Best pre 2000 pc game?

[MalazanEmpire]

YEAH, Shogo was awesome, i still remember when i got to play a demo from some kind of PC Magazine long time ago, and was blown away. Man this thread, makes me go places.

 

[mizzou]

for my genre it will always be sid meier's gettysburg

 

[sash1]

Too many to list, back then they were making Real games.

mostly this. zenoth made a valiant attempt at listing the good ones though

 

[mmntech]

Just about everything churned out by LucasArts for PC in the 90s was gold. They're still at the top of my list of favourite developers from that era.
-Monkey Island series
-Full Throttle
-Grim Fandango
-TIE Fighter
-X-Wing Alliance (still has a dedicated ship modding community that's updated most of the models)
-Dark Forces 1 & 2
-Sam & Max: Hit the Road

Descent was a lot of fun I remember
SimCity 2000
Half-Life
Myst was a big one I remember everyone having. I didn't but a friend had the whole series.

 

[JamesV]

I saw Star Control 2 mentioned a couple times here, and if you were unaware, there is a FREE fan made version of the game out :

http://sc2.sourceforge.net/downloads.php

It's called the Ur-Quan Masters, but it is Star Control 2 made from the original source.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

http://www.listal.com/list/bestselling-pc-games Or this

 

[futurefields]

Diablo

 

[skipsneeky2]

This thread triggered some major nostalgia for me,had my ass on ebay looking up used 6800 ultra and 7800gs agp cards which i almost bought both of as i had both of them at one point.I know these cards came out way after 2000 but man 2006 for me was magical as this was when i got into pc gaming

 

[Hinda65]

Magic Carpet
Thief

 

[TechAZ]

My favorites pre-2000:

Doom 2
Diablo 2
Warcraft 1
Hexen
Descent
Space Quest IV
Police Quest 3
Leisure Suit Larry
Front Page Sports: Football
Laura Bow 2: The Dagger of Amon Ra
Indiana Jones
Quake 2


EDIT: Thinking about my favorite list is depressing. Games were so much better back then, and I really don't think it's a "Rose Tinted Glasses" thing either. Front Page Sports: Football was so advanced, still more advanced than any football game made today. All of the great Sierra/Dynamix games....such an exciting time /sigh

 

[datalink7]

Planescape: Torment. Not only is it the best game pre-2000, but it's the best game ever made (IMO).

 

[Doppel]

Outlaws

 

[MalazanEmpire]

Running through Diablo 2 LoD as we speak! How is this game so terrible(visuals) and so freaking addicting. Played Populous The Beginning yesterday and it was a blast. Thank the dark Lord that my athlon 2500+ still lives as it is the only machine with win xp on it.

If i had a time machine, i would go back to this golden era of games just for a couple hours a day. It would be enough i suppose. Sick and tired of waiting that one game for 6 months that delievers on some of the epic experience that i crave.

 

[futurefields]

Diablo 2 came out mid-2000 and LOD came out 2001. I said Diablo 1 because I follow the rules of the threads that I post in. If it was "Best PC Game up to and including 2000" I would have said Diablo 2 and if it was "Best PC Game up to and including 2001" I would have said Diablo 2: LOD.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I remember fondly:
Unreal
RTCW (which is still very playable)
Gabriel Knight series
Longest Journey (with 7 or 8 cd's)
Half Life
NOLF
Thief
Kings Quest
Myst and Riven
System Shock

 

[Berliner]

The best? Certainly Starcraft.

Followed by the (not as successful) Total Annihilation.

 

[GaiaHunter]

EDIT: Thinking about my favorite list is depressing. Games were so much better back then, and I really don't think it's a "Rose Tinted Glasses" thing either. Front Page Sports: Football was so advanced, still more advanced than any football game made today. All of the great Sierra/Dynamix games....such an exciting time /sigh

Many of the games were also original ideas even if the execution wasn't that great by today standards.

It is hard to keep producing original ideas but the improved (sometimes they aren't improvements, quite the opposite) are something already seen so they lose some of the impact less polished but original games had.

Also 50-60 great games in a decade of gaming is only 5-6 games a year (which probably is better than we get now per year).

 

[Geosurface]

Thief: The Dark Project (though you'll probably want to go with Thief Gold which has some extra missions) is one of the finest, most memorable games I've ever come into contact with...

Great atmosphere, great story, incredibly scary at parts, and one of those "lightning in a bottle" moments IMO. Everything came together to make an absolutely seminal experience.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Next month, a guy named Bentraxx is putting out a big texture pack for it if you want to play it looking prettier.

 

[vshah]

Total annihilation
Freespace 2

 

[TechAZ]

Diablo 2 came out mid-2000 and LOD came out 2001. I said Diablo 1 because I follow the rules of the threads that I post in. If it was "Best PC Game up to and including 2000" I would have said Diablo 2 and if it was "Best PC Game up to and including 2001" I would have said Diablo 2: LOD.

Good for you. While you are following the "rules of the threads", you should also read the OP.

From OP: "They can be around 2000, it is still pretty old !"

 

[TechAZ]

Many of the games were also original ideas even if the execution wasn't that great by today standards.

It is hard to keep producing original ideas but the improved (sometimes they aren't improvements, quite the opposite) are something already seen so they lose some of the impact less polished but original games had.

Also 50-60 great games in a decade of gaming is only 5-6 games a year (which probably is better than we get now per year).

Did you ever get the Sierra game magazine that would come in the mail? Man those were some good times, they were cranking games out like crazy. Take a look at this list:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sierra_Entertainment_video_games

I'm afraid we will never see a true gaming powerhouse company again, for a myriad of reasons. It's too bad, my kids won't ever get to experience the joy that I had during the heyday of PC gaming.

 

[Arcadio]

GTA2

 

[sigurros81]

Common, too many to list!

-Warcraft 2
-Simcity 2000
-Half Life
-Duke 3D
-Quake CTF
-Civ2
-Quest for Glory series
-Any Bioware/Black Isle game
-Your mom

 

[MalazanEmpire]

GTA 2 Remember when gta games were about grand theft auto, aka stealing cars

 

[RFC Rudel]

Jane's WWII Fighters