I'm still in the midst of playing Dungeon Master. I've made it to level 6, but also know I've got a long way to go. The first couple of levels were surprisingly easy. Thank goodness, because it took me that long just to get used to the unusual user interface and controls. The spells are especially unique. You literally have to memorize made up combinations of runes and magical words in order to cast various spells. So while the puzzles on the first few levels seemed pretty straight forward for the most part, the learning curve is pretty steep (feels like, anyway).
But of course I'm always poking around wondering what might be in my near future. I want to dig into Might and Magic II soon, and I also am awaiting an RPG that was distributed by Cinemaware that sounds like a lot of fun called Death Bringer. But in-between all of this I'm going to throw in a relaxing lesser-known puzzle game called Ishido. And then I picked up my EA flat for F/A-18 Interceptor.
One thing led to another, and I started to do what I do: see where my research trail might take me not really knowing what to expect. Come to find out, F/A-18 was really the brain child of one guy, Bob Dinnerman. They actually put his name on the box, too. His previous claim to fame was making the arcade classic Discs of Tron. When he got the gig to make F/A-18, he literally went out and bought his first computer to create the game: an Amiga 1000! This was back in 1987/88. So he made the game on an Amiga, and just like Black Crypt it was only ever released for the Amiga computer. That right there floored me. While this fact makes me proud, it also seems a crying shame! This game is a hands-down classic I wish more had experienced. But it's quite possible that DOS machines (and Atari STs) just couldn't handle its graphics and sound in 1988. Who knows?
I'm going to have to dig into it some time this Spring if not sooner. Trivia: if you fly south of San Francisco you can actually find the Electronic Arts offices and do a little target practice on them. Hah! Also, while the creator believes Microsoft Flight Simulator (or Jet) may have been the first flight sims to allow you to fly under the Golden Gate bridge, he thinks F/A-18 was the first combat sim to allow this.