This came to mind lately, having a favourite era as a heartfelt reaction vs. actually thinking about the games that make you go back.
I too have very fond memories of the 1995-2000 era of games, which also included some late 80's/early 90's ones in the mix. Wanting to revisit that, 5 years ago I built my first retro custom build, a P-III Win98 SE to encompass those years of software, and I thought that would be more than enough to scratch the itch, after all it was and is my favourite era. Soon after I found and restored my old XP build too and with it ticked the 2003-2008 period.
However it was only after I resolved to make a 1.4Ghz Tualatin Win ME build that I truly felt complete. Not only was I very pleasantly surprised by Win ME, with all the hindsight that years of driver development provide since then, but I was also satisfied to the point that any software on it that overlaps with both the Win98 SE and XP builds is played solely on that Win ME build (roughly 1999-2003).
That PC and its games managed to bring back that special spark and attraction, in particular Max Payne, Mafia, GTA III and Pharaoh. I even fire it up just to act as a vibe for the room, running SimCity 3000 and The Sims for their OSTs, or even just letting Max Payne's tutorial run with Max in the snow as a Xmas screen saver of sorts. I found myself really relishing the daily gaming session like a young kid would, something that hasn't happened in a long long time. I hadn't realised how general browsing and Youtube really watered down my computer experience as a whole these last few years. It's funny, but there's something in Win ME, its ambiance and optimism, that just oozes the spirit of its specific time and makes going back to it that much more enjoyable, more even than Win98SE for me.
Pharaoh is a particular exception because I played it for years and years, from Win 98 to Win 7 and going strong. If anyone enjoys the genre and is curious do check it out. Absolute masterpiece of a game.
appiah4 wrote on 2021-12-23, 11:39:Wall of text incoming, but TLDR; version is: "1995-2000" […]
Show full quote
Wall of text incoming, but TLDR; version is: "1995-2000"
Long version: My knee jerk reaction to this question is to yell "486 days!" (1990-1994) then wonder whether I am doing the Amiga days a disservice more or not. However, when I sit down and actually start making a list of retro games I really want to play today, to my surprise it turns out that 586/686 era (1995-2000) is where the games I want to go back to most are. I think this is because, if you take off the rose tinted glasses, a lot of Pre-1995 games did not age well at all. Even the games I remember enjoying immensely back in the day can really shock me with how much of an uphill struggle it is to 'play' them today. Here are some prime issues I have:
Adventure Games (Sierra in particular): I can't really understand how I actually managed to 'enjoy' these, particularly the early ones . The trial and error gameplay is only part of the issue, but what absolutely kills it for me are the game states where you are forever stuck without even knowing. I install them on every single retro PC I build and I never play them. Even the ones I didn't play back in the day and want to try out (like the Laura Bow games etc.) grind my gears in no time.
RPGs: I basically devoured these back in the day but the design philosophy that basically relies on a core combat loop, sheer amount of grind and a shit ton of random encounters just doesn't work for me anymore. Moreover they tend to have insufferable UI and inventory management (Ultima VI&VII I am looking at you) or unbearable controls (Ultima Underworld, go stand in a corner) etc.
Strategy Games: The issue with most of these games (like Civ or Dune II for example) is that they were simply improved in every single way (particularly UI and AI) by their sequels and it's painful to go back.
Action/Platform Games: The PC was never a good platform for these in my opinion. They were not very good back in the day and they are basically attrocious by today's standards. I don't know of a single PC game of this genre that I enjoyed other than Prince of Persia.
Early 3D: I know some people like this but 320x200 early 3D graphics look like shit in most games. I adored things like Magic Carpet, Terminal Velocity and System Shock back in the day but today when I try to replay them, particularly on a fixed resolution LCD with upsampling, it looks like utter shit. Moreover, pre WASD movement games make me want to break my own fingers..
That is not to say there are no games that basically perfected their genre in that time frame, there are. Yet, even those games are often better enjoyed on 1995+ hardware anyway.
So ultimately, for me it is 1995-2000. Strangely enough, it is not the period I am most nostalgic for, but it is the period from when the games are still the most fun to me.
I wholeheartedly agree in particular with the point that pre-1995 games aged somewhat badly for various reasons. There's something in those specific years that feels very from its time and not in a good way, like the adventure point and click games for example or the RPG's level loop mechanic. Unpopular opinion: I actually have a lot more fun and prefer by far to play Outlaws (1997) than Doom or Duke Nukem 3D...
