Dwarf Fortress is either the most "fantastic" game ever made, or you have no clue what the big deal is. :) I'll admit I didn't see it at first myself; I was only looking for a decent Rogue game at the time. Then after reading the DF wiki on starting a fortress and trying it out... just incredible. It's the kind of game you wanted to write in the 80's but there wasn't enough memory or processing power to do it. The fact it LOOKS like a game from the 80's adds to this sentiment.
Anyway, back to Ultima...
Ultima I - The PC remade version of this is pretty playable, very responsive, if a bit dry in scope and plot. It still has that BASIC game feel to it, and the random elements give it a really "game" feel. I think it falls apart when you go into space; it's totally different and it feels like a mini-game with no real connection to the prior game. Plus it's like "succeed or die" conditions, which isn't fun.
Ultima II - This actually plays pretty well; the Apple II version is very quick and responsive. The initial difficulty of the game when you're low level and weak is the challenging part... when you get the ship and the ship's cannons this largely disappears and the game becomes one of exploration. The dialogue and plot in the game is really weak, though... before walkthroughs and hint books, I imagine a lot of time was wasted trying to figure out HOW to win the game. (Sort of like Gates of Delirium... maybe it's more true to Ultima than we thought!)
Ultima III - This is really difficult to play on the PC; the UI for party control is very cumbersome. However, the PC version isn't too bad if you get into the swing of it. The downside is the primary focus of the many hours of play is to gain levels, money to buy up attributes, and collect quest items. The NES version of the same game is actually pretty playable as well, but with less flexibility. I found that encounters my low level party in the PC version could easily handle would result in a TPK in the NES version. For example, I tried travelling to a healing fountain in a dungeon close to Britain to save money; a common tactic on the PC version. Doesn't work on the NES version because it has an internal counter that guarantees an encounter when in dungeons after X amount of time.
Ultima IV - Very playable, both NES and PC versions. You can get a ton of patches for the PC version these days to give it better graphics, re-integrate the original music, etc. Still some level-grinding involved, but a lot less annoyance than the prior games. Everyone should play this one at least once; I'd recommend you start with this one if you've never played an Ultima before.
Ultima V - Like 4, but with a lot more complexity. From what I remember of Ophidian's play-through, it's a lot harder in combat because the amount of hit points was reduced. Easy to run into "instant death" situations, don't enter towns when you have a "feeling of" something nasty otherwise a Shadowlord will pwn you. I've never played this one to completion because it's really hard, but I have a feeling it would be satisfying to win. NES version is stripped down and odd, stick with the PC version.
Ultima VI - Very playable, although the windowed display is rather limiting compared to the full-screen displays of 7-9. A decent game with a lot of depth to the NPC's and good side stories in every town to follow. Satisfying to play and win. The SNES version of this is actually quite good; it's missing portraits, some of the spells, and monsters that relied on the tile engine and couldn't be replicated with sprites easily (like silver serpents and the plant things). But the full-screen display really makes up for all that.
Ultima VII - What else to say? The best Ultima, bar none. Using the Exult engine or going to the trouble of setting up on a DOS machine, a truly great game, one of the last of its kind. In particular, the thick meaty dialogue that assumed you were an adult and not a 10-year old (*cough* JRPG's *cough*) was very welcome. A lot of neat nooks and crannies to explore and stuff to find that even walk throughs missed. Serpent Isle is more linear, but it was a refreshing change, and a re-visit to an old continent in new form was very exhilarating. One warning: Absolutely avoid the SNES version. In fact, destroy it if you find one. One of the worst PC->console ports ever. Playing may induce brain hemorrhage. You have been warned.
Ultima VIII - Reviled in its time, has been partly redeemed by the odiousness of the following title. At least 8 was still in 2D, albeit in an isometric projection. Overly difficult and with a lot of opportunities for instant death. Multiple spell systems are clever but hard to keep track of, and some of the spells are very imbalanced. (But Ultima's have rarely HAD balanced combat and spell systems.) Runs okay in DOSBox. Too much action and dexterity required, but the background stories and characters are still Ultima in nature... more than 9 had!
Ultima IX - It's not bad, but merely adequate. In particular, it's a pain to run on modern systems right now because 3DFX is no longer around and the Direct3D code was never fully tested. Has a bad habit of corrupting saves and crashing abruptly with no warning or reason given, probably related to 3D artwork. Don't ever enter the King's head tavern by the saloon style doors on the north side, it seems to cause permanent crashes in Britain if you open them and leave them open. Story and plot are juvenile and full of holes. The music is well done, though, and the artwork isn't too bad apart from the faces being fairly primitive. (Half-Life came out at the same time and was much better, even before the graphics upgrade.) If not a great or even a good ending, it IS an ending.
