Top (5 to 25) Computer Games of Your Time

Games
41

Lets see, I think I can manage a top 15. Any more than that and I’ll have to dig through my old game boxes, reminiscing.

1: Torment
2: Full Throttle
3: Bubble Bobble (Yes, Bubble Bobble, it’s the game that got me hooked on gaming way back in 1989, gotta have it on the list)
4: Thief
5: Outcast
6: Fallout 2
7: Freespace 2
8: Transport Tycoon
9: Monkey Island (MI2 got disqualified for having the suckiest ending of all times)
10: Civilization 2
11: Gabriel Knight 1
12: Master of Orion 2
13: Europa Universalis
14: Blade runner (Played this -97 game for the first time a couple of months ago. Can’t imagine where I would have placed it had I bought it in 97)
15: Diablo 2

42

I have to break these down by era.

Paleozoic:

Combat Leader (C64)
Elite (C64)
MULE (C64)
Racing Destruction Set (C64)

Early Man:

Rogue (Apple II and some mainframe version)
Castle Wolfenstein (Apple II)
Rescue Raiders (Apple II)
Wizardry (Apple II)
One on One (Apple II)
Archon (Apple II)
Maze Wars + (Mac)
NetTrek (Mac)

Renaissance:

Red Baron (PC)
The Perfect General (PC)
M1 Tank Platoon 1 & 2 (PC)
Harpoon (PC)
Aces of the Pacific (PC)
MechWarrior 2 (PC)
X-Com (PC)
Crusader: No Remorse (PC)
Syndicate (PC)
Civilization I & II (PC)
TIE Fighter (PC)
Master of Orion II (PC)
System Shock 2 (PC)
Diablo (PC)

Modern Era:

Half-life (PC)
Unreal Tournament (PC)
BG Saga (PC)
Operation Flashpoint (PC)
Day of Defeat (PC)
Combat Mission (PC)
NOLF (PC)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
Battlefield 1942 (PC)
GTA3 (PC)
Neverwinter Nights (but multiplayer only) (PC)
Vietcong (PC)

43

Interesting that you ranked the crApple II as more advanced than the C64 there, Supertanker.

You must like a good dose of purple in your graphics. :-)

44

Well, I never would have expected a gaffe like that out of our omniscient Narrator. Bruce Geryk, Esq.? Or is that a subtle insult, throwing Bruce Geryk, PhD, MD, etc., etc., into the ranks of us unwashed lawyers?
:D

45

What’s wrong with stray purple pixels around anything white? :D

I actually rank them like that because we had a C64 at home, but when I moved out for college, the dorm was a hotbed of AppleII users. The Mac stuff comes from using the school’s shiny new AppleTalk network for multiplayer gaming in the computer lab.

46

1 - System Shock.

Yes, that would be the original. NOT the sequel.

Aside from that, there are others which I can list, but in no particular order.

  • Planescape: Torment
  • Diablo II w/ LOD
  • Doom
  • Duke Nukem 3D
  • Tie Fighter
  • Monkey Island I and II
  • Dark Forces
  • Master of Magic
  • Dungeon Master (Amiga)
  • The Bard’s Tale II (Amiga)
  • HOMM III
  • Might & Magic - Worlds of Xeen (I think…)

And a real old favourite:

  • Time Bandit(s?) (TRS-80)
  • oh, and there was another game for the TRS-80 - it had 8 levels to it - something like ‘Dragon Slayer’.
47

What’s wrong with stray purple pixels around anything white? :D [/quote]

I never had that problem with my Apple II. Then again, I had a monochrome monitor. ;)

That’s one of the problems I had with the early versions of MAME. I’d boot up something like Autoduel or Montezuma’s Revenge and say “this isn’t what it looked like!” All of my ancient game memories are etched in my mind in green and black.

