Worms was great, but it saddens me a bit that so few people have tried the best version of it: Worms - The Director's Cut for Amiga. This was, I think, the last version of the game made by the original creator of the series, Andy Davidson, and I'm sorry to say, the later versions never quite lived up to it.

It would be awesome if GOG.com could bring that one back.

Kay

Actually the best is considered to be Worms Armageddon - they even made a patch for Worms World Party to introduce Armageddon features. Worms 2 is considered the WEAKEST of the 2D games - Worms United is pretty much on par with Worms Armageddon I find.

What was different about it then?

Well, for one thing, the graphics were improved from the first game, but still retained the crisp, more brutal style of those early games. I really didn't like the cartoony, cute art style which has been used from Worms 2 and onward.

Secondly, and this is a major thing gameplay-wise, mines would explode instantly when near a worm. I don't remember if this was so in Armageddon as well, but in later games I have missed it greatly. Even if you can set the timer to 0, instant explosions just create a lot more mayhem and amusing chain reactions.

Also, this game introduced new terrain types and some fantastic weapons. Some of these have been carried over to later games as well, but maybe not all. Among my favorite terrain types were "Alien" (slippery, low gravity), "Mars" (low gravity), "Hell" (fire instead of water), "Christmas" (just really cozy) and "Alps" (again, cozy). It also introduced cave levels, in which the ninja rope became more important. This was also helped by the fact that you could now swing from rope to rope like Tarzan/Spiderman, and that you could drop dynamite while swinging. Oh, and grafitti mode was added, allowing you to draw your own levels.

As for weapons, they included: banana bomb, stampede, super sheep, sheep-on-a-rope, holy handgrenade, prizeless ming vase, muttering old woman, cows, concrete donkey, postal strike, and homing pigeon. These all packed a real punch.

I'm sure many features have been carried over, but I think Worms DC was the best mix of everything, and the most fun overall. I have played Armageddon as well, and found it to be pretty good. I did not enjoy it nearly as much as DC, though.

Kay

Oh, a couple of things I should mention: I think the reason Worms DC is not considered the best of the series, is simply that it didn't reach most people. It was released exclusively for the dying Amiga AGA platform in 1997, and although it was well-received by critics and fans alike, it only sold about 5000 copies in total.

The other thing I should mention, is that it is available legally and for free from Dream 17. You'll ned to set up an Amiga emulator to play it, though, and if I recall correctly, disable some cache or another in order to have it running stable.

Kay

No, you remember wrongly. I'm certain that I spent more hours playing Worms 2 online than any other game before or since.

That was in large part because the community was great! Friendly, polite, fun, and not infrequently astoundingly good at the game. You could virtually guarantee every game would be fun, though; even when your wormy butt was merely a bystander at a veritable masterclass in rope ninja tricks :)

I really didn't like some of the changes in Armageddon, though; and although I bought World Party, I never played it much.

Worms 2 was the pinnacle, for me. If something can be done about online multiplayer, I'll grab a copy immediately.

Team17 are pretty awesome when it comes to keeping online modes alive, the only games they weren't able to do it for were those where it was the publisher providing the servers. Anyway, I just checked with the CD version of the game and the UK server seems to still be up and operational.

The caveat here being that if you want to play actual multiplayer games with actual people who might still be there from time to time, you'll need an unofficial community patch on top of the official one. But that's a good thing really since the thing adds support for resolutions higher than 640 × 480 among other features (for the most part admittedly rather obscure to someone uninitiated).

Release Carmageddon already :(

....Seriously

Actually, the doofus that I am at times didn't consider compatibility mode. I tagged it for XP and then it worked just fine. Good times! :) No graphical hiccups either other than the initial white background on the startup menu.
Frankly, I consider this to be the only way to play multi. I've never had that much fun with the various Worms games I've tried playing online. Trash-talking/messing with your opponent who's sitting right next to you provides for the best experience. Also, no lag! It seems to me that all Worms games with online capability featured some terrible net code.

Still waiting for Armageddon or WWP working flawlessly on XP/7 without any patches.

Looks like Steam will be getting Armageddon soon: http://cdr.thebronasium.com/sub/15922

I'd say the same! We've been teased for months already!