| 6 FEB 2006 at 1:28am |
colpetSchattenjger
Posts : 1630
Joined: 12 APR 2003
Status : Offline | I didn't buy any of them at the time they were released, but I now own all of them but Hopkins, Jack Orlando, TLC and X-files. I've played the ones I have, except for the Quivering and Monty Python. I started Grim Fandango, but gave up due to the impossible controls.
So, the best of the bunch for me would be Black Dahlia. A suberb game full of a myriad of puzzles, a great story and a good, long playing time. I loved every minute of it, even the ending.
My next favorite would be Morpheus. A spooky abandoned ship, lots to explore. I thought it was great.
Occasionally visiting Uru Live (KI 0063722 .&&
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 1:28am |
WimliGuild Master
Posts : 3259
Joined: 14 MAR 2003
Status : Offline | I could be wrong, but isn't Starship Titanic also from 1998? I know you can't include all games, but I think that one would get at least a few votes. Right now I'm doubting between Sanitarium, X-Files, Morpheus and, if it's actually from 98, Starship Titanic.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 1:46am |
RobDSorcerer Apprentice
Posts : 382
Joined: 30 NOV 2002
Status : Online | The games I played on the list were
Black Dahlia
Blackstone Chronicles
Grim Fandango
Journeyman Project 3
Morpheus
Sanatarium
X-files
JP3 I know I played when it was first released, and also possibly Morpheus. Black Dahlia,
Blackstone Chronicles, and Grim Fandango were played within the last two years and the last
two games sometime in between.
I would count all of them as favorites except Black Dahlia and X-files (I enjoyed BD though), Grim
Fandango and Morpheus being at the top of the bunch.
This was a good year.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 3:55am |
jujigatameSchattenjger
Posts : 1976
Joined: 14 FEB 2003
Status : Online | Pick Grim Fandango lest ye be taunted mercilessly by me. You have been warned.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 4:17am |
Lady KestrelGuild Master
Posts : 4038
Joined: 27 SEP 2004
Location: US, NJ
Status : Offline | Starship Titanic was published in 1998, so that would be my first choice (my first game, my first love). [smiley=love.gif] Since it wasn't on the list, I chose other. Next would come JP 3 and then Morpheus, both terrific games that kept me occupied for a long time. The rest I haven't played.
"Where is the fountain that throws up these flowers in a ceaseless outbreak of ecstasy?"
-Rabindranath Tagore
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 6:45am |
SonicIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 49
Joined: 17 NOV 2002
Status : Online | Thanks for answers.
Yes indeed Starship Titanic is from 1998; however as there are limitations for the number of poll options (which is 15) and thus I had not to include some adventures, mainly tried to base it on JA+ grades. Another game released in 1998 that might be of interest was Zero Critical.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 7:59am |
| Deleted User | Black Dahlia was my choice. If I had a second vote I would nominate Grim Fandango. I haven't played the other games, except Jack Orlando .......... I enjoyed that too.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 1:04pm |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By jujigatame (6 FEB 2006 3:55am)
Pick Grim Fandango lest ye be taunted mercilessly by me. You have been warned.
Not if it's on the same list as Sanitarium, my little sadistic friend. [smiley=zombie.gif]
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 1:24pm |
Chris.Schattenjger
Posts : 1842
Joined: 8 MAR 2005
Status : Online | Voted for GF in the end, but it could have just as easily gone to Black Dahlia or JP3.
...not to be confused with Keira Knightley
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 2:22pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | Ahhh! Not possible! Too many great games in that year to make a fair choice!
Actually it is a shame you can't choose more than one game -at least then the votes would tally up with people's favourites rather than having to go for just one.
Grim Fandango is going to win this; it's a great game and a lot of people have played it, but I rate Sanitarium and Journeyman 3 very highly, and think Morpheus, Blackstone Chronicles, The Quivering and Dark Side of the Moon are all first rate as well.
I've gone for JP3, just because it was an early game for me and one I really loved, and GF won't need any more votes than it'll get already.
