Gaming

There are entire genres that I think in many ways have passed younger gamers by.

Point and click adventures were the biggest thing in the world at one point. The classics are the Lucas Arts entries, like Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis, The Dig (both based on unused Spielberg pitches), the Monkey Island games, Full Throttle, Day of The Tentacle and Loom. You've also got Myst and Riven (Riven being the far superior of the two), and my personal favourite, The Longest Journey, which has an absolutely stellar story and really compelling protagonist with a lot of depth to her. Also, positive queer representation in a nineties game, holy shit.

The next lost nineties genre is the space sim. The kings of the genre were Wing Commander and X-Wing/Tie Fighter. Then you've got Privateer and later Freelancer. For the Wing Commander games read a summary of 1 and 2, then jump in with 3, the first to feature FMV with Mark Hamill as the player character (genuinely an excellent performance too, he took the role really seriously and saw it as every bit as important a scifi property as Star Wars). John Rhys Davies (Gimli) and Malcolm McDowell also make appearances.

And of course, the classic nineties FPS, a genre that feels very, very different from modern FPS games, though there have been some good attempts to recreate it. You know Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D (the latter does not hold up; the former absolutely does), but also check out Heretic, Hexen, Rise of The Triad, and most importantly, IMO, the Marathon games. These were the precedessors of the Halo series, and they combined really solid action with a genuinely amazing story. It's the kind of big, high concept that you rarely get in movies, TV shows and games, with a world that the writers clearly put a tonne of thought into, and some characters who will stick with you long after the game is over.

Finally, some stuff that doesn't really fit any of the above. Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret are isometric action shooters with some fun storytelling and LOTS of explosions. If you get them on GOG be sure to download and read all the supplementary material, it really fleshes out the world and the characters. System Shock probably doesn't even need mentioning with the recent remake, but the originals truly hold up, especially with the UI and controls polish Nightdive added. Syndicate and Syndicate Wars are very hard to explain, but they're really fun (That said, I'll give an even stronger recommendation to their modern spiritual successor, Satellite Reign, which deepened the gameplay significantly while still retaining all of the spirit).

There's plenty more, obviously, but that's what immediately comes to mind as worth checking out.

Many of the old Sierra and Dynamix adventure games are great. Kings Quest IV through VII are probably the ones that hold up best. The adventures of Willy Beamish, Heart of China, Police Quest and Space Quest.

Generally, any top rated game from that period which doesn't rely on good graphics but instead offers very good gameplay and is kind of timeless and ages well. For example, you shouldn't play the original System Shock 1 anymore, although it was top tier in 1994, because its graphics are very poor for today's standards, it's UI has always been poor, and it's a game that fully relies on immersion, but you can't immerse yourself anymore if both graphics and UI are really poor. Instead, play the System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios which came out recently. It's not the same, but it's very similar, and much better nowadays. Also why you shouldn't play the old STALKERs anymore, although they were amazing and it kind of saddens me to write this, but they really don't offer much immersion today, which is why they didn't age well. I'm writing this because I didn't finish part 3 back in the day and intended to finish it like 2 years ago, but I couldn't stand the dated graphics anymore. For a game which relies fully on immersion, that ruins it.

Here's my list, I'm focusing on PC games because I never really play that much console or handheld stuff:

• Command and Conquer up until Red Alert (remastered version available). These are very classic RTS games in a futuristic/sci-fi war setting. Some say Total Annihilation was the best RTS during the 90s but I never played it so can't tell.

• Starcraft 1 (remastered version available). This game is also still being played competitively in multiplayer, with an active tournament scene, especially in South Korea.

• Age of Empires 2 (remastered version available)

• Jagged Alliance 2 (great community mods available). You can skip part 1, part 2 was absolutely amazing. A great strategy and tactics based game. It's quite difficult, but great.

• Doom 1+2 (remastered version available, very recently updated again on Steam (this month!)). Plenty of 3rd party engines like gzdoom also available which make them look and feel much more modern

• Quake 1+2 (remastered version and 3rd party engines available)

• Baldur's Gate 1+2 + its expansions (remastered version available). Also highly recommend version 3 of course but that's not an old game. Plenty of mods available for them as well.

