic download series, but I always longed for an official LucasArts sequel and never knew why they didn't make one.
* Leisure Suit Larry - I remember when my dad bought our first PC home, a chunky 386 that he had acquired from work, and a box full of 5.1/4 floppies of a few copied adventure games (I was in haven). In amongst a few early Space Quests and Kings Quests I found LSL, and knew instantly it was 'naughty'. Whenever my parents were out for the evening (frustratingly rarely!) I would boot this up, bluff my way through the 'age verification' quiz, and enjoy this so much. But it wasn't simply because it was 'a bit naughty' - I'd had a few other cheeky games over the years and 10 mins after the novelty had worn off they were pretty boring; but Larry thrived on good writing and being very well executed. I've always felt the early, crude DOS graphics suit LSL so well, and the later VGA actually loses something. The text input interface also works very well with LSL as there's far more mischief to be had which becomes limited by point-and-click-only. I've played the whole series but still consider the original DOS entry the best.
* Simon the Sorcerer - Amazingly never played it (Amazing as I KNOW I'll love it); along with Shadow of the Comet it's on my "to play this Winter" list (I have actually got an old floppy disk version but am holding out for the CD talkie version)
* King's Quest VI - widely considered the best of the KQ series, I do love this one but KQ4 (a very under-dog entry that doesn't get mentioned as much) has always been my favourite by far as I was so engulfed in the fairly tale world it created and was so sad when it was finally over. KQ6 is still a goodie though - maybe I'm not as close to it as it was the only entry I didn't get to play originally, only finding it online (ahem) many years later. It's better than the Disney-fied KQ7 and the "In name only" final KQ game, though.
* Monkey Island - along with Maniac Mansion, the other benchmark of adventure gaming (maybe even more-s). Wonderful on so many levels. I have to confess... I love MI2 even more (it's an age old debate) though both are golden classics. The third entry when the resurrect the series was pretty good though I didn't take to the slight shift in graphic style (a bit over-cartoony) and humour style, as the series traipsed on and felt need to go 3D (one of the nails in the coffin for the golden era of adventures) I didn't much like at all, but the first two, maybe even three, are some of LuscaArt's best ever output.
By the way, I agree that the original DOS version is best (there's a later CD enhanced version I've never yet played); the HD remakes felt somehow hollow; the only decent thing with them is that you can flip to the original graphics and finally have a talkie version of the original game.
* Space Quest V - Space Quest III is the first thing I ever played on that chunky old 386 my dad bought home from work, and I was blown away. I still regard it personally as the best in the series (and not just for nostalgia reasons), rivalled only by SQ4, which had a great time-travelling premise but seemed rather short for it's era. Oddly, like KQ6, SQV is the only one I didn't get to play originally, filling in the gap some years later, so again maybe that's why it doesn't top my list. Either way, although LucasArt's gets all the attention in retro reviews, Sierra's output, especially with the Space Quest series, isn't to be overlooked - beyond the infamous number of deaths, there are some really good concepts and some very funny moments in the series.
* Full Throttle - Mixed feelings on this one, as it was from a time when the adventure market was starting to get the wobbles, and LucasArts clearly wanted to do 'something new' (which is fine) to try and recapture the market. As a result I find it a game with some okay elements but is unsure quite what it wants to be, is all over the place in terms of it's content and it's tone. It's also quite short (apparently midway through production the project was seriously curtailed). I wonder if I played this now if I'd take to it more - I lent my CD to a then-workmate many years ago and never got it back...!
* Star Trek 25th Anniversary - Quote "There is exactly one good Star Trek game..." ...have you ever played ST:The Next Generation's 'A Final Unity'? A very similar adventure game, again with full voice cast and like 25th Anniversary, is AWESOME, one of my favourite adventure games ever. Anyway, 25th itself is wonderful - and I get the gist of the "only good ST game" in that the adventure genre lends itself so PERFECTLY to the franchise. I really loved playing this one; I also recall some sort of follow up with more missions, I'll have to read up and refres my memory on that one.
So there's my lengthy thoughts on each. Recommendations for more? (This video needs a part two!) 'Day of the Tentacle', obviously, as it's legendary (you know what, I only ever played this on floppy, the final game before I got a CD drive... I should actually play the talkie version one day).
* 'Toonstruck' - Virgin's early exploration into the point-and-click market which famously lost them loads of money and a compromised development history similar to Full Throttle, but starring Christopher Lloyd and good fun, worth checking out.
* 'Gobliiins' - Very bizarre won't be everyone's cup of tea in terms of the puzzles involved but I really enjoyed it.
* 'TeenAgent' is in the vein of 'Flight of the Amazon Queen' in that it is extremely LucasArts influenced, Amazon Queen maybe does it better but is still a charming indie game that should please old-school fans of the genre.
* 'Grim Fandango' has hordes of fans, deservedly so for it's concept and storyline, though it marked the move to 3D which I never liked much in adventure games.
* 'Alone in the Dark' - early (and not very nice) 3D graphics that were dated even when the game was released; however look past that and there is a serious scare-fest in this (one of the very few games ever to creep me out slightly).
...Lengthy review over. I really should start that damned RUclips channel I keep threatening, considering the time I seem to put in on the bloody comments section, it would be easier!! :)
That's the second biggest comment I've ever seen!
Brilliant video. Would love to see more.
It's 30 minutes long and was uploaded one minute ago 😂😂😂
He's fucking got ya MJ 😂😂
@@MattyStoked It's a Game Show video.
💙💙💙💙💙
I loved playing dig as a kid although I sucked at it! Not sure if it's a dos game, but full throttle was another favorite of mine.
Yeah Full Throttle runs in DOS, it counts for sure!
Anyone who says "There are no good Star Trek games" obviously hasn't played Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. It is like really being there, inside an episode of the show. Plus it has all the shooting action from Quake 3 where it got its engine. The perfect blending of FPS and Star Trek!
Every time someone says "There are no good Star Trek games" there's always someone who says "What about Elite Force". I have played it. I will concede it is one of the best Star Trek games.
Gentlemen, I have to bring up „A Final Unity“, which definitely is best Star Trek game of all time. Should also be in this list tbo. 👍
Good god, you're recommending Discworld to a beginner? I seem to remember getting a key from a guard and the puzzle involved custard, prunes, an octopus and an outhouse. Can you honestly say that anyone solves these puzzles without resorting to guessing every possible combination of things or just looking up the answer?
I mention the puzzles being hard, and definitely slate the moon logic. I even said it's harder to recommend than any other game on this list. Not sure why you're taking umbrage regardless of that but okay 👍 It's a really fun game with lots of good points. After you've played 19 other adventure games I'd say you wouldn't be so much of a beginner 😁
Wonderful stuff. 30 minute hitter
Thanks mate. Yeah, it's a big one! Haven't ever done a video this long before. Ooh-err. 😳
Sick
Sadly I didn’t see the game Lighthouse The Dark Being
If you know a bit of German you can also check out the advertisement adventures we had over here, especially Telekommando 2 and Dunkle Schatten, the former a game sponsored by the Deutsche Telekom and the later by the state as an anti neonazi game.
And being more RPG than adventure you could check out Vision A 5th Dimension Utopia, which was partially sponsored by the Sparkasse and the LBS.
I'm eager to have a go with these games. Better fire up eBay.de!
Telekommando 1, 2 and Dunkle Schatten 1, 2 and 3 are actually freeware.
Beware that Telekommando 1 is somewhat strange to play, part two is like a modern point and click, tough. And much better. Unless you are a completionist listen to the lioness, skip the first. :)