Which version of Adventure to start with?

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I’m a long time text game player, and I know I played some versions of Advent WAYYYY back in the day. But if I want to play it today and map it, which version do people recommend? Why? Basically, tell me what your favorite flavor of Adventure is!

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I really enjoyed the Inform port of the 350 point adventure (it’s the top one on the IFDB page):
https://ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/Advent.z5

I’ve only played two versions, but this one is one of my top 10 games of all time. Ot has some bugs (like the bird cage being able to carry all your items, bypassing the inventory limit) but it’s fun.

Edit: if you’re more into retro versions to have the authentic feel, the blog Renga in Blue has been playing every adventure game ever in order, and covers many versions of Adventure. Here is a sample post, this one trying to figure out which ports are most authentic:

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I also recommend the classic 350-point version. The Inform port cuts various corners (for example, the dwarves don’t actually navigate the map, they just have a random chance of teleporting to your room) but it’s for the most part faithful to the original, and Z-machine interpreters are everywhere.

A while back I was working on a more faithful port in Dialog but I lost momentum.

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My most recent play was also the Inform port, which seemed fine, but I assume that the limitations of the original tech are part of that original experience. Still, for ease of use, it can’t be beat.

I think that, whether it be it taste or just the order in which I played my first text adventures, I appreciate ADVENT more than I enjoy it. In other words: I really like reading about it! Jason Dyer’s writing about ADVENT is really good (as is the rest of his stuff, really). He’s a great source on topics like this.

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Thanks everyone!! This all makes a lot of sense.
I think I’ll find myself agreeing with you @kamineko - I think I’ve been spoiled by all the innovation in the decades since, but who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy this ‘back to basic’ experience? I figure if I do a good map it’ll be better than when I played without notes/etc when I was younger.

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