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 6:54pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
I voted for Grim Fandango because I consider it to be one of the very best PC games ever created - in any genre in any era.
However, 1998 was a really great year for PC AGs with Sanitarium and TJP3 in a virtual tie for second best in my book and Black Dahlia a close third. But there were also several other excellent titles that year - the last time we had so many good ones to choose from.
BTW, if you also play games in other genres, it was perhaps the best year ever for PC gaming with Baldur's Gate, Fallout 2, Half-Life, Unreal, Heretic 2, Thief: The Dark Project and StarCraft also being released.
Cheers, Terry
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 10:11pm |
ElfstoneGuild Master
Posts : 5892
Joined: 4 NOV 2002
Status : Online | I'd really love to play Black Dahlia, but I haven't, so far.
Sanatarium is overrated, in my opinion. I was almost through (I guess) when my hard drive died...I haven't tried another time since then and I don't really feel the urge to do...
So my choice has to go to Grim Fandango, although I didn't particularly digged this game, because of some rather bad puzzles...but there's nothing else I have played!
It's funny that you all praise 1998 and I can't tell what was so great about it...that either means I have a lot of classic games to play or you have different standards than I have. So far, 1999 was far more difficult for me to pick from.
[b]playing[/b]: Destination Treasure Island (done in two sittings, but it's nice), Syberia (ho-hum), Dracula: Last Sanctuary (on hold)&&[b]reading[/b]: even more study papers&&[b]listening to[/b]: [url=http://www.last.fm/user/Brax82/]this and that[/url], plus [url=http://www.musicovery.com/]Musicovery[/url]&&[b]TV favorites[/b]: (currently) Pushing Daisies, Chuck, Journeyman (cancelled! grrr...), Heroes&& all-time) 24, Stargate SG1, X-Files, Lost, House
|
| 6 FEB 2006 at 11:56pm |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Originally Posted By Elfstone (6 FEB 2006 10:10pm)
I'd really love to play Black Dahlia, but I haven't, so far.
Sanatarium is overrated, in my opinion. I was almost through (I guess) when my hard drive died...I haven't tried another time since then and I don't really feel the urge to do...
So my choice has to go to Grim Fandango, although I didn't particularly digged this game, because of some rather bad puzzles...but there's nothing else I have played!
It's funny that you all praise 1998 and I can't tell what was so great about it...that either means I have a lot of classic games to play or you have different standards than I have. So far, 1999 was far more difficult for me to pick from.
Perhaps we have different personal tastes in games as opposed to standards Elfstone.
Both Grim Fandango and Sanitarium were widely acclaimed by critics and fans alike in 1998. IMO, they deserved that praise. But so did GK3 and TLJ the following year.
However, I also thought TJP3 was a terrific game and Black Dahlia was far better than average. So too were The Blackstone Chronicles and Tex Murphy: Overseer. When they are added altogether, they represent a pretty impressive list of PC AGs all released in the same year. And in my case, they have to be considered atop an amazing list of RPG, action, sim and strategy titles that also came out in 1998. It was a great year for all-around PC gaming.
BTW, to be fair there was another oft forgotten PC AG that came out in 1999 that I really enjoyed. It was called Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy. Not in the same league with GK3 or TLJ by most standards but still a very good AG with a cool story and some very fun puzzles. Although they were definitely action hybrids, Omikron and Outcast also added to an impressive list in 1999.
But overall (and this is based on my personal tastes as well as reviews, etc.), there were more good games of more types in more genres to choose from the previous year. More to the point, several were classic style PC AGs, including one of my all-time top 10 picks Grim Fandango. IMO, it is almost in a league of its own when style, originality, humor and total execution are considered.
Cheers, Terry
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 12:30am |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5538
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Of the games on the list, I've played Journeyman Project 3, Sanitarium, and Grim Fandango. The first two are truly great, top 20 favorites of mine, but no question the best is Grim Fandango.