48

In no particular order ( I couldn’t do it anyhow):

Ultima 3 - 6
Ultima 7 Part 1
Ultima Underworld
Worlds of Ultima: Savage Empire
Baldur’s Gate (1st one)
System Shock (1st one)
Half Life
Wolfenstein 3d
Ancient Art of War
Empire Deluxe
Darklands
Zork
Suspended
Trinity
Thief 1
Simcity 2000
Eye of the Beholder 1 and 2
Starflight (1st one)
Space Quest (sorry, there wasn’t much competition back then)
Diablo 2
Might & Magic - Worlds of Xeen

49

In no particular order:[ul][]System Shock[]Star Control II[]Starflight[]TIE Fighter[]Alpha Centauri[]Master of Orion[]Half-Life[/ul]Special Adventure Nostalgia List:[ul][]Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis[]A Mind Forever Voyaging[]Trinity[/ul]

50

No shit, another TRS-80 fan?!? I loved Time Bandit! Amazing how many interesting levels they packed into 16K. (Of course I was probably like 10 at the time).

Are you thinking of “Dungeons of Daggorath”?

Geoff

51

Desslock - How can you completely leave off ALL the Wizardry’s? You are clearly an Ultima lover - I never was a fan of the Ultima gameplay style.

Also people have reminded me of a few other worthy entrants here:

Interplay’s Castles
Panzer General
Siege
Aces of the Pacific
Links 386 Pro!!! - Can’t believe no one else put this one up.

52

Astro Wars, BMX Flyer and Scramble - Loved these as a kid.
Tron Deadly Discs - Intellivision
B17 Bomber - Intellivision
Burger Time - Intellivision
Elite - BBC B Micro
IK+ - C64
The Last Ninja - C64
Bubble Bobble - C64 version
Salamander - Arcade
Space Harrier- Arcade
Afterburner - Arcade
Truxton - Megadrive/Genesis
Assault Suit Leynos - Megadrive/Genesis
Revenge of the Shinobi- Megadrive/Genesis
Devilcrash - Megadrive/Genesis
Street Fighter 2 Turbo - SNES
Mario Kart - SNES
Secret of Mana - SNES
Virtua Fighter 2 - Saturn
Guardian Heroes - Saturn
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 - PS
Quake 2 (online) - PC
Total Annihilation - PC
Half Life (mods) - PC
Freespace 2 - PC
Diablo 2+LOD - PC
Baldurs Gate 2+TOB - PC

Warcraft 3 and Wolfenstien Enemy Territory could well join the list, they’ve ended up being my exclusive RTS and FPS games since each were released.

53

Here are my favorites. Only the first is in order of quality. The rest are in alphabetical order.

Doom
Alternate Reality: The City
Anachronox
Archon
Autoduel
Avalon
Baldur’s Gate 2
Betrayal at Krondor
Deus Ex
Duke Nukem 3D
Dungeon Keeper 2
Elder Scrolls: Arena
Fallout
Front Page Sports: Football Pro '95
Gothic 2
Half-Life
Heroes of Might and Magic III
King’s Bounty
Planescape: Torment
Strategic Simulations Inc. Baseball
Ultima IV
Universe
Unreal
Warcraft 2
X-COM: UFO Defense

54

I think Desslock is secretly married to Richard Garriot…

etc

55

25.Battle Chess
24.Wolfenstein 3D
23.Jagged Alliance 1/2
22.Half-Life
21.Quake
20.Diablo
19.Diablo 2 w/LOD
18.DOOM
17.Crusader
16.Syndicate
15.Machiavelli The Prince
14.Master of Orion 2
13.Fallout
12.Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
11.Colonels Bequest
10.Maniac Mansion 1/2
9.Ultima 7
8.Wing Commander 2
7.Master of Magic
6.Ultima Underworld
5.Everquest
4.Ultima Online
3.Quakeworld Team Fortress
2.Counter-Strike tied with Dune 2
1.Monkey Island 1/2

Honorable Mention: Bards Tale, Hitchhikers Guide(infocom), Bards Tale construction kit, HOMM 1/2, Eye of the Beholder 2, Death Knights of Krynn.

