The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

1st place goes to STAR CONTROL 2, and its successor THE UR-QUAN MASTERS!

For being a damn fine game that I love playing over and over and over and over again :D.

2nd place goes to RELENTLESS (or Little Big Adventure)

For being just slightly less damn fine than Star Control 2!

Both fantastic games.  I'm so proud you developers of UQM, I was overjoyed when my brother discovered it back in the days of 0.1.  I didn't really play it then because I was using Win98 and I would regularly boot into DOS to play SC2, but once it hit... 0.2?  The first one when it was finishable but didn't have the intro or ending sequences anyway I got right into it!!

I'm having a lot of fun just sitting here at work wishing I was at home playing it *sigh*.

Best game EVER

Dude...

You got that right on spot...

Those really are the greatest games ever...eheh

Transport Tycoon & Derivatives and both Ultimas Underworld  (obviously)

At the risk of being lynched.....my list would be along the lines of....

1. Final Fantasy VII

2. Resident Evil

3. Metal Gear Solid

4. Star Control 2

5. Master Of Orion 2

I know that's five and not two, but I didn't want get flamed for leaving SC out ;)

Oops, how could I forget Transport Tycoon?  I wasted probably about the same amount of time playing TTDLX as I did playing SC2 and LBA, if not more!!

My tops are in no particular order.
 - Star Control 1(sorry, but I like the strategy campaign better)
 - XCOM: UFO Defense
 - Archon
 - Mail Order Monster
 - Romance Of The Three Kingdoms I

1. Star Control 2
2. Warcraft III

These two games rule their genre.

Oh man! How could I forget that game!! A total classic!!
I dunno if you own a GBA, but a new game called RebelStar is out soonish by the same guys who did UFO. Looks pretty good!!  :)

Mine, in semi-informal order:

- Ur-Quan Masters
- Master of Magic
- Final Fantasy Tactics
- Nethack

Another classic! I do admit though that I got a bit bored towards the end....only so may battles I could stand before I wanted it to be over!! But it still is a top game!!

Hah!  I'd almost completely forgotten about that great old classic, Relentless.

1) SCII (and UQM) is definitely my first place.  Gamespot declared it one of the 10 best games of all time, btw.
2) X-Com: UFO Defense
MOO-2 was fantastic, too.. and Warcraft and Starcraft are still the best multiplayers I've seen (although I've been out of that scene for half a decade..)

1) Starflight
2) Battlezone 2
3) Mechwarrior 2
4) Starcontrol 2 (UQM)
5) Starcraft (plus Broodwar Expansion)

I know that looks bad, but if you look at Starflight and Starcontrol as the same game, it averages out to 2.5th place or something.

 ;D That would have been my logic too!

1) Starcontrol 2
2) Quest for Glory I
3) Ultima Online (Pre-UO:R)
4) Ultima Underworld
5) Relentless

The two (or so) winners are:

Elite (in it's all incarnations)
Master of Orion (1 & 2)

Closest runner-ups:

Maniac Mansion (& DOTT)
Rally Trophy (patched with TT Realmod 2005)
AD&D 'gold box' games (from Pool of Radiance to Dark Queen of Krynn, in fact - all of them)
Star Control (1 & 2)

Best RTS: Total Annihilation, Dune II, Dark Reign 1
Best FPS: Tribes 1, Quake 1
Best Adventure: Zelda 1, Metroid 1, Blaster Master, Exile (C64), Megaman Legends series
Best SpaceExpl: Elite II, Star Control II
Best RPG: Pen, paper, imagination and a good GM, there are no computer RPGs.
Best StatFap: Pokémon
Best Sim: Sim Life, Sim City, Sim Ant, Utopia I & II
Best CoffeBreak: Soldat, and  too many to mention.
Best Beatemup: Barbarian, Rival Schools, Bruce Lee (C64)
Best Sports: SuperCars II, Sensible Soccer
Sexiest Girl: Adriana Lima

Best: Superlow cotton panties

Egads!  How is it that I can disagree with almost every recommendation by someone who otherwise seems to have impressive aesthetic taste!

