New Poll: Choose the Missed Classic of Gaming Year 1992

By TAG team

We are nearing the end of the year 1992, so it’s time to continue some traditions. When we reached the final games of 1991, our readers had a chance to choose the best of the Missed Classics we had completed thus far. Now, it’s time to choose the best of the Missed Classics completed after the previous poll. Just like last time, we’ll continue with a quick rundown of the candidates.

The poll of 1991 was won by Cinemaware’s It Came From The Desert. Since then, we’ve covered its sequel, Antheads: It Came From The Desert II. Will Cinemaware be able to win twice in a row?

I'm all antsy for the excitement

As our readers noted during the previous poll, we had completely forgotten our Guest Games from the Trickster-era of blog, that is, Circuit's Edge and The Oregon Trail. It’s time to rectify this error! Both of these candidates were somewhat different from an average adventure game, one resembling CRPGs and the other strategy games.

Could this game slide to victory?

An outstanding part of our Missed Classic has been the former Zork-marathon, which has transformed into a whole Infocom-marathon. During the time of this poll, the Infocom-marathon has covered the following games:

Mainframe Dungeon and its offshoots, Zork I: The Great Underground Empire, Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz and Zork III: The Dungeon Master
Scifi-themed Starcross, Planetfall and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
The trilogy of magic games, continuing Zork-saga, (Enchanter, Sorcerer and Spellbreaker) and Wishbringer, also set in Zork-universe
Suspended, Infidel and A Mind Forever Voyaging, which broached the conventions of text adventure genre
Adventures in various settings, such as Seastalker, Cutthroats and Ballyhoo
Infocom’s Tutorial Game

Outside the marathon, we’ve also covered Infocom’s risque scifi comedy, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, in preparation to its graphical sequel.

Furthermore, we’ve also covered other games made by Infocom Implementors (Oo-Topos, Cyborg and Adventure in the 5th Dimension) and The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, an unofficial precursor of the Infocom game with almost the same title.

Will the voters be able to see behind the pictureless screen?

In addition to the Great Infocom Marathon, some smaller marathons have been going on. The oldest of these, the Level 9 Marathon, had begun already at the time of the previous poll. During the period we are now considering, this sideshow marathon has covered a scifi trilogy comprising Snowball, Return to Eden and The Worm in Paradise, fantasy-themed Lords of Time, Emerald Isle and Red Moon, and book adaptations The Saga of Erik the Viking and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾.

He heard he couldn't vote

A more recent marathon has started to follow the saga of Med Systems Software, famous especially for its labyrinthine maze games. We’ve covered already two of their games: Deathmaze 5000 and Labyrinth.

Is this amazeing game a hidden jewel?

And let’s not forget our look at the French adventure game scene and its most prominent representative, Coktel Vision. We’ve seen Mewilo and Freedom: Rebels in the Darkness, which detailed the history of Caribbean, an adaptation of animated film, Asterix: Operation Getafix, fantasy saga Legend of Djel, and Geisha, an attempt to wed adventure games with erotica.