The usual suspects: Doom, Hugo, Wolfenstein, Commander Keen, etc.
But the big one was Traffic Department 2192. A very mature storyline, and a great overhead shooter. I remember watching my step-brother play it when I was 8 or 9.
The usual suspects: Doom, Hugo, Wolfenstein, Commander Keen, etc.
But the big one was Traffic Department 2192. A very mature storyline, and a great overhead shooter. I remember watching my step-brother play it when I was 8 or 9.
My Game Collection
"I am only what you see me as." - Obsidian Rose
I almost forgot about it as it's been awhile, but I liked playing Cross Country Canada. I first played it in school in the mid 90's though the game is older than that.
Heroes of might and magic 2
Wolfenstein 3d
When a buddy of mine told me about this site years ago I was mainly a 90's PC gamer and still enjoy a lot of what the DOS era has to offer. There are a lot of wonderful games listed above so I'll just stick with those for now.
The whole Commander Keen series was awesome and is one of the most solid platforming set of games I've played. When I first discovered the secret exit in Doom 2 that brings you to Wolfenstein 3D level 1 I was stoked. When they threw Keen in there hanging around the boss exit I was impressed how they mashed it together in that hidden area.
Police Quest is a special beast of a series. People always raved about it and I happened to stumble across a complete collection in the past several months, but still haven't installed! I've been slumping in the gaming time for awhile however it still sits at the top of my to-play DOS list.
The Duke Nukem platformers didn't appeal to me much as Mario on the console and Commander Keen on PC had spoiled me. When 3D came out I was impressed and played the hell out of it along with some of the dozens of add-on packs that were released. The remarks Duke makes during gameplay really brought it more to life as a teenager.
Descent is one of my top shooters of all time. I spent so many hours playing it single player and over dial-up after middle school with friends. I never had a joystick to play this game so when I finally attempted with one a few years back it felt odd, but playable. The second game was a total breakthrough as well with more weapons and adversaries to contend with, but the Guide bot almost felt like a cheat being used as a shield and pointer to advance through the levels instead of memorizing maps to use the map screen less often.
As for the third installment, I borrowed it from a friend in high school and it didn't work on my machine of the time and haven't seen the game since. I do recall far superior graphics (low resolution by todays standards for sure), higher fidelity sound effects and music (over the MIDI quality of the earlier installments), and better physics in the world for explosions and object collision.
Recently I picked up at a thrift store Descent: Levels of the World, which I was unfamiliar with before. Apparently they held a competition for Descent level creation (I still haven't found a working level editor to use myself) and conditioned the games into a package that runs off the disc, piggy backing from the Descent installation on the hard disk. They have rankings including the "best" level that can be played through under the "New Game" selection. Pretty cool stuff, but some really odd levels too.
I've been slowly playing through Wolf3D again an old DOS laptop with "Bring 'em on!" difficulty. I remember making maze maps with the editor and tossing the Pac-Man monsters in there. I should get the editor placed on there to mess around with it again. Good times.
Doom 1 & 2 were great FPS titles that kept me on the edge of my seat. One thing I enjoyed was how they shared the WAD format enabling a player to edit both games along with Heretic maps. I didn't get much into deathmaps as not many friends used Kali so I never did and we always seemed to have complications otherwise. It was fun swapping our custome games amongst each other though.
X-Wing is an excellent free roaming shooter and in my opinion one of the best Star Wars games. I've played many and they always have come off as budget titles or falling short to deliver in some form, but this one really stuck out for me. I always enjoyed going up against star destroyers with TIE Fighters buzzing around. It did a really great job placing the player in the middle of the action sequence.
SimCity is an ultimate simulation game. After playing many other city building games and sequals to the original, this one always strikes back home for me. It's so simple but the graphics and interface give the gameplay justice even today and work with the player well in accomplishing the games goal of city survival. The random seeded maps give the game diversity, but enables the player to recall a favorite map layout to attempt other strategies. I always liked the SNES port that included seasonal landscapes and Bowser as a replacement to Godzilla.
