I'm confused. If throwing burning powder at the elemental is what you do in the original game, how's that different from the remake?

There are two different ways to win in the remake:

EGA -
1) throw burning powder
2) flame dart if you have it

VGA - two choices for thief
1) throw burning powder
2) flame dart if you have it
3) kamikaze (damages you and Earth Elemental)

It's just an additional option in case you couldn't land a successful throw.

EGA for sure. It'll put nerd hair on your chest. Avoid Google and use only official guides that were available when the game first game out. You'll appreciate it 100 fold.

Edit: typo

Play the EGA version first. It is the true version, after all.

Then play the VGA remake later. It is pretty damn good too. Well worth it.

Well, it's as much as the Coles could do with the disk space they had in 1990. But it's not the true version they intended to make. There's a couple of things the Coles intended to do, but couldn't do because they ran out of disk space so AGDI had to do them instead. These things include a secret Easter egg shop, a pizza Elemental, and the ability to attack and kill a certain character in a game and still become a paladin. I actually think the VGA version is closer to being the game the Coles wanted to make than the EGA version.

Well, besides the harder combat in the VGA version. I think Cory Cole stopped in the middle due to harder difficulty of he combat (i think he liked the VGA version besides that of what he played though)

As a modern fan who never grew up with these games, I recommend the remake version over the original. A lot of people are nostalgic for the EGA originals, but I want to speak as someone who has no such nostalgia.

Because of all the extra content, and the design direction that - due to being made in that vein - is unified with 3, 4, and the remake of 1. And being a (semi) modern game, as opposed to 1VGA, it didn't need to cut out any content, not even the optional text parser. Plus, the combat is really good. It's as fun as the combat in V, without the initial clunkiness (or ridiculously broken ice spell) and almost as pulse-pounding. Every class has something special.

The Fighter has his sword, and optionally his shield - and a whole bevy of cool combat moves to go with them. Plus, counters are easier when you block than when you parry, both for the hero and the player, so bringing the shield does more than just gimp you out of throwing daggers, or magic if you took it.

The Thief can get a backstab attack on enemies with a thrown dagger - for the cost of a small amount of Honour (although you don't become honourless or lose Paladin points, if you're going for the "reformed thief" Paladin angle. Just be wary that having a lockpicking skill at all can screw you over later) you can deal a huge chunk of damage to any random enemy caught unawares. The other two classes - if you have sneaking, and also throwing in the Mage's case - still incur the honour penalty, but (I think) don't get the damage bonus. Plus. the Thief can rapid-fire daggers, only having to incur the silly "twirling the blade" animation for the first time in any given combo.

The Mage has no super-special perks, but is (without the unlockable Blue Frog mode) the only class who can play Wizard's Whirl and unlock the powered up Flame Dart.

And if you've unlocked Blue Frog mode, and want a challenge, try changing global variable 3 to something other than 1 (Fighter) 2 (Mage) or 3 (Thief) to become a "Paladin" - really, you become classless, which removes your sword/shield ability, your dagger combos, and your rapid-fire throwing. (Not chargable spells, though; one can be earned by any class, and the other isn't class locked in and of itself) I don't know if you can win like this, but fights are certainly interesting.

Also, if combat's not your thing, 2VGA has the combat copilot, which acts in the same vein as the strategy fighting in 4 - using adjustable fuzzy logic to determine what actions the protagonist should take at any given moment. Of course, unlike 4, you actually do need to control the hero's position and certain very basic tactics. Also, you can't fight the superboss with it, or use it on Hard. But, on the plus side, dodging and blocking actually work. Blasted Necrotaurs encouraging my "Hold X to win" strats...