What factors are at play here? Well, there are really multiple attributes that a Top 20 Adventure must possess. It has to be really cool. It also has to rock. It has to be an adventure, except for the ones that aren't adventures, but kind of are, and stuff. And sometimes, I just look at a game and say, “You know what? Game X should be ranked over Game Y, because the voices say so.”

I attempted to compile a similar Top 20 list in 2002. But people said mean things and hurt my feelings, so I hated them, and from the inner depths of my hatred arose this new list, refined in the fire, ready to wage war on the forces of Marekedor and his evil minions! Onward, friends!

Um, I mean, it is important for me to emphasize that these are the opinions of Evan Dickens, and only Evan Dickens, and just Evan Dickens, and Evan Dickens alone, and Evan Dickens rules!!!!...and they do not represent the opinions of any other AG staff member or the site as a whole, but they should, because they're the best opinions ever, and in fact, they're my #1 opinions of all-time on the Top 20. For reals.

Fear the Top 20. Fear it! I SAID FEAR IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!

and, uh, happy adventuring, and enjoy reading, and stuff.

(with thanks to Doug, Dave, Dan, Marek, and Chris for their contributions)

#20: The Dark Half

Capstone Software - 1992

If there's one thing that's true, it's that there are too many original ideas for adventure games out there. I shudder to think how many hours are wasted by developers sitting around, drinking coffee or green tea or Cherry Coke, or whatever developers drink when they're sitting around drinking and thinking of stuff...what was I saying...oh yeah, anyhoo, developers spend far too much time thinking of new ideas. And as a result, we get stuff like Syberia, Grim Fandango, and Space Quest. All original ideas. Who cares about that crap when there are SO MANY GOOD BOOKS WHOSE PLOTS ARE RIPE FOR STEALING?

And here's a perfect example. The guys at Capstone, who almost certainly don't drink no freaking green tea, decided that their own ideas were far too silly to become adventure games, and thus turned to one of the finest fiction authors of our time: Stephen King, and his horror classic The Dark Half.

As intellectually stimulating as any novel adaptation adventure, The Dark Half poses some of the most challenging puzzles we've seen. Almost as if Stephen King (or "The Man" as I like to call him) wrote them himself! Among my favorites is that you have to smoke every day before you can write anything, and you have to write every day in order to proceed, and there's no way to know this without someone telling you, and there's paper at every crime scene to write with...and, uh...what was I saying...

The Dark Half is good. The book and the game. Book games rule.

Gingerale.

(E.D.)

#19: Tender Loving Care

Aftermath Media - 1998

OK, so why is Tender Loving Care the 19th best adventure game of all times? Well, it does something that no other games have attempted, it uses advanced technology to enter your mind and analyse your psychology and tell you who you really are!! I can't even begin to describe how innovative this is. This game made me question my own personality so much that I stopped sleeping on the floor.

Sure, some might say that as far as interactive movies go, The Deadalus Encounter might be a more worthy title for the #19 spot. People who are not idiots, such as myself, would say Tender Loving Care's intricate plot puts it well above any other interactive movie offering.

Tender Loving Care is a carefully crafted epos on lies, love and delusions. It also shows a naked psychotherapist.

The Gameplay

Very good. I loved the gameplay. Especially the quizes.

The Graphics

It's FMV, so it's hyperrealistic.

The Bad

The save game feature was a bit clumsy.

The Verdict

It's the 19th best adventure ever!

Conundrum.

(M.B.)

#18: Traitor's Gate 2

258 Productions - 2003

Yesterday I decided that it was time to take my dog out for a walk. He hadn't been out walking for a while. I often find that when I don't walk him for a while, he becomes disagreeable, and generally does things that I find unpleasant.

Speaking of unpleasant, I recently received my monthly statement for my mutual fund account and discovered that the valuation of my funds has really taken a devastating hit recently. In fact, my dollar-cost averaging showed quite an unfortunate loss over the life of my portfolio. Although it's my understanding that cow futures are on the rise, and since I have substantial holdings in that market, I believe it's likely that my portfolio will soon rebound.

