Kings Quest IV, VI, and VII
Police Quest I and III
Space Quest I, V, and VI
Quest for Glory III and IV

SQ5 tended to go too much towards their green eco shift, but it had a lot of great bits like the facehugger pet etc.

*I’m having a very hard time not typing “Discoworld”.

It’s worth noting, in regards to the different reputations of LucasArts and Sierra adventure game, that (so far as I’m aware) LucasArts put out slightly over a dozen graphic adventure games from their start until the mid-90s. Sierra put out two or three times that number (arguably more, depending on where you want to draw the line). The Sierra catalog was far from flawless, and it’s natural that a larger number of titles would tend to bring the average down. It’s also easier to point to gems in the LucasArts lineup because, well, everyone who played the LucasArts games played pretty much the same ones. A possible factor in history’s judgment.

Nonetheless, the best Sierra titles (and I wouldn’t necessarily put Space Quest 4 among them, for the reasons John elaborates on–it’s got moments of sheer brilliance, but plenty of frustrations, as well) hold up pretty well today. Gabriel Knight 1 and 2, the Quest for Glory series (it’s not Police Quest, but QfG was a major influence on me when I got into the games industry), King’s Quest 6… I’m sure we could all compile our lists of legitimate classics.

Of course, my view is colored by nostalgia as well. Space Quest 1 and 2 were among the first games my dad bought for our home computer, so my feelings for them are very fond. (Even though, as people wholly unfamiliar with how adventure games worked, it took us ages to even get off the starting ship.)

Sierra also published the first Half-Life, so may have had a part in bringing to the world what is, to my mind, the ultimate story-telling FPS of the last few years, and enriching the modification / indie scene. Imagine if EA had published Valve’s games first, and of course bought them out and forced them to make The Sims expansion packs instead of Half-Life 2.

So no, I wouldn’t damn Sierra to hell just because the King’s Quest’s that I played were nothing but a non-stop fetch puzzle, and the other 9 that came out I simply had no interest in playing. SWAT 3 and 4 were also pretty good I think, though Police Quest: SWAT 2 was just frustrating.

Oh, and both games were just dull, insipid re-tellings of plots from the books. Thank god(s) they never did Small Gods. Still, I’d quite like to have a nostalgic bash at them both. They did, at least, have a decent cast.

In Kings Quest it was often due to a lack of dexterity, or unreasonable “windows of opportunity” to avoid some nasty bugger about to carve you up… usually 2 seconds after entering a new screen.