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 3:43am |
jujigatameSchattenjger
Posts : 1976
Joined: 14 FEB 2003
Status : Online | Originally Posted By Mark (6 FEB 2006 1:04pm)
Originally Posted By jujigatame (6 FEB 2006 3:55am)
Pick Grim Fandango lest ye be taunted mercilessly by me. You have been warned.
Not if it's on the same list as Sanitarium, my little sadistic friend. [smiley=zombie.gif]
Sanitarium was an excellent game. However, the lead voice actor did a really poor job and the action sequence in the pumpkin patch was sort of silly and stupid. Grim Fandango was gaming perfection. As Terry says, one of the best PC games in any genre, ever.
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 5:19am |
Terry PenrodGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 6693
Joined: 16 OCT 2004
Location: US, Texas
Status : Offline | .
Yep, there was a reason that despite all the incredible PC games that came out in 1998 in several major genres, Gamespot still picked Grim Fandango as the Best Overall PC GOTY.
Remember too that this was before Gspot and ZDnet were gobbled up by Cnet and all the negative crap occurred. Back then they were as good as any game site period and their reviews were extremely well written. They had a huge staff of very good people including paid professional moderators on all 70 ZDnet message boards. The PC and console game forums were massive, and collectively they had over a million active registered members.
More impressive was that the majority of members that regularly participated in the game forums agreed with the editor's choice. The truly global community on average was very knowledgable about AGs as well as classic RPGs and we had some great discussions there over the years. Of course there were also many action, strategy and sim fans but even they respected good AGs and most people played a little bit of everything. The consensus was that Grim Fandango displayed a rare set of qualities that transcended its native genre and set it apart as a very special title.
I happen to agree with that opinion and have replayed the game numerous times just to revel in the uniquely odd world that Tim Schafer created.
Cheers, Terry
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 5:42am |
JoGuild Master
Posts : 3313
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Location: AU, Qld.
Status : Offline | I haven't played all of them and the only one I played in the year it actually came out was Black Dahlia, so I've gone with that.
However I find it awfully hard to pick one game over another when some are FMV and others cartoony. I did love Grim Fandango but only managed to use the controls second time around after uninstalling it originally, now looking back I sort of wonder why I had a problem with it in the first place, : really the controls aren't difficult at all I don't think it's just a question of trial and error until you become comfortable with them.
The other two I've played are Tex Murphy, Overseer - loved that one also and X/Files which was rather mediocre compared to the others.
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 9:41am |
MarkGuild Master
Posts : 3803
Joined: 10 OCT 2002
Location: US, Georgia
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By jujigatame (7 FEB 2006 3:42am)
...Grim Fandango was gaming perfection. As Terry says, one of the best PC games in any genre, ever.
jujigatame and Terry : I really must tend to agree with you. Whatever praises you sing for Grim Fandango...I really must harmonize with you on this game.
However...I just happened to like Sanitarium more. But enough of that.
I wasn't prepared to use the keyboard as the physical interface to play Grim Fandango, so the following is a detailed account (which I have kept all these years in a Notepad file) of how I installed and played Grim Fandango in 1999 (I picked it up later than maybe most of you).
Please remember: this was written and posted several years ago in early 1999 when I set up all this stuff to play G.F., and below is the very dated newsgroup post of how I "set up" the game to play it with the least amount of gameplay hassle - and the greatest ease of gaming pleasure:[size=16]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To whom it may concern:
I'm playing "Grim Fandango" right now, and I'm happy with all the steps I took for this particular game's performance.
1) After I installed the game, I downloaded the patch for the forklift/elevator "problem" from www.lucasarts.com (updated from V1.0 to V1.01), whether I needed it or not.
2) I copied the" Year 1" files from the CD (in the Grimdata folder) to my hard drive. These are: Data001.lab, Movie01.lab, Vox0001.lab, and Year1mus.lab files. This allows the game to run off the hard drive, not the CD. Cut scenes are MUCH faster this way.
3) I enabled my Diamond Monster 3DII Voodoo 2 accelerator card which I set for Direct3d, and made minor gamma corrections. If you use a graphics accelerator card, the graphics tend to be somewhat washed out and pixelated, so this minor adjustment is necessary.
