I get the feeling that there is a huge wealth of uncharted gaming territory for the PC pre-1995. I am not talking about the obvious games like Civ, Simcity, Elder Scrolls arena. Those all have recent entries in their series. I want the obscure games that were great, but due to not selling hundreds of thousands or not getting sequels, have been lost to the mists of time.
Good obscure Pre-1995 PC games?
- Thread starter Blaster395
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Tyrian (1995)
Vinyl Goddess from Mars (1995)
Star Control 2 (1992) <<< Mass Effect was "inspired" by this game.
Jazz Jackrabbit (1994)
Populous (1989)
Obscure but beyond 1995:
Abe's Odyssey
Dungeon Keeper
Populous 3: The beggining
MDK
Grim Fandango
Vinyl Goddess from Mars (1995)
Star Control 2 (1992) <<< Mass Effect was "inspired" by this game.
Jazz Jackrabbit (1994)
Populous (1989)
Obscure but beyond 1995:
Abe's Odyssey
Dungeon Keeper
Populous 3: The beggining
MDK
Grim Fandango
Populous, Abe's Odyssey, Dungeon Keeper and Grim Fandango are by no means obscure. Some of them didn't sell well in their time, but all of them are widely considered classics and have certainly not been lost to the mysts of time.DioWallachia said:
Its hard to tell WHAT is obscure. People KNOW about System Shock 2 (for example) but NO OF THEM played it.Blaster395 said:
People may "know" that those existed but never really cared about the impact those games MADE in the first place and how those outshine the attemps of "innovation" that the industry today keeps doing. Like how people think that Fallout 3 made innovation for allowing the feature of "talking the final boss to death" but way back in 2000, the games like Planescape: Torment and Fallout 1 - 2 already made those bold moves.
A personal favorite of mine from that period is Darklands [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darklands_%28video_game%29]. It's an RPG set in 15th-century Germany...as the people of the time imagined it. You've got knights and bandits and stuff, but also devil-worshipping cults, dwarf kings in the mines, and clergy who get supernatural powers through alchemy and praying to various medieval saints. The graphics are a little tough on modern eyes, but it's well worth checking out. (Be sure to find either the patches or an updated version; the game was released in kind of a buggy state.)
Obscurity is kind of a spectrum, and I've never been entirely sure where stuff falls on the scale. Like, just by posting on this site, that probably means you know of at least twenty or thirty games that could be considered obscure.
I haven't really played any pre-1995 games that aren't important, but in terms of games that should be better-known than they are today and haven't had big modern releases, I'd very much recommend playing Ultima IV if you haven't. Excellent game.
I haven't really played any pre-1995 games that aren't important, but in terms of games that should be better-known than they are today and haven't had big modern releases, I'd very much recommend playing Ultima IV if you haven't. Excellent game.
Pre 95...(I don't know the exact years of these games) I think Roller coaster Tycoon, the original Command and conquer, Dune, The first Red alert, Starfleet Academy, Mechwarriors 1 and 2.
Oh, also the Ultima series, Red Dawn (On the huge ass floppy disks) Where in the world is Carmen sandiago.
master of magic(1994), 4x game in a fantasy setting. i had a lot of fun with this one.
the summoning (1992), isometric action/rpg, i also enjoyed this one quite a bit.
the summoning (1992), isometric action/rpg, i also enjoyed this one quite a bit.
Star Fleet 1 and 2, as well as what brought me to those 2 games, Star Legions, would be my obscure recommendations.
They are all freeware now I beleive,
they were released in 1986, 1989, and 1992.
There's another series that came from these too, Empire, which is a game like Risk, this game is consiered in the STar Fleet series, but the rest of the Empire series is not, and that series has had installments up until 2004. The original came out in 1977, the one in the starfleet series, 1987.
They are all freeware now I beleive,
they were released in 1986, 1989, and 1992.
There's another series that came from these too, Empire, which is a game like Risk, this game is consiered in the STar Fleet series, but the rest of the Empire series is not, and that series has had installments up until 2004. The original came out in 1977, the one in the starfleet series, 1987.
Terminal Velocity is a very arcade-y sci-fi flight sim that I fondly remember from when I was young, now available on GoG http://www.gog.com/gamecard/terminal_velocity
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is an amazing top down shooter that I don't think that many people played http://www.gog.com/gamecard/raptor_call_of_the_shadows_2010_edition
I'll throw in another vote for Jazz Jackrabbit but I would warn that its difficult to get your hands on a legit copy without paying insane amounts of money.
Raptor: Call of the Shadows is an amazing top down shooter that I don't think that many people played http://www.gog.com/gamecard/raptor_call_of_the_shadows_2010_edition
I'll throw in another vote for Jazz Jackrabbit but I would warn that its difficult to get your hands on a legit copy without paying insane amounts of money.
Wizardry, Ultima, System Shock, Command and Conquer, etc...these games are not obscure. They may seem obscure today to people who never played them, but they were some of the most significant games of their respective eras. Even a critically acclaimed but low selling game like System Shock got a lot of talk and attention.
It had a real mix of game play styles in a fairly esoteric fantasy setting. I never actually finished it (I was pretty naff at games back then, I rarely finished anything), but I have fond memories of it that persist to this day. It had a "sequel" of sorts, the Legend of Blacksilver, which I believe was even more obscure and lightly played than the original.
