The first time I played fallout was on Gametap.com (A great service that is still running to this day) which had all 3 of the Turn based fallout games. I was about 8 when I played fallout, and then fallout 2. After returning to these games now with GOG.com I have to say that my opinions have definitely changed. Since then I have played tons of RPG's Old and new and even now the fallout games stand there in my mind. Out of the first 3 (not including the first person installments) I have to say that Tactics has my highest opinion, followed by Fallout 1, and then Fallout 2. Sure, the introduction to the wasteland in Fallout 1 was great, but Fallout Tactics showed me what turned based games were made for. Sure you could say it ripped off jagged alliance and made it post apocalyptic, but I have logged many more hours into tactics that I have with the first and 2nd fallouts combined. The updated gameplay, the new options, VEHICLES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN ANY FALLOUT GAME!! It gave me more of the "Mad Max" feeling than any fallout game before or since (Fallout: New Vegas came close at points with the updated weaponry and other features) and I am still wondering why there hasn't been a reboot or sequel.
If you are wondering why fallout 2 is at the bottom of my list there are several reason...
1. The slow pace nearly killed the game for me:
You start out as a tribal, and not only do you have to go through a labyrinth before being able to truly explore, you don't even get a gun until about an hour or of gameplay. You start out with a spear and some food, with no clear objective other than to find the G.E.C.K.
2. The forced mature themes:
"We have prostitutes and racism Oooh Edgey!!" The fact that you have a perk that makes you better at sex makes me bang my head against the keyboard... Yes, you do have Hookers and Slavers in the later fallout games yet even there they are not as prominent. Oh, and I LOVE GHOULS!!!
3. THE F**KING PIPE RIFLE!!!!!!:
WHY, WHY, WHY IS THIS THE FIRST GUN YOU GET?!?!? I stand right next to a guy and shoot him yet get a 32% chance of hitting? The gun is just a piece of PVC pipe with a chunk of scrap wood screwed onto it, and with the hammer and trigger ripped from a revolver welded on so it can fire pistol rounds... *Runs into a wall in frustation*

Fallout Tactics being better then Fallout 1 and 2 is a dubious claim good sir!


Edit: I was just being silly :-)

Yet he was clear in his criteria. He wasn't talking about Narrative, which would in my opinion put them in the order of 1, 2 then Tactics. He wasn't even talking about gameplay in general, which I refuse to rank.
He was talking about the glories of turn-based combat, which Tactics mentions in its very title. For these criteria, perhaps Fallout: Tactics was the best.