I played the first Zork on my dad's Kaypro II when I was a kid. The Zork games are very fun, but a bit more dangerous than modern adventure games. However, the best game in this pack is Planetfall, which is a phenomenal game, and a top 5 adventure game almost 30 years after its release.
I'm a big fan of adventure games, I've been playing them since my dad got a copy of Zork for his Kaypro. I enjoyed playing this game, but there's not a whole lot to make it stand out from the alternatives other than price. There were several points at which you just try everything, since the logical next step is unclear. One or two happens in lots of adventure games, but this was worse than most, and lacked the quality of storytelling needed to make up for it (See Gabriel Knight for a story that makes up for a couple of Guide Dang its) If you're new to adventure games, may I recommend one of the Lucas Arts or Sierra games to try? Of the ones available on GoG, King's Quest 4/5/6 and Gabriel Knight would be my selection.
I don't use the term classic lightly, but there is no doubt that it applies to Privateer. It really hit the sweet-spot in terms of combining open-endedness, with a central plot, and marrying it to the (for it's day) solid space-combat engine used in Wing Commander really made it stand out from the other space-trading games out there.