Captcha: Hear me Roar! TIL Captcha is a Lannister.
Given enough time I could probably think of dozens of things that would fit here, but the one that immediately leaps to mind is Legacy of the Ancients. It was one of my favorite RPGs growing up, and it's pretty damn obscure.Blaster395 said:
It had a real mix of game play styles in a fairly esoteric fantasy setting. I never actually finished it (I was pretty naff at games back then, I rarely finished anything), but I have fond memories of it that persist to this day. It had a "sequel" of sorts, the Legend of Blacksilver, which I believe was even more obscure and lightly played than the original.
Captcha: Hear me Roar! TIL Captcha is a Lannister.
I find a lot of the PC games in the late 80s and throughout the 90s were more innovative than the games today.
Here are some I really loved:
Planet's Edge - This game was like a mix of RPG and a space sim. You go from planet to planet doing things and the best part was you can reconstruct your ship however you want it. Also build your own armor and weapons. I also liked the fact that you can kill anyone in the game, the princess you're supposed to save, yeah just kill her....but it makes the game unbeatable though.
Circuit's Edge - This is a game based on a novel, so you know the story is awesome and it's extremely well-written. It's a first-person game where you are a guy going around town looking for a job. The atmosphere is excellent, it's cyber-punk obviously and this is one of the best cyber-punk games out there.
The Summoning - This is pretty much a Diablo game, before Diablo existed of course. I'm sure there are tons of games like this but this caught my attention because it's so well-done. It's a dungeon crawler, but the unique thing here is that there are towns within the Dungeon itself, which I thought was pretty unique. Also, this game penalizes you for carrying too many things, you will be overwhelmed by the weight of what you carry and slow to a crawl. Also, you can forget spells in this game after you learn them, which is pretty realistic if you ask me. But yeah, it's one of the best dungeon crawlers out there. A lot of the weapons and armor look badass if you ask me, which is quite an achievement for a game made in 1993.
Robinson's Requiem - This game is hard as hell, I can never go beyond a certain point. You can die from just about anything in this game. A cut on your arm and become infections, you can get a fever by sleeping in a cold area, you can get frostbite, you can all kinds of infections, you can die by losing consciousness, losing blood, eating rotten meat, eating poisonous stuff, eaten by a predator....it goes on and on. But it's worth a try.
Here are some I really loved:
Planet's Edge - This game was like a mix of RPG and a space sim. You go from planet to planet doing things and the best part was you can reconstruct your ship however you want it. Also build your own armor and weapons. I also liked the fact that you can kill anyone in the game, the princess you're supposed to save, yeah just kill her....but it makes the game unbeatable though.
Circuit's Edge - This is a game based on a novel, so you know the story is awesome and it's extremely well-written. It's a first-person game where you are a guy going around town looking for a job. The atmosphere is excellent, it's cyber-punk obviously and this is one of the best cyber-punk games out there.
The Summoning - This is pretty much a Diablo game, before Diablo existed of course. I'm sure there are tons of games like this but this caught my attention because it's so well-done. It's a dungeon crawler, but the unique thing here is that there are towns within the Dungeon itself, which I thought was pretty unique. Also, this game penalizes you for carrying too many things, you will be overwhelmed by the weight of what you carry and slow to a crawl. Also, you can forget spells in this game after you learn them, which is pretty realistic if you ask me. But yeah, it's one of the best dungeon crawlers out there. A lot of the weapons and armor look badass if you ask me, which is quite an achievement for a game made in 1993.
Robinson's Requiem - This game is hard as hell, I can never go beyond a certain point. You can die from just about anything in this game. A cut on your arm and become infections, you can get a fever by sleeping in a cold area, you can get frostbite, you can all kinds of infections, you can die by losing consciousness, losing blood, eating rotten meat, eating poisonous stuff, eaten by a predator....it goes on and on. But it's worth a try.
The hugo games were fun, I remember enjoying Hugo House of Horrors a lot. I think they are available for free online these days.
Earthsiege 2 This is the game that got me into Mech/AC games. Its not amazingly well known, but is still a solid FPS in a mech. It has good customization and is a decent length. I have fond memories of playing this game with a joystick.
Hunter Hunted Probably one of the better platform games i've ever played on the pc, or console for that matter. It was released in 1996 but i still think it counts
Hunter Hunted Probably one of the better platform games i've ever played on the pc, or console for that matter. It was released in 1996 but i still think it counts
Star Control
Theme Park Hospital
Klingon Academy is a better game than Starfleet Academy
Midwinter and any other Mike Singleton game is worth playing. So is the Mercenary Series if it has a PC port.
In fact when it comes to PC from that time its worth branching out into the Amiga and the ST since they have better sound. Colonisation, Lucas Art's Night Shift and Codemaster's Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk are examples
Flashback and Another World and it's sequel.
Theme Park Hospital
Klingon Academy is a better game than Starfleet Academy
Midwinter and any other Mike Singleton game is worth playing. So is the Mercenary Series if it has a PC port.
In fact when it comes to PC from that time its worth branching out into the Amiga and the ST since they have better sound. Colonisation, Lucas Art's Night Shift and Codemaster's Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk are examples
Flashback and Another World and it's sequel.