I've barely played the Gold Box Games. I was too lazy to read the instructions, so I never got the hang of the controls. Those are all 2E games, right? It's been about eight years since I've played 2E, and I wasn't really into optimization back then.
Most RPG computer games I played were Eye of the Beholder (I think the first "3D" RPG), and Dark Designs 1 & 2, which have strong D&D roots.