Hi DD (say if that's not okay ........ easier to type though
),
Everyone I've 'spoken' to says that Mean Streets is the best of the two earliest ones, but does that mean that Martian Memorandum is poor, or just not quite as good? Out of the last three, most people seem to say that The Pandora Directive is the best. I'll definitely start with the earliest though. Old graphics don't affect my enjoyment one jot. It's the story, atmosphere, puzzles and music that draw me in. In fact, many modern graphic adventures are heavy on awesome graphics, but hollow on atmosphere and story. There are exceptions though. Thanks for the tip concerning Mean Streets.
Playing text adventures doesn't date you at all. I haven't played many earlier 'classics', including most of the Infocoms, but I enjoy, these days, digging through the Interactive Fiction Competition entries of the last 15 years. Do you know of them? All are free.
My number one favourite has to be one called Anchorhead, by a chap called Michael Gentry. To play the games it's necessary to download Interpreters, as their called. Some of these IF adventures are really, really good.