rawlight said:
I don't believe that someone else mentioned Quest for Glory, I love that series. Except I have to disagree with your choices a bit. 2 was probably the best with 3 and 4 fighting for second place. 5 was a steaming pile of crap that was the last one made for very good reason.
Space Quest 5 was probably the weakest Space Quest, I liked 4 the best.
Okay, so then I'll explain why 3 and 5 are my favourite QFGs:
Well, okay, so QFG1 is probably my favourite, but I didn't mention it because it's not a sequel. The second game was awesome, except that it's the only QFG that's restrictingly linear. Sure, there are side quests you can choose to do or not do, but events occur on specific days, rather than being triggered as a result of your actions. As a result, the first playthrough feels like a race against the clock, and subsequent playthroughs, when you already know what to do, you find yourself killing a LOT of time, waiting for the next event to occur.
QFG3 improved upon all those aspects from the second game. It improved upon the fighting system which was one of the things that QFG2 really did improve over the first game, I found the story to be far more involving, the setting more atmospheric, and of course, the graphics were given an overhaul.
The fourth game was more of the same from QFG3, which isn't a bad thing in and of itself. The setting got creepier, and the story this time around was more horror-style. AWESOME. The only problem? The god-awful fighting system! Clunky, unresponsive, side-scrolling beat-em-up is NOT a style that works well with the QFG series. I'm a huge fan of Street Fighter, King of Fighters and Mortal Kombats 1-3, but it was just so out of place in QFG4, and not even done well. If the combat system was more like either 3 or 5's, this might have very well been my favourite of the series.
Quest for Glory 5 catered to my personal preferences in quite a few ways. They finally revamped the combat system into a way that works and incorporates fighting multiple enemies, it wraps up the story by featuring so many characters from previous games in the series, even ones so trivially minor that you'd have to be a hardcore fan to know who they are, and an awesome climactic battle like the series has never seen before. Another thing I really appreciated about the fifth game is that I was getting a bit tired of the main villain always being an evil magic user. In QFG5, the main villains are a thief/assassin, some real prick, and a dragon. Everything that happens in the game puts you into an urgent situation, you're as involved in the plot as you were in the 3rd game, you can FINALLY loot bodies for weapons, armour and profit, and all loose ends get tied.
I'm actually really curious as to why you didn't like the 5th game. To me, it was the perfect payoff to the series.
My picks for the best Space Quest games would be 5, followed by 3 and 1 tied for second. Actually, maybe I should say 5 and 3 are tied for first, with 1 coming in second. The first game would have been great, except I have a burning hatred for games that require you to use the save/load function in order to guarantee success (eg: the slot machine). It's been a long time since I played Time Rippers, but I remember that the humour wasn't as spot-on for me as 3 and 5 were. And it's the humour that really sells the Space Quest experience.
