Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend Sandy Pantz from a mad scientist, whose mind has been enslaved by a sentient meteor. The player uses a point-and-click interface to guide Dave and two of his six playable friends through the scientist's mansion while solving puzzles and avoiding dangers. Gameplay is non-linear, and the game must be completed in different ways based on the player's choice of characters. Initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Maniac Mansion was Lucasfilm Games' first self-published product.
Simon the Sorcerer is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Adventure Soft, for Amiga and MS-DOS. The game's story focuses on a boy named Simon who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters, where he embarks on a mission to become a wizard and rescue another from an evil sorcerer. The game's setting was inspired by the novels of the Discworld series, and incorporates parodies on fantasy novels and fairy tales, such as The Lord of the Rings and Jack and the Beanstalk. The lead character's design was inspired by that of the fictional British television character Blackadder, with the character voiced by Chris Barrie in the CD re-release.
Lemmings is a puzzle-strategy video game originally developed by DMA Design and published by Psygnosis for the Amiga in 1991 and later ported for numerous other platforms. The game was programmed by Russell Kay, Mike Dailly and David Jones, and was inspired by a simple animation that Dailly created while experimenting with Deluxe Paint.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by LucasArts and released in June 1992 for Amiga, DOS, and Macintosh. Almost a year later, it was reissued on CD-ROM as an enhanced "talkie" edition with full voice acting and digitized sound effects. The seventh game to use the script language SCUMM, Fate of Atlantis has the player explore environments and interact with objects and characters by using commands constructed with predetermined verbs. It features three unique paths to select, influencing story development, gameplay and puzzles. The game used an updated SCUMM engine and required a 286-based PC, although it still runs as a real-mode DOS application. The CD talkie version required EMS memory enabled to load the voice data.
Pool of Radiance is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers, becoming the first episode in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting, with the action centered in and around the port city of Phlan.
Beneath a Steel Sky is a 1994 point-and-click adventure game developed by British developer Revolution Software and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for MS-DOS and Amiga home computers. It was made available as freeware – and with the source code released – for PC platforms in 2003. Set in a dystopian cyberpunk future, the player assumes the role of Robert Foster, who was stranded in a wasteland known as "the Gap" as a child and adopted by a group of local Aboriginals, gradually adjusting to his life in the wilderness. After many years, armed security officers arrive, killing the locals and taking Robert back to Union City. He escapes and soon uncovers the corruption which lies at the heart of society.
Gobliiins is a puzzle adventure video game series, consisting of five entries, released by Coktel Vision for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Macintosh, iOS and Windows platforms. The first three titles were released in the early 1990s, the fourth in 2009, and fifth in 2023. The visual look of the series and its characters were created by French artist Pierre Gilhodes, whose style was used in another game from Coktel Vision: Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth.
Fantastic Dizzy is a 1991 video game developed by Codemasters. It is part of the Dizzy series. It was published on several platforms, including Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, and MS-DOS.
Lure of the Temptress is a point-and-click adventure game published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in June 1992 for Atari ST, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It was the first game developed by Revolution Software and uses their proprietary Virtual Theatre engine. The player assumes the role of Diermot, a young peasant who has to overthrow an evil sorceress. The game was well-received and re-released as freeware on April 1, 2003.
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is a point-and-click adventure game, first released in 1992 as the sixth installment in the King's Quest series produced by Sierra On-Line. Written by Roberta Williams and Jane Jensen, King's Quest VI is widely recognized as the high point in the series for its landmark 3D graphic introduction movie and professional voice acting. King's Quest VI was programmed in Sierra's Creative Interpreter and was the last King's Quest game to be released on floppy disk. A CD-ROM version of the game was released in 1993, including more character voices, a slightly different opening movie and more detailed artwork and animation.
