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Lucasarts Adventure Games, Ranked (Kotaku)
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QuixoticNeutral
Member
And here I was just about to dive into this thread and preach the gospel: Fandango, Tentacle, Curse. You are on the ball.
That's ok, after you kill me I'll just use the magical alien crystals to completely revert all the damage and live a happilyy ever after life.
Baron_Calamity
Member
The Dig is way way too high. I would rank them thus:
13. The Dig
12. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
11. Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis
10. Loom
9. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
8. Maniac Mansion
7. Escape From Monkey Island
6. The Curse of Monkey Island
5. Full Throttle
4. Grim Fandango
3. The Secret Of Monkey Island
2. Sam & Max Hit The Road
1. Day Of The Tentacle
Note, Io do not have Zak McKracken on the list, nor Labyrinth because I've never played them.
13. The Dig
12. Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade
11. Indiana Jones & The Fate Of Atlantis
10. Loom
9. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
8. Maniac Mansion
7. Escape From Monkey Island
6. The Curse of Monkey Island
5. Full Throttle
4. Grim Fandango
3. The Secret Of Monkey Island
2. Sam & Max Hit The Road
1. Day Of The Tentacle
Note, Io do not have Zak McKracken on the list, nor Labyrinth because I've never played them.
Haha no way that's awesome I just saw some videos on Youtube. Yeah the one I played only had the background music and no sounds.
Now they DEFINITELY have to remaster it.
L.B. Jeffries
Member
Yeah, this.
The article lays out its method of picking them: "What we remember about each game then, and what tends to dominate discussions about them, are their worlds and their stories."
If that's the standard, I have no idea how Fate of Atlantis gets that high. Half the game is set in mazes, caves, and jungles. My vote would have to go to Day of the Tentacle because it has time travel at the mansion and you can see all these interactions and people across the different periods. It's a really cool setting for a game.
But I'm old, and Monkey Island really was just like the Disney ride. Loved that game and the pirate setting.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Any ranking is fine to me. What's sad is that they only made 15 adventure games. Well, it's not exactly a small number, but I still wish they made more. The lack of Star Wars point-and-click is criminal.
Gentleman Jack
Member
Is there anything in particular that makes the bottom third of that list weak? The only one I'm familiar with is Escape from Monkey Island. I didn't hate it but the animation felt like a huge step backwards because the transition to 3D made the characters feel much less emotive than the beautifully animated Curse of Monkey Island. Plus the story felt kind of weak.
Oh man, I'd love to be able to play Full Throttle for the first time. This is why we need real-life nueralizers, dammit.
I guess I can try to just emulate it with alcohol, though...
Full Throttle is my favorite adventure game, even though I can run through it now in like 15 minutes (depending on gamespoiler:
how the bike fight part order goes
Unknown Soldier
Member
#1 is correct.
Fate of Atlantis is the GOAT.
Fate of Atlantis is the GOAT.
Pretty mystified at how someone can prefer Atlantis over Monkey Island 2 or Curse of Monkey Island. Or Sam and Max for that matter. Or even Full Throttle.
If we take out all the games that aren't Monkey Island, I think the ranking is clearly flawed:
4. Escape From Monkey Island
3. The Curse of Monkey Island
2. The Secret Of Monkey Island
1. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
That is not the correct order for Monkey Island games. It should be:
4. Escape From Monkey Island
3. The Secret Of Monkey Island
2. The Curse of Monkey Island
1. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
With that fixed I think it is clear how to salvage the list.
If we take out all the games that aren't Monkey Island, I think the ranking is clearly flawed:
4. Escape From Monkey Island
3. The Curse of Monkey Island
2. The Secret Of Monkey Island
1. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
That is not the correct order for Monkey Island games. It should be:
4. Escape From Monkey Island
3. The Secret Of Monkey Island
2. The Curse of Monkey Island
1. Monkey Island 2: LeChucks Revenge
With that fixed I think it is clear how to salvage the list.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I think Loom is the most ahead-of-its-time idea of the bunch, to realize that graphic adventure design stalled and never successfully experimented like this one is a bummer.
Full Throttle was ahead of it's time in a way, too, since it presents this streamlined blast of cinematic bliss in a way that took everyone else many many years to get right. I'd say it was a better example of this than Grim, even, since that one has an archaic dependence on old school puzzles that just sabatoges a flow that FT possesses.
Full Throttle was ahead of it's time in a way, too, since it presents this streamlined blast of cinematic bliss in a way that took everyone else many many years to get right. I'd say it was a better example of this than Grim, even, since that one has an archaic dependence on old school puzzles that just sabatoges a flow that FT possesses.
Indeed.
Hell, I would have loved to see more sci-fi point-and-clicks like the abandoned I Was a Teenage Lobot.
I looked up Loom to remind myself of the story.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom_(video_game)
Is that like, a thing that the game presents to you? Because I don't remember that at all. But then, I played Loom like 20 years ago and was an impatient child so maybe we skipped it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom_(video_game)
Is that like, a thing that the game presents to you? Because I don't remember that at all. But then, I played Loom like 20 years ago and was an impatient child so maybe we skipped it?
sammyCYBORG
Member
Original Monkey Island is still the best adventure game ever.
Arkam
Member
Agreed. It was FANTASTIC! I keep waiting and waiting for it to get re-released. Not entirely happy with the order of that list, but its a list that could go any way.
My top 3 would be Curse, MI2, Grim but to each their own.
Man, I remember really wishing Han Solo Adventures would end up being a finished, real thing. I stopped paying attention quite a while ago I think...
