player do. Byte concluded that "no single advance in the science of Adventure has been as bold and exciting" as Zork, a sentiment echoed by Softalk. In the years after its release, ZorkI received more reviews praising the game in relation to Adventure and the genre. Jerry Pournelle recommended the game in his long-running Byte column, stating in 1983 that "if you liked Adventure and wanted more... I guarantee you'll love Zork". Computer Gaming World in 1982, PC Magazine in 1982, and SoftSide in 1983 all recommended it as a "must-have" for anyone interested in fantasy or adventure games. Family Computing, in late 1983, proclaimed it a classic of the genre and the game that made the adventure genre more than a novelty. Reviewers similarly praised Zork second and third episodes. Softline recommended ZorkII for its "well-balanced mix of humor, wit, and wry puns" for both new and experienced players. PC Magazine said it would appeal to all players and that the game was challenging, enjoyable, and funny. A reviewer for Softalk said it broke away from both the first episode and Adventure to be "fresh and interesting". Some of the puzzles in ZorkII were later considered "infamously difficult", and in a hint book, Infocom apologized for one puzzle's difficulty and reliance on baseball knowledge. Reviews in Softalk and Creative Computing named ZorkIII as the best in the trilogy. PC World said it was "just as exciting and puzzling as ZorkI and II", though its puzzles could be frustrating. K-Power concluded that ZorkIII was "the most intelligent text game for a microcomputer that we've ever seen". Commodore Magazine, in June 1983, described the combined trilogy as the most popular adventure game, as well as the best. The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984 gave all three parts of Zork an overall A+ rating. It called ZorkI "the definitive adventure game", adding that ZorkII "has the same outstanding command flexibility, wry humor, and word recognition of Zork", and concluded that ZorkIII was "perhaps the most entertaining of the three" and "a highwater mark for subtlety and logic". Legacy Zork has been described as "by far the most famous piece of [interactive fiction]" and "the father figure of the genre". Game historian Matt Barton contended that "to say that Zork is an influential adventure game is like saying the Iliad is an influential poem". Rather than simply influencing games, Barton said it