Brilliance in Design: ASCIIvania

Who says the most beautiful graphics, a Trent Reznor scored soundtrack, and gratuitous sex & violence is what makes games what they are? Me, sometimes. I call it like I see 'em! Here in one fine ass example of the latter, however. ASCIIvania is sorta like classic Castlevania, except the crumbling floors, Medusa heads, and whips have been replaced with letters, numbers, and symbols. As you explore the winding map, you find power-ups in the form of usable letters, which you can then change into to create words with the environment, which in turn opens up more of the map. You can also find symbols which allow you to double jump, reverse gravity, et al. Seriously, this description does no justice to the game itself. Please kill some time with ASCIIvania, you owe it to the classic gamer within that dies a little each time you pay $60 for a game. 

I never quite expected MS-DOS to so closely resemble the pride of my childhood, however this does the deed. Brilliant.

ASCIIvania via Rock, Paper, Shotgun