This will be my new blog on the greatest games of all time. I expect to do about one a month or so. Maybe more, maybe less as time allows. I'll start way back in the mid-80's and work my way forward. If you disagree with a selection, then write your own blog. I'm old (45 on August 5th) and cranky, so leave me alone. So without further ado, here is the first of the Best Games of All Time!
In 1985, Electronic Arts was just a sliver of the massive corporation that it currently is. It occupied a smallish building in California and started making games for the Commodore C64. In my opinion, that machine is still, dollar for dollar, one of the best gaming machines of all time. In 1985, I was in Germany in the employ of Uncle Sam driving tanks through the woods. Almost everyone had a C64 as they were inexpensive and had lots of great games to while away the oh so boring hours. Due to several local terrorist groups, our movement in the town (Erlangen) was severely cut down, and thus we had lots of free time.
It was around then that I was at the PX (post exchange, kind of our small local shopping center), and noticed that they started stocking C64 software. One of the first that caught my eye was Tales of the Unknown, The Bard's Tale. Back then EA packaged their titles in sleeves that looked like small album covers. If you know what an album is, you are old like me. The picture on the cover showed a group of obvious adventurers huddled around a fire in a pub, sharing stories and having a good time. I always like the idea of D&D, but had never played it in real life, so I picked it up, plonked down my $40 and off to my room. Little did I know that I would barely blink for the next 48 hours.
You start off making your own party members or you can use the pre-fab party, but I don't know anyone that did that. Then, you set off exploring the town of Skara Brae. This was among the first games to have a first person perspective, albeit in a very small window and the game was turn-based. Once you left the inn, you started peeking in other buildings. Sometimes it would be empty, sometimes you'd have a fight on your hands. Combat was also turn-based with each player character either swinging a sword, casting a spell, ior just play it defensive and hope the baddies don't notice you there in the back row. In the begining, combat was fairly easy with just a kobald or two. But it wouldn't stay that way for long...
One fairly difficult place was called Mangar's Tower. When you stepped inside, you were plunged into darkness. By itself, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Everyone used graph paper then to plot dungeons as there was no such thing as auto-mapping. This is the 1980's remember. But graph paper would do you no good here. Each step you took, you also got spun around so you had no idea which direction you were facing! Needless to say, it was pretty much by luck and perseverance that you got out of the tower. I think it took me about a week. I almost quit the game in frustration, but I'm glad I stuck with it.
Another toughie was in the castle. You went up to the second floor, and faced the toughest and longest fight in the game. In the Bard's Tale, the computer was limited to 4 groups of enemies. Each group had a limit of 99. Well, that's exactly what you got when you entered a certain room. You were faced with 396 Beserkers. Now I am here to tell you, it takes a LONG time for 396 Beserkers to each take their turn swinging at you. Once in a great while, one of your party would get a swing and maybe kill a couple of them. Then it started again with 396 minus a couple. The C64 wasn't a fast machine, so it took forever to get through that. A Lot of folks actually used that as a kind of cheat. When their characters got so powerful, the Beserkers could not touch them. So they went into the room, and slowly killed off the Beserkers. You would get a fair amount of gold and loot for accomlishing this task. Then they would exit the room, and re-enter it and there 396 more Beserkers would be. Crazy stuff.
Of course, like so many other RPG's, you fought your way to the final boss, killed him (if memory serves) and the game was over. At least until Bard's Tale 2. I don't remember the ending, but I do remember being disappointed in it, especially considering the amount of time I had spent on the game. I wanted a huge sendoff. No such luck. However, regardless of the ending, I can't help but list the Bard's Tale among gaming's elite. For its time, it was groundbreaking. It started Interplay (who developed the game actually with EA being the publisher) and several features in the game are still being used today. If you have access to a C64 or an emulator, I highly recommend checking it out. Yes, the graphics will bite compared to today's graphical monstrosities. But try and picture yourself 20 years ago, in a dark room except for a desk lamp to map with, and loads of coffee to keep you going. It was as engaging and addictive as a game got at the time.