I would have to say:

RTS: Starcraft (by a significant margin)
FPS: Team Fortress
Adventure: (console) Super Metroid; (computer) Grim Fandango
RPG: Planescape Torment
Sim: Oregon Trail (damn straight!  you learned exactly how the buffalo got depopulated -- so, so fun to kill)
Beatemup: River City Ransom (come on, how could you miss this?!) or AD&D Shadows over Mystara (or its predecessor)
Sports: Madden (duh)

1- x-com ufo defense
2- Star Control 2
3- Fragile Allegiance
4- Mordor II  :-* aaagh, too many games... like master of magic,
dune, nethack...

(rts: Total Annihilation, sure!!! and then Starcraft!)

Fragile Alligience is sort of Utopia II - K240 in a "better looking" PC version. I got the CD here on my desk, found it for $1 in a budget bin (german version), but I probably can't run it on XP without hazzle. It might be abandon/freeware by now. Saw it at underdogs anyways.

It has a sloppy montage including a nasty worm-eaten zombie on the cover and I have no idea why. I would guess the biological warfare deal is responsible, but it just manages to be distasteful and incredibly cheesy at the same time.

I love equipping my eagle fighters with different weapon systems and just... launch them in and out the underground docking bays. It would rock with a modern version where the Asteroids are roundish with buildings all around and possibly there could be some HomeWorldish control of the fleets. Unfortunately HomeWorld didn't even come close to the complexity of K240, but maybe it didn't aim for that as the target market today is only receptible to extremely shallow gameplay.

If you liked K240 then Colonial Conquest might be worth a look (Amiga). I've got a project for that game btw. (http://itchstudios.com/psg/spacecon/spacecon.htm)


oops, I just wanted to expand on K240/fragile alligience a bit.

Something like imperium galactica II ?

i want a game that is like star control and ufo!!!!
today i've tried smuggler III, is a very nice game!!!!

and I think that ogre battle is better than ffantasy tactics!!!!  :P

i've tried rebelstar... ufo is better!!!!
and i like  more laser squad nemesis than rebelstar

  :) pssst, Arne!
 :D I love you...

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

I'm Shon-dahre on the Demise forums.  If you didn't know about it, Demise is what Mordor evolved into.  There is a long interesting history behind the company David Allen started, but Demise is really fun :D Check it out!!!

http://www.pharaoh-productions.com/demise
http://boards.pharaoh-productions.com

I know it, but mordor II is mordor II...
i love mordor II !!!!!
Mordor 2 is faster and simple but unlimited
demise look better but
mordor II IS the best !!!

I like Star control 2, but I'm surpirsed no has mentioned Halo 1 or Halo 2!!!!!!!!

Shame on you people, no half life?!?!?!

Best Games EVER!

1. Half Life
2. Halo (sorta corny game to me)
3. Half Life2
4. UQM
5. Half Life: Blue Shift
6. Half Life: Opposing force

The half life series is like 1998. The graphics are outdated but i still find that game fun. If you have Valve's "steam" then you get  free half life series. GET HALF LIFE2 IT IS SO BETTER THAN HALO2 OR ANYOTHER FPS ON THE MARKET, CURRENTLY. ALSO THERE IS PLENTLY OF MODS FOR THE GAME!!!!11!!!

(http://vgamers.de/screenshots/hl2/hl2_8.jpg[img]http://)


(http://www.tcmagazine.info/images/reviews/ATIDriverComparison/iq/Half-Life2-Catalyst411.jpg[img])

Halo?!  You've got to be kidding me.

I played it once and it's a poor excuse for an FPS.

Give me Max Payne or UT2004 any day.

Halo 2 was the biggest overhyped pieced of trash (according to what I've heard) in the history of game consoles ;).

