Love this thread. It’s a shame 90’s pc gaming was so expensive and unapproachable by most, it was a great era for PC gaming. So much better than the 80’s.
Always loved this thread, it warms my heart with Nostalgia.
Yeah, I’ve never been able to enjoy 80s era PC gaming… and even most of the early '90s stuff is pretty rough. Devs just had a predillection for terrible art and needlessly complicated gameplay systems back then, I guess. Obviously, there are some gems, though.
But when 3D accelerators hit, that’s when PC gaming got to be great. Unreal was the first game that I got to play with a real video card, and man… that was some life-changing shit. I’m guessing that game is still fun today, too.
1 Like
So in the mid to late 90s is when PC gaming took off basically.
1 Like
'80s computer gaming was more about systems like the Commodore 64 than the IBM-based PCs. Once VGA hit its stride, PC gaming got a major boost.
1 Like
True, most graphical games during the CGA era were crude ports of Apple II, C64, or even ZX Spectrum. Tandy, then EGA, really started the trend of original PC games (which then got better looking ports on the Amiga). Once VGA arrived, it was at last better than any other computers and really started to shine.
1 Like
Pretty much this. Most of my favorites on the Tandy 1000 we had were ports, like Load Runner and the Ultima games. We did have great parser based adventure games (they were great back then, don’t hold up now) from Sierra, and Lucas arts made some gems.
Flight sims were where it was at in the late 80’s and early 90’s, with Lucas Games studios Finest Our, the Aces series, and Gunship and LHX Attack Chopper. LHX was one of my favorites of all time, it was even ported to the 16 bit consoles.
Some of my favorites from the 80’s: Broderbund’s Ancient Art of War, the first RTS really, Prince of Persia, Karateka, Silent Service, the Quest for Glory (Her’s Quest), Sub Logic’s Flight Sim and Jet,a and Lemmings. There was also a Space Sim called Light Speed that is largely forgotten, but I loved the hell out of it.
I was, and still am a huge fan of those old paraer based adventure games. From the early graphical ones, into the 90s and the switch to Point and Click.
…I still have to get Thimbleweed Park!
1 Like
I got a 486 for Christmas in '94 with Doom 2. I remember downloading Nesticle on that thing and it actually ran the games I was blown away. Then around 97 or 98 I got a pentium 233mhz and put a Voodoo 2 in it. Command and Conquer, Star Craft, Half Life, Unreal, Curse of Monkey Island, Dark Forces 2, Myth (not myst) all the Jane combat sim games. Then EverQuest. And glorious emulation. The monthly PC Gamer magazine and disc was huge. Still had dial up so getting the stuff on disc was amazing.
I bought a capture card for that thing that had composite inputs and I remember being disappointed with the crappy capture quality and thought it was the device. I didn’t realize at the time that composite was crap.
1 Like
Seeing a seperate install and play disk really brought me back.
1 Like
Haha yeah, I think like the original Unreal Tournament you could actually play on two PC’s with them!
Mmmm yes! 90s PC Gaming was quite a fascinating time for video games. Although I was relegated to an IBM Personal Computer and Purple/Turquoise MS DOS games, I did get to dabble on some 90s PC goodness. MS 3D Movie Maker, Theme Hospital, Age of Empires, Blue Force, Monster Truck Madness, C&C Red Alert, Earth Siege, Future Cop LAPD, Raptor Call of the Shadows. Such a great time and the visuals (Full motion video) were miles better than anything the SNES and MD/Genesis could provide.
Red alert for ps1 also did that!
I miss the days of getting a no cd crack and ripping the playdisc to your hard drive if you had the room.
Today’s kids complaining they can only fit 10 games on their ps4 obviously never grew up pc gaming in the 80s/90s.
2 Likes
Memories. I had a 486SX as my first computer, and I went up to a DX50 wihj an Overdrive (remember those?) Played tons of Wolfenstein, Doom etc. Loved Thexder and Firehawk and Sorecerian. Was a big BBS door game person too, LORD baby.
All why running on a 56k modem 
kids the days.
Here’s a fun story: I only had a 386 when Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness was released, along with its 486 minimum requirement, but I was super excited. My dad was able to… Acquire a copy from a coworker, and despite the fact that it came on 9 disks, my brother and I still installed it on our 386 just to see if it would run. We even had two disks worth of patches that had been downloaded from a local BBS, since the game was rushed to hit the holiday season.
Of course it didn’t run. But it was well worth the afternoon of getting hyped JUST IN CASE. We would get a 486 the next year and that game was a pleasure to finally play.
I remember the days of the 56k modem…those were dark times IMO.=p
I’ll never forget the arguments my sister and I would get into when we were on dialup. I’d be trying to play diablo while she was trying to use Napster. Eventually I found which Ethernet cable went to her bedroom and I would unplug it on her until dad got home.
I’m going through alot of my old stuff while I Pack for a move and I found my tech decks (little mini skateboards) I remember I used to keep those at my desk to play with while I waited for a website to load
2 Likes
14.4 while trying to play Quakeworld was even darker. Yes I was the asshole slowing everyone down.