Techtite.Com Awards

The Techtite Re-play Award Winners!

Every once in a while, in older reviews, you'll see the icon at left. This is to salute a rarity in gaming; the desire to play a game all over again, a minimum 6 months after originally playing them! Sometimes this is for nostalgia (blowing the dust of Karateka, for example), other times this is because the game was worth playing again, again, and again. A short list of such candidates for this award follow.

Please note, however: it's fair to say not all of the games I would call "classics" or "best of the year/decade" they were made, are necessarily on this list. Some games were spectacular, yet could not be replayed due to compatibility problems with newer equipment (I've noticed Windows XT is particularly fussy about games made circa 1999). Other times, the game was a thrill, yet was far too long to devote that much time and effort to experience it again (the Ultima series comes to mind). That said, here are the games that were worth playing again and again:

Alone in the Dark (1992/93) Why? : As one of the best haunted mansion games ever made, it was no surprise to re-play it, particularly when upgraded with better music and audio for its CD-ROM version.

A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985) Why? : Simple put, the best text adventure I ever played. More than worth a re-play to this very day.

Autoduel (1985) Why? : Why aren't there more car duel games like this one? Without them, I was more than tempted to re-play the game, on both my Apple //e, and Mac.

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (1991) Why? : I suppose I just liked the multiple endings; or perhaps I just admire Robin Hood tales, of which games have very few.

Crusader: No Remorse (1995) Why? : Often attempted in 3D games, yet rarely duplicated, is this game's ability to immerse you in an action-savvy world where everything is breakable. How cool is it to enter the office of a nefarious company, and destroy their computers, generators, expensive stained glass decorations...everything? Let's just say it's fun to be so macho...fun enough, to warrant a few re-installs.

Crystal Quest (1989) Why? : Long before ID Software games made "mods" so popular, this Macintosh game allowed you to edit characters, save them to a file, and share them with friends. Add to this an arcade game that you simply could never find the heart to keep uninstalled for long, and you have one of the best games in collective Mac memory.

The Curse of Monkey Island (1997) Why? : I just loved the interactive cartoon portrayed here; so much, I re-installed it soon before playing Escape from Monkey Island. This is no big surprise; I'd already re-played it long before!

Dark Castle (1987) Why? : For 1980's Macintosh owners, few can forget the best action game for the system at the time. I suppose it was fun, because it was a salute to the classic days of similarly cool 2D arcade games. Suffice to say I played it a lot.

Defender of the Crown (1988) Why? : This was a simple enough strategy game that was almost like playing a game of chess with your PC...with catapults, sword fights, and a damsel in distress added just for fun. It was so simple --yet so fun-- I found myself replaying it a lot...particularly on my Macintosh, whose PG-13 damsel in distress made saving her even more fun...

D/Generation (1991) Why? : I'm surprised few remember the isometric perspective game, released half a decade before Diablo. Aside from its lack of random mazes, it was more than worth replaying, especially after I noticed it even had secret areas!

Diablo (1996) Why? : Random mazes made replay different every time. It was no big shock that I re-installed this game, during one or two of the months when new games were in short supply.

Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus (1991) Why? : Though few would say this was even a "good" RPG, I guess I just thought it was pretty cool, with its merger of a haunted mansion, a labyrinth of insects, and a catacomb of zombies. Let's just say that, prior to Alone in the Dark, this was about as creepy as games could get, and it was a fun re-play for the Halloween seasons in later years. 

Hero's Quest: So You Want to Be a Hero? (1990) Why? : Perhaps one of the best games Sierra ever made, let's just say that the awesome victorious musical score made it worth a re-play all by itself. The humor and allure of an RPG/adventure game hybrid made it a worthy re-play several times.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992) Why? : With a story that rivaled the film trilogy that inspired it, this game was worth a re-play, thanks to multiple paths to the finale, and multiple finales as well.

Karateka (1984) Why? : Let's just say that, as soon as I saw Apple //e emulators were available, this was one of the first games I loved to re-play. It's a shame that this game was never re-vamped to 3D splendor, though the original classic will do.