4) I programmed my digital Gravis Xterminator gamepad for all the keyboard functions. Actually, I defaulted all functions to Direct X, which corresponds with the Grim Fandango manual (there's a picture of the gamepad in the manual). By using my Xterminator (the BEST gamepad there is, in my opinion-about $35, and worth every penny, even for Adventure point 'n'clickers), I can easily make Manny run, talk, pick up stuff, etc. It's so much easier than using the keyboard, seeing how that Grim Fandango is not mouse-driven whatsoever.
I would encourage anyone that has these options, to use them for this incredible game.
By the way, my system is:
350Mhz, AMD-K6-2 processor with 3DNow! technology, 224MB RAM, and 2x AGP 3D graphics on the motherboard.
Thanks!
Mark"[size=16]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, as you can see - I went through quite a lot of trouble to download and install the patch, program all the buttons, joysticks, and levers on the digital Gravis Xterminator gamepad, copy files from the CD to my teeny hard drive, tweak my video card for a bit of gamma correction - but it made it the best near-console Adventure gaming experience I've ever had.
Would I do it again? Yes, I would, and would play it on my old machine using exactly the same installation, the same old video card, would copy the aforementioned files the same way, and use the same control device (the old digital, pre-USB Gravis Xterminator).
The game ran flawlessly, and I never had to ever touch the keyboard whatsoever.
As a last note: the digital Gravis Xterminator could be programmed to use one of the joysticks to act as a mouse pointer. I loved that!
It's the classic older '90's games like Grim Fandango (and the speed and interfaces one must have) that inspire me to keep my old Windows '98, 350 MHz machine in good shape.
And it will still play Amber - a game that no one seems to have figured out how to run on WinXP yet (or maybe they have). And there's absolutely no need for "Slo-Mo"-type programs when one has their old computer that plays those older games beautifully.
Please proofread your posts carefully to see if you any words out.
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 2:21pm |
AvatarPrivate Detective
Posts : 661
Joined: 3 JAN 2004
Status : Online | oh WOW, this is a HARD one.... I've played a few of these, including Blackstone Chronicles, Grim Fandango, JP3, Morpheus and Sanitarium.
I agree that ALL are fabulous games, and I had a hard time between Blackstone, GF, and Sanitarium, since they were ALL amazingly awsome games.
I gave my vote to Blackstone, however, since when I played the game, I'd just finished majoring in psychology and it just hit home for me. A lot of the strange plot was eerily appropriate at that stage of my life (plus GF is going to get all the votes anyway and I wanted to give one to an underdog.)
My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am.&&&&The measure of civility in a society is not how it treats those that are loved, but how it treats those that are hated.
|
| 7 FEB 2006 at 3:09pm |
CrapstormJourneyman
Posts : 829
Joined: 18 FEB 2004
Status : Online | This is the easiest poll I've ever participated in. It was a pretty good year for adventures, but Grim Fandango is in a class of its own. It's a creative masterpiece that stands as proof that there are no artistic limits in the medium of video games. It didn't have the revolutionary impact on the industry that Myst had, but for those of us in the know, it's the Citizen Kane of computer games.
|
| 8 FEB 2006 at 6:53pm |
dombrewerGuild Master
Posts : 3103
Joined: 19 JAN 2003
Status : Offline | I'm really surprised that Black Dahlia is doing so well in the race for second place after the inevitable cleanup by Manny Calavera. I thought it was so obscure and difficult that much of my enjoyment of the game was taken up by following an obligatory walkthrough. Go Sanitarium! Go JP3! Go Blackstone!
[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/detective.gif[/img][b]Playing:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/blahblah.gif[/img][b]Reading:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/whistle.gif[/img][b]Listening:[/b] &&[img]http://www.justadventure.com/public_html/yabbfiles/Smilies/indie.gif[/img][b]Watching:[/b]
|
| 8 FEB 2006 at 9:08pm |
JoGuild Master
Posts : 3313
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Location: AU, Qld.