Speaking of rebounding, I was watching the sports channel on TV the other day, and I couldn't believe what I saw. Is this what we consider sports now? What happened to the good old days of friendly competition? Sportsmanship? Athletes who valued nothing higher than the sanctity of the game and their conduct? It's become quite a tragic situation, if you ask me.

All of which is to say, Traitor's Gate 2 absolutely @*#$ing rules and is definitely the 18th best adventure game ever made in the history of games.

Perspicuous.

(E.D.)

#17: Yoda Stories

LucasArts - 1997

Clever I am, yes. And talk like Yoda I will, yes. An overused gimmick, it is not, no. Great this game is. Smart am I. Great are the stories of Yoda, who master of Jedi is. Brilliant are the puzzles--err, the puzzles brilliant are--@#$!, I mean, brilliant the puzzles are.

Difficult it is to write like this. Frustrating is it, I mean, frustrating it is. Annoying it most certainly must be for read to be the reader...that is, for the reader to the read...no, that's not it...

Whatever. I quit.

Burlesque.

(E.D.)

#16: Softporn

Sierra On-Line - 1981

OMFG! THIS GAME HAS PORN IN ITS NAME! WHAT'S COOLER THAN THAT!

Um, I guess I have to write more than that. I guess everyone knows that this text adventure game was bought by Sierra On-Line and given to Al Lowe to help inspire the Leisure Suit Larry series. It's text only, you play a guy who likes chicks, and tries to get with them, and of course you never get to see anything because it's all text, since this is from the unfortunate era when we had to use our imaginations, remember those days?, i do, *shudder*.

But come on! A game with PORN in it's name! I mean, I'm not even sure that's allowed today! How can you possibly not call this one of the greatest adventures ever? It's positively pornariffic!

Eucalyptus.

(E.D.)

#15: Halo

Bungie Software - 2001

HALO IS ON3 OF DA BST ADV3NTURE GM3S AVAR DA1!!1! WTF LOL PUZLES R OUTSTANDNG AND TEH S2RY IS COMP3LNG AND WONDERFUL

FROM!1!111 OMG LOL TEH MOMANT HALO STARTS IT IS A MAGICAL JOURNEY THROUGH A WORLD OF WONDER111! WTF

3VERY TIEM I SIT DOWN 2 PLAY ANOTH3R GM3 OF HALO IM R3MINDAD Y I LOV3 ADV3NTURE GMES SO MUCH!111!!! LOL

HALO RULES!!1111 OMG

Wunderlich.

(E.D. and D.T., with a little help)

#14: Tetris

Alexey Pazhitnov - 1985

A complete, unedited history of one of our greatest games ever:

June 1985

Inspired by a pentominoes game he had bought earlier, Alexey Pazhitnov creates Tetris on an Electronica 60 at the Moscow Academy of Science's Computer Center. It is ported to the IBM PC by Vadim Gerasimov and starts spreading around Moscow.

April 2004

Tetris achieves recognition and is named the #14 best adventure game by Adventure Gamers! Yes, that's right. We believe Tetrishas some of the best puzzle design ever seen. Some have called it communist propaganda. Others like to see it as a cleaning simulation for bored housewives. However, we, at Adventure Gamers, recognize this game for its brilliant puzzle design. It doesn't even have an inventory.

The plot is fairly simple. The player is cast as a... well... to put this another way, the game is set in ... well, it boils down to an invasion of colored blocks, which disappear when they're lined up in rows. But you know, sometimes less is more, and this is particularly evident in Tetris. A poignant critique on consumerism indeed. Hooray for Russian angst.

Iguana.

(M.B.)

