Best sandbox games before generation 6?

[BetaWolf47]

It's no joke that sandbox games have seen an influx since the PS2 era, with Grand Theft Auto 3. However, GTA 3 wasn't the first game. Here's some fun ones that existed before then:

-Grand Theft Auto 1, London, and 2, of course. While 3D added a lot to the series, the games were still fun in 2D.
-Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1, 2, and 3, in Free Skate mode.
-Pilotwings 64, in Birdman mode. Unlimited flight in any of the levels until you crash.
-Body Harvest for N64, made by DMA who later became Rockstar Games. It was Grand Theft Auto gameplay in a rural environment.

[Ro-J]

I picked up Body Harvest from the clearance section of Gamestop back in the day based purely on the name. Unfortunately I never could get into it, I just couldn't deal with the graphics at the time.

Does Mario 64 count as a sandbox? When it first came out I used to love running around the worlds randomly. Sometimes I would boot up the game and never even bother entering the castle, just had fun outside swimming and running in circles. Simpler times, eh?

[Ballermann2D]

Not exactly sure what exactly falls in the category "sandbox" but from my understanding i would say stuff like...
Sim Earth
Sim City
Populous
Ultima series
Elite
Midwinter
... comes to mind

[Jorpho]

How about Genesis Shadowrun?

[Andy]

Seems like the PC did better with this type of game before it came on with consoles.

Sid Meier's Pirates!
Ultima VII
Darklands
Privateer

[frogofdeath]

Does Roller Coaster Tycoon and its first sequel count? Those are phenomenal games. In the same spirit, Theme Park was great fun before RCT came out.

Sim City and Sim City 2000 are still classics. Both games were played simply, never bothered with the scenarios. Also spent numerous hours creating my own geography in SC2000, then spending hour after hour building a city in said landscape. Damn those are some fine games.