Hall of Fame

Tropico is a combination of Pharaoh and The Sims with a political element thrown in. I found it quite an addictive little game that I had to just "put away" so I'd stop playing it.

Another "sim-type" game where you're a Pharaoh of Egypt. You construct cities while trading and fighting with others. It has a nice campaign system where you can choice building vs. military scenarios. I tried its sequel Zeus, which fixed the advanced game-play problems of Pharaoh; but I never got into it like I did with Pharaoh.

This Belgium hybrid action/adventure game is the first first person game I've enjoyed since the original Ultima Underworld. It has a well-written science fiction storyline with a good graphical engine. If you can still find it, check this game out. You will be well surprised.

The true sequel to Civilization II, this game advances the Civ II engine, and it's a great turn based strategy game. I eventually had to stop playing it when my games would go on for three to four days straight.

I've probably logged the most time with these two games, and I won't dwell on why they're two of the best sellers of all time. One of the many things I like about them is that the ending is non-violent. The goal isn't to obliterate an enemy, and you can play the game in a relativity non-violent manner. I think that's a component missing from many games.

I really loved playing this game. The perspective was unique at the time and the game was fun, emphasizing puzzles over killing. I played it straight through in about a month. I was really looking forward to the sequel, but I was extremely disappointed. I didn't even finish TR2 because of the ridiculous level design where you had to do everything in an exact way to pass. I've never tried any of the other games in the series.

The only Doom or Quake game I've played was the original Doom demo. I enjoyed it but mindlessly killing things over and over doesn't do it for me in a game.

This game by Disney is unique. It was a movie editor where you could script and block your own movie action scenes. You had all kinds of locations and vehicles to choose from. I have never seen a 'game' quite like it since.

I started playing this venerable series with Ultima III, but I better remember Ultima IV with its ethical storyline and non-violent ending. "Quest of the Avatar" I rank as one of the best computer games ever.

I played Ultima V, which I didn't enjoy as much. Ultima VI is also one of the best computer games ever. It's the first game that introduced the ¾ top-down perspective, which many role-playing games still use today. "The False Prophet" is still unique with Origin's object orientated system where almost every item in the game was usable from flour dough to swords.

I also really loved Martian Dreams, which used the same engine as Ultima VI, and Ultima Underworld, with its groundbreaking first person perspective. The sequel to UO I sadly found too much more of the same and never finished it.

I played both parts of Ultima VII. I preferred "Serpent's Island" with its attempt at an epic change in the gaming world. Unfortunately, "Serpent's Island" had several bugs, which are something that has plagued every Origin release since, particularly Ultima IX, which is just unplayable.

I also played Ultima Online for two years but became frustrated with its mindless player killing.

This is one of the first computer games I played. It came out for the Texas Instruments 99/4A computer. I spent hours exploring its random dungeons.