What are the best versions of each game?

Shanks · Post by **Shanks** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 8:23 pm

I just installed ScummVM on my PSP for the first time last night, and I am blown away. So now of course I have to try all the games out.

If I had to choose one de-facto version of each game, which one would you recommend? By version, I'm referring to platform/media/variant, e.g. PC CD, PC Floppy VGA, PC Floppy EGA, Sega Mastersystem CD, SNES Cartrige, FM Towns CD, etc.

The games I'm curious about are
- Monkey Island 1 and 2
- Loom
- Indiana Jones (Crusade and Atlantis)
- Zak
- Maniac Mansion

Which version of each of the above has the overall best graphics, sound, and presentation?

Kirben · Post by **Kirben** » Tue Jan 30, 2007 10:44 pm

Monkey Island 1 - PC CD version
Monkey Island 2 - PC version
Loom - PC CD version (For speech) or FM Towns version (For story)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - FM Towns version
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - PC version
Zak KcKracken - FM Towns verison
Maniac Mansion - PC Enhanced version

TribeHasSpoken · Post by **TribeHasSpoken** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 1:40 am

I find for most games it's easy to buy a copy of the PC version, but much harder to find any other version (at least on eBay). While I'd love to try out other versions, I take whatever I can get.

df · Post by df » Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:40 am

i must be odd coz I didnt like the fm-towns zak, I liked the pc-ega version...

Shanks · Post by **Shanks** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:44 am

Kirben wrote:Monkey Island 1 - PC CD version
Monkey Island 2 - PC version
Loom - PC CD version (For speech) or FM Towns version (For story)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - FM Towns version
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - PC version
Zak KcKracken - FM Towns verison
Maniac Mansion - PC Enhanced version

Awesome, thanks for that.
For Atlantis, when you say PC version I assume you're talking about the CD "talkie"? Or are you referring to the PC text-only version (floppy disk)?

Shanks · Post by **Shanks** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 4:52 am

TribeHasSpoken wrote:I find for most games it's easy to buy a copy of the PC version, but much harder to find any other version (at least on eBay). While I'd love to try out other versions, I take whatever I can get.

I actually own all of those games in various versions and formats, but I don't own the FM Towns version. Since I have already paid for all of those games (3 times over in some cases), would you still consider it unscrupulous to download the FM Towns version?

Post by **sev** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 5:56 am

Shanks wrote:Since I have already paid for all of those games (3 times over in some cases), would you still consider it unscrupulous to download the FM Towns version?

This was explained many times. If you own a red BMW, does it give you the right to take black one for free?

Especially in the light of prices of FM-TOWNS games on eBay. Zak goes as far as 350 USD, other games are never cheaper than 100 USD.

Eugene

Kirben · Post by **Kirben** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:35 am

Shanks wrote:
For Atlantis, when you say PC version I assume you're talking about the CD "talkie"? Or are you referring to the PC text-only version (floppy disk)?

Yes, the PC version on CD, with speech.

Shanks wrote:I actually own all of those games in various versions and formats, but I don't own the FM Towns version. Since I have already paid for all of those games (3 times over in some cases), would you still consider it unscrupulous to download the FM Towns version?

Yes, there are currently FM TOWNS versions of the two Indiana Jones on eBay at the moment.

Shanks · Post by **Shanks** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:07 am

sev wrote:
Shanks wrote:Since I have already paid for all of those games (3 times over in some cases), would you still consider it unscrupulous to download the FM Towns version?
This was explained many times. If you own a red BMW, does it give you the right to take black one for free?

Especially in the light of prices of FM-TOWNS games on eBay. Zak goes as far as 350 USD, other games are never cheaper than 100 USD.

Eugene

Comparing a car with out-of-print reproduceable media seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but since this seems to be the general consensus I'll go along.

Raziel · Post by **Raziel** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:26 am

Kirben wrote:Maniac Mansion - PC Enhanced version

May i disagree?

I thought (and still think) that the Amiga version of MM was best.

It had better music and the skin color was more natural,
not that "sunburn" look as in the PC enhanced version.
Link to pic

Kirben · Post by **Kirben** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:25 am

Raziel wrote: I thought (and still think) that the Amiga version of MM was best.

It had better music and the skin color was more natural,
not that "sunburn" look as in the PC enhanced version.
Link to pic

Well the preferred sound type (Amiga or PC) would be personal choice in this case.

The render mode (Amiga, EGA, etc.) can be choosen, with either version, when using ScummVM though.

OmerMor · Post by **OmerMor** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 8:30 pm

The best Maniac Mansion version is of course Maniac Mansion Deluxe, by LucasFan.

Anyway - since this question is raised quite often, why not add a wiki page which gives the best versions of each game in a table with various criterias, like sound, graphics, content (e.g. Floppy Loom has longer dialoges than CD Loom)?

I think such a reference page whould be very usefull.

Omer Mor.

timofonic · Post by **timofonic** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:56 pm

OmerMor wrote:The best Maniac Mansion version is of course Maniac Mansion Deluxe, by LucasFan.

Read ScummVM's FAQ 2.4

2.4. When will Maniac Mansion Deluxe be supported?

The short answer: never. The long answer: This game is a fan-made replica of the original Maniac Mansion. It is not the same game as Maniac Mansion Enhanced, which we do support. It features improved music, sound, 256-colors graphics and reworked game interface. It was made using the Adventure Game Studio which is a free, albeit closed-source graphics adventures engine. There are Windows, Linux and FreeBSD versions of the engine. Its author keeps his source code closed due to reasons explained in the project FAQ (see last two questions). That means that you need to download that program to play the game.

Shanks · Post by **Shanks** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:56 am

Kirben wrote:Monkey Island 1 - PC CD version
Monkey Island 2 - PC version
Loom - PC CD version (For speech) or FM Towns version (For story)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - FM Towns version
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - PC version
Zak KcKracken - FM Towns verison
Maniac Mansion - PC Enhanced version

Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the PC version of Atlantis over the FM Towns version? Same question for MI2... any particular reason? I'm just wondering if I should persue getting the FM Towns versions, or just stick with the PC CD versions I currently own...

karsten · Post by **karsten** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:59 am

You might also check this older thread http://forums.scummvm.org/viewtopic.php?t=263