I've played and enjoyed the Police Quest series for years, but unlike most other Sierra adventure games I had only played one version of the first title in the series. I had never played the AGI version of the original Police Quest until downloading the updated GOG collection and giving it a try last night. After having played through the entire game I can't decide what version of the game I prefer more. The AGI version has more police procedure thrown in and a much more interactive driving system, but has a slightly more difficult text parser than other early Sierra titles. The remake feels more refined but lacks some of the original's charm. I was wondering what you guys thought, what's your favourite?

I remember playing the original version on those 5.25 floppy disks and i still prefer the original Agi version because it was easier for me to do the driving. Also didn't have to worry about looking up in the manual for the copy protection codes which you have to do in the remake.

I guess the only thing i liked better in the remake was had the option to skip playing poker if you didn't want to play it.
But playing poker wasn't that hard.

I've always liked the original AGI versions of Sierra games more. To me, there's something about a text parser that, while sometimes frustrating, gives a feeling of freedom. That, and I really like the driving system in the original!

I enjoyed the driving system in the AGI version and it did eventually become second nature to me, but I still think it's easier to navigate in the SCI version. I do prefer not having any copy protection to refer to, but I checked the AGI version's manual just as much because it was much more strict regarding procedure. For me it's a toss-up, I'll probably keep going back to both.

AGI version for two reasons. It was the first adventure game I ever played, before playing Larry 1 and King's Quest 1. And the second reason is that I don't like the changes which the remake makes to the game. Those changes just make you confused if you play PQ2 after the remake.

Ya, plot wise the second game was intended to follow the original.

In the remake, they actually replaced characters, changed genders on characters that are important to the second.

Also the original has a much better driving interface.

Personally I prefer the original, the car driving sequences are easier, and it is more satisfying to patrols in the streets of Lytton, respect the traffic lights or bypass them using emergency lights, in the original in my opinion. As for the text parser, the commands required to finish the game are not that complicated (most are in the manual and I don't recall stumbling on a single instance of "guess the verb" when I played the game) and they carry so much weight, clicking the hand icon on the pistol, and clicking the talk icon on the bad guy is just not as satisfying as typing "DRAW PISTOL", "FREEZE!", "DROP YOUR WEAPON!" in the text parser... the satisfaction you get when you type those commands for the first time and arrest bad guys... that stuff was lost in the point and click transition.

I always prefer VGA to EGA. For one thing I HATE typing and secondly, the improved graphics and music immerse me in the game more. In the case of "Police Quest" the conversations were also improved which also increases my enjoyment of the game. Oh, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can have sex with Marie in the EGA version. You probably already know this, but in case you don't, in the VGA version, when you're in the bedroom with Marie and you're supposed to call a cab for her, you can click the hand icon on her and Sonny and Marie will have sex. This will end the game, but hey, it's one of the best ways to lose a game you'll ever see. Oh, and the VGA version has a Quest For Glory reference. If you click the hand icon on the carpet in the hotel bedroom, the game will say "This isn't Quest For Glory. It's never going to fly." Reference to Abdulla Doo's carpet. This couldn't have been in the AGI game because Quest For Glory hadn't been released back then.

The only better thing about the AGI version is the continuity. The hotel bartender needs to be Woody Roberts, because he's the one who gets murdered in "Police Quest 2." The change from Woody Roberts to Alexandra Parker created some interesting dialogue in the remake, but it screwed up the continuity for "Police Quest 2." I wonder, if PQ2 ever gets remade, will it be Alexandra Parker who gets murdered? Regardless I actually like Alexandra better than Woody, but on the downside that means that Alexandra getting murdered would be more depressing than Woody getting murdered
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I got in the mood to replay Police Quest II for the first time in sixteen years earlier this year and I replayed both versions of Police Quest I to refresh my memory and posted my impressions over there:
https://www.gog.com/forum/police_quest_series/difference_between_vga_and_not_vga/post8

Long post short, the remakes adds a lot of things, but it equally removes a lot of things that, in my opinion, are simply too important to dismiss.

The remake is graphically and musically better, but it is also a step down in term of gameplay, because the text parser was used for much more than simple inventory manipulation in Police Quest, notably performing police procedures, answering questions and issuing orders to criminals, in the remake, the latter three were all lumped together with the Hand or Talk icon, and as a result, a lot of scenes and puzzles that required some thought from your part in the original, like some of the arrests, the tribunal and Cotton Cove scenes, got turned into cutscenes where you just repeatedly used the Hand or Talk icons to progress further, with no thought involved and sometimes very little chance to screw up.

The remake has more dialogue, but it also had some dialogues removed, truncated or changed entirely sometimes for the better but more often for the worse, most notably the ending cutscene was much longer in the original. You can sleep with Mary in the remake, but long gone are the infamous Deaths From Shame from the original. The original lacks the Quest For Glory reference, but the remake is missing various references to King's Quest, Leisure Suit Larry and the possibility to call the Sierra hint line.

All in all, if you're a fan of Police Quest, both are worth your time, but overall, out of both version, I thought the remake had the short end of the stick when it came to gameplay, and the remake, done without the involvement of Jim Walls, skimmed over many seemingly unimportant details which yet gave the original game and Police Quest II all their charm.

Infamous deaths from shame? I know of one death where you can take off all your clothes. What other infamous deaths of shame are there?

The first one happens when you remove your clothes in the locker room and go back in the hall, as for the second one, you can simply type "take off clothes" anywhere outside the locker room for an instant death, similarly you can also type "give clothes" in front of the evidence lockup officer and get the same result.