#13: Simon 3D

Headfirst Productions - 2002

Once upon a time, a company named Adventuresoft released a game called Simon the Sorcerer, which was about a young boy named Simon who was thrust into a parallel universe where magic ruled instead of science. Nobody liked this game very much. The graphics were awful, the puzzles made no sense, and whose brilliant idea was it to cast that nobody actor Chris Barrie as the voice of Simon? A terrible choice. Adventuresoft soon created a sequel to this horrible game, aptly named Simon the Sorcerer 2. This was even worse.

Well, they say third time is the charm, and that must be true. In 2002, Adventuresoft unleashed Simon the Sorcerer 3D upon the world. And finally, I am happy to say, they got everything right! This is a very deep game. A game that one that might pass up at a first glance, but you must look beneath the surface -- peeling back the layers like an onion -- to see what a truly brilliant piece of work Simon 3D really is.

Simon is a upright young lad just past the brink of adolescence. His hormones are running wild, and all he wants to do is party and be wild and hit on girls. But, he can't. Instead, he has to save the world. It is an inner conflict that we all have faced, in one way or another. And this struggle makes us empathize with him. We cheer him on. We route for him to overcome adversity. Because, by routing for Simon, we are symbolically routing for ourselves.

When Simon sprints across a field and crashes into a nearby tree, does he utter a sound? Does he express a single syllable of pain? No. That is just one example of how Simon overcomes obstacles throughout his quest, and it teaches us a valuable lesson: "Go with the flow, move where the wind takes you. And if you happen to crash into a tree, so what? Just take a few steps back and walk around the tree." How very Zen of Simon! Adventuresoft obviously wanted this lesson to be made clear, so they made it very easy for Simon to crash into every tree, bush, fence, and house in the game world, as well as the occasional NPC.

Throughout the game, Simon will make many MANY comments about being in an adventure game. This is shocking! An adventure game protagonist who is actually AWARE of his PC status? Unheard of! This adds a whole new dimension to his character. Simon's plight is now two-fold. Not only is he trapped in this alternate universe, but he is also trapped inside an adventure game with no way out! Imagine living with that knowledge. He has no free will, no life outside of an artificial construct, no way of getting out... AND HE KNOWS IT! They say ignorance is bliss, and he is not ignorant. Poor Simon. I admire him and yet feel sorry for him. He is a Quixotic figure, fully aware that the giants are actually windmills but he tilts at them anyway. We should all look up to such courage and bravery. Simon, I salute you.

Thank you, Adventuresoft. My life has been changed forever.

Copacobana.

(D.G.)

#12: Knowledge Adventure

Knowledge Adventure - 1990

Uh...

Well...

Um, Knowledge Adventure is a wonderful adventure game. It was revolutionary when it was released, and it still is today...uh...that is...I think that the aspects of it, and its adventureness, were vastly underrated, or something, when it came out, and...oh boy...hang on a sec...

(...you idiots, what are you doing? This isn't even a friggin adventure game! It's a reference library thing, or something. What kind of crap are you trying to pull?...what did you say? You heard it was cool...and it had the word adventure in the title?! SO YOU FIGURED IT WAS PERFECT FOR THE LIST?! YOU PATHETIC LITTLE MORONS! I'LL BEAT YOU UNTIL YOU BEG ME TO KEEP DOING IT! KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE, HUH? HERE'S SOME KNOWLEDGE YOU'LL NEVER FORGET, YOU ARTICLE SABOTAGING PIECE OF MONKEY S...)

...

Incidentally, Adventure Gamers is now hiring for our vacant intern position. Responsibilities include writing the lists that editors will later take credit for. Benefits are good. Apply today.

Falafel.

(E.D.)

#11: Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

LucasArts - 1999

It was always bound to happen. LucasArts successfully converted the Indiana Jones franchise into great adventure games. We always knew it was only a matter of time until the biggest (and obviously the greatest) LEC franchise was made into an adventure game.

But none of us were really prepared for how truly awesome the Star Wars adventure game would be.

The Phantom Menace is a brilliant, pure, third-person point & click adventure game that takes the best aspects of what is easily the strongest entry in the film series, and blends them with the best parts of adventure games. Every scene is loaded with dramatic intensity, character development, and brilliant, nearly emotionally overpowering dialogue. I kept a box of tissues next to the computer just in case.