Actually do you guys want to know the BEST 3d shooter EVER?

It's called Blood.  It was made with the build engine (the same one Duke 3d used) but the depth of the game is incredible, it can be quite freaky at times and because it uses sprites rather than 3d models for items and actors it seems a bit less plasticky than some 3d games with models rather than sprites.

Oh yeah, did I mention you really get immersed into it?  It's a fantastic game and puts modern 3d shooters to shame.  You can get the full version from The Underdogs I think, it's now abandonware.  You'll need either the ability to boot to DOS or you might be able to get it running under DosBox though if you use 2k or XP.  I actually have a drive in my computer with Win98 on it which I have also set up to boot to DOS mode with legacy audio drivers (SB Audigy quality sound in DOS games ROCKS!!!) and it'll run any protected mode games although some much older games (pre-486) either don't run or have difficulty running.

Like Bubble and Bobble  :(

For once I agree with deus siddis... the battlezone remake series is completely underrated, they'd be on my top 15.

As to the two greatest games of all time...
Hm, I'll have to go by genre.

Best Game of All Time: Star Control 2
Best Space Games: Elite 2, Vegastrike (+Star Control 2)
Best RPG: Knights of the Old Republic
Best Modern Adventure: The Journeyman Project series
Best Classic Adventures: The Dig, Beneath A Steel Sky
Best Shooters: Deus Ex, Far Cry, Half-Life
Best Un-Categorized Game: Darwinia

My personal favorites

1 XCOM (You really cannot beat this game considering it came out in 1994)
2 Fallout1/2 (Planescape was pretty awesome too)
3 Civ 1/2
4 MOO 2 (Why does Moo3 have to be the worst sequel since SC3 and XCOM3?)
5 All the blizzard games...
6 Dungeon Keeper 2/Evil Genius (Evil Genius would have been best game in years if developer had finished the damn thing before realsing it)
7 Halflife (This is IMO far and away best FPS ever, but i am not a huge FPS fan)
8 Homeworld
9 Scorched Earth/Worms
10 Caesar 2

Honorable mentions
Deadlock 1/2
Europa Universalis 2
Knights of the Old Republic
Populous 2
Shogun Total War

Doh! I forgot to include SC 1/2 in honorbale mention  ;D

Oh.. Remembering all these good old times of my youth. What were the games! Every one of them had piece of soul. Those will allways remain in my heart..

Star Control 2, Relentless (Little Big Adventure), Dune2, UFO (X-Com), Transport Tycoon, all of Ultimas, Civilization 1/2/3, Master Of Orion 1/2, Master of Magic (almost all of old Microprose!!!), Quest for Glory I (VGA remake is simply charming)  ;)

The latest that I enjoyed - Planescape Torment, Knights of the Old Republic, Deus Ex, Fallout1/2, Europa Universalis, Total War series  ::)

Here's my list. Know that I tend to forget things sometimes, so it is probably not complete.

X-com: Ufo Defense (Yeah, I am addicted to this, as you can probably tell from my avatar and signature ;D)

Master of Orion (only one of the series I've played, and it worked like a charm till I got Windows XP >:( Nothing was as much fun as sending a single battleship to wipe out entire races, or even better, a fighter! :D)

Star Control 2 (Love the campaign mode. This one has got some wonderful characters, from the ultimately scared but ass-kicking Fwiffo to the funny Supox and the depressed Utwig, Oh, and I can't forget good old commander Hayes.)

Little Big Adventure 2 : Twinsen's Oddessy (This one has been one of my favorites for a long time. Too bad I haven't got a chance to get LBA 1 to work. I just love spinning around with my sword using agressive behaviour. :D)

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind (OK, apart from the fact that I've got the only damn 3D card in the list of not supported ones, which causes me to have all the colours and textures messed up. And the fact that whenever i get in an area with something magic (Which probably means 95% of the game! >:() it crashes, this thing rocks.)

