What are the best games you've played on PC from all time?

[HLJ]

No doubt nostalgia plays a large part.

Yeah, our brain "colors" memories.
I while back I stumbled across this:
WinUAE Amiga emulator

And tried some of the games that got me interested in gaming:

- Dune (first RTS).
- F-19 Stealth fighter
- Gunship 2000
- M1 Tank Platoon


I could not...the "graphics" were atrocious and after a day I gave up...something do NOT age well.

I found another way to be "nostalgic" though:
STAR WARS™: X-Wing Special Edition on GOG.com

I like a game where if you screw up...back to START...but I fear most people will whine today over it being "too difficult"

 

[WhiningKhan]

Simulators seem to be a pretty common vice in this crowd. Mine as well - some of the finest moments I can recall were in the original Elite on MSX, F16 Falcon on Atari ST, EF2000 with Rendition 3D support, then F22 TAW and IL-2 Forgotten battles in the new millenium, plus Operation Flashpoint with all its expansions (never really got into Arma even though I've bought it at some point). And finally Elite Dangerous which I've been playing from time to time the last 5 years.

The simulators don't age well, the only exception I've found is Tie Fighter which I recently bought from GOG to find it is just as enjoyable as back in the day. It does have updated SVGA graphics instead of the original vga 320*240 though, which is a critical difference...

Outside that genre, incarnations of Simcity and Civilization have been the biggest time hogs. Plus KOTOR 1&2.

 

[Entropy]

It's quite surprising how few modern games have been listed on this thread. Is that because many posters are of a certain age game less now, have games lost their magic, are they aimed at a different auidence or something else?

I’d say all of the above, with one exception: the problem rather being that games to a large extent target the same demographic today as 20 years ago, only those of us who were around then and before have matured.

It’s a bit like all those fantasy (and other genre) books that tell a coming of age story. Protagonist is forced to go out into the world and discover their abilities and place in it, usually saving it in the process. I read them back in the day, appreciated particularly good examples a while longer, and am utterly done with them now. But they are still in mass production, constituting the bulk of the output in that genre.

Games haven’t progressed much in either mechanics or themes. If you have been around for a while, no RTS for example can really catch your attention as the first of the genre that uou really got into, no matter how polished. That doesn’t make the new games bad, just - derivative of something you’ve already experienced. And it isn’t helped by corporate risk aversion.

If I were a teen today, it would be different for sure. In a few decades we’ll see nostalgia threads about Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.

 

[cheapchips]

Railroad Tycoon

Which reminded me of many many hour playing Transport Tycoon. More games need to feature buses and trains chugging along in their own little window.

 

[Entropy]

Re: nostalgia. Appropriately from Mass Effect. ;-)

 

[manux]

It’s a bit like all those fantasy (and other genre) books that tell a coming of age story. Protagonist is forced to go out into the world and discover their abilities and place in it, usually saving it in the process. I read them back in the day, appreciated particularly good examples a while longer, and am utterly done with them now. But they are still in mass production, constituting the bulk of the output in that genre.

I'm 40+ and still enjoy good fantasy books. This one is brilliant and matches exactly your description: https://www.goodreads.com/series/185644-book-of-the-ancestor It's real solid trilogy, works for multiple read throughs. One of my most waited books is door of stone, book 3 for king killer chronicles. 2 first books were amazing.

But I agree in the part that firsts have longer lasting memory than second or third. That's why I tried to pick the first master pieces I played for long time. Many of those games still hold up today. Something like curse of monkey island/indiana jones and fate of atlantis are timeless.

 

[swaaye]

I found another way to be "nostalgic" though:
STAR WARS™: X-Wing Special Edition on GOG.com

I'd play the DOS version because it has the interactive MIDI soundtrack. Fortunately it comes with your purchase. I was so disappointed with the Windows 95 versions of XW/TIE because they had dropped the MIDI and switched to static CD audio. IMUSE was such a big part of X-Wing and TIE Fighter for me. Of course it was however awesome to see 3D accelerated texture-mapped graphics.

 

[HLJ]

I'd play the DOS version because it has the interactive MIDI soundtrack. Fortunately it comes with your purchase. I was so disappointed with the Windows 95 versions of XW/TIE because they had dropped the MIDI and switched to static CD audio. IMUSE was such a big part of X-Wing and TIE Fighter for me. Of course it was however awesome to see 3D accelerated texture-mapped graphics.

I still remember going from a SoundBlaster 16 to the Soundblaster AWE 32...BIGGEST card I have ever installed in a PC...that really made MIDI sond GOOD!:

And Yes, I acquired 2 x 4 MB 30 Pins RAM to add more soundfonts

 

[swaaye]

I still remember going from a SoundBlaster 16 to the Soundblaster AWE 32...BIGGEST card I have ever installed in a PC...that really made MIDI sond GOOD!:

And Yes, I acquired 2 x 4 MB 30 Pins RAM to add more soundfonts

I still have one of those stored away. Yeah the AWE32 can sound great once it has RAM for soundfonts.

