Top 10 Best Point'n'Click Adventure Games

[kad3t]

You fight like a dairy farmer!
How appropriate. You fight like a cow!

And so do I. This is one of those more controversial videos as with theme like that, there's just no pleasing everyone. So I've no doubt stepped on some hooves. But I like my selection and most importantly placement of titles. So have a look and let me know what you think.

Oh, and no mixed genre or typing to act/move games here, so you know, don't expect them to be included.

[ Show youtube player ]

[TCD]

Interesting list I have to play Dreamweb as I've only had a quick look at it and then forgot about it again. I'm sure some Sierra fans will be upset by your ranking, but I quite agree with it. In some of the clips the music is rather loud and your voice is a bit hard to hear. Otherwise another interesting watch.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by TCD

Interesting list I have to play Dreamweb as I've only had a quick look at it and then forgot about it again. I'm sure some Sierra fans will be upset by your ranking, but I quite agree with it. In some of the clips the music is rather loud and your voice is a bit hard to hear. Otherwise another interesting watch.

Thanks! I'll work on the sound. Next video will be better.

Many of the early Sierra titles used word parser and the newer ones were just not really that great in my opinion. But Perhaps it's something for a separate video and not a top 10.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by kad3t

Many of the early Sierra titles used word parser and the newer ones were just not really that great in my opinion. But Perhaps it's something for a separate video and not a top 10.

I was wondering if the parser kept you from including them (at least partially). A video showing off a lot of ways to die in Sierra adventures comes to mind

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by TCD

I was wondering if the parser kept you from including them (at least partially). A video showing off a lot of ways to die in Sierra adventures comes to mind

Oh, an you could die there on nearly every screen. Honestly, they were a nightmare to play. At least for me.

I liked Larry series of games to a degree but I wouldn't call them great.

[dreadnought]

I only watch utube vids when I absolutely have to, so don't know what's your top 10, but it did made me think about mine. It's a tough call for sure...so many amazing games. I'd say...

Zak McKraken
Monkey 1/2
Leisure Suit Larry AGI
Beneath The Steel Sky
Indiana Jones 2
Manhunter
Future Wars
Dreamweb
Rise Of The Dragon
Dark Seed

Honourable mentions in no particular order:
Universe
Operation Stealth
Space Quest AGI
Loom
Maniac Mansion
Police Quest AGI
Cruise For The Corpse
Heart Of China

Neuromancer, BAT, Elvira, and BloodNet would all be in the top 5, but I can't honestly call them point'n click adventures even if they have some/a lot of "elements" of the genre. Neuromancer would be the closest probably, but still.

Sierra's early games were nowhere near as bad as the received wisdom has it today. I really liked the simple gfx, which had a lot of character this way, I'd say maybe even more than the later remakes and native SCI games. The parser was no problem because it was mostly really simple, logical, and made you think. Deaths don't really matter when you can save anywhere. That leaves mazes, devilish puzzles, and dead ends as the bad stuff, but that's a pretty common theme throughout the genre. For example, I think Dark Seed was much, much worse in this respect.

[gimbal]

I don't actually have a top 10 on the Amiga. I played Monkey Island and Zak and that was about it really. They tended to come on many disks, that wasn't exactly my cup of tea having no harddrive.

Point & Clicks is more of a PC thing for me and there I could usually play talky versions of the titles that came out on the Amiga. Sam & Max (full talky CD), Monkey Island 1 (original full talky CD version), Monkey Island 2 (Special Edition), Legend of Kyrandia 3 and Indy 4 would be the top 5. With Flight of the Amazon Queen, Kyrandia 1 & 2, Teen Agent and Zak somewhere in the 6-10 position in no particular order.

I kind of need Point & Clicks to have a good dose of humor, otherwise I'll pass.

[TCD]

That reminds me that I haven't played Malcolm's Revenge in years...

[christoff522]

Simon the Sorcerer is always going to be number 1 for me.
Chris Barrie, beautiful graphics, and lovely music.

My first Point and Click, I know it wasn't an Amiga Exclusive but back in those days most games weren't.

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by TCD

That reminds me that I haven't played Malcolm's Revenge in years...

If you have fond memories, my advice is to never, ever touch it again. It looks like shit (those beautifully hand-drawn graphics of the predecessors replaced by butt-ugly render backgrounds) and plays even worse (stupidly repetitive tasks, replacing good puzzle design with busywork). I loved it when it was new, but it turned into a huge letdown for me when trying it once more.

[TCD]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

If you have fond memories, my advice is to never, ever touch it again. It looks like shit (those beautifully hand-drawn graphics of the predecessors replaced by butt-ugly render backgrounds) and plays even worse (stupidly repetitive tasks, replacing good puzzle design with busywork). I loved it when it was new, but it turned into a huge letdown for me when trying it once more.

For me it was mainly about the humour. I remember that the game was quite tedious and I certainly have rose tinted glasses about the presentation, but I'm curious how it feels over 20 years later. Thank you for the warning though

[Mr Creosote]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

I only watch utube vids when I absolutely have to, so don't know what's your top 10,

I would like to echo this. I neither like feeding personal information to Google, nor do I usually have much opportunity to watch a 20 minute video straight, much less with sound on.