Morrowind was such a great game in so many ways, but how could you handle having maxed out skills and equipment 1/3 of the way into the game?  Myabe I just liked exploring that wonderful world too much, but I know it got really easy and really boring for me at the end and I never even finished it.

I have to post since there are some good games that aren't getting mentioned...

If you don't like RPG then you haven't played:
NeverWinterNights:  Shadowlords, Dreamcatcher series by Adam Miller
                                     Honor Among Thieves by Baldecaran
                                     Twilight series by Rick Burton (Finish it Rick!!!)
                                     Art of the Thanaturge by Wes Lewis
Open source authorships leads to some excellent stories but necessarily not enough people get to play them.

The birthright of all computer games... Dungeon, Adventure! and Zork  especially Zork Grand Inquisitor and by the same people with Douglas Adams:        Starship Titanic

I'm a Civilization junky including the board game by Avalon Hill
the Fallout series,
Dungeon Keeper was intensely fun to be evil,
Mech Warrior II,
Wing Commander II
Ultima Underworld I and II

I'd like to try some of these other titles that you all mention but there's not enough life to go around...

Civilization 2 and Warcraft 2.

But if i have a friend at home, playing on the same keyboard, then Worms Armageddon and Liero (with custom weapons)! Though they're still matched by North & South on Amiga and Mario Bros on Commodore 64...

my top 5 ..... Even though it says 2 ...


5) Diablo 2 LOD  (PC)
4) UQM   (duh)
3) Actraiser      (snes)
2)  lunar silver star story  (sega cd) not the crappy psx remake
1)  Final Fantasy 7 PC   ( reunion patch edtion) 



some really good games mentioned in the earlier post  so hard to  really list .....

1. SC2/UQM
2. Fallout 1/2

 I am surprised there is no mention of the Bard's Tale series for Best RPG.   And Fallout 1/2 is definitely a good selection.

1. warcraft iii
2. civilisation ii

honourable mentions-
-star control ii
-master of orion ii
-starcraft: brood war
-half-life(and all its mods, especially natural selection, counterstrike and team fortress)

i recommend civ2. spent eternity on it. fun as hell and you can probably get a free download.

What about mario and postal :D but seriously have ever played prehistoric or moonstone. They don't  can't match with uqm but they are great

I almoust forgot about icewin dale, arena (not quake 3:arena), daggerfall and fallout

A nice feature is that the rules are set in text files. You can change the rules of the game (Within limits)! For example, one of the most fun games I've had is with wonders turned off. The tech tree looked totally different.

Having read this topic some months ago, i downloaded and played Fallout 2. Though i'm not a fan of RPG-like games, that was really cool. So, thanks for the hint ;)



Yes that was fun! You could easily change graphics/sounds too (they're simple gif/wav files) and i used to create whole new units.

Honestly, I've never played a game by Black Isle that I didn't absolutely love.  Baldur's Gate and Fallout are easily the best RPG's I've ever played, and although I've never played Planescape: Torment, I'm sure it's also top notch.

I'm also a fan of the early Final Fantasy games....although I can never remember the numbers...I especially enjoyed the one with Kefka (three, I think) and the one released in Japan with Exdeath (although I heard people hated this one).  The only "modern" FF I really enjoyed was 9. 

I'd also think the Silent Hill series deserves a mention, as well as Alone in the Dark.

As for most disappointing game, I'd go with Devil May Cry 2.  Loved the first, hated the second.

So many good games, narrowing them down is about as hard as Bill Clinton turning down a cheeseburger.  I'd have to go with Starcontrol II and Mechwarrior II, though.

Uhh..