Rise of the Dragon, released in 1990 by Dynamix, marks the company's venture into the cyberpunk genre, distinct from its usual portfolio of action and flight simulators. This graphic adventure game is set in a future dystopian version of Los Angeles, circa 2053, and follows the story of detective William 'Blade' Hunter as he investigates the death of the mayor's daughter, linked to a dangerous new drug, MTZ. The gameplay combines detective work, strategy, and action. Players must solve puzzles that influence the storyline, interact with characters who remember past choices, and tackle action sequences. If players fail these sequences multiple times, the game may offer to automatically complete them.
Obitus is an action-adventure game developed and released by Psygnosis in early 1991 for Amiga, Atari ST and DOS. It was also ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Bullet-Proof Software. The game features both first-person dungeon crawling and side-scrolling gameplay with action-oriented combat and an emphasis on item acquisition. It is similar to games like Eye of the Beholder on Super Nintendo but without the RPG mechanics.
There have been several video games based on the 1991 film Hook. A side-scrolling platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Game Boy was released in the United States in February 1992. Subsequent side-scrolling platform games were released for the Commodore 64 and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), and an arcade beat ‘em up by Irem later in 1992, followed by versions for the Sega CD, Sega Genesis, and Sega's handheld Game Gear console in 1993.
M.C. Kids is a 1992 platform video game developed and published by Virgin Games. It was initially released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in February 1992 in North America, and by Ocean Software in May 1993 in Europe. As a licensed product for the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain, the game stars two children named Mack and Mick who venture into the fantasy world of McDonaldland in order to return Ronald McDonald's magical bag which has been stolen by the Hamburglar. The game was created by four people in eight months: Darren Bartlett Gregg Iz-Tavares and Dan Chang (programming) and Charles Deenen (audio).
RoboCop 3 is a video game based on the 1993 film of the same name. Amiga, Atari ST and DOS versions were developed by Digital Image Design beginning in September 1990, and published by Ocean Software in December 1991. The Digital Image Design version includes multiple gameplay styles. During 1992 and 1993, other versions consisting of side-scrolling platform gameplay were released for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, NES, Super NES, Game Gear, Master System, and Sega Genesis.
Curse of Enchantia is a graphic adventure game developed and released by the British video game company Core Design for MS-DOS and the Amiga in 1992. The game tells the comic fantasy story of Brad, a teenage boy from modern Earth who was magically abducted to the world of Enchantia by an evil witch-queen. He needs to escape and find a way back to his own dimension.
Legends of Valour is a role-playing video game developed by Synthetic Dimensions and released by U.S. Gold and Strategic Simulations in 1992 for the Amiga, Atari ST and MS-DOS, with the additional FM Towns and PC-98 versions in 1993-1994 in Japan only. As the game was planned to be a first part of the series, its full title is Legends of Valour: Volume I – The Dawning. The proposed unreleased sequel to Legends of Valour was to take place in the world outside Mitteldorf, the enclosed city where the entirety of Legends of Valour takes place.
Dragonstone is a fantasy action role-playing game developed and published by Core Design for the Amiga in 1994 and Amiga CD32 in 1995. It was planned as a sequel to the Amiga game Darkmere, but became a standalone game over the course of development, possibly in part due to Darkmere's repeated delays.
The Lost Vikings is a 1993 puzzle-platform game developed by Silicon & Synapse and published by Interplay. It was initially released for the Super NES, then subsequently released for the Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS, and Mega Drive/Genesis. The Mega Drive/Genesis version contains five stages not present in any other version of the game, and can also be played by three players simultaneously. Blizzard re-released the game for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. In 2014, the game was added to Battle.net, emulated through DOSBox. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, The Lost Vikings was re-released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection in February 2021.
Die Kathedrale is a 1991 German text adventure game developed by Weltenschmiede and published by Software 2000 for the Amiga and DOS. Die Kathedrale is part of a text adventure trilogy; it is preceded by Das Stundenglas (1990) and succeeded by Hexuma (1992). The trilogy lacks an overarching plot, and in each entry the setting, role of the protagonist, and goal differ between each game. Games in the trilogy do not require knowledge of the other entries and may be played as standalone games.
