Old games that are still playable today

[Nestorius]

UO is the obvious example of a game that was good 10 years ago and still playable today. Recently I tried to play Ultima Underworld and some of the old Ultima games.... unplayable!!! The interface, graphics, and gameplay were too primitive and distracting. I'm trying to check out the old Heroes of Might and Magic (III), but it still hasn't captured my interest. Sim City Deluxe: 8 hours of intense addiction then 'omg what the hell is the point of this game, there is no point, why bother?'

I have always enjoyed the Impression Games City builder series, but I lost interest with Caesar IV. Bad graphics, bad interface, bad gameplay. You are constantly forced to micromanage and turn industries on or off to process Caesar's requests. I don't even have a clue how the combat system works.

So imagine my surprise trying out Caesar III again after all these years. I had forgotten how simple yet elegant the gameplay is. Its a real good game, balanced and interesting, and if it weren't in 2D 1024x768 unzoomable, you wouldn't guess it was an old release. Its fun planning cities, trying to find military defensible locations, trying to get things running before you are invaded or go bankrupt, debugging the city layout as it gets larger...

A game like that, they could re-release it as is, with a slight update to the graphics, and it would still be more original and innovative than other games of its type. I'm looking forward to trying the later games of the series, pre-Children of the Nile: The Greek one, the Pharaoh one, and the China one. I don't think I ever played the Greek one so maybe that's next. That might be months from now though as this Caesar III has so many scenarios and I have so much less time to play games.

So have you guys rediscovered any old games, finding them superior and more addicting to some of these current releases?

 

[siyeng0]

Pong.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

actually some of the early Sierra Online stuff is orphanware now. Kings Quest (the one WITHOUT mouse control), etc.

Zork from Infocom if you want the old text adventure puzzlers.

Using DOSBox I can get my old Duke Nukem and One Must Fall games to work. Lost my DN3D CD way back ... doggone it! Or I'd be running that.

I think the Heretic games (Apogee? id?) are playable still - if using DOSbox.

While I agree on the old UO graphics (My friggin' goodness how did we stand them?), I have them all loaded and play them for giggles. I even try it without walkthrus!

 

[Nestorius]

I take it you did not have a Commodore 64? I don't know how you PC users put up with it either! Look at this old commodore movie, its beautiful! Music, too!

[youtube]<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dpItyVakkbE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dpItyVakkbE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>[/youtube]

 

[MuffinBear]

I started playing computer games 10 years ago...

The games I played 10 years ago were things like Starcraft, Caesar 3, Diablo, EverQuest and Ultima Online.

StarCraft and Broodwar are almost unplayable online because of rampant hacks......StarCraft 2 is almost out though.

I liked Caesar 3 but I can't play it after playing Civ City Rome...I like being able to zoom in and spin around 360 degrees and stuff like that.

I don't know about Diablo, I assume it's the same now as it was 10 years ago with just fewer people playing....Diablo 3 is coming out soon too.

EverQuest is almost unplayable to me...after playing WoW and even Ultima with smooth controls....in EQ you can only move forward, back, left, right...also it has badly declined in quality, Sony changed it so much that it isn't the same game now that it was 10 years ago.


I have to say the same thing goes for Ultima Online as well.

I think this Ultima Online is almost a completely different game then it was 10 years ago.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

I came from Atari-land ... my 130 had a 22MB harddrive attached via the cart slot.

Cost of computer: $150
Cost of harddrive: $850

The look on folks faces when I'd boot from the hard drive with an OS that looked like DOS (actually called myDOS): PRICELESS!

Also had a printer, modem, 2 floppy drives, cassette drive. Had word processor s/ware that was freeware and operated much like Word does today - including macros. Actually had the ability to use BASIC, Assembler or small C on it for programming. I wish I could find the photos of the whole setup - it was fun.

 

[Farsight]

Old games I still enjoy every once in a while:
The Civilization series (3 is my favorite)
Starcraft (with expansion packs)
Diablo (but not so much D2)
and Baldur's Gate

 

[Black Sun]

At any given time you will find the following 'old' games installed on either my desktop or laptop, because the classics never go out of style.

