The Top 10 PC Games of the 90's

Gamer Limit writes "Well, I can't think of a more fitting list entry then a background of the best PC games from the 90's. It'll give anyone reading a brief insight into the games of my youth."

[Ziriux]

Ahh yes, I agree with Wolfenstein on the list, I've been a huge fan ever since it debuted. With all the remakes, some not so great like the recent one, it's hard to keep the love for the game, but knowing I can go back to the past great titles feels great.

[StartWars]

And watch the memories come flooding back.

[pippoppow]

The 90s to me were magical. I remember a friend of mine buying his first PC 486-66DX in 93. We were all excited over Alone in the Dark and X-wing after reading about those two games in a mag. He went out and actually bought those two games before he bought his PC. One day he bought his PC and those 2 games over and we were blown away. PC gaming was simply amazing in the 90s. The PC exclusive games took full advantage of the hardware which simply put the games on another level compared to consoles. There was something special about getting a game to run in DOS especially after some hiccups having to creqte a boot disk or manually adjust the config.sys and autoexec.bat. Then the hardware in the mid 90 evolved from 2d to 3d thanks to 3DFX (Voodoo). The variety of games and unique game-play experiences coupled with the sheer amount of genres was really awesome. Today PC gaming is a shadow of what it once was. Devs today could create exclusive games that can push todays PCs beyond consoles but it seems the will isn't there. They seem content with just making a game to run on as many platforms for the money. If I were to create a top ten gaming years the top spots would be dominated by the 90s not only do to the PC but consoles by Sega, Nintendo, Sony weren't too shabby either. Truly an amazing decade. fond, fond memories.

[Pandamobile]

Where the christ is Half-Life?!

[Fullish]

Damn good question Sir.

[Poopface the 2nd]

this guy obviously didnt like FPS much. HL 1 only got an "honarable mention" even though it changed just about every FPS since.

Also no mention of DEUS EX which is easily one of the best PC games ever. For a guy who seems to like RPGs he mustve never played it or it would be on the list.

[zagibu]

Well, it's mentioned at least. I think it's a good list, better at least than all those "Halo, Assassin's Creed, Oblivion" craplists floating around. This list could also serve as toplist overall, not only top of the 90ies. I would of course change some things, but the fact that X-Com is first makes this list valid.

[GrahameG]

Half Life is a defining moment in all of gaming, not just PC gaming in my eyes.

Can we have a special "above number 1" slot for it?

Hey if Uncharted 2 can change scoring systems... :P

[Silverwolf]

I can't believe Unreal wasn't on there list. Baldur’s Gate was a great game BTW.

[Poopface the 2nd]

killing the nali guys was fun.

[Austin_SJ]

OK list but missing some key stuff, as everyone has already mentioned

[specialguest]

Well, at least C&C was a near miss. I loved that game.

[Relientk77]

Diablo
Quake 2
Lords of the Realm 2

[NaiNaiNai]

Ahh Diablo, how I miss you.

[solar]

how can you be so oblivious to not put HL1 in a top 10 list of PC games of the 90's? where is Fallout? where is DOOM/Quake? where is TIE Fighter?

i think i know what the problem is...its the no defining generation of PC games. its all one big mass of gaming greatness compared to consoles. so hard to pick a Top 10 when i can still play 10-20 year old games on my current PC.

[Alcon Caper]

Where are all the Sierra Adventure games that came out in the 90s. What a crap list!

[STONEY4]

Where the hell are Deus Ex and Half-Life 1???

[Captain Tuttle]

Half-Life gets an honorable mention but no Deus Ex is a big oversite.

[commodore64]

didn't like deus ex

[Vazz]

Deus Ex was 2000

[only on playstaychun]

This is what happens when you try and be too clever. I see more games on the honorable mention and near misses that should be on that list than the games on the list itself. Unreal, Half Life and Command & Conquer are musts along with Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo and Wolfstein 3D!! But this is just my opinion, like this lists is just the author's opinion.

[Captain Tuttle]

No Fallout (Honorable Mention!?!?), Fallout 2 or Planescape: Torment is a travesty. This list is a failure.

[STONEY4]

The first 2 Fallout games not being there is fail. I've never played Planescape so I can't comment on that, but if it's anything like Fallout I'll try it.

[zagibu]

Well, it's a different setting, but otherwise similar, yes. Closer to Baldur's Gate than Fallout, but still similar.

[iceman2885]

No mention in any way of Tie Fighter, X-Wing, or Tie Fighter vs. X-Wing?

I couldn't even count how many hours I remember wasting on those games.

EDIT: I'm an idiot, I just saw Tie Fighter...somehow I missed it going through the first time.

[El_Colombiano]

Starcraft. Woo!

[commodore64]

Dude!

I STILL play starcraft!
It is THE most fun i've had gaming on multiplayer.

:)

[syvergy]

Great list, although no Deus Ex or Fallout is a failure.

[blu_yu_away]

I would have to include Roller Coaster Tycoon... oh how much time I spent on that game over the years.

[thorstein]

Where is Myth: The Fallen Lords?

[pippoppow]

OOps, BAM BAM BAM, F@^k. great game. Why someone doesn't make a similar game with todays tech is beyond me. Top 10 list for 90s PC gaming is way to small a list to fit in all the best games. Top 50 would even be too small.

[bunfighterii]

C&C, X-Wing vs Tie Fighter...umm time commando... ummm flight commander? i might be getting the names wrong but i was really young when i played all these.

[kaveti6616]

At least IGN makes top 100 lists, so the chances of angering gamers is reduced.

Every gamer experiences a unique moment of happiness when playing a particular game and then later on they feel like that game deserves a bit of recognition. I feel that Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic deserves a lot of recognition simply because I had so much fun with that game. I put more than 300 hours into that game over the course of 11 play-throughs, and I only paid 20 bucks for the game.

Someone may feel the same loyalty for Half-Life, and others feel a strong admiration for Diablo. There are so many great PC games, console games, handheld games, and so on... that having a top 10 list to talk about it isn't going to cut it. A good, unbiased writer should take the time and put some effort into making a much larger list of games, and that writer should be a veteran gamer who has played a lot of games in his or her lifetime and can talk in length about each one. Then, and only then, will there be an EPIC WIN list on N4G. Until that day, I'm going to keep seeing comments like, "What? No Fallout? This list is Epic fail."

[Lumpyguy]

Or didn't you bother to read the article beyond the names of the games listed?

He is listing HIS favorite games, not yours.