This wonderful adventure really takes a turn for the better in Chapter Two, with the introduction of Jar Jar Binks, a character designed exclusively for this game. (Note: I have heard that Jar Jar was actually in the movie, but he must not have had much screen-time, because I didn't see him.) The puzzles are brilliant; there's one that involves lots of enemies shooting you from offscreen, and you have to figure out how to not let them hit you even though you can't see them. Awesome stuff.

The pure adventure followup to Phantom Menace, Battle for Naboo, didn't exactly live up to the standards of the first. But hey, Empire Strikes Back was a crappy movie too! So we can only hope for the best as LucasArts continues its wonderful tradition of Star Wars adventures!

Kwanzaa.

(E.D.)

#10: The Orion Conspiracy

Domark - 1995

We've had many debates about the important attributes of adventure games, and what makes an adventure game great, and what things an adventure game needs to be great, and what is considered greatness to be in a game that is an adventure, and similar debates. Story, puzzles, graphics, sound, who even knows anymore!

But there's one aspect of adventures that has always been very badly underrated. And yes, you already know what I'm talking about: profanity. Adventure games have tried, and failed (or usually just not tried), for years to really make use of profanity. But no game really succeeded in that aspect as much as The Orion Conspiracy.

Just like Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes was dripping with story and dialogue...just like Grim Fandango was chock-full of atmosphere...just as Syberia was a technical marvel...Orion Conspiracy is all of those things, except lots of cussing instead! Profanity runs in and around each sentence, as a punctuation mark, as an adjective, even as a f***ing participle!

So take your graphics and your story. I'll take a game that can use the phrase "hung like a horse" with a straight face any day, mother****er.

Singapore.

(E.D.)

#9: Daikatana

Eidos - 2000

"All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music. For while in all other works of art it is possible to distinguish the matter from the form, and the understanding can always make this distinction, yet it is the constant effort of art to obliterate it." -- William Pater

Many attempts have been made to capture the adventure gaming trifecta of storyline, characterization and gameplay. Most can get at least one. Some can even capture two. But rare is the gaming jewel that manages all three.

Certainly none has ever managed to do so with the grace and subtlety of Daikatana.

A deep, engrossing tale spanning centuries, told sublimely through intricately designed cutscenes and fantastic puzzle design and wound around some of the most fascinating characters ever created in the history of literature, Daikatana stands head and shoulders over any game in recent history.

"John Romero Wants To Make You His Bitch!" cried the first ads for the game. And he did. Oh yes he did.

The incredible cinematic opening of a man taking five minutes to die as he narrates the story's background in monotone as the camera lurches about him like a parrot on crystal meth is only the tiniest hint of the wonders that await. Quickly, the player finds themselves engrossed in a futuristic Tokyo overflowing with places to explore and puzzles to solve. Easily the best of these is the immortal-in-the-annals-of-adventure-gaming classic "How Do You Kill A Nearly Infinite Amount of Hideously Mechanized Frogs and Mosquitos?".

It only gets better from there, with brain teasers like "Which Lettered Key Opens Which Lettered Door?" and "How Do I Manage to Use This !@#(*!@ Weapon Without Killing Myself?"

As the gameplay progresses, you'll meet the Hiro's (Ha! A pun! Hiro! Hero! God what genius!) sidekicks and it is here that Daitakana truly jumps the shark to a new level of brilliance -- for you are given the chance to interact with the most incredible implementation of a Non-Player Character in the history of gaming: "Superfly" Johnson.

No more needs to be said, I know. The subtle shadings of Superfly's characterization are comparable only perhaps to Nabokov's Humbert Humbert. The sense of realism in fighting at Johnson's side as he constantly screams "Wazzzzzup!", stands in your firing line, and then proceeds to shoot you in the back is one of the pinacles of adventure gaming history.

All told, Daikatana is clearly one of best games that ever made...no, that will ever be made. No amount of technological advancement will shadow the genius of its design.

