dtgreene: I am quite familiar with MM2 (though I haven't *actually* beaten it), but have yet to play MM1. I am, however, curious about what has changed between these two games.
I know MM1 has thin walls in the overworld, lacks automapping, and doesn't have items with randomly generated properties, but what else is different?
As others have mentioned, there are no secondary skills in MM1. You also cannot have hirelings like you can in MM2, and there are only six character classes (although that means you can have one of each in your party). Graphics are a bit worse in MM1, with fewer colors and no art for floors and ceilings, just walls. You cannot (easily) reach really high levels in MM1 like you can in MM2, and if you just play to finish the game and don't power-level too much, you will finish at a much lower level. I don't know the actual cap for skills and levels but I'm pretty sure it's lower than the 255 cap in MM2. MM1 also does not feature the really huge battles of MM2 with tons of enemies; groups of hostiles are more manageable in number. I believe the roster of spells in MM1 is slightly different than MM2, but they are mostly the same.
The most noticeable difference for me was the different style of overworld maps. In MM1, the overworld areas are more maze-like, similar to underground or interior areas. They have both impassable walls and walls that block line of sight but can be walked through (think bushes). I liked this style of overworld map a lot actually because it provides a lot of character to each overworld area. Some areas are dense enchanted forests where I could barely see in front of my face, others have open fields, others are winding mountain trails filled with hazards. Overworld areas can have nooks and crannies, and secret passages. I found them much more interesting to explore (and to map out) than the wide open areas in MM2. I guess trees and mountains block movement at the beginning in MM2 but it's really easy to get the skills needed to cross them, at which point the maps all felt like open plains to me.
