[glurgh]

Carmack's famous games were not developed solo - he developed the breakthrough enabling technology that made the game possible - full-screen sidescrolling on a PC, 3D stuff, etc.

Mechner's games stand out in part because he seems to have done just about everything himself and, especially for the time all the parts are outstanding - the design, the artwork, the 'art direction', the animation, the gameplay. And then he went off and churned them out in 6502 assembly.