FreeGameDev

Are there any games that in your opinion have excellent controls and gameplay but lack mainly graphics and/or sound?


Hex-a-Hop is the only one I can think of. It has good controls: you can skip animations, you can undo steps. It lacks sound effects.

PS:

I remembered OpenArena it just really lacks art quality regarding user interface (game menu) but most of the in-game content seems not balanced/fitting each other (player models, maps).

Scourge has a lot going for it but it lacks some artwork that would make it really stand out (character models). Currently it uses unsuitable (and sometimes non-free) md2s and it looks very clumsy.