Homunculus.

(D.R.)

#8: Down in the Dumps

Haiku Studios - 1997

{marek: evan, don't forget to write the blurb for this game like you said you would (3/20/04)}

{stinger: what do you mean, like i said i would? you said you were going to write it. i'm too busy. (3/21/04)}

{marek: what are you talking about? i never said i would write it. and why are we leaving placeholder messages in the article like this? (3/23/04)}

{stinger: it's the easiest way to communicate, obviously. and wtf, you're the one who told me this was a crappy game, i haven't even heard of it. (3/24/04)}

{marek: wtf yourself, i just heard it was a crappy game and you said you couldn't think of a last game to add to the list. just shut up and write it. (3/26/04)}

{stinger: fine. i'll write it. i'll get around to it eventually, in the midst of all the other work i have to do. (3/27/04)}

{marek: whine whine, stop feeling sorry for yourself. you don't even do that much around here. just make sure you don't publish this article with these placeholders still here, or i swear i'm actually going to fire you this time. (3/29/04)}

{doug: can't we all just get along? (3/30/04)}

{marek: shut up. (3/31/04)}

{stinger: whatever. of course i'll delete these before publishing. what kind of idiot do you take me for. (3/31/04)}

#7: Night Trap

Sega - 1992

To whom with realness does the flint do the preference of looking in this play? I got ahead it, expire he and he wish that it means! The diagram is, which schellte history stupider uniform terrible and phu is the noncare, which is law massive. In as this reason inevitable, I write not the truth percentage, which opens a court.

In handguard the lower part, which the guirigayilegible in order I in the order is prepared, that, it is bad and to write you head of a family following description, thus that place, I translates it in any language. It expires and if concerning this a thinking play, I, is which degree at the Gastropoden is concerning a small kind it thinks. It is possible, the snail. Which kind of the Frenchy, which goes mentioned above furious, is over a danger pressure to cause it, suitability and to, the perseverance, to the Culebrea within mantequilla to lead is it, it, it sunk, which forms the aperitif at this person.

If you think it, 1 terrible life of the thing. It is the inside like all this, which because is ungeniessbar? And still the something that they are them these fangosos, is in the snail. That is unfavorable feeling. I hate slimy things. Distance.

Hobgoblin.

(D.T.)

#6: Wayne's World

Capstone Software - 1993

Here, we have the perfect example of how absolutely any franchise anywhere can be adopted into a brilliant adventure game. We've already visited Capstone's amazing The Dark Half in this countdown, but they weren't about to stop there. Equally brilliant adventures came in the form of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Beverly Hillbillies, and my personal sentimental favorite, Homey D. Clown.

But what is undisputably the greatest of Capstone's remarkable lineup is Wayne's World. Ah, Wayne and Garth, heroes of a stature that makes Gabriel Knight quiver and Roger Wilco cry. It was through this adventure that I really learned how to identify with the main character. Perhaps it was his repeated cries of "Party time! Excellent!", but I had more than one uncomfortable emotional outburst during this festival of intrigue and tension.

And the plot really, really speaks to us. I know that it seems like I'm saying the same things for every game on this countdown, but seriously, this is the sort of plot that you fall asleep pondering and wake up in a cold sweat over. I can't speak for everyone of course, but I feel comfortable saying that we've all found ourself in a "start a pizza delivery business to raise money to keep our public access TV show going" sort of situation in our lives. That's why I was personally so moved by this game.

It's amazing to me how much time is wasted with original ideas, as I've said earlier, but it's even more amazing how companies like LucasArts waste their time with pitiful Indiana Jones and Star Wars licenses, while Capstone swoops in and pulls the rug out from everyone with one of the most brilliant adventures ever. One time, for all...*sniff*...party on!

Bologna.

(E.D.)