Best RTS: Command n Conquer, Warcraft 3
Best FPS: Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2, Grand Theft Auto 3
Best Adventure: Zork, Space quest 1,2,3
Best SpaceExpl: Star Control II, Space Empires 3,4
Best RPG: Diablo.
Best StatFap: ?
Best Sim: Sim City, Civilization 3,4
Best CoffeBreak: Strange adventures in Infinite Space,  Weird Worlds.
Best Beatemup: Mortal Kombat
Best Sports: Motocross Madness
Sexiest Girl: Jenna J. ;)

Best: Superlow cotton thong panties

Greatest? "Favorite" sounds more like this.
And 2 just isn't enough...
Something like this, in no particular order:
SC2 (default)
Deus Ex
Arcanum
ADOM (!?)
Fallout 1/2
Jagged Alliance 2
Dungeon Master 2,
Might&Magic 4/5
Wizardry 7 - Crusaders of Dark Savant (if not the best PC RPG ever)
... and etc.

The two GREATEST games of all time would have to be X-COM 1 (2 was a clone and 3 was inferior) and Star Control 2 (Am I biased in favor of science fantasy?  Naaaahhh!)

Reasons: Gameplay (especially mixed gameplay!), storyline, dialogue, humor and graphics that were state-of-the art at the time make them not only playable, but enjoyable and even superior to this day.

MOO-2 and The Secret of Monkey Island come pretty close behind those two, though.

True.  Anyone who disagrees with this statement doesn't know what an RPG really is.  There are, however, a lot of good computer adventure games that call themselves RPGs.

How could you forget Penultima?  How?  You must not have played it.  That's the only explanation I can think of.  And Demon is a big improvement on Dreamcatcher.


Return to Zork was the best Zork game that I played.  It was the most Zork-y, though YMMV. 

I want to play too. Breaking it down into rough genres (just because I don't want to make a 'top ten' list)

Best adventures:
Grim Fandango, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Best FPS:
System Shock 2, Thief: The Dark Project, Deus Ex

Best CRPGs:
Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment

Best strategy:
Master of Orion, UFO: Enemy Unknown (X-COM), Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

Best 'hybrid':
Star Control 2, Ultima Underworld 2, Sacrifice

There are plenty of great games out there that never get mentions, too. How about Realms of the Haunting? Beneath a Steel Sky? CyberMage? Entomorph? Shadows Over Riva? They've pretty much faded into obscurity now, but I'd include any of them on a "best 100 games of all time" list.

And I've got to concur that the overall "best" two games would be X-COM and Star Control 2, for the reasons Lance listed.

The Gange mods are popular and good, but I wouldn't say absolutely great.  Crimson Tides of Tethyr was great at its ambience, and I agree that Demon is better, but because it has less bugs.

Two greatest games of all time for me are Master of Magic and Archon Ultra.  Some people lean scifi, and some people lean fantasy I guess.

5. Master of Orion 2 (DOS) – Best turn-based space sim ever. I loved designing my own ships and sending them out to crush those annoying Klackons.

4. Unreal Tournament (Windows) – Had some great times with this one. I’ve spent countless hours fragging online. Good times with good people.

3. Battletoads (NES) – A lot of people I know are ambivalent about this one, mostly because it was ridiculously difficult to beat. But it was loads of a lot of fun beating up all those rats and pigs.

2. Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (DOS) – Ah, the ultimate in turn-based strategy. The hand drawn phoenixes, dragons, minotaurs, etc looked gorgeous at the time. And the music was awesome (the opera tracks were outstanding).

1. Star Control 2 (DOS) – Best of the best, IMO.

1: Half-Life 2: Just a damn good FPS.

2: Star control 2: BEST RPG EVER!!!!! &@#$ MARIO (RPG)!!!!!!

3: Counter-strike: Online FPS with blood and real dead bodies, doesn't get better than that.

4: Starcraft (Broodwar): Pays homage to Star Control (Terran Battlecruiser, Protoss Carrier).

5: Worms: World Party: Cute little worms, worming their way across the feild with BAZOOKAS, UZIS, SHOTGUNS and worst of all....... SHEEP!!!!!




..... Nuff said.