I’m sure I’ll think of more and curse very loudly.

56
  1. MechWarrior II: Ghost Bear’s Legacy
  2. The Cosmic Balance (Atari 800)
  3. X-COM: Terror from the Deep
  4. Pitfall II (Atari 800)
  5. Alley Cat (Atari 800)
  6. Quasimodo (Atari 800)
  7. Planetfall (Atari 800)
  8. Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising
  9. Grim Fandango
  10. Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
  11. Archon II: Adept (Atari 800)
  12. Ultima IV (Atari 800)
  13. Planescape: Torment
  14. Half-Life
  15. Outcast

N.B.: Between mid-1988 and the end of 1998, I played no computer games other than Moria for the Mac and (for two weeks of an Xmas vacation) my dad’s copy of MechWarrior II.

57

I like all of the Wizardry games. Every one. They just didn’t make the cut – I should have mentioned them in the honorable mention category though, since I mentioned games like Icewind Dale. There’s lots of old RPGs I really liked, but wouldn’t be in my top 25: Legacy of the Ancients, Questron 2, Wizard’s Crown and Eternal Dagger, Shard of Spring, the Apshai games, Oubliette, Bard’s Tale 1+2; all of the Might and Magic games, other gold box D&D games, the Ultima 6 spin-offs (Savage Empire and Martian Dreams).

End of the day though, I am more of an Ultima fan than an RPG fan – I love detailed gaming worlds (just wrote a column on that topic), and no series offered that feature better.

58

I like all of the Wizardry games. Every one. They just didn’t make the cut – I should have mentioned them in the honorable mention category though, since I mentioned games like Icewind Dale. There’s lots of old RPGs I really liked, but wouldn’t be in my top 25: Legacy of the Ancients, Questron 2, Wizard’s Crown and Eternal Dagger, Shard of Spring, the Apshai games, Oubliette, Bard’s Tale 1+2; all of the Might and Magic games, other gold box D&D games, the Ultima 6 spin-offs (Savage Empire and Martian Dreams).

End of the day though, I am more of an Ultima fan than an RPG fan – I love detailed gaming worlds (just wrote a column on that topic), and no series offered that feature better.[/quote]

Thanks Desslock - those are fair comments. I think it might come down to the fact that I like a little guidance and direction in my RPG’s and I suspect you are more of a fan of the “world” ie Morrowind / Ultima where you have the freedom to do whatever you like and oh yeah there is a plot thrown in over here if you want to go that route? Accurate?

Wizardry worked for me - especially the D.W. Bradley ones because I liked the magic system, the deep character generation and leveling up options and also I usually prefer party based combat because it is more tactical in nature.

59

That’s it. I like a good plot – the Fallout games and the Ultima games always had those – but I’m more interested in a well-developed gaming world than anything else. Which is why I like Morrowind so much, in spite of its combat system, and why I love the design of the Gothic games (although I haven’t played the second one yet), and why I’m more interested in Ultima Online and SWG than EQ or DAOC.

I like tactical combat (Jagged Alliance 2, for instance) as well – and think Greyhawk’s combat system looks great for that reason. I prefer turn-based combat, as long as it doesn’t drag, although I also liked the combat in the BG games.

60

Wow - this is tough for us old farts who have been computer gaming for nigh on 20+ years (“nigh on” is how us old folks talk.)

Judging “best” for me has to be those games that set precedents - others may have followed their lead and maybe improved (e.g., graphics, etc.) but never really improved on the “magic” of the original.

With that in mind - the games that most blew me away when I first played them:

Wizardry 1
Temple of Aphsai
Wizard and the Princess
XCom
Red Baron 2
Karateka
Choplifter
Castle Wofenstein (the original)
Castle Wolfenstein 3D/Doom
Oo Topos
Half Life
Starflight 1
Dr J vs Larry Bird 1 on 1
Grigsby’s Guadacanal