My favorite old school PC games...

Even though I'm constantly impressed by the new stuff coming out for every system, I still get the urge to play those really old games I grew up with.

They're archaic and graphically weak... but I still have them on my computer or backed up for posterity on some CD. I'll probably never get rid of 'em.

What about you guys? What are your favorites? I guess I'll arbitrarily pick 1996 as the cutoff for old school. Tell us about your favorite PC games from 1996 or prior.

www.mobygames.com is a great site for some info on those games you used to play but can't quite recall. The images I'll be posting are from there.

First off...

Ancient Art Of War (1984)/ Ancient Art Of War At Sea (1987):

Ancient Art of War was the grandfather of basically every strategy game ever made. It still has a level of complexity which hasn't been quite replicated in newer games. You basically fought a series of campaigns against the computer. You could pick the 'personality' of your opponent.

You could also design your own maps, your own campaigns, and your own squad formations. That gave the game a lot of replay value. The sequel introduced some new elements to the game. Ship to ship combat and new ways to claim victory against the enemy.

Dark Forces and the X-wing series

The Bard's Tale

X-Wing.

I still remember being creeped out, every time I died and was picked up by the Rebels. The medic droid was jarring.

OMG!! CGA graphics! I was always amused by the creative use of cyan. My next tribute is to...

The Ultima Series:

The granddaddy of RPGs? Possibly, since even Japanese RPGs took their inspiration from the early Ultima games. The really amazing thing about this series (at least until the eight installment, when EA took over and fucked the series over) is how they didn't just take the same basic code and update it for every new installment. They rewrote the whole thing from ground up for every game. Ultima I is notable for being one of the primordial computer RPGs, but I really only got into the game with Ultima III. My all time favorites are Ultima V and Ultima VII.
Have to give a shout out for the spinoff Ultima Underworld games. They were also groundbreaking as they were the direct inspiration for Wolfenstein 3D, the first FPS.

Ultima III: Exodus (1983) & Ultima IV: Quest Of The Avatar (1985) -

I say it every time, but I'm saying it again: Magic Carpet. Can't imagine a better game, in essence, than that.

Oh, crap. I could have sworn I posted this in the Games Forum. Can someone move it please?

BTW, I should have probably noted in the thread title that this thread will have a lot of images. Could the mod put that in their for me? Everybody, please post some images as well!

Anyway, continuing...

Ultima V: Warriors Of Destiny (1988) & Ultima VI: The False Prophet (1991) -

Another great old game site:
http://www.the-underdogs.info/

Actually has a hall of fame for great but unrecognized games and the downloads for many of the games who have reverted to freeware!

Can't say I remember which games preceded 1996 or not. My old school favorites:

Shogun
Lode Runner
Star Control 2
Masters of Orion 2
Civ 2 (hey, I'm a deuce kind a guy)
Harpoon
Shattered Alliance, a fantasy battle game from SSI
and the first graphic (if you could call it that!) rpg, Wizardry

Ultima VII & Ultima Underworld (1992)-

My favorite game (which I wish Sid Meier would update for the modern gaming PC) was called Covert Action. Very clunky and really a dos based game, and after a while you could figure out what to do ... but at least every time you place the game there was a slightly different ending.
Unfortunately Sid seems to have gone to just empire building.

The Space Quest Series-

Along with King's Quest, these games helped make popular the adventure gaming genre which Sierra Online did so well in the old days. Unfortunately, these sorts of games seem to have fallen by the wayside. I especially loved the SQ series because of all the hilarious sci-fi injokes. This was one of the few games where it was fun to die, and where you sought every manner of death possible, just to see what hilarious message you would get.

Space Quest I (1986) & Space Quest II (1987)-

Space Quest III (1989), Space Quest IV (1991) & Space Quest V (1993)-

Since many people have already mentioned it, let me also say something about...

Star Wars: X-Wing (1993) & Star Wars: TIE Fighter (1994) -

Two of the finest space combat simulators ever. Also the first games to really make good use of the Star Wars license. I especially loved the fanmade mission editor, which allowed you to customize everything about the game and create your own scenarios.

Hugo's House Of Horrors.



Hugo taught me everything I need to know about being a man.

We were in the shit together, man.

Hugo...he..he didn't make it to the chopper...

*Sniff*

(Screaming at reflection)
Don't you cry!!! Don't you ever cry again in your whole life!! Let it turn into something else!!! Let it turn into something else!!

SimCity (1989) & SimCity 2000 (1993):

I don't think much needs to be said about this series. It's classic gaming and it has inspired a whole genre of games (most of which were made by Maxis!)

You're fuckin crazy dude.

That's Commander Keen you're thinking of.

Wolfenstein 3D (1992) & Doom (1993):

The first really popular first person shooters. I still sort of prefer these games to the newer FPS games, just because of the simpler controls. Run, strafe, shoot. I also get some twisted pleasure in seeing pixelated Nazis riddled with bullets.

I had a shareware version that only had the first 3 levels.

I wouldn't pony up the other 15-20 bucks or whatever it was, so I just went in circles getting carsick.

DinoPark Tycoon was awesome. The way to win was to feed the T-Rex your cursor repeatedly.

Also, Oregon Trail. I spent hours hunting in that game. I probably wiped out most of the bison population, and I wasn't even able to carry it all!

Warlords (1990) & Warlords II (1993)-

Xerafin remembers these games but alot of you might not have played them. Really underrated but excellent turn based strategy games. Again, it seems to be a common trend with my favorite games, but the customization is really what made it so great. Hell, that's what makes PC gaming in general so much fun. Modding, fan upgrades, scenario editors...

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? (1985)

Fun AND educational?? Surely, you jest. I think most of you are familiar with this series but you basically have to track the notorious criminal Carmen Sandiego around the world by solving clues related to geography or culture. Also lead to some other games in the series, like 'Where in Time,' Where in Space,' etc.

Carmen Sandiego herself was an elusive bitch. I don't think I ever actually saw her in the game. Also, this and Oregon Trail were among the few games that they would actually let us play at school

Lemmings (1991):

Don't know if this one counts as a truly PC game since it was released for every system known to man. But the PC version was the best, IMO. Can't imagine how people played it without a mouse...

If you don't know, you need to keep your intrepid band of Lemmings from killing themselves while safely navigating them to the next stage. A crazy but f--ing brilliant idea for a computer game. Why don't we see this sort of simple creativity anymore?

The original Amiga version used a mouse as well...
Had better graphics as well...

They had a newer version out recently - I still have trouble keeping the buggers from killing themselves.

Wasteland was a pretty good one.

Starflight was also a good one. I spent many hours playing that one on the Commodore 128.

Oh, yeah... Starflight!!

Starflight (1986) & Starflight II (1989):

How could I forget Starflight? Awesome space exploration game. These games were HUGE. And the level of detail was very impressive. You basically micromanaged your starship, it's crew, and your cargo while exploring new planets, forming diplomatic ties, and battling with hostile aliens.

I could never beat those *&^%@@!! Spemin in the endgame.

I used to love Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. I never finished it though I got quite far once, but never saved it, then the disks knackered up. So that was that.

See Post #27.