Funny this game mentioned. I picked it up a year ago after finally spotting it. I just remember good things spoken of it but don't recall from whom or how I know it. A few months back Retro Gamer had an article on the game and told myself I'd play it but didn't get around to it. Now that it's mentioned I have my '98 machine started up with the CD in the tray ready to go once I'm done posting.
Raptor is one of those fun shooters for the PC done right. I've played so many poor pieces of garbage that either lack substance in the game or have a terrible gameplay. Although it is repetitive and gaining cash to upgrade takes a few runs through the graphics and handling make up for it. Having the ability to save and come back later is also a wonderful feature.
I'm suprised someone shared SkyRoads in the thread. I actually enjoy how they opened the music to everyone who wants to hear it. If anyone hasn't checked that little game out before I suggest at least following the link to read up on it a bit.
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was a true accomplishment for Blizzard. My first introduction to them was through Blackthrone and The Lost Vikings demo's via the Cyberia game disc, which also contained Mario Teaches Typing. I was fortunate to eventually play the full versions of those games later, but with that I had already grounded what Blizzard was. A neighbor was talking about Warcraft and somehow my brother talked my parents into getting it for us and the rest is fun times. It was the first RTS game I recall playing as well so I have a strong attachment to older Blizzard titles.
Sierra put out a lot of adventure games, but the one I actually had and played some time with was King's Quest V. I've touched intro basis with each of the KQ games but that one is still my favorite. One of my college buddies was a huge Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry nut and is understandable as those lines of games appear to be interesting, but I'm not much of a point & click player and it's hard for me to get into those games today. I own them and may one day finally break down and play them through.
Worms was a crazy fun party game. My first exposure was at school in a Macintosh lab. Someone had set it up and everyone was playing when we could. Later games like World Party, Armageddon, and 3D just kept taking it to the next level of entertainment. It's funny they have it on XBL and they reverted to the 2D graphics again. Fun!
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The "Build Trilogy"
"Blood" - if only for the crazy ass weapons and the hilarity that comes from their use.
"Shadow Warrior" - for the one liners.
"Duke Nukem 3D" - First in the trilogy, plenty of attitude and humor. Shake it baby!
Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!
You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz
Probally Warcraft for me. It was the first game I ever downloaded a demo for (seems like it took forver on my 28.8 modem at the time) and was subsequently the first computer game I ever bought in the store with my own money.
"Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...
I suppose I'll just mention the obvious ones:
Ultima series (esp. VII, not so much VIII)
Wing Commander series
Lucasarts adventures
Commander Keen
X-Com: UFO Defense
Those games were awesome; truly, the early 90s were a golden age for PC gaming, the luster of which it has never really reclaimed.
Two other gems that are favorites of mine that don't seem to be that well known:
Celtic Tales: Balor of the Evil Eye
This is an engrossing turn-based strategy game that is pretty epic in scale. I've never finished it and keep meaning to do so.
Spellcraft: Aspects of Valor
This game is, simply put, amazing. This one I HAVE finished, and it took a long time - but man, this was awesome. You essentially play a wizard-in-training who rises to dominance. There are two parts to this game: traveling around the world to collect / sell "regents," and fighting on a battlefield, usually against an AI wizard. Then you had a lab where you could prepare all your spells for upcoming battles...you had to stockpile them and make them with the regents you collected...you could also modify spells by adding more ingredients and make them more powerful / last longer / etc. These customized spells could be kept, with customized labels, in your own "cookbook."
Then you go out onto the battlefield (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Mind, Celestial, and Death - a special map you could get to by dying; later in the game it was pretty advantageous to go there to collect regents and items) and let loose. Loads of fun; I should re-play this game sometime.
You are startled by a grim snarl. Before you, you see 1 Red dragon. Will your stalwart band choose to (F)ight or (R)un?
My favorite ones are:-
wolf-3D
prince
Xorgan
p-5
And yes Xatex
Last edited by sheva249; 01-29-2010 at 06:55 AM.