• Planescape: Torment (only if you a) liked Baldur's Gate and b) don't mind reading (it's a lot of text) and enjoying a complex story with complex character interactions. Remastered version available)

• Half-Life 1+2 (instead of HL1, play "Black Mesa" which is a great modern remake (not the same, but very similar and much better nowadays). For HL2, there are also some remastered versions or mods available, and Valve updated the game engine from time to time so when you download it today, it's not the dated version from 2004 anymore). HL1 (1998) was one of the first FPS with a really great story line, voice acting, and stuff like that, which is why it pushed boundaries back when it was released. HL2 was just excellent overall and one of the first or the first game which introduced physics-based object manipulations, so it again pushed boundaries further)

• Sin Gold was a great FPS-RPG from 1998 that got brutally overshadowed by Half-Life 1, but it's still a great story-based shooter, more action-focused. Based on an updated Quake 1 engine.

• Portal 1+2. Best to play them after you've played the Half-Lifes. Portal 2 (2012) is THE highest rated game on Steam (https://steamdb.info/stats/gameratings/). Truly great puzzle FPS set in Half-Life's setting, which is why it's useful to know about HL before jumping in (but not a requirement). Portal 1 also isn't far off in rating. Portal 1 was basically a "side game" for the Valve game compilation named The Orange Box, Portal 2 was then a true AAA quality followup because Portal 1 was a huge success.

• Deus Ex 1 (maybe. Graphics are really poor (they were already dated when it launched). But it was one of the first RPG-FPS with stellar level design and the freedom to approach every situation in different ways, so VERY good on the gameplay side). Deus Ex 2 is supposedly bad, so skip that. The newer ones like Human Revolution and Mankind Divided are decent but they're not classics anymore they're still """fairly recent""", around 2010 or so.

• System Shock 2. It also looks very dated by now but there are some HQ mods available (improving models and textures) which make it more bearable. I'm hesitant to mention it because it relies a lot on immersion and it looks very dated. So according to my own recommendations, I probably shouldn't list it, but it's also great in level design and gameplay, and its art style never was ultra-realistic to begin with, so I'll list this one as an exception. It's very much worth playing, truly a great sci-fi/horror RPG-FPS and a worthy successor to part 1.

• Monkey Island 1 + 2. Remasters available. Classic point-and-click adventures, timeless.
• There are even more great adventure games from LucasArts or Sierra back in the day, but you'll have to figure them out for yourself. I will only recommend Monkey Island because they were probably the most successful and well-known ones. For some of them, remasters are available, or you can play them using ScummVM. There were also other great adventures not from LucasArts or Sierra, like Simon the Sorcerer. The 80s, 90s and early 2000s spawned a lot of great point+click adventure games.

• Diablo 2 (remaster available). D1 started the whole "genre" of hack&slay action RPGs but it's rather poor in comparison and aged terribly, D2 is much better in all areas, so skip D1 and instead try D2.

• Z (very unique and fun RTS game from the 90s. If you haven't played it, you should! It offers very good and unique gameplay that no one else really tried to copy as far as I know, which is a shame. It truly emphasises unit speed, unit production time, and good positioning / timing). It's also entertaining.

• Thief Gold + Thief 2 (remasters available I think). Also "The Dark Mod" as a community "continuation" of the series). If you like stealth FPS, you must play them. Thief 3 is also decent. Any Thiefs after that are terrible.

• Alien: Isolation. This one is from 2012 I believe, so not quite old, but an honorable mention because it's also an amazing stealth-based game.

• Heroes of Might & Magic 3 (I think in this case, the remaster is bad. Stick to community mods/patches)

• There was one old RPG which supposedly aged very well but I didn't play it yet. Maybe Albion or Lands of Lore, not sure what it was.

• Tomb Raider 1-3 (remaster available)

• WH40k Dawn of War 1 is great if you like the universe and RTS games in general

• XIII (Thirteen) - but not the new remake, play the original. It's a rather unique stealth-based, comic-look based FPS. Ages quite well because of its unique look (utilizes the kind of shading like Borderlands)

• Elder Scrolls 3-5 are very good as well but you need several mods or engine enhancements, otherwise graphics aren't that good anymore, and these are games which rely on good graphics as well for atmosphere/immersion. So they don't age well by default, but thankfully they have a VERY active modding community which keeps these games alive. You can even make them look very modern, but it takes some time and effort to do so.

• Nethack (somewhat of a nerd game, terrible graphics by design (text-based art style), but amazing and very deep/complex gameplay, very rewarding to get into, if you don't mind its presentation. In terms of gameplay depth it rivals or overshadows most games on the market). There are also some other clones like Slash'Em which I also didn't play. Dwarf Fortress is probably similar in depth and presentation (but very different in gameplay and general type of game) but I didn't play it yet.

• Honorable mention because it's technically not old but looks old: Return of the Obra Dinn. Don't skip this one, it's one of the best games I've ever played, I'm not kidding. It's truly amazing, and it's made by 1 guy. It's a perfect example of why graphics fidelity in games doesn't matter that much and you can create an excellent, modern-feeling, stylish games regardless.