Age of Empires (the original with no expansions)
Theme Hospital
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (the 1987 version)
Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (1987 version)
Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

I also have a few ROM's of classic console games I like to play as well.
The Legend of Zelda
Excitebike
Super Mario Brothers 3
Elevator Action

 

[Beer_Cayse]

ohhh! I'd forgotten the Sid Meier stuff! I like Civ 2 and Railroad Tycoon. Diablo as well - not D2 at all.

nice choices

 

[Black Sun]

Someone once told me "if you like UO you should try Diablo 2, it's 10 times better than UO"

I went out and bought a copy, played it once.

=

 

[Rouss]

Arcanum, def.

I ve finished this game 10-15 times, played various characters and various styles. True gem.

 

[SUPRsalad]

get a SNES emulator. tons of awesome games.

zelda III.
illusion of gaia
ffIII and others
if you want a real relic, play out of this world, or the sequel, flashback.
tons and tons of other great games for SNES

 

[Black Sun]

get a SNES emulator. tons of awesome games.

zelda III.
illusion of gaia
ffIII and others
if you want a real relic, play out of this world, or the sequel, flashback.
tons and tons of other great games for SNES

Emulator? Any gamer worth his salt still has an actual SNES from back in the day. I was just playing Earthbound on mine this morning.

 

[SUPRsalad]

Emulator? Any gamer worth his salt still has an actual SNES from back in the day. I was just playing Earthbound on mine this morning.

wrrrrrd earf bound was gud.
one of the more under-rated games of all time was for snes..
a little old title you may remember:

SUPER METROID! yeah, that game was golden!

 

[Aran]

I never had an SNES. I was a Sega kid. Then Sony.

 

[Black Sun]

wrrrrrd earf bound was gud.
one of the more under-rated games of all time was for snes..
a little old title you may remember:

SUPER METROID! yeah, that game was golden!

Yep, got that one too. Best metroid game to date.

 

[SUPRsalad]

Yep, got that one too. Best metroid game to date.

agreed.

 

[Dmaninuo]

Masters of Orion II

 

[Beer_Cayse]

I just got scads of old Atari ROMs (2600 and 800) that I need to paw thru ... they'll get added to my desk as well.

Eastern Front 1941 and Seven Cities of Gold are 2 that will get a workout

 

[kendricktamis]

I am playing Contra in my PC. This is my first game. I played it when i was in fifth standard. I have finished this game for approximately 15 times.

 

[Argoas]

and what do you tell me about Castlevania?

I specially love an old strategic game, Age of wonder

 

[Elevener]

I had that nostalgic feeling a year or so ago, and went and found and installed Dune 2 again.

I remember playing this in 1995 or 1996, staying up all night playing on my 386/40 or whatever it was.

This thing was such a dog after all that time, I didn't even recognize it. Ruined my great memories of playing it so much back then.

I don't think I will ever try and relive old games I used to like, after UO that is!

I am already reliving UO for the 3rd or 4th time now

 

[Viper09]

Worms Armageddon!!!

The 3d worms versions were a let-down for me.

 

[King Durango]

I was playing Wonder Boy in Monster Land yesterday at my brother's house. I'd like to play Counter-Strike again. I haven't played it in over 5 years and I don't know how much it has changed, if at all. The 80s Sierra games are almost all good. Phantasie from Strategic Simulations, Inc.

 

[Guido_LS]

I came from Atari-land ... my 130 had a 22MB harddrive attached via the cart slot.

Cost of computer: $150
Cost of harddrive: $850

The look on folks faces when I'd boot from the hard drive with an OS that looked like DOS (actually called myDOS): PRICELESS!

Also had a printer, modem, 2 floppy drives, cassette drive. Had word processor s/ware that was freeware and operated much like Word does today - including macros. Actually had the ability to use BASIC, Assembler or small C on it for programming. I wish I could find the photos of the whole setup - it was fun.

The old Black Box kicked major butt back in the day MyDos was alright, but I prefered the cart version from ICD. The Atari's were so far ahead of PC's in so many ways.... it always struck me as odd that IBM won that war.

 

[ZippyTwitch]

Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, etc
Pirates!
Bards Tale series
Ultima series
Roadwar 2000

All on the C64.

