Sounds about right.

Geez, some of these look like games that dinosaurs might have played! :P

How DARE you.

I never played The Dark Sun Series, but I played a lot of the Lankhmar extension.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lankhmar_%E2%80%93_City_of_Adventure

So many games I have never heard about, but I enjoy just looking at the covers.

Most of the box art from AD&D games in this era was taken from official TSR D&D books, that's why they are so awesome.

@karkarov: Oh yeah, I played that as well. Just haven't gotten around to finishing this list yet.

That is a great list. Still have wonderful memories of the end game of Death Knights of Kyrnn, with enemies running away in fear and a secret dungeon somewhere in the corner. Maybe the first RPG I played properly to completion.

I loved the Al-Qadim sourcebook but never heard about the game (Between Ray Harryhausen and Quest for the Glory 2 I was pretty much a sucker for Arabian adventure). Is it worth tracking down?

@jarowdowsky: I'd say if you come across it at some point it may be worth picking up, but I wouldn't search it out. It has a good story but it's a lot different than any of the other SSI Gold Box games. This one is a lot simpler and you don't even create your own characters. I liked the story a lot, though. Then again it's been 20 years since I played it so I'm not sure how well it even holds up.

@mb: Ah cheers mate, will look out for it when I have some time to spare. Goddamn, those gold box games were something else

I think it says quite a bit about my character that I remember more of the women's poses on these covers than the games themselves. Pre-emptive no comment on that one.

Anyway, great list! Know if any of those games are kicking around for (legal) purchase somewhere?

Would be nice to put more context in my head than "sultry stances"

@neozeon: Many of the old SSI games can only be found on "abandonware" sites, which we all know is nonsense. However, there doesn't appear to be any current way to legitimately buy and play most of these games, and I have barely even scratched the surface for this list.

This was addressed on a recent Bombcast. People would buy these old, amazing games if there was a legit way to do so and they actually worked. As it stands, searching for almost any of these old SSI gold box classics returns a bunch of torrent links and questionable abandonware sites. Leave it to the pirates to preserve gaming history, I guess.

@mb: I'd certainly pick them up if there was a way that didn't involve diving deep into virus infested waters. Like you said though, pirates are the only ones who seem to care at this point. A shame.

Also a shame: No IcewindDale on this list. I'll let it slide though since you said this is just the start and all.

Dude.

I was SO into the "Gold Box" SSI AD&D games back in the 80's.

I wish Etrian Odyssey's world had as much charm as the old D&D/Might and Magic games. There's just not a lot of heart to it. Mechanically, it's great and I love the party system. But there's just no real reason to explore the world.