ULTIMA I-IX (1981-1999)

Origin, Sierra(until 1982)

My first experience with ultima was when I went to my friend Casey's house and saw him playing some overhead adventure game that I found out was called Ultima VI. At first, I didn't think too highly of it just because of the way it looked. Then I tried to create my own character and I just loved the way it asked you questions to decide the type of character you would play. I remember Ultima VI being very long and it didn't have much of a logical path..and it was easy to stray and do whatever you want. Like kill off an entire town simply because your main adventure never seemed to even take you there anyway. Then came Ultima VII part 1 and 2. These games were HUGE, especially part 2, Serpent Isle. You actually had the ability to go do whatever you wanted without having to worry about doing any type of quests. You could get a job, make your own house, anything. There were hundreds of little dungeons to wander about in. I never got over the scope of the game. I wasn't hooked up to the internet while I was playing the ultimas so I never found a walkthrough for Serpent Isle. When I finally did look it up one day it was something like 60 pages long. If you ever finished Sepent Isle without cheating and without a walkthough, please email me! I want to be sure at least one person did, because I know It wasn't me!

Since then I have played the first three Ultima games, despite the graphics, they were very good games. I can't speak for Ultima IV, V, or IX but I doubt they deviated from the successful formula. If you play and of these games, be prepared to set aside a lot of time to get into it...and even more to get out of it!