Man, I remember really wishing Han Solo Adventures would end up being a finished, real thing. I stopped paying attention quite a while ago I think...
Wow, this is phenomenal..
DiipuSurotu
Banned
Man, I remember really wishing Han Solo Adventures would end up being a finished, real thing. I stopped paying attention quite a while ago I think...
Yeah I remember that fangame. Shame they never finished it, not even a demo unlike some of the Indy fangames.
Baron_Calamity
Member
I remember reading that a Star Wars click & point adventure was canceled in favor of Grim Fandango.
mcz117chief
Member
Audio tapes that came with the game
Sir_Crocodile
Member
I dunno, despite 1-1 being a game design master class, super mario bros is pretty limited variety wise and probably wouldn't make my top 100, but SMB2 and SMB3 are both very varied and have fantastic gameplay - I go back and play them all the time - and definitely would. Some games are timeless. And whilst MM does have a LOT of variety, the dead ends are pretty damning. They weren't even the result of a design decision, it was just a lack of QA time (it should be above the dig though).
I'm not in favour in factoring in how influential they were on the genre/industry when ranking games in how good they are.
Oh crazy. Definitely either didn't have those or didn't listen to them. Given that I was 8 it probably wouldn't have really helped to advance my plot comprehension beyond "everyone became a swan". But maybe.
Loom was rubbish. It was really linear and obvious - a pale reflection of the puzzle-solving and exploration found in LucasArt's other adventure games. Last Crusade and Zak McKraken should both be ahead of it, as should Labyrinth (which I've never played, but digital David Bowie earns bonus points).
Shame we never got a Star Wars one. Use Light Saber on Darth Vader!
Shame we never got a Star Wars one. Use Light Saber on Darth Vader!
Loom was awesome, lots of fun and very original. There are better LA games but in no way is it bad..
It's probably because it's my introduction to LucasArts adventure games, but I feel the same way.
I love MI2, and in some ways it's arguably better than MI1, but it's the best adventure game overall, I think.
Man... Except for "Labyrinth" I played all of these. Didn't think that.
The love that "Curse of Monkey Island" gets in this thread makes me very happy, I always assumed people only like the first two in the series. It's actually my favorite.
Honestly though, Zak McKracken is way too low. Beaten by The Dig, so unreal, did they actually play the game...
... I guess they lost THESE:
Edit: OH FUCK.
Sorry for the picture spam, but NeoGaf does no often offer the chance to reminisce in LucasArts Adventures, and I just remembered the AWESOME japanese cover art for Zak McKracken:
The love that "Curse of Monkey Island" gets in this thread makes me very happy, I always assumed people only like the first two in the series. It's actually my favorite.
Honestly though, Zak McKracken is way too low. Beaten by The Dig, so unreal, did they actually play the game...
... I guess they lost THESE:
Edit: OH FUCK.
Sorry for the picture spam, but NeoGaf does no often offer the chance to reminisce in LucasArts Adventures, and I just remembered the AWESOME japanese cover art for Zak McKracken:
xsapeguy2014
Banned
Ok Guys,
going to show my age now but very first Lucasarts where ballblazer! I knw that was arcade!
Rescue on Fractalus! Awesome
Koronis Rift!
and of course who could forget the Eidoleon! This was sheer magic in the days! to think that them guys could squeeze something as huge out of 8 bit sytems! dam!
going to show my age now but very first Lucasarts where ballblazer! I knw that was arcade!
Rescue on Fractalus! Awesome
Koronis Rift!
and of course who could forget the Eidoleon! This was sheer magic in the days! to think that them guys could squeeze something as huge out of 8 bit sytems! dam!
ForsakenLotus
Member
I'm happy that Doublefine is working on remastering many of the classic LucasArts games. I've never played Full Throttle, so I'm very excited for that one. Hopefully they can eventually remaster this entire list, though I'm not sure if it's possible for the Indy games.
I love Full Throttle but it's extremely short, very easy, and has a badly designed/programmed fighting mini-game. It largely stands on its production values, which are very good. But, IMO, that isn't enough to outrank Grim Fandango's story or Sam & Max's excellent gameplay. Both of those were high quality productions as well, with great VA, great art for their time, etc.
MattGalvatron
Member
Curse should be wayyyy higher.
speedomodel
Member
Hot damn, their order is surprisingly pretty accurate.
KingHenrik30
Member
Loom was awesome. Ahead of its time. If someone made Loom today people would go crazy.
This list is completely absurd. Everything on it is far too low.
Yeah, I'd love to see Brian Moriarty reappear. He made one of Infocom's best text adventures, and then went on to make one of the most interesting early graphical adventures.
Yeah, I'd love to see Brian Moriarty reappear. He made one of Infocom's best text adventures, and then went on to make one of the most interesting early graphical adventures.
If "happily ever after" includes chronic addiction and psychosis, perhaps...
(I genuinely like The Dig a lot
)Fallout-NL
Member
Definitely, like it's not even close. Great game, excellent writing and it looks absolutely gorgeous.
Funny, that's exactly what I love about The Dig.
Grim, The Dig and Curse all deserve to be much higher up, though I see why the gave the top spot to Fate (fantastic for its time). Would've picked Grim for that spot myself. Still the game that resonated with me most when it comes to story. Love the Casablanca concept (not only in terms of year two, but in the sense that the whole thing is purgatory or a waiting room, much like the bar in the film), truly excellent. And such good voice acting too. A triumph and the definite highpoint for Lucasarts.