Apple IIGS

The Apple IIGS (GS standing for "Graphics and Sound") was a personal computer produced by Apple Computer, Inc. and introduced in 1986. It was the fifth model in the Apple II series, and was intended as a more powerful successor to the Apple II and Apple II Plus.

The Apple IIGS featured a 16-bit microprocessor, the 65C816, which provided a significant performance boost over the 8-bit 6502 microprocessor used in earlier Apple II models. This allowed the IIGS to run at a clock speed of 2.8 MHz, and to support up to 8 MB of RAM. The IIGS also featured improved graphics and sound capabilities. It had a built-in graphics accelerator, the Apple IIGS Video Graphics Card, which supported resolutions up to 640x200 pixels with 16 colors and 320x200 with 256 colors. It also had a built-in sound synthesizer, the Ensoniq 5503, which supported 8-bit stereo sound. The IIGS used the Apple ProDOS operating system, which was a more advanced version of the Apple DOS used on earlier Apple II models. It also supported the Macintosh operating system, with the use of a Macintosh emulator called "Finder."

The Apple IIGS was popular for education and home use, and was notable for its strong support for third-party software developers. It was also used in some professional fields such as music, graphic design and animation, where it was a powerful computer for its time. The Apple IIGS was discontinued in 1992, but it still has a dedicated community of users and developers. Some of the most popular games and software for the Apple IIGS include the "King's Quest" series, "Police Quest" series, "Lode Runner", "The Black Cauldron", "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" and "SimCity". It was a strong performer for its time and had an impressive lifespan, being produced for 6 years. The Apple IIGS was known for its strong support for third-party software developers, which led to a diverse library of games.

Some popular games for the Apple IIGS include:

• "King's Quest": A series of graphic adventure games developed by Sierra On-Line.
• "Police Quest": A series of adventure games developed by Sierra On-Line, which simulates the life of a police officer.
• "Lode Runner": A puzzle-platform game developed by Douglas E. Smith.
• "The Black Cauldron": An action-adventure game based on the Disney animated film of the same name.
• "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?": An educational game developed by Broderbund, which teaches geography and culture as players track down a fictional globe-trotting thief.
• "SimCity": A city-building simulation game developed by Will Wright.
• "Shadowgate": a point-and-click adventure game developed by ICOM Simulations.
• "Crystal Quest" : an arcade game developed by Chuck Bueche.

These games were known for their high-quality graphics and sound, many of them were also ported to other platforms such as Macintosh, Amiga and PC, and were considered some of the best games of their time. Many of the games that were developed for the Apple IIGS are considered classics of the adventure and RPG genres.