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.
- 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.
- 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)
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 AutoTotal Annihilation - rts
Ooo I used to love Total Annihilation. Forgot all about that game! I used to spam build hundreds of tiny fighter planes and swarm the enemy.
- Quake II
- The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
- Power Dolls
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert
- StarCraft with the Brood War expansion
- Fallout
- Star Wars: Dark Forces
- The Oregon Trail (obviously)
- Syndicate
- Star Wars: TIE Fighter (X Wing was good too, but TIE Fighter was better)
- Dune II: Battle for Arrakis
- Ultima Underworld: Stygian Abyss
- SimCity (1989)
- X-COM: UFO Defense
OP said pre-2000, Starcraft wasn’t released until…
checks Wikipedia
Damn.
Yeah, I know. I felt it too.
- 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.
Tie-fighter was a good one.
And StarCraft like someone mentioned and Warcraft.
Tie fighter is one of the best games ever, my dad pirated a ton of games from a guy he didn’t like just to get those games for me and my siblings… I bought a flight control stick, I still love the game nothing has come close to the fun
I still remember the “match speed” control but haven’t found any game with it since.
- MULE
- Might and Magic VI
- Master of Orion
- Civ 1 & 2
Duke Nukem 3d
Holy shit
Hehehe what a mess
Hail to the King, baby!
You’re an inspiration for birth control!
Those pixelated stripper titties filled a whole bunch of gym socks in my youth.
I spent hours playing Transport Tycoon.
Some of my favorites in a variety of genre:
- TIE Fighter and/or Freespace
- Planescape: Torment
- Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
- Pharaoh
Also one of Sierra’s adventure games. A popular one is King’s Quest VI.
I remember the difference between xwing and tie fighter. How tight where the missions and the campaign… If there’s a remake to make that’s the one for me.
For sure. Kinda surprised one never got made, really.
Rollercoaster Tycoon is an obvious must-play. And Zeus: Master of Olympus came out in 2000 but runs on Windows 95. It’s a Sierra city builder, and I have thousands of hours in it.