I think ghost trick is older than 10 now

Pong.

There's a lot of great stuff here, I'm going to add morrowind but seriously, mod it, I love the game but it's definitely of its time, controls aren't terrible (a bit alien but workable) but the combat didn't age well, all dice rolls so while it looks like you should connect it's all chance. Game itself gives the player a lot of freedom of choice, tons of ways to play it too.

warcraft 3 and half-life 2

Red Faction (PS1, PC) - Just one of my favorite series. One of the early FPS's with destructible environments. Continued with a series, RF 2, RF: Guerrilla, and RF: Armageddon. RF 1 and RF: Guerrilla are the best imo.

Indigo Prophecy, a.k.a. Fahrenheit (Xbox, PC) - "Interactive Drama" with a wild story. From the same studio and precursor for Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human.

These ate just a couple off the top of my head that I haven't already seen posted here.

Maybe I overlooked it, but I didn't see any mention of Jade Empire yet. This is one of the master pieces from Biowares golden age. The setting and story are wonderful and they aced the characters and how you interact with them.

And Diablo II is also still a master piece of action RPG. The flow in playing it is masterfully done.

Quake 3.

Pure, unbridled, FPS action.

I am not sure if tfc (team fortress classic) still has servers running in any capacity, but it was one of the forefathers of role based, team shooters. It's influence and by proxy TF2's is still huge in competitive gaming.

Those games defined my late teens and early 20's.

I would heartily recommend Worms 2

Spend an hour or two tweaking everything to the max, without disintegrating the entire map with one banana, then a couple of hours of practice, and you've got the ultimate party game

These would have to be my top ones.

NES:

1. Super Mario 3
2. Duck hunt (with original guns)

SNES:

1. Zelda a link to the past
2. Mega man X
3. Chrono trigger
4. Super Mario world
5. Super Mario kart (with friends)
6. Earthworm Jim
7. Starfox

GB: Pokémon red, blue, or yellow

GBA: Zelda minish cap

N64: Zelda ocarina of time

parasite eve

vagrant story

fable

command and conquer

starcraft

castlevania - all of them

devil may cry series

kid icarus

mega man series

metroid

metal gear solid

Diablo series

doom

unreal tournament

ultima

morrowind

bladurs gate series

planescape

kotor 1/2

twisted metal black

ico/sotc

deus ex

and on and on and on

The Donkey Kong remake on the GameBoy is still one of my favorites and an amazing puzzle platformer!

Here is my list:

*Final Fantasy Tactics

*Devil May Cry

*Resident Evil

*Nightmare Creatures

*Psych - Ops

*Legend of Zelda (SNES)

*Tetrishpere

*Portal 2

There are many I am forgetting from age. But those are the highlights.

Populous The Beginning

Star control 2

Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers

It is a puzzle game like Myst but the puzzles make more sense, less like rubbing 2 coconuts on everything until they fit, and the world has more life to it.

The sheer amount of games available today probably makes it hard to get into many of the older gems. Hell, even I have a 30 year backlog.

I think everyone should explore:

• The Secret of Monkey Island (1, 2 and return)
• Loom
• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Street Rod
• Prince of Persia
• The Incredible Machine
• Pokémon yellow/red/blue
• Chrono Trigger
• Worms
• Mega Man II
• TMNT: Turtles in Time
• Diablo II
• Burnout 3/legends/takedown
• Skyrim

I still think Metal Gear Solid 1,2, and 3 hold up very well in terms of story and gameplay. The controls take a bit of getting used to, if you're used to how modern games play, but once you get the hang of it they are really an experience.

RPG: Star Ocean 2, Breath of Fire 3, Grandia 1 and 2, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, Zelda link to the past, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 9, Skies of Arcadia, Legend of Heroes series (start with trails in the sky), Persona series (start with 4), FF Tactics series, Tactics Ogre series, Phantom Brave series

Fighting: Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, Rival Schools, Power Stone 1 and 2, SNK vs. Capcom

Racing: Ridge Racer series, Tokyo Xtreme racer series, Colin McRae rally series, Burnout Paradise, FlatOut series

Shooters: Mars Matrix, Einhander, Cotton series, Ikaruga, Bangai-o, Rez

Fps: Time splitters 2, Red Faction series, Quake series, anything in Orange Box, Rise of the Triad

Adventure: Beyond good and evil, Devil May Cry series, Gurumin, Sleeping Dogs, Syberia series

Platformer: Klonoa Series

I ran out of brain but maybe I'll add more when I wake up.

