I’m setting up my MiSTer FPGA and want to prioritize a bit. I currently have DOS and Win 95 running, but plan to setup Macintosh and any other worthwhile computer platforms. Any computer platform welcome (I already have the consoles figured out). What are your “must try” game suggestions?
Edit: I just got back to this post and am pleasantly surprised by the response. I’ll probably be adding most if not all of these to test since I have the space. Thank you to everyone who commented.
- Transport Tycoon
- C&C Red Alert and Tiberian Sun
- Anno 1602 (1602 A.D.)
- Theme Park
- Commander Keen
- Doom 2 (and Wolfenstein 3D to some extend)
- GTA2
- Half-Life
- Dungeon Keeper (mainly DK2)
- Leisure Suit Larry 6
- Worms 2 & Armageddon
- Age of Empires 2
- Sim City 2000 & 3000
- SimTower
- The Settlers 2
- Lemmings
- Incredible Machine
- Commandos
- Outcast
- Quake 3 Arena
- Descent
- StarCraft (although I started playing it later)
C64: Elite. the game is my personal number one as I played only Elite constantly for a long time, despite all other games available for C64.
Amiga: Chaos Engine, Transarctica.
486: Elite Frontier, Descent, Descent II.
- Sonic the hedgehog
- Golden axe
- Streets of rage
- Micro machines
- Super Mario Bros 3
- Super Mario world
- Cool boarders
- SSX tricky
- Speed freaks
- Crash bandicoot
- Soul Reaver
- Tony hawk
- Tomb raider 3
- Abes oddesy
- Crazy taxi
- Duke nukem 3D
I was a fan of Midtown madness, both 1 and 2.
I had LAN parties with my friends by booting the game, then ejecting the CD and passing it along.
Sadly the third one wasn’t on PC.
My childhood
Xwing, day of the tentacle, Sam and Max hit the road, terminal velocity, half-life, journeyman project, Myst, that weird Encarta cdrom trivia game, counterstrike, EverQuest, you don’t know Jack, Spiderman cartoon maker, master of Orion, monkey Island, Commander keen, and DOOM
Lode Runner for Apple II. Still remarkably playable. You could also go for The Legend Returns on PlayStation / Saturn.
Oh, yes. And you could make your own levels!
Total Annihilation. It was released in 1997 and brought inspiration to games like Supreme Commander and Planetary Annihilation.
Also, mother fuckin’ Cap’N Crunch’s Crunchling Adventure. I don’t have to explain that one.
My family’s first PC was hand-me-down Amiga 2000; so these games helped shape me growing up:
Dune 2: Battle for Arrakis T-Rex Warrior* Cannon Fodder Sensible Soccer** The Settlers After the War
- Funny anecdote, if memory serves - it took my child brain over a year to figure out that holding down both mouse buttons made you move forward…
** Namely, the demo disk version which was set in 1945 and replaced the ball with a bomb that would periodically explode, killing nearby players and removing them from the match.
My guy, we have the technology. You can edit that title to fix the horrible grammar lol.
“What are your favorite pre-2000 video games?”
Whoops! I didn’t realize I could edit titles lol. Fixed :)
Crash Bandicoot 2
- MECHWARRIOR 2
- QUAKE 2
- Broken Sword 1
- Half-Life 1
- Jedi knight dark Forces 2
- Police Quest 1
- Aliens vs predator
- System shock 2
- Unreal tournament
- Star Trek Starfleet Academy
- Zork 1 and 2
- Heavy Gear 2
- Jazz Jackrabbit 2
- Pandemonium
- Total annihilation
Baldur’s Gate
Lords of the Realm 2
Descent (1, 2, and 3)
Sim City 2000Reticulating splines.
I still play it now and then, while I like the newer editions this is the one that aged better in comparison.
God I love Lords of the Realm 2. I bought it on GoG and go back and play that every few years for a spell. Rarely see others mention in and it was one of my favorite games of that era.
Yeah, it’s one of the games I consistently return to regularly. Was very disappointed in the sequel.
Half Life. While I am too young to have played it when it released, it still was an astounding game for its time.
Obligatory shout-out for any Bullfrog games of that era, especially Dungeon Keeper 1 & 2. Lionhead’s Black & White is 1 year out of your window, but such a good game.
Also:
Syndicate Wars
Command & Conquer: Red Alert
Grim Fandango
Rollercoaster Tycoon
Descent
Grand Theft Auto- FFVII (and VIII)
- Homeworld
- Shadowrun (Sega Genesis version)
- Parasite Eve
- Wing Commander Series
- Colony Wars: Vengeance
- Gran Turismo 2
- Freespace (can’t believe I forgot about that one)
…I’m in my late forties, so pre-2000 was my peak gaming time. As a result the list could go on and on and on…
Parasite Eve was a great game, but it never released for DOS/Windows 95. It was PlayStation exclusive (and still is).
Whoops. My mistake. I completely skipped reading the “computer” part of the sentence and started listing off games in general.
Parasite Eve, now here is a man who knows his SquareSoft games
Underrated. I’d be all over a remake.