Anyway, I did download your video through a proxy and skipped through the placings. As far as this is concerned:

This is one of those more controversial videos as with theme like that, there's just no pleasing everyone.

I couldn't see anything controversial. The picks are all widely loved fan favourites as far as I can see. Maybe I actually have to listen to your commentary to hear the outrageous part?

In case anyone else is wondering, this is kad3t's list:
10. Flight of the Amazon Queen
9. Legend of Kyrandia
8. Future Wars
7. Cruise for a Corpse
6. Operation Stealth
5. Beneath a Steel Sky
4. Gobliiins series
3. Dreamweb
2. Simon the Sorcerer
1. Lucas Arts adventures, with the Monkey Island games on top

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by dreadnought

I only watch utube vids when I absolutely have to, so don't know what's your top 10, but it did made me think about mine. It's a tough call for sure...so many amazing games. I'd say...

(...)

That's a well thought out list. And since you didn't watch the video, I'll gladly let you know that quite a few titles we have in common. Not all but many. Positions are a mixed bag though, some similar, others not so much but in general I'd say that at least half of all titles from your list are on mine.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by gimbal

I don't actually have a top 10 on the Amiga. I played Monkey Island and Zak and that was about it really. They tended to come on many disks, that wasn't exactly my cup of tea having no harddrive.

Point & Clicks is more of a PC thing for me and there I could usually play talky versions of the titles that came out on the Amiga. Sam & Max (full talky CD), Monkey Island 1 (original full talky CD version), Monkey Island 2 (Special Edition), Legend of Kyrandia 3 and Indy 4 would be the top 5. With Flight of the Amazon Queen, Kyrandia 1 & 2, Teen Agent and Zak somewhere in the 6-10 position in no particular order.

I kind of need Point & Clicks to have a good dose of humor, otherwise I'll pass.

In that case, although not on Amiga, but Day of the Tentacle was an amazing follow up to Maniac Mansion with incredible graphics, really cool animations, time travelling plot and tons and tons of fun.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by TCD

That reminds me that I haven't played Malcolm's Revenge in years...

To be quite honest, despite this being an Amiga board, you're probably better off playing it on PC now. I'm sure it can be purchased from GOG or something similar and you'll have it running just like that. I couldn't even find it for the Amiga, not to mention play it.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by Mr Creosote

(...)

In case anyone else is wondering, this is kad3t's list:
10. Flight of the Amazon Queen
9. Legend of Kyrandia
8. Future Wars
7. Cruise for a Corpse
6. Operation Stealth
5. Beneath a Steel Sky
4. Gobliiins series
3. Dreamweb
2. Simon the Sorcerer
1. Lucas Arts adventures, with the Monkey Island games on top

For the most part you got it right. The 10 and 9 here being honourable mentions in the video. LucasArts singular games (MM, Zak, Loom) collectively taking 3rd spot as my personal "LucasArts collection", 2nd are Indy games and 1st Monkey Island.

And controversy I meant was that everyone has their own favourites and Amiga had a lot of point'n'click games. So, lack of series like Leisure Suit Larry, ...Quest series, etc. may be something that could potentially spawn a displease in my choices. Clearly, it didn't.

[manossg]

This video is quite interesting, because it shows how much point and click adventure games are a matter of personal taste. Although I can prove via completely objective and scientific (NOT) methods that I am right (:P ), my list would share only 4 of these titles (and if I could include text/graphics games, even less than 4) and the rest of them would struggle to be included even in a top 50.

[kad3t]

Originally Posted by manossg

This video is quite interesting, because it shows how much point and click adventure games are a matter of personal taste. Although I can prove via completely objective and scientific (NOT) methods that I am right (:P ), my list would share only 4 of these titles (and if I could include text/graphics games, even less than 4) and the rest of them would struggle to be included even in a top 50.

Heh, just like I said, a controversial topic. Same with strategy and role playing games. There were just so many of them on the system and many of them were of such high quality that the list for anyone would probably be at least a tad different.

[dreadnought]

The "controversy" only makes sense if you write for a mag or express yourself on some other official public outlet. On such occasions you should really try to look past your personal preferences and be at least somewhat objective. If you don't, then this could be controversial.

If I was compiling such a list for Amiga it'd look different than the one above...I'd probably have to stick Simon somewhere near the top. I'm not particularly fond of it but it was such an important game for many Amigans. Maybe would drop Manhunter and Dark Seed. The latter was a milestone but not a great adventure game, even though it meant a lot to me because of my fascination with Giger.

[Fiery Phoenix]

Indy & The FOA all day long (although like most of these, the PC version, esp, the "talkie" one is the best) Last Crusade is awesome but I hate the castle section and the fights, even avoiding it is cumbersome

Start Trek 25th Anniversery is good, but plays better on the PC, esp. with the original cast doing the voices on the CDROM

Loved Heart of China in the day and the multiple paths / endings

Again, cannot go wrong with Monkey Island games, but could never find myself liking Loom.

Dark Seed & Cruise for a Corpse are great but I hate when you are screwed over if not in a particular place at a particular time