DHGF: In honor of the release of the Neverwinter Campaign Setting for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, it is Dungeons & Dragons week here at Diehard GameFAN. As part of this week, we will be opening up the Diehard GameFAN Hall of Fame to five nominees – all video games based on Dungeons & Dragons in some way. Our standards are just like the Baseball Hall of Fame: every game will be voted on by members of the staff, and any game that gets 75% of the vote – with a minimum of four votes – will be accepted – or thrown – into their respective Hall.
Eye of the Beholder was the first real success for the Dungeons & Dragons license on the PC. It was the game that many tabletop gamers felt finally emulated what it would be like to be in a dungeon crawl and it was the first D&D game that you could play and enjoy even if you didn’t know anything about Advanced Dungeons and Dragons in particular. For many video gamers it was their first trip to the Realms Forgotten, their first encounter with the city of Waterdeep, their first FPRPG (First Person RPG), their first encounter with a little Aberration known as a Beholder. Eye of the Beholder managed to capture the hearts and minds of gamers across the board and managed to receive critical praise not just for the original DOS version that could be played on a PC, but for the later ports to the Amiga, Sega-CD and SNES. Other incredibly successful PC RPGs like The Bard’s Tale, Wizardry and Ultima had all been ported to consoles, but they never reached the same level of success there as Eye of the Beholder.
Boutique publisher SNEG is bringing some classic RPGs into the modern era later this month via a number of updated Gold Box Steam releases.
Yes, it is much harder to start a retro collection in 2022 than it was in 2017, but it’s still possible! You’ll see there are still quite a few SNES games that are fun and affordable.
I really enjoyed Commando as a kid and it’s not listed . I bet it’s cheap maybe? Beat all 99 levels just to find out you start all over again .
You must be talking about Captain Commando and no it's not cheap...going for about $130.
Any retro console is still worth buying in 2022 whether a Genesis, NES, SMS, TG16. Some systems command a higher price then others but a SNES is still reasonably priced and worth grabbing you can mod the NA SNES to play Japanese games throw in an Everdrive and you're set. I feel sorry for some of the consoles I see on Ebay that have holes in them, yellowed to death, modified with shitty mods that barely work. The SNES might need a little work great way to learn if yellowed just use peroxide and UV light and it will turn white again. If you have a hobby of repairing older consoles that are listed as untested broken for parts some of the repairs are basic you can save money that way when buying a retro console. I just bought a $20 NES listed as broken on Ebay disable the lock out chip and new 72pin connector and it works.
I imagine restoration work on retro consoles is going to become much more important as the years wear on. Sure, hundreds of thousands of certain consoles were made, but fewer exist every year.
Depends on the console a SNES for sure needs retrobrite the plastic grows brittle and literally falls apart same with the NES. A White Dreamcast also needs retrobrite if I remember right the TG16 needs new capacitors it suffers the same issue as the Game Gear. Most of the old handhelds need new screens since they fail with age my Game Gear had new capacitors put in and a McWill mod done to it. The NES needs the lock out chip disabled when the power light turns on and off maybe throw in a new 72pin as well. Sega Master System has an issue blowing out the 7805 voltage regulator. OG Xbox depending on the board revision needs a clock capacitor removed or it leaks and fries the board. N64 controller needs a new thumbstick Sega Genesis model 2 suffers from the solder around the power supply is prone to cracking hence the system will not power up. Sega CD model 1 the laser dies fast model 2 the rubber feet supporting the drive fail and the model is know to throw the pico fuse so it dies fast as well.
It also depends how you treat the system also I baby my shit. I don't throw it around like a football the systems I see that might need the most help going through the years are the ones that use lasers and discs. I know some systems have problems due to how they were built as well like again certain board revisions of an OG Xbox and the Game Gear. I have bought broken systems and picked them for parts. I actually enjoy fixing older systems it's relaxing and a great way to teach yourself new skills.
Turning 64 this year.....my days playing video games are Now over.... time to move on to Jesus Christ .....I wish all of you Happy New Year . Game on Dudes!!!
It was fun while it lasted.
Carl Williams writes, "If you do not know what Eye of the Beholder is then continue reading this article. If you know, and do not have it yet, head over to GoG.com and grab the trilogy right now. There is a link at the bottom for your convenience. Dungeon crawling fun does not get much better than this Westwood Associates and SSI classic franchise."
Played the Amiga (a damn fine port with superb stereo sound) and the PC versions.. classic game and I kinda miss these types of RPG's now.
I remember when I finished it on the PC and instead of getting a cut scene or a congratulatory message (like I was expecting) the game just drops back out to the DOS prompt.
I thought the game had crashed and reloaded my save game only to have it happen again.. later found out that's exactly what it was supposed to do.
Wonderful game from beginning to end!