#5: Space Invaders

Taito - 1978

In these madcap days of GeForce/Radeon 128 MB graphics cards and fast hardcore action games, it is often healthy to get back to basics. Space Invaders, created by Taito/Bally/Midway in 1978, captured the essense of the adventure genre perfectly, and has yet to be topped.

As the last surviving member of a crack team of space fighter pilots, you must interact with a menagerie of interesting and entertaining aliens in order to save the human race. I have many fond memories of my adventure as this nameless fighter pilot, and empathised deeply with his plight. Oh, the thrills I felt as I discovered how to work my spaceship! The emotional shock as I unearthed the REAL truth behind the invasion! Not to mention the thought-provoking dialog with the numerous aliens I encountered. It was visionary!

There were so many great character moments in this game. Who could forget the hysterical antics of Circle-Face-With-Squid-Legs, or "Ralph" as he was commonly known? His dialog had me laughing for hours. And what about the scorching love affair between Brad (Crab-Head-With-Wings) and Brenda (Square-with-antennae)? Whoo. Racy stuff, even for the 70s. And if you didn't cry when George (Pixely-Blob-With-One-Eye) gave up his life to save his brother, then you have a cold heart, my friend. It's deep, character-developing moments like these that make a a story memorable, and Space Invaders has never been topped.

Unfortunately, there is one sour spot with the game. The programmers deemed it necessary to include a silly arcade element, where you pilot your ship and fire upon hordes of incoming aliens. It detracts from the story, and isn't really necessary. However, this is a small point to harp on, since the rest of the game is so good. Funny enough, I have met many people who never got past this arcade section, and thought that Space Invaders was just a silly arcade game! What losers!

This game even featured a blockbuster ending, where you got to save the human race all over again, but FASTER!

There are people who foolishly believe that Jane Jensen is the leader of well-researched adventure games. These people are missing out, because they have obviously never played Space Invaders.

Autoerotica.

(D.G.)

#4: King's Quest VIII: Mask of Eternity

Sierra - 1998

With each installment of Sierra's venerable King's Quest series, the company has striven to grow and improve on its previous efforts utilizing new technologies as they became available. Their efforts finally culminated in Mask of Eternity, clearly the best game in the series.

I write this review with a tinge of sadness as I realize that no more games will be officially released in the series. Yes, it finished on a high note to end all high notes, and I can only hope that the fans behind the forthcoming King's Quest IX will take this superb game into account and continue the trends set forth in it.

For it was with King's Quest VIII that Sierra streamlined the series down to its most basic elements, removing all the fluff about "storylines" and "characterizations" and "puzzles" that had so annoyingly marred the game in previous iterations. No, King's Quest has been about one thing and one thing only...

Monsters.

Oh come on. You know it's true. What do you remember about King's Quest I? The dragon. The witch. The sorcerer. King's Quest III? The...other dragon. King's Quest V? The yeti. King's Quest VI? The minotaur.

Butbutbutbutbut...there was always a problem. The indirectness of the implementation. The inability of the technology to give *direct* *meaningful* solutions to the problems presented by these vile creatures. Players were forced to fiddle with text parsers and later visual mouse-driven puzzles to do stupid things like redirect attacks, fool their enemies, or solve stupid puzzles to get rid of them.

With Mask of Eternity, Sierra utilized the wonders of 3D graphics to allow players to finally do what they *truly* wanted in a King's Quest game. Slashing those hideous beasts to tiny, tiny little bloody rivets with the pain and the hacking and the...

Ahem, excuse me.

But you see what I mean, don't you? The genius of it? The incredible design that whittled down King's Quest to its *essence*?! Can't you see it?! The wonderful flowing blood? And the hacking! And the climbing puzzles! And the jumping! Yes! Yes! More! More!

Uh, so yeah. That's what it's great. It's the monsters. And the hacking. Duh.

Doom.

(D.R.)

#3: Deer Hunter

WizardWorks Software - 1997

You are a man. No, not just a man. You're a broad-shouldered, barrel-chested, square-jawed, eagle-eyed specimen of masculinity. You eat a dozen flapjacks for breakfast. You speak in barely coherant grunts. Your idea of a clean shirt is one that's only been in the hamper for two days. You're not just a man. You are a MAN.