King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992) Why? : Disney Interactive should look into this one; its arguably one of the best fairy tales ever told on a PC. It was worth it to re-play, if just because of the cool finale and the professional-quality love song.

The Legacy (1993) Why? : Perhaps the best haunted house RPG ever made. Suffice to say, it's as far as I can tell, the only haunted house RPG ever made, and this made it fun to re-play, for as long as slower CPUs would keep me able to play it.

The Legend of Kyrandia, Book 2: The Hand of Fate (1993) Why? : Much like other adventures on this list, it was just plain fun, and when shuffling through old CD-ROMs, I couldn't resist the urge to give it another try.

Leisure Suit Larry VII: Love For Sail! (1996) Why? This is perhaps the most ribald, mature-rated cartoon since Heavy Metal. This was a hilarious cartoon which shamefully was the last in the series due to the sellout of Sierra and a change of course for the company once sold. Any fan of Larry would want to re-play the "finale." 

Lexi-Cross (1991) Why? If Game Show Network ever wanted to make an old video game into a live-action game show, it should be Lexi Cross. Sort of a next-millennium Wheel of Fortune, you first unearthed crossword tiles, then tried to complete the words hidden underneath. I played this game as long as it worked on my PC, which sadly no longer does thanks to the typical sprite graphics that are too fast on Pentium 4 processors.

MDK (1997) Why? This was one of the first 3D accelerated games which in a short yet sweet way (only 6 levels!) showed the true power of the next generation in gaming. What really sold the game though was its incredible, colorful alien spacecrafts to explore not unlike the 1980's Flash Gordon movie. The mirrored level alone is worth a boot-up for that level alone. For some time, this was how I tested my latest 3D accelerator, and while it lasted, it was always fun to re-play, again and again.

Outlaws (1997) Why? The fun here was that this is perhaps the only Doom clone (yes, there was an age of 3D gaming before Quake!) which added a 3D acceleration patch for even smoother graphics. Trouble is; it's only for 3Dfx, the now-defunct 3D accelerator company long forgotten by now. However, again, while there was still a 3Dfx chip in my PC this was a fun spaghetti western to enjoy all over again.

Out of This World (1991) Why? This was perhaps the closest a classic disk-based game ever got to resembling a true masterpiece a la Fantasia. The graphics were done in a style that resembled a sort of non-talkie movie, which was even cooler on the old 3DO game system with a classical music score! This was a game more than worthy to replay.

Pirates! (1987) Why? Suffice to say that in the late 1980's, every time you went on the pirate ride at Disney theme parks you were likely to re-install Pirates!

Quest for Glory 2: Trial By Fire (1990) Why? If only because of the uplifting, totally cool finale, this was the best game of the series, and a summit of Sierra's adventure gaming empire. I replayed it over and over before each of the 3 new games in the series, each of which, regrettably, were horrific failures. This could only lead to re-playing this game all over again to remember the games at their best.

Relentless (1994) Why? Long before Diablo made "isometric perspective" (i.e.; faux 3D) a typical game environment, there was Relentless. You can imagine how fun a sort of sci-fi version of Diablo would be like, with a far better finale than "moronic hero rams jewel into his forehead." This game even warranted a sequel...though why just ONE? 

Rise of the Dragon (1990) Why? Once upon a time, the best "sound card" for a 386/486 computer was an external MIDI module by Roland. Why buy one...? Because of this game, of course, with perhaps one of the top 5 best theme songs ever written. Yes, it was worth it to re-play this game just to hear the MIDI music. It was that good.

Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993) Why? This game was so hilarious, it practically demanded to be replayed whenever a laugh was required. Upon the slow downward spiral of Adventure Gaming Genre as a whole, this was often. How cool were the mini-games inside the game, as well? This is two of a dozen reasons to reinstall this classic.

Shadowgate (1987) Why? Granted, in my days of an old (black and white!) Macintosh-SE, there were few games to choose from as it was without being picky. However, I more than loved replaying this fantasy adventure, with a cute ending that even included the ability to print a congradulatory certificate. It also had Soundblaster-quality sound bytes --in 1987!-- at least three years before sound bytes were the norm on PCs.