Status : Offline | Dom,
I think Black Dahlia was the first game that I really started using hints for to any extent. I'm sure some people must have got through it without hints or a walkthrough - but I'm certainly not one of them. Some of those puzzles seemed awfully hard, however I enjoyed the game despite that, except for the ending - although some people didn't even mind that! Anyway as it was the only game I actually played that particular year I thought I'd vote for it - after all, Grim Fandango was always going to be the winner.
|
| 10 FEB 2006 at 9:17pm |
SonicIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 49
Joined: 17 NOV 2002
Status : Online | My own opinion about the year is quite different from that most people seems to be having - I don't think the eyar was particularly exceptional for the adventure game. None of my top 7 favourite adventures come from this year.
I voted here for Grim Fandango, but it is not "the ideal" to me as many people seems to be thinking about it. I, however, played just Grim Fandango, Jack Orlando and Sanitarium (and demo version of Hopkins, FBI) out of those games - and, as The Pandora Directive is one of my favourites, I assume probably Overseer could have got my vote in case I played it. Maybe I'd like Blakc Dahlia also, although I don't like the "walking from one picture to another" style of games, which, unfortunately, seems to be common for FMV.
So, Grim Fandango in my opinion is maybe kinda too "childish" to like it. I mean, if most good adventures would turn into good movies, Grim Fandango would make a good animation for children. Although characters in Grim Fandago are developed kinda ok, most of them seems to be far too stereotypical to be realistic (e.g. mr. baddie Don Copal, but also Salvador Limones, etc. - compare them to characters in GK3 or TLJ for example). Even some names (Calavera - skull in Spanish) reminds of cartoons. Not to mention that the contros were among the worst in adventure games as some have already mentioned. As well, I think that the idea of fighting against "mr. baddie" who is known almost since beggining works well for cartoons and maybe first person shooters, but not so for adventure games (this is one of the reasons why disliked Broken Sword 3 as well). I am not saying it is a bad game however (it, of course, has it's good sides - the idea itself of the world of the dead and how it looks is indeed great, the epic style of the game is interesting), but it is not one of my "most favourites".
The main competitor against Grim Fandango for my vote in this poll was Sanitarium. This game was actually more grim, definitely way more serious and it was interesting. It had its own flaws however, such as in my opinion too many various slider-style puzzles that are meant just to stop you from advancing for longer. Also, advancement of story might be too slow at the beggining, however, each of the chapters is interesting on itself, so it is not a major flaw in my opinion. But Sanitarium was a great game; as well however, not one of my "most favorites". It was quite hard to choose what to vote on but maybe because I had replayed Grim Fandango recently and still had fresh memories on the game, I've chosen it - although I believe probably in general I like Grim Fandango more too, although it is not very easy to decide.
As for Jack Orlando, I liked it less, characters were even worse developed there I think, dialogues are not good and it seemes more like a "quest" style of a game (that is, more focused on puzzles rather than story). Although the atmosphere was well enough (I especially liked one of the songs, the one sang in the bar and at the end on the credits, "I'll never be loved by you" or something like it). I played Jack Orlando quite long ago however.
And as for Hopkins, FBI I liked the music and start seemed relatively interesting when I played it, I don't think it would seem so now probably however. Anyways, it was only a demo, and I heard that the latter parts of the game gets more illogical.
Of the remaining games, I would like to play Tex Murphy: Overseer and Black Dahlia the most. In fact, I am quite surprised that Tex Murphy: Overseer had got so few votes...
|
| 17 FEB 2006 at 11:11pm |
SonicIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 49
Joined: 17 NOV 2002
Status : Online | So,as 1.5 weeks had already passed since it's posting, this poll is now locked. The winner is Grim Fandango (43.2% of votes), while the distant second and third places are held together by Black Dahlia and Journeyman Project 3 (13.5% each). This means Grim Fandango joins the best of 1999 Gabriel Knight 2 in the final poll where all the winners of year-polls of the 90s will be listed and it will be asked to choose the favorite adventure game of the 1990s.
|
