Adventure games compatibility chart

Update: I finally got a new computer, and it seems that the current best way to play old games is to use ScummVM for Lucasarts games and a few others, and DOSBox for other DOS games. However, DOSBox it requires a fairly powerful computer. If your computer can't handle DOSBox or you have a problem with a Windows game, read on. Also see my tips page and the triple booting mini-HOWTO.

Here is a list of adventure games I own or have owned, along with the OSes I got them to work on. However, for reasons that are mysterious to me, a game might work fine on my computer but not on others. For example, I had no problem with Grim Fandango on XP, but a number of people have emailed me to tell me that the installer doesn't work on their system. Therefore, I would not advise you to spend a fortune on an old game only on the basis of this information.
Key: Perfect: game didn't need extra software to make it work, but it might still be necessary to fiddle with some settings. ?: haven't tried, will update soon; check back for more info. X?: as far as I remember, X; check back for more info. Playable?: I haven't finished the game, but it might be possible. No: completely unplayable.

For more information: my page on how to get games working under XP; ScummVM; VDMSound; and DOSBox. Also, a mini-HOWTO on how to install Win9x on a computer which has Linux and XP on it.

Game	Windows 95	Windows XP Home Ed.
The DIG	Perfect. If music is choppy, try fiddling with sound acceleration in dxdiag.	ScummVM: partial support. VMDSound: ?
Grim Fandango	?	Perfect. If music/sound are choppy, try fiddling with sound acceleration in dxdiag
Gabriel Knight 1	Timing problems, lots of bugs. Playable?	No music/sound, timing problems, lots of bugs. Playable?
Gabriel Knight 2	?	Worked. Needs VDMSound?
Gabriel Knight 3	Perfect.	Perfect.
Broken Sword 1	?	The installer had to be run with VDMSound because it didn't recognize my large hard disk, otherwise perfect.
Broken Sword 2	?	Perfect
Monkey Island 1	Couldn't get the sound to work.	Perfect
Monkey Island 2	Perfect.	Needed to use ScummVM to get sound.
Monkey Island 3	?	Perfect.
Monkey Island 4	?	Perfect.
Day of the Tentacle	Perfect.	Needed ScummVM for music.
Maniac Mansion	Perfect?	?
King's Quest 1 VGA	Perfect.	No sound/music
King's Quest 2	No (writing unreadable).	Use DOSBox.
King's Quest 3	No (writing unreadable).	Use DOSBox.
King's Quest 4	Perfect?	Use VDMSound
King's Quest 5	Perfect?	Use VDMSound
King's Quest 6	Perfect?	Use VDMSound
King's Quest 7	Perfect?	Perfect with VDMSound?
Leisure Suit Larry 1 (original)	Perfect?	No music/sound
Leisure Suit Larry 1 (Remake)	Perfect?	No music/sound
Leisure Suit Larry 2	Perfect?	?
Leisure Suit Larry 3	Fine, but timing problems.	?
Leisure Suit Larry 5	?	? Bug makes the game uncompletable.
Leisure Suit Larry 6	?	Perfect? Might need VDMSound
Space Quest 1 (original, remake)	No.	No.
Space Quest 2	Perfect?	?
Space Quest 3	Perfect?	?
Space Quest 4	Perfect.	?
Space Quest 5	Perfect	?
Phantasmagoria	? Don't own anymore. Worked fine on Win98.	Bug makes game uncompletable
The Last Express	?	Perfect
Full Throttle	Perfect.	Perfect. If music/sound are choppy, try fiddling with sound acceleration in dxdiag
Sam and Max Hit The Road	?	Perfect?
Freddy Pharkas, Frontier Pharmacist	Perfect	Use VDMSound?
Laura Bow 2	Bug makes game uncompletable on modern computers	Bug makes game uncompletable on modern computers
Myst	Perfect	Perfect
Riven	Perfect	Perfect
Myst III: Exile	?	Perfect
Beneath A Steel Sky	?	Perfect.
Indiana Jones 3	Perfect.	No music/sound. Buggy with ScummVM.
Police Quest 3	Fine. Timing problems make game unplayable for me.	No music/sound, timing problems.
Simon the Sorcerer	?	Needs ScummVM, not complete.
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders	Perfect	?
Under a Killing Moon (Tex Murphy)	Perfect so far (set MS-DOS options under Properties to hide Windows from it).	No.
The Pandora Directive (Tex Murphy)	Perfect	?

Additional notes

• If the only problem I list in XP is no sound, try VDMSound before giving up. I was unable to get some games to work using a prior version, but the current version has handled almost everything I've thrown at it. You can also try DOSBox if VDMSound doesn't help.
• If you have a problem with a particular game and I list it as "Perfect", your first stop should be the technical support site of the game manufacturer. Very often it will have updates for your game which will solve the problem. Also, most bugs that you are likely to find are probably already known, and the site might have a fix for them.
• The VDMSound website has a forum which is active and very useful. In particular, many people post about random problems with old games and the helpful moderators often have an answer. Please do read their guidelines before posting, though.
• If a game is not on this list, I have not played (or finished playing) it. That means that I probably know nothing about the game, let alone how to fix its problems. As a corollary, it will probably be a waste of your time if you email me about it.

Katia Hayati
Last updated May 29, 2006
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