Dwarf Fortress is either the most "fantastic" game ever made, or you have no clue what the big deal is. :) I'll admit I didn't see it at first myself; I was only looking for a decent Rogue game at the time. Then after reading the DF wiki on starting a fortress and trying it out... just incredible. It's the kind of game you wanted to write in the 80's but there wasn't enough memory or processing power to do it. The fact it LOOKS like a game from the 80's adds to this sentiment.
Anyway, back to Ultima...
Ultima I - The PC remade version of this is pretty playable, very responsive, if a bit dry in scope and plot. It still has that BASIC game feel to it, and the random elements give it a really "game" feel. I think it falls apart when you go into space; it's totally different and it feels like a mini-game with no real connection to the prior game. Plus it's like "succeed or die" conditions, which isn't fun.
Ultima II - This actually plays pretty well; the Apple II version is very quick and responsive. The initial difficulty of the game when you're low level and weak is the challenging part... when you get the ship and the ship's cannons this largely disappears and the game becomes one of exploration. The dialogue and plot in the game is really weak, though... before walkthroughs and hint books, I imagine a lot of time was wasted trying to figure out HOW to win the game. (Sort of like Gates of Delirium... maybe it's more true to Ultima than we thought!)
Ultima III - This is really difficult to play on the PC; the UI for party control is very cumbersome. However, the PC version isn't too bad if you get into the swing of it. The downside is the primary focus of the many hours of play is to gain levels, money to buy up attributes, and collect quest items. The NES version of the same game is actually pretty playable as well, but with less flexibility. I found that encounters my low level party in the PC version could easily handle would result in a TPK in the NES version. For example, I tried travelling to a healing fountain in a dungeon close to Britain to save money; a common tactic on the PC version. Doesn't work on the NES version because it has an internal counter that guarantees an encounter when in dungeons after X amount of time.
Ultima IV - Very playable, both NES and PC versions. You can get a ton of patches for the PC version these days to give it better graphics, re-integrate the original music, etc. Still some level-grinding involved, but a lot less annoyance than the prior games. Everyone should play this one at least once; I'd recommend you start with this one if you've never played an Ultima before.
Ultima V - Like 4, but with a lot more complexity. From what I remember of Ophidian's play-through, it's a lot harder in combat because the amount of hit points was reduced. Easy to run into "instant death" situations, don't enter towns when you have a "feeling of" something nasty otherwise a Shadowlord will pwn you. I've never played this one to completion because it's really hard, but I have a feeling it would be satisfying to win. NES version is stripped down and odd, stick with the PC version.
Ultima VI - Very playable, although the windowed display is rather limiting compared to the full-screen displays of 7-9. A decent game with a lot of depth to the NPC's and good side stories in every town to follow. Satisfying to play and win. The SNES version of this is actually quite good; it's missing portraits, some of the spells, and monsters that relied on the tile engine and couldn't be replicated with sprites easily (like silver serpents and the plant things). But the full-screen display really makes up for all that.
Ultima VII - What else to say? The best Ultima, bar none. Using the Exult engine or going to the trouble of setting up on a DOS machine, a truly great game, one of the last of its kind. In particular, the thick meaty dialogue that assumed you were an adult and not a 10-year old (*cough* JRPG's *cough*) was very welcome. A lot of neat nooks and crannies to explore and stuff to find that even walk throughs missed. Serpent Isle is more linear, but it was a refreshing change, and a re-visit to an old continent in new form was very exhilarating. One warning: Absolutely avoid the SNES version. In fact, destroy it if you find one. One of the worst PC->console ports ever. Playing may induce brain hemorrhage. You have been warned.
Ultima VIII - Reviled in its time, has been partly redeemed by the odiousness of the following title. At least 8 was still in 2D, albeit in an isometric projection. Overly difficult and with a lot of opportunities for instant death. Multiple spell systems are clever but hard to keep track of, and some of the spells are very imbalanced. (But Ultima's have rarely HAD balanced combat and spell systems.) Runs okay in DOSBox. Too much action and dexterity required, but the background stories and characters are still Ultima in nature... more than 9 had!
Ultima IX - It's not bad, but merely adequate. In particular, it's a pain to run on modern systems right now because 3DFX is no longer around and the Direct3D code was never fully tested. Has a bad habit of corrupting saves and crashing abruptly with no warning or reason given, probably related to 3D artwork. Don't ever enter the King's head tavern by the saloon style doors on the north side, it seems to cause permanent crashes in Britain if you open them and leave them open. Story and plot are juvenile and full of holes. The music is well done, though, and the artwork isn't too bad apart from the faces being fairly primitive. (Half-Life came out at the same time and was much better, even before the graphics upgrade.) If not a great or even a good ending, it IS an ending.