I got my first PC in 1991. A Packard Bell, I think it was 60 Mhz, likely only 4 MB of RAM.
I either overclocked it or upgraded it to 75 MHZ and 8 MB of RAM.
My first game was Strike Commander as I was toying with the idea of joining the Air Force.

I really didn't do much more until after college. I was self employed so I started dabbling in various games.
One day I picked up EarthSiege 2 in a bargain bin and I was hooked on Mecha games.
I played all the MechWarrior games up to Mech 4 and I personally love and prefer StarSiege (NOT Tribes).

I bought Heavy Gear 1 and 2 but never finished them (though I enjoyed the TV show...)

I have all the "MetalTech" games but have not played them as they didn't like modern systems (and a great place like VOGONS didn't exist at the time).

After M$ bought the MechWarrior franchise I cooled my jets but picked up on StarCraft in the late '90s.
I tried lots of RTSs that go beyond the time period of this thread but stopped after StarCraft 2.

I still have a ton of simulation games, flight, Mecha, racing but I never played them all the way through... being a free lancer I was always after the next gig...

Since then, kids, pets and a classic car (oh yeah and a wife ...=)=)) have taken time away but my Athlon is still sitting under my workbench and I have a Penitum 233 MMX laptop that still works well in DOS plus an XP machine that will some day be fired up again...

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender. There was a code that let you see boobies.

1990-2004 for me, the ones I first remembered:

Monkey Island: Playing this on my Amiga was magical.
Another World: The first game I experienced as a great interactive narrative experience.
Civilization: This was completely revolutionary at the time.
Eye of the Beholder 2: Playing AD&D on the computer was never this fun before.
Dune II: I loved the books, the game was amazing, I played it for years.
Day of the Tentacle: Best Lucas adventure.
Doom: Best FPS ever.
Colonization: The little changes to the Civ game made this a uniquely addictive experience.
X-Wing/TIE-Fighter: Best Star Wars games ever.
UFO/Terror From The Deep: I played the demo from a PC Gamer disk and immediately had to buy it, these games are incredible.
Sim City 2000: This game has yet to be surpassed as an approachable yet deep city builder.
Command & Conquer/Red Alert: Those FMVs..
Jane's AH-64D Longbow: My first Jane's game and an immediate addiction.
Quake: FUCK YES! QuakeWorld was my bread and butter for years.
Blade Runner: Possibly the adventure game I enjoyed the most.
Total Annihilation: RTS perfection.
Ultima Online: The only MMORPG I actually got hooked on.
Fallout 2: Amazing RPG.
Freespace/Freespace 2: Best space sim ever.
Grand Prix Legends: Best Formula 1 game ever.
Half Life: In hindsight, my love affair for this game was overblown; today I find it kind of overrated.
Jane's F-15: Best flight sim ever.
Age of Empires II: My memories of this game are LAN multiplayer with friends, I never liked the single player.
Homeworld: A very close contender for the best RTS ever, this game is a technical marvel.
System Shock 2: Possibly the most immitated FPS/RPG hybrid of all time, for a reason.
Worms Armageddon: No drinking night was complete without a crazy Worms Armageddon tournament.
Baldur's Gate 2: I never thought a CRPG could open up to become a near-perfect pen and paper campaign.
Counter-Strike: I was introduced to Beta 5 at a net cafe, then went on to become a competitive player for years, and years..
Diablo 2: This game consumed a whole summer of mine, and resulted in many Fs in college courses in the next year.
Jumpgate: My first real MMO addiction, this was a gem of a PvP game.
Civilization III: Flawed, yet addictive sequel that brought me in. I was never a big fan of II for some reason.
Ghost Recon: I wish this gameplay loop was remastered at some point, amazing squad shooter.
Serious Sam: At this point the Doom nostalgia was getting strong.
Jedi Outcast: Great Star Wars game that IMO is better than its prequels in every way.
Splinter Cell: I actually played this on the XBOX but.. still a fantastic game for its time.
C&C Generals: The game that got me backinto RTSs
KOTOR: In hindsight, kind of overrated but at the time seeing it finally hit the PC after hearing XBOX players rave about it for so long was satisfying.
Rainbow Six: Raven Shield: Best tactical shooter I ever played.
Rise of Nations: The perfect Age of Empires game.
Chronicles of Riddick: Came out of nowhere and impressed me immensely.
Doom 3: Finally Doom was back. It wasn't really Doom as I expected it (that wouldn't come back until 2016) but I loved it for what it was.

Jedi Knight 1

PC games that I remember now, I'm sure I'll remember others later, of that period might be, Stunts and The Cycles (about 1990), Indianapolis 500, Test Drive III (racing classic games), Another World, Jill of the Jungle, Hocus Pocus (scrolling games), Wolfeinstein3D, Duke3D, Thief The Dark Project, Half Life, Quake II (fps).
Even if most of the msdos games I did play much later of their release cause my 80386 computer was bought when there was already the Pentium out there. And sure it was a cheap config, even Stunts of the 1990 couldn't play smooth at full details. Some weren't light games for sure but I suppose the Oak vga I had was an OTI-37C and I always thought that was the problem even before the power of the 80386SX-20.

Two of the ones that come to mind immediately are Frogger and Croc on PS1/PC, both from 1997. First played them on PS1 as a kid, though nowadays I prefer playing the PC versions. Super nostalgic for both. I don't get why some people shit on Croc, I've always found that while it does have some problems (mainly the camera), they don't stop the game from being very enjoyable imo. I think the game has really fun, interesting environments to explore, and graphically I think it looks very good for a 1997 3D game. I don't think it's nostalgia goggles either, I truly feel that even if I didn't play it as a kid I'd still like it. I'm not a huge fan of Croc 2, though. Never could get into that one for some reason.

The games that stick out in my memory are...

Driver. Not the first game I played at all, but the first game I remember actually wanting. I saw it in a magazine, a single tiny screenshot of a car doing a rad jump in a foggy San Francisco and wanted it! And it was great and I had loads of hours of enjoyment from it!

C&C Generals. I must have spent a year or so of my evenings talking to my friends on MSN Messenger and then when the girl I liked didn't come online I'd go and play some Generals (Steam roller ai as the Chinese with Overlord tanks) instead.

Vice City and San Andreas. Again I saw a single screenshot of VC in a magazine, of a boat parked under the Golf Course bridge and I was really excited for it. That disk barely left my PS2 until San Andreas came out. I must have then out 1000 hours into San Andreas.

appiah4 wrote on 2021-07-28, 17:40:

Doom 3: Finally Doom was back. It wasn't really Doom as I expected it (that wouldn't come back until 2016) but I loved it for what it was.

IMHO Doom 3 borrowed way too many elements from System Shock 2, with more shooting and gore, fewer puzzles, and minimal RPG (i.e. experience points and skill tree system).

I'd say the "player is a soldier protecting a multi-gazillion high-tech company headed by a possessed CEO/captain/scientist, then the experiment goes really wrong" premise, plus the numerous audio logs with valuable messages (e.g. keypad codes) are the two most similar designs. D3 is nowhere as immersive as SS2 though.