In no particular order; here are some of my faves:
Star Control 2
Fallout 2
Icewind Dale 2
Dungeon Master 2
Master of Orion 2
Starcraft
Half-Life (1, didn't play 2 yet)
DOOM (1 and 2, didn't play 3 yet)
TES 3: Morrowind
Xenogears (Man, that story ROCKED)
Valkyrie Profile
Freelancer

One of the most atmospheric RPGs. The music, the depressive backgrounds, weird spellcasting system, magic and technology combined... great.


That's all 3DO's fault!! :) MM4,5 and HMM1,2 were great. I enjoy these graphics even now. Monsters in MM4,5 were nice (if not to say CUTE :)). Everything else - naah (well, maybe HMM3 is not that bad). And then, MM6, and everything gone wrong... :(


Ohh... when I first saw a Concrete Donkey in action... :))

Earth and Beyond
Star Control 2/The Ur-Quan Masters

Forgot to mention Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge, one of the most underrated games ever released. The graphics were a real eye candy back then on SNES, the music perfectly fitted the game, and the gameplay was perfect from the start to finish. A high replayability value (including mainly discovering enemies' weak spots, breaking time limits and multiplayer) was also included in the game.

If you just have to have two:

1-Star Control II.

Sure, I was rather late to the party, having only bothered to play when UQM 0.4.0 was out. But the whole package is excellent. For one, the music. Who would have thought that a contest held by the impoverished devs would have resulted in one of the best game soundtracks of all time? Then there's the gameplay. The combat's solid, landing on planets to fetch minerals and lifeforms isn't too bad, and interacting with aliens was well done-you had multiple responses, and there were plenty of witty and humorous lines that didn't come off as cheesy. The story isn't too bad, either-I won't go into detail about that because I don't want to spoil anything. Other thoughts include the fact that you don't need to spend thousands on PC hardware just to play it(which is, sadly, the norm as of PC gaming today), and that Fwiffo has to be one of the best game characters EVER!

2-System Shock 2

I've played many games over the years, but I think this was the first one I truly loved. I read a small magazine article on it, and that somehow compelled me to pick up the game when it lay before my eyes on a store shelf one day. I never regretted it-the atmosphere was tense and scary, the gameplay fun, and the story good, with a few twists. Of course, I was younger then, and therefore more easily spooked-especially when I turned off the lights. The fact that my gaming skills weren't as good then didn't help things, nor was the lack of ammo laying around or the high prices of ammo from a replicator. Maybe my description isn't doing it enough justice(besides, the best way to experience a game is to play it), and maybe other games like Deus Ex or Fallout should take this spot, but I believe SS2 is the one title that really made me embrace video games.

(P.S.-I hope this topic isn't too old to bump.)

I definitely see how the Battlecruiser is a black hammerheaded Dreadnaught with no fighters, down to the Yamato gun visuals... but I don't follow you on the Carrier.

It's the part of the dreadnaught that the Battlecruiser isn't.  Listen, next time it launches fighters.

Eeh... I guess I'll have to listen to the SFX. The general idea that it should launch fighters with a limited range is hardly an homage on its own.

You know, 'bout that ship designe..... I noticed that a lot of ships in SF (especially in Star Trek) have an upsidedown T look (well, not quite like that but all are VERY SIMILAR); for example: Chrmm Avatar,  Ur-Quan Dreadnought (if you take those nascelles or whatever they are) Vux Intruder, Syreen Penetrator and in other SF stuff: Enterprise, Voyager or nearly any ship from Star Trek, Terran Battlecruiser, Terran Wraith from Star Control etc. I think its because they have just upgraded look of todays jets so it turns out that way.

This is such an amazing game. Atmosphere, story, it's all there.  Thank you for reminding me, I shalll dig it out of my cupboard immediately.

You're welcome.

(Now if I could just go back up to Virginia and find out if my SS2 copy, box, manual, disc, and all is still laying around there somewhere...I miss that game badly.)