Sierra, or Lucasarts?

[Bobinator]

No real reason I ask, really. Call it a slight curiosity. And considering they were prolific enough they showed up on the Amiga and the ST, I figure this is something that a lot of people will get into.

Let's meet our contestants!

Sierra! Creator of the first character-based adventure game! Publisher of a ton of games, most of which you probably never heard of! Absorbed into the hideous, Lovecraftian beast that is now Activision!

For me, it's personally Sierra that wins. Adventure games were their bread and butter, sure, but they did a great job of mixing things up with each of their franchises. They had educational adventure games like the EcoQuest games, RPG-style adventures with Quest for Glory, and, uh, whatever Leisure Suit Larry was. I'd also say sort of had the edge on writing.

See, LucasArts's adventures, either what you did worked, or it didn't. But in Sierra's best games, you could look at, touch, talk to, and do pretty much anything to anything in the game and you'd get a message out of it. I like that. Even if it takes me a half hour to go from screen to screen that way.

And the deaths. This is going to be the make or break decision for some people. Some people hate them, some... well, they hate them less. They can be annoying, but they can be hilarious, as seen here.

Ways to Die Space Quest 4 Part 1

LucasArts! Creator of the modern point and click adventure game as we know it! Dead after the milk ran out of the Star Wars cow.

LucasArts isn't a bad company at all, they just... well, don't win. I will admit, however, that while Sierra does enviroments better, LucasArts does great with characters. A lot of the Sierra heroes felt like blank slates for a while, while somebody like Guybrush Threepword has an identifiable personality, as do the characters he meets. It's personal taste, really, but still. Or Full Throttle, in which the main character is a musclebound biker who frequently kicks things to make them work, and thus makes him probably the most unlikely hero for an adventure game, ever. And yet, it still works, as shown here. Skip to 9:23.

Either way, what's your favorite? In the interest of fairness and getting more votes, I'll be counting console games here, too. Rise of the Dragon for the Sega CD, or Zombies Ate My Neighbors? You decide.

[onthinice]

Lords of the Realms II by Sierra. Released in '95 or '96. Archers, castles, knights and boiling pots of oil. Fun game, that I still like to play.

[TL]

LucasArts for me, if only for the wonder that is Rescue On Fractalus and Ballblazer on the Atari 8-bits.

Rescue on Fractalus! Gameplay

[Katzkatz]

I'm going to go with LucasArts.  Mainly for there adventures.  From Monkey Island onwards they set the adventure game scene alight.  I'd also add things like X-Wing and Tie Fighter really were fantastic games in their catalogue.  Just a shame that they milked the Star Wars franchise dry and allowed the quality to drop so much with their last couple of releases.

[Vyothric]

Can't really think of any Sierra games that I liked. Pepper's Adventures in Time maybe? But I haven't played that in years. I did try Space Quest but couldn't get into it. Pretty sure I tried King's Quest at some point too.

LucasArts on the other hand:

Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Monkey Island series, Indiana Jones & The Fate of Atlantis, loads of Star Wars games (Dark Forces, Jedi Knight etc.)

[TrekMD]

My vote goes to LucasArts, or what was LucasArts I should say.