Best non-infocom games of the commercial era of the 1980s and early 1990s - an IFDB Poll
by Mikalye
RSS FeedThere were a bunch of commercial games released in the 1980's and early 90's.
In the UK, Magnetic Scrolls release 9 games between 1984-1990
Level 9 released 24 games and a port of Colossal Cave between 1981-1991,
Delta 4 released 9ish games between 1984-1992,
Topologika relased 11 games between 1983-1988,
Melbourne House released 6 text adventures between 1982 and 1987 (including the million-selling The Hobbit).
Artic Computing published 4 between 1980-86
In the US:
Tellarium/Trillium publsished 8 games between 1984-1994
Wyndham Classics had 6 between 1984-1987
And later Legend Entertainment released 13 games between 1989 and 1998
and Cascade Mountain published 2
Some of these are easy to get a copy of today. Some are impossible. I am looking for which of these are worth the effort.
View Comments (4) - Add a comment
| The Hobbit, by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler 2 votes "A classic game for a classic book" [+]"A classic game for a classic book: Possibly the single most popular adventure game for the weaker 8-bit machines in Europe, where Infocom's didn't run, and one of the few successful book adaptations out there. You'll want a walkthrough, but armed with one the game is a delight, slow vector graphics and all. Truly a classic." ( ) --Felix Pleșoianu... "Okay game" [+]"Okay game" () --Denk...  Vote for this game | |
| Eric the Unready, by Bob Bates 1 vote "Funniest" [+]"Funniest" ( ) --jakomo... Vote for this game | |
| Gnome Ranger, by Pete Austin 1 vote "Fun puzzlefest with good humor" [+]"Fun puzzlefest with good humor" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Amazon, by Michael Crichton 1 vote "Sufficient but primitive parser" [+]"Sufficient but primitive parser" ( - Full review) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| The Pawn, by Rob Steggles, Peter Kemp, Hugh Steers, Ken Gordon, and Geoff Quilley 1 vote "Fun puzzlefest" [+]"Fun puzzlefest" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Lords of Time, by Sue Gazzard and Ian Buxton 1 vote "Nice despite the primitive parser" [+]"Nice despite the primitive parser" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Bugsy, by Priscilla Langridge 1 vote "You didn't mention CRL but this one is good too. " [+]"You didn't mention CRL but this one is good too. " ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Fish!, by John Molloy, Pete Kemp, Phil South, Rob Steggles 1 vote "Good but very hard" [+]"Good but very hard" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Mindshadow, by Brian Fargo 1 vote "Maybe not the "best" but one of my favorites" [+]"Maybe not the "best" but one of my favorites: Between the box art and the plot - before it became cliché - this game also wasn't too difficult to finish, and so it was a favorite of mine for quite a while." ( - Full review) --mjhayes... Vote for this game | |
| Gateway, by Mike Verdu, Michael Lindner, and Glen Dahlgren 1 vote "Best novel adaptation ever?" [+]"Best novel adaptation ever?" ( ) --jakomo... Vote for this game | |
| Lancelot, by Christina Erskin, Joan Lamb, Neil Scrimgeour, Dicken Peeke, Nusarath Jahan, Mike Austin, Nick Austin, John Jones-Steele, and Mike Bryant 1 vote "Good despite a few bugs" [+]"Good despite a few bugs" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| The Big Sleaze, by Fergus McNeill 1 vote "Fun, developed by Delta 4, published by Piranha" [+]"Fun, developed by Delta 4, published by Piranha" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Ingrid's Back, by Pete Austin, Peter McBride, Godfrey Dowson, Graham Jones 1 vote "Sequal to Gnome Ranger and even better" [+]"Sequal to Gnome Ranger and even better" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |
| Scapeghost, by Pete Austin 1 vote "Good with..." [+]"Good with sophisticated parser" ( ) --Denk... Vote for this game | |