You only have one problem. Nobody believes you.

And therein lies the quest of Deer Hunter - to prove your manhood (sorry, your MANhood) by grabbing your trusty rifle and venturing off into the forest. Your mission, fair adventurer, is to find the cutest, most fuzzy and adorable deer in the forest and blast it to smithereens. It's the ultimate adventure - MAN against nature. The hunter versus the hunted. If that doesn't get the testosterone flowing and the ladies swooning, I don't know what will.

And it's that wonderful testosterone flow, that feeling of blowing innocent creatures to bits with no intellectual stimulation to speak of, that makes Deer Hunter the third greatest adventure game ever.

Fruit roll-up.

(D.G.)

#2: Crime Wave

Access Software - 1990

In the early 1990's, a small company known as Access Software created a character that we would grow to love in future years, that would resonate in the hearts of adventure fans forever. He's a private eye with an attitude, and a heart. And he's a super crime fighter. His journeys through the dark, fascinating world Access created are well-known to any true fan of gaming.

Of course I'm talking about Luke McCrabe~! and the brilliant adventure Crime Wave. Access made use of one of the more compelling and original plot devices in years--the President's daughter is missing!--to bring us this story of betrayal, intrigue, redemption, and level after level of blood-filled digitized carnage!

Through it all, we laughed with Luke and the incredibly well fleshed-out supporting characters, we cried with them, and as we guided Luke towards his ultimate goal of saving civilization as we know it, we all knew that the inevitable release of the sequel would be the single greatest day of our collective lives.

Unfortunately, Access badly dropped the ball after Crime Wave and focused on another character they had created, private eye Tex Murphy, who obviously is just a copy of Luke McCrabe~!, and a poor one at that. His games are best left unmentioned as a "dark period" in the otherwise glorious history of Access.

There are rumors, however, of a pending sequel to Crime Wave, now that Microsoft has taken an interest in the adventure genre. The fan community at https://www.unofficiallukemccrabe~!.com/ is keeping the dream alive. Join them!

Superfluous.

(E.D.)

#1: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

LucasArts - 1992

Shortly after I wrote my original Top 20 Adventure Games of All-Time list, I chatted with Agustin Cordes, a fellow adventure gaming journalist who I have a great deal of respect for. I asked him to outline his Top 20 for me, and he did, finishing with this statement that I cannot disagree with:

"I think Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis is the quintessential adventure, the perfect blend between story and puzzles. It has everything you could ask in an adventure game."

Man, I could not agree more. I remember so well the first time I played this game, how riveted I was, how excited I was to be in the world of one of the greatest movie heroes of all time, travelling the globe, whip in hand, brain moving at warp speed, solving puzzles and defeating Nazis.

Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis, as if you didn't already know, features five levels of Nazi-busting, globe-trotting action, all in perfectly rendered 3/4 isometric view (which would prove to be an essential inspiration for Diablo--another brilliant adventure that barely missed this countdown) and sprinkled with a heavy dose of difficulty. Yes, any intrepid adventure fan would tell you that they fondly remember the puzzles of Fate of Atlantis--such as the "don't let the crazy bellboys beat the holy living crap" puzzle from the first level, Monte Carlo--as those special puzzles that kept them up late, pondering a solution.

There is a lot of unfortunate confusion revolving around another game that was released at the same time, also called "Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis," and which also unfortunately claimed to be an adventure, when in reality it was just a tedious exercise in boredom and repitition wrapped in a poor MIDI soundtrack and ludicrous dialogue.

All confusion aside, time has clearly proved the brilliance of this game. And though we may disagree on a lot here in the Adventure Gamers offices, there's one thing that's for certain: Indiana Jones & the Fate of Atlantis: The Action Game is definitely the greatest adventure game of all-time.

(From all of us, our gift to you, our wonderful readers. Hope you enjoyed. Happy April 1st!)