Ultima Collection

The Good
Wait a sec.. best AND worst? How do you figure? I'll tell you.

Ultima Collection is a fantastic (and cheapest) way to experience the series that is Ultima. From it's humble roots in the game Akalabeth to the often-ignored but highly detailed Ultima 8:Pagan... you get it all.

If I even tried to detail each game, it would take forever. Eventually I'll get around to review each individual game, but here is not the place.

The CD includes quite a lot of material though. Help files are included for each game, including each of the maps, and manuals, along with walkthroughs for each of the games. AVI interviews with Richard Garriott are also included. Lord British comments on each game and also comments on Ultima Online, And Ultima 9:Ascension.

The Bad
What I didn't like... Well the fact that the games are originals is a plus/minus. It is nice to have the original games (along with a Registered version of MOSLO.COM), but at the same time, I do wish they could have made them more friendly for the faster computers out there. I can run Ultima 1-6 on my P3 1gz, but both Ultima 7 and 8 are unplayable due to the fact they are completely native to DOS. I really wanted to play U8, but because of Microsoft's phazing out the DOS-compatibility of it's operating systems, the only way to really play it is to have a computer that doesn't have Windows on it at all.

The Bottom Line
Personally, I would like to see Origin (or whoever currently owns the right to Ultima) re-release updated versions of the original 8+ games so they can run on Win9x machines.

The Ultima Collection is a great buy. I found it for $20 at Staples, so if you can find it on the rack, it's shouldn't cost all that much.

Bottom Line: Depending of your computer speed and your willingness to screw around with your configuration (in order to get U7 and U8 to run right) should affect your decision. But if you've never played any of these groundbreaking RPG, you owe it to yourself to give these a try. And Ultima Collection is the best, easiest and cheapest way to do it.