 

[zed]

I still remember going from a SoundBlaster 16 to the Soundblaster AWE 32...BIGGEST card I have ever installed in a PC...that really made MIDI sond GOOD!:

pah, I look down at you from my soundcard masterrace tower, at that time I had a terratec

 

[Albuquerque]

I too had the AWE32 to replace the SBPro I killed. Excellent card for sure! I wish I still had it

 

[HLJ]

pah, I look down at you from my soundcard masterrace tower, at that time I had a terratec

EWS?

 

[WhiningKhan]

I too had the AWE32 to replace the SBPro I killed. Excellent card for sure! I wish I still had it

Err, why though? There's no ISA slot to be found anywhere in the modern society to stick it into, and even if you could use it, there's really nothing it can offer compared to software synths that today's CPUs handle effortlessly. Plus I'd say the cheapest DACs you can find today are at minimum on par with the stuff on those old buzzing ISA cards.

Sorry for pissing into the nostalgia bonfire.

 

[zed]

EWS?

TBH I can't actually remember I tried googling photos/names and nothing rings a bell. I just remember it cost a lot, my GF was not happy

 

[Albuquerque]

Err, why though? There's no ISA slot to be found anywhere in the modern society to stick it into, and even if you could use it, there's really nothing it can offer compared to software synths that today's CPUs handle effortlessly. Plus I'd say the cheapest DACs you can find today are at minimum on par with the stuff on those old buzzing ISA cards.

Sorry for pissing into the nostalgia bonfire.

Haha! I've been collecting parts for a P233/MMX build in the recent months specifically for nostalgia purposes. I've got a 430FX motherboard, 32MB of EDO memory, a Matrox G200, a 12Mb Voodoo 2 card, a 3C905b NIC and my old Quantum Fireball 850MB drive to install the OS. I have an old 52x IDE CDRW drive, but I'm missing a good soundblaster card from the era.

Gonna dual-boot MSDOS 6.22 and Windows 98 to play some old school games without buggy emulation

 

[milk]

Haha! I've been collecting parts for a P233/MMX build in the recent months specifically for nostalgia purposes. I've got a 430FX motherboard, 32MB of EDO memory, a Matrox G200, a 12Mb Voodoo 2 card, a 3C905b NIC and my old Quantum Fireball 850MB drive to install the OS. I have an old 52x IDE CDRW drive, but I'm missing a good soundblaster card from the era.

Gonna dual-boot MSDOS 6.22 and Windows 98 to play some old school games without buggy emulation

I've never mustered up the will to pursue that kind of specialty endeavor, but it sure sounds cool. Must tingle the nostalgia to play old games that way. The fact old software was all completely off-line put a CD/floppy in and install makes the time-capsule effect that much more effective.I wonder how the modern allways-connected nature of current software will make that kind of retro exploration possible 30 years from now... Sigh.

 

[Davros]

but I'm missing a good soundblaster card from the era.

Is a AWE-64 Value any good to you ?

 

[HLJ]

Is a AWE-64 Value any good to you ?

If it is the 512K version i would consider it a downgrade from 32 AWE...the 4MB version is quite similar though.

 

[SlmDnk]

Although I have been a gamer since the VIC-20, C-64 and Amiga 500 days, I'll list my favourite games list for DOS and Windows, in release year order:

1985 NetHack (started playing in 1992, or so, and ascended in 1994)
1990 Stunts! (4D Sports Driving)
1990 The Secret of Monkey Island
1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
1992 Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (one of those truly revolutionary games)
1992 Wolfenstein 3D
1992 Star Control II
1993 Doom
1996 Duke Nukem 3D
1996 Quake
1997 Carmageddon
1998 Unreal
1998 Grim Fandango
1998 Half-Life
1998 Thief: The Dark Project
1999 Rollcage
1999 Re-Volt
1999 Outcast
1999 Homeworld
2000 Thief II: The Metal Age
2000 Counter-Strike
2001 Blade of Darkness
2001 Serious Sam: The First Encounter
2001 Max Payne
2001 Ballistics (the best sense of ridiculous speed ever in a computer game)
2001 Gothic
2002 Live for Speed
2002 Mafia
2003 Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
2003 Gothic II: Night of the Raven
2003 TrackMania (like Stunts! but a lot better in every way)
2004 Far Cry
2004 Half-Life 2
2006 Gothic 3 (with Community Patch)
2007 Crysis
2009 Minecraft
2009 Risen
2010 Mafia II
2015 GTA V
2018 Kingdom Come: Deliverance (from the director of Mafia and Mafia II)
2019 Noita
2021 The Eternal Cylinder

List may get updated with additions if other favourites happen to pop into my mind.

 

[Davros]

yes it's the 512k version