Dungeon Master Atari ST

Dungeon Master Atari ST is a classic 1st-person RPG. The grand-daddy. The one that moulded the genre and encouraged a plethora of other imitators (Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore amongst them). You started by picking a party of four adventurers and then unleashed them in a shadowy, dangerous dungeon full of beasts and traps. Character progression meant you got hooked on your team of warriors, wizards and ninjas, and the monsters and problems you needed to overcome kept you on your toes throughout the game. The graphics were amazing for the era (late 80's); and the sound, although sparse, was very effective (I distinctly remember the horrific screams of an evil mummy assaulting my party from the rear, and scaring me on a regular basis). The interface was simple and effective, based on the point-and-click principle. The complex spell-casting rune chart added an air of mystery and achievement, since you needed to really think in order to figure out all the spells. The large, expansive dungeon levels were pretty repetitive in graphical terms, yet that never detracted from the overall pleasure of playing this ancient, yet beautifully conceived RPG. The sequels(Chaos Strikes Back and Dungeon Master 2: Legend of Skullkeep) were decent follow-ups, but by then, the gaming public was already familiar with the 1st-person style RPG, hence had limited impact on the gaming community. Dungeon Master was ahead of its time, and is definitely one of the all-time gaming gems. 'Nuff said.