 

[Vertigo]

 

[Fifi LaForge]

Civ 4 and Lords of the Realm 2

 

[Aran]

2005 isn't old.

 

[Vyal]

Contra Yes I still play Contra, download it from live and play with your friends...

GTA SA is pretty epic for when it came out I suggest playing it on a console.

& Everquest of course for those that love that old school EQ finally a classic server http://www.project1999.org/

^^ Y I left UO but it's for the better, nothing beats classic EQ.

 

[Aran]

Everquestlololololol

 

[wee papa smurf]

Dr Mario on the nes!!! Fever was the best song of is time!!!

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

I actually did i play thru of Ultima 1 last month. Was a blast. Working thr ultima 7 and its expansions again now.
Whoever said Illusion of Gaia, hell yeah, that game as awesome, phenomenal ending.

 

[Llewen]

I still love Panzer General II (1997 - same year as UO was released). There is an open source version of it that runs well on newer versions of Windows and it is being actively developed. Great fun!

 

[Sir Kelek]

All of the old Castlevanias, Marios, Shadowgate, Black Bass and of course Tecmo superbowl!!

 

[Thiefy/Glorfiedel]

i played "mister puniverse" on my old commodore C16+.
Mister Puniverse- video on youtube

its a stripe-man looking game, where you have to catch vitamins to stay alive.

you have to run, jump, avoids gaps and traps.


Computer details:

# CPU: MOS 7501, 1,76 MHz
# RAM: 64 KB
# Textmodus: 40×25
# Grafikmodus: 320×200 Pixel mit 121 Colors

No CD...
No floppy...
you have to use a "Datasette", with this you have to load a game in 10-30 minutes.

 

[Nestorius]

Some day I will take the old C-64 out of storage.

Anyways, I finally got hooked on 'Heroes of Might and Magic III'. Its become one of my favorite games.

 

[KalVasTENKI]

Ultima Online ( Of course )
Diablo
Doom
Duke Nukem 3d
Unreal Tournament
Half-Life
Super Mario
Mortal Kombat

 

[Cear Dallben Dragon]

During my play-thru of Ultima VII I ran across this baby...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQD9fYFWr0U

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQD9fYFWr0U[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Nexus]

Old games I still like to load up occasionally....hmmm.

Final Fantasy III
Diablo
Neverwinter Nights (The first one not really old but meh..)
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Menzoberranzan

 

[Ransom_of_BiC]

I didn't play Ceasar but I *did* play Pharoah. Such a GREAT game that is still fun to play.

 

[Divster]

fallout 1 and 2, great games, always loved them and was a bit dissapointed with fallout 3, they took a gamble on a mix of turn based and fps but went back and played the first 2. They still rock!

 

[Aran]

FO3 is divine, heathen.

 

[Divie]

oh i'm no heathen i love fo3 but its not quite the same for me, call it nostalgic fallout lol but there was just something missing in fo3 compares to others although i havn't tried the dlc, can you recommend that aran?

 

[Aran]

Heathen.

 

[Lolindir]

Transport Tycoon
Warcraft III RoC and TFT (turret defense ftw)
Older Total War-series games.

Track and Field (!)
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Age of Empires 2

 

[Guido_LS]

oh i'm no heathen i love fo3 but its not quite the same for me, call it nostalgic fallout lol but there was just something missing in fo3 compares to others although i havn't tried the dlc, can you recommend that aran?

All 4 of the DLC's were great. Well, The Pitt was... ok, I guess... And I'm pretty sure I have seen them in a package deal at a couple of stores for ~$20, iirc - definitely the best bang for the buck as far as that goes.

But I'm very much looking forward to New Vegas coming out.

 

[Aran]

Geneforge is

 

[Flora Green]

Popeye

 

[Dutchhans]

Some day I will take the old C-64 out of storage.

Anyways, I finally got hooked on 'Heroes of Might and Magic III'. Its become one of my favorite games.

I was hooked on Heroes of Might and Magic I and II, in the eighties playing the pacman look alikes were especially fun to watch when the women discovered the alternative uses of joysticks and combined them with game play.