Spare Change (1983) Why? Of all the arcade-style games on my old Apple][e, none were as ingenious, original, and inspired as Spare Change. I've yet to play a 2D, one-screen (not even a "scroller"!) game title and be as entertained. In fact, if I was ever to blow the dust off an old Apple ][ computer, this would be the game I'd play, with Karateka a close second only because of difficulty level (that flying eagle is hard to defeat to this very day).

Star Trek: Armada (2000) Why? Borg, Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan ships all in one big starfleet battle, with a multiplayer option. Need any Trekkie say more?

Star Wars Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight (1997) Why? for nearly half a decade this was the definitive Jedi Knight Game. It also had a mission disk, Mysteries of the Sith, which was practically a game sequel in itself. You also could play the game as a Sith bad guy or Jedi good guy. Add to that the falling ship level --one of the best-- and you have a classic.

Sundog (1985) Why? This was one of those one-disk Apple][e games that just demanded to be played over and over, even though it was actually quite huge! Fight in ship battles then repair your ship, component by component. Survive long enough and buy upgrades like a cloak. Smuggle goods though beware of space patrols; ship expensive goods though beware of other space pirates! This game was low-res in graphics (your character was a small dot!) yet the game was still fun...and how fun is that, if you were just looking at a small dot half the time?

Tetris (1987) Why? Need I explain why the PC arcade game of the 1980's was worth re-playing, on just about every 1980's computer I owned? I didn't think so.

Thief: The Dark Project, Gold Edition(1999) Why? There's something alluring about a game that is both at once 1) pacifistic, in that harder levels forbid you to kill anyone, yet is at the same time 2) dastardly, asking you to steal, pickpocket, and thieve your way through a Robin-Hood style life in a sort of pre-Bronze-Age world. Great game!

Thief 2: The Metal Age (2000) Why? This was more of the same for Thief fans, made even more re-play worthy because it's the current finale (?) of the series. Maybe there will be a sequel though I don't know; the official Thief 3 web site has had a "coming soon" notice for years; and that is just for the Web Site, not even the game! I'd say the sequel will take a while, if released at all. Thankfully the game is playable on Windows XT!

Twinsen's Odyssey (1997) Why? Not unlike its predecessor Relentless, this was a cool game that used a Diablo-style of faux 3D to tell its tale. Better still was how you eventually traveled to an alien world, plus a totally optional island to explore if you were able to reach a telescope atop a strange building near your home. The ending cinched the reason why a replay was a good idea, or so I feel. 

Uninvited (1986) Why? With a black-and-white film noir style of graphics, this is perhaps one of the best haunted house games I ever played. True this was mostly due to necessity thanks to the b&w-only-Macintoshes at the time, yet be fair; this game was sold in a day when even book stores sold game software, right alongside other books. How impressive is a game that was sold alongside hardcover books? Exactly.

Unreal (1998) Why? Simply put, this was a classic game. Even more than Quake, though, its then-unusual method of bending light among light sources for a sort of mist effect, made it even more pleasant to replay with the latest 3D accelerators. It also was a lot of fun. Best of all was when the mission disk completed the formerly open ended story; that was more than enough reason to reinstall the game!

Urban Chaos  Why? While I hear the video game translation was near-impossible and a cumbersome bore, this was on PCs a great interactive police action-adventure. You could even handcuff opponents when they were on the ground, making sure they were caught until re-enforcements arrive. The finale was a bit silly in a "mystical destiny right on the cusp of the millennium" sort of way, yet I still liked it.

X-Com: UFO Defense (1995) Why? Why hasn't a game like this been attempted in many years? You got to fight aliens, then research them, then when strong enough ground their ships for further research and later, fighting them with alien-human technology in your weapons and spacecraft! How cool would a 3D accelerated version of this game be...? The closest anyone got was a game called X-Com: Enforcer which was a cheap rip-off of the original game and nothing like it at all. In the end, fans still pine for a sequel that is like the original was; a classic!