Lots of great suggestions here, but if you've never played the original Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 3, and Super Mario World, you should. There is a reason they're considered classics and everybody should experience Mario's roots. My 8 year old plays them every so often and he keeps progressing.

SMB 2 is a good game as well, but it's quite different from the others. It is the origin of a few series staples, though.

If you're into the '90s extreme aesthetic, I'd definitely recommend Comix Zone to get you neck-deep in it.

You play Sketch Turner, a comic artist who- along with his pet rat, Roadkill- gets sucked into his own comic by the comic's villain, Mortus, who wants to trap Sketch forever so he can exist in the real world or something.

It's a side-scroller beat 'em up where you move across the panels and pages of a comic book, punching and kicking mutants while the Sega sound chip blasts (occasionally grating but still awesome) grungy rock at you. If you're into '90s shit, there's nothing not to love

Half life, if you really can't get into it check out black mesa but please try the original first it is amazing and was truly ground breaking. Then play the portal games because they expand on eachother.

• Ys VII, Ys VIII
• Mechwarrior III
• Battlezone, Battlezone II
• F.E.A.R.
• Quake II, Quake IV
• Unreal Tournament
• Star Wars: Episode 1 Racer
• Midnight Club 3
• Katamari Damacy
• NiGHTS Into Dreams
• Moto Roader
• Tetris (Gameboy)
• Fallout New Vegas

The list could seriously go on and on.

Full Throttle (any of the LucasArts really...).

Descent Freespace

Not super old, but Shadowrun Returns games.

- Little Big Adventure 2
- Total Annihilation (Best RTS)
- Earth 2150
- Empire Earth
- Patrician 3
- Crysis
- Half-life
- SimCity 4
- The Sims 3
- The Incredible Machine

SNES era RPGs like Final Fantasy, Lufia, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Star Ocean, etc. And once you're done, move on to the equally worthy roster of PlayStation 1 era RPGs.

Portal

The Bard's Tale - Hilarious, and I am a sucker for anything that involves summoning a squad to fight for me.

Psychonauts - Absolutely delightful. Just cute, funny, weird and imaginative. The platforming itself is good, though it gets really hard towards the end.

Eternal Darkness - By far my favorite horror game. None of the terrible controls, bad cameras, or bullet sponge enemies beating you with a wet noodle to give the impression of danger. Just a lovecraftian horror story full of great atmosphere and character, with the twist that as your character's sanity meter goes down, shit gets weird, and sometimes breaks the fourth wall.

Skies of Arcadia - I cannot stress enough just how much I love this game. Sky pirates flying between floating islands in endless sky during an age of adventure and exploration.

The Zelda Series - The original is still worth playing, but you'll want to look up the map that it came with. A link to the past is beloved, but Link's Awakening is the real nostalgic one for me (I have the switch remake and haven't had a chance to try it yet). I still think Ocarina of Time holds up, but I understand that many disagree. Majora's Mask is great in many ways, but it is a game that works best when you have a lot of time to explore and discover things on your own, and as a grown ass adult with a Job and responsibilities, I had trouble going back to it and not just looking stuff up in a guide, which diminishes things... I also don't have time to list my thoughts on the entire series.

KOTOR 1 & 2 - Pretty much what I wish every new iteration of Star Wars would aspire to be. The second one is a bit more uneven, as it had a vision that was truly inspired, but was forced out on an extremely rushed time frame, so a lot of things got cut, and even the restoration mods can't add everything back in. (Also, Dragon Age Origins, as long as we're talking classic Bioware)

Star Wars Republic Commando - A great FPS with a squad that actually knows how to do their jobs, and which does a good job of showing the clone wars from the perspective of a soldier. (Honorable mention to Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy which are still the best Jedi based action games but which had some technical issues the last time I tried to play them)

Castlevania Circle of the Moon - Everyone talks about Symphony of the Night, and I won't argue with them, but my all time favorite in the series has to be Circle of the Moon. Refined Castelvania gameplay with a unique magic system that is simple but satisfying.

Punchout (with or without Mike Tyson) - The original is a classic and it holds up surprisingly well.

Halo 1, 2, 3 ODST, and Reach - They each hold up in their own unique way. The first one is immersive and is extremely well polished mechanically. The second has a stronger story and adds the bonus of being able to swap weapons with teammates (give them the scoped weapons, keep them alive, live or die as a unit), the third has awesome mechanics but weaker storytelling, ODST is Halo 3 Band of Brothers Edition, and Halo Reach actually tells the best story while taking the gameplay back to its roots.

Cursed Halo - It's Halo 1, but completely insane. It manages to actually be fun while also being completely ridiculous.

Eh, that's enough for now.