The inclusion of six of the ‘Gold Box’ games – Pools of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, Pools of Darkness and Gateway/Treasures of the Savage Frontier – drive the value of this collection well beyond its dollar price. Add in the other 8 games (including the Eye of the Beholder trilogy!), and you have a must have collection for any true RPG gamer – for included in this package are some of the defining titles of the RPG genre.
When the Gold Box games were originally released, they held me enthralled with their mix of open ended gameplay and storyline, and given I was 8 at the time thats really saying something! Since that time I have returned to play them time and time again, thanks to collections such as this one.
If you have concerns about compatibility, check out a DOS emulator such as DOSBox: http://dosbox.sourceforge.net This should allow for all of the games to play perfectly on your PC – whether you run Windows XP, or Linux.
One issue for these games is that their age shows on modern systems. For example, the graphics look ugly on a 19" LCD monitor as games are run at 320×240 resolution, and stretched to cover the rest of the screen. Play the games in a Window, or endure the blockiness (it makes you really appreciate high resolutions) – but make sure you give these games a try.