If you played PC role-playing games in the previous century, there's a good chance you have fond memories of SSI's Dungeons & Dragons "Gold Box" titles — and now you'll have an easy way to play many of them beyond sites like GOG. SNEG is bringing multiple Gold Box Classics collections to Steam on March 29th. Most are themed around their D&D franchises, and they all include a special game launcher, "enhanced" DOSBox emulator support and utilities to help you transfer parties, map dungeons and otherwise manage your RPGs.
There are three Forgotten Realms collections, including one for the Eye of the Beholder series, another for the Pool of Radiance and Savage Frontier titles and a third for Dungeon Hack and Menzoberranzan. DragonLance fans will find a bundle for the Krynn trilogy, while Dark Sun and Ravenloft enthusiasts have their own packs. Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse and D&D Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator are available individually.
This might not satisfy you if you're a completist. The catalog doesn't include DragonStrike, Spelljammer and other games that don't fit neatly into the stereotypical Gold Box format. These aren't remasters, either, so they'll be just as low-resolution as you remember. Still, this might be appealing if you want a nostalgic computer RPG experience without the hassles of swapping floppy disks.
I play them on DosBox occasionally and find them an interesting mix of good and 'ah man this combat is taking forever, where are the mobs'. But still a good time. If they're cheap I'd pick them up.
Too bad Buck Rogers isn't in the list either.
Last time I played these in the last collection they released was back in 1998 or so. They had not adjusted for the new cpu's at the time - the game was on HYPER speed - combat was unplayable.
My nostalgia is strong. I still have the cd's somewhere lying around, but one of the cats ATE the stupid paper 'code wheel' to prove you own the game.
