Ultimate RPG Archives

by Interplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001QEPC
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,433 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Usually, any title containing the word "ultimate" is a sure indication that we're in for a disappointment, but Ultimate RPG Archives is a pleasant exception. Gamers who settle for nothing less than the latest technology will want to give this collection a wide berth, but anyone who values gameplay and enjoys the history of computer games will find that this package represents an incredible gaming bargain.

The entire Bard's Tale epic is here, although gameplay for all the titles in this series is a little simplistic and won't appeal to the majority of modern gamers. Dragon Wars is another game that falls into this category, but surprisingly the equally old-school Wasteland was incredibly fun to play. Set in a postapocalyptic America, Wasteland eschews swords and shields in favor of assault rifles and body armor and is an exciting change of pace from the standard dungeon crawl. The game was a bestseller on the Commodore 64 computer and inspired the modern hit RPG Fallout.

Stonekeep, one of the more modern games in the bundle, has decent graphics but is thin on gameplay. The best games are the two Ultima Underworld titles and the Might & Magic: World of Xeen compilation. The former thrusts players into an interactive underground world full of crafty traps and compelling encounters with other characters. Despite the dated graphics, we were sucked into the story immediately and couldn't stop playing. World of Xeen cast a similar spell of addiction on us, causing many a sleepless night and many a missed deadline until our massively powerful characters entered the final showdown. In all, Ultimate RPG Archives proves that when it comes to role-playing games, it's what's on the inside that counts. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Many of these games are true classics
• Comes with printed documentation for each game

Cons:

• Novices will have a hard time getting many of these games to run properly
• The older games in the collection have extremely poor graphics

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience some gaming history!, November 23, 2002

By 

Mark Lahren (Bismarck, North Dakota USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate RPG Archives (CD-ROM)

These are indeed old games, and as such, they don't look anywhere near as good as newer games. However, there are a bunch of classics here that should be experienced by any fan of PC gaming. If you love getting immersed inside a virtual world, practically all these games will deliver the goods. And printed manuals? Almost unheard of these days! If you are a true fan and don't mind tweaking your system a bit to get them running, there are hundreds of hours of fun to be had with this massive collection.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is plenty for the retro gamer !, September 7, 2003

By 

Vosla (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ultimate RPG Archives (CD-ROM)

First of all : You will go through pain playing these games on anything more sophisticated than Win98 and MS-DOS. And they are old... REALLY old. So don't expect anything fancy. Take the Bards' Tale for example : IMHO, the PC-version is uglier than the C64-version including sound. You are a hardcore fan and don't fear some torture to get what you want ? Fine, here you have it.
Remember, those are classics! I bought them and I don't regret it.

But the pricing is a bit out of proportion here. I bought the pack some years ago for something like $50.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's good. Get it., November 13, 1999

By 

James Touton (Fresno, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultimate RPG Archives (CD-ROM)

Note: I don't actually have this compilation, but I do have a fair number of the games included in it. I'm basing my review on that.

Just read the review below this one; he says pretty much everything I was going to, with one exception: he doesn't mention Ultima Underworld. Both Underworld games are in this collection, which on their own are worth the price. Both games are part of the not-to-be-topped Ultima series, and feature perhaps the first true 3D environment in any game. Ever.

Don't expect support for hardware 3D acceleration or any of that jazz; these are older games, but still very much worth playing. I don't expect you to have any trouble getting these to work, but... if you do, contact me; I can help.