What are the best old games?

[Bawbag]

Obligatory Quake recommendation.

 

[The Backwards Man]

fallout troon vegas
morrowind
daggerfall
star wars KOTOR
deus ex
oblivion
left 4 dead 2
mount & blade 2: bannerlord (yes I know it's from 2022 but its absolutely worth playing)
mount & blade warband
max payne
callerdoody 4 modern warfare
unreal
E.Y.E divine cybermancy
GUN
F.E.A.R
marathon
quake
flatout 2
test drive unlimited (make sure to get the platinum mod with it too)
skyrim
silent hill 2
stalker shadow of chernobyl, clear sky and call of pripyat

 

[JULAY]

Ultima Underworld

 

[glue eater]

Morrowind, Blood, Urban Assault, Flatout, Heroes of Might, and Magic 2 and 3 (2 is underrated asf, one of the prettiest games ever), first Dawn of War. God, it feels odd to describe DoW as an old game but it is 20 years old, the modding scene is active to this day, recommend checking the mods out. Wolfenstein Enemy Territory for multiplayer game (its free), some of my best gaming memories.

 

[Soycast Guy]

How old do you want?

I consider old to be anything before the ps4 and Xbox one.

 

[Corette]

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura
X-com: UFO Defense with mods (Piratez is personal favorite).
Battlezone (1998 )
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive
Deus Ex
Fantasy General (recent sequel is ok too)
Freedom Force
Bungie's Myth -series if you manage to get it somewhere
Majesty: Fantasy Kingdom Sim
MDK -series

 

[ENDTOPII]

The "/v/ memes" that are still worth checking out if you haven't yet

• ANNO
• Civilization
• E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
• Deus Ex
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag + Assassin's Creed Rogue (after these, the games became RPG slop)
• Watch_Dogs (first one only, the rest are shit)
• Worms
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• F.E.A.R. (first one only, the rest are shit)
• Mirror's Edge

Actually "old stuff" I have enjoyed:

• Real War: Rogue States
• Theme Hospital (1997)
• Zeus: Master of Olympus (2000)
• Zoo Tycoon (2001)
• Sid Meier's Pirates! (2005)
• Airline Tycoon Deluxe
• Blade Runner (1997)

 

[Sneed's Feed And Seed]

Everything past Extreme is gay.

Extreme US is the faggiest mix. You can't even turn off the face buttons so you end up getting false Down/Rights.
The point unlock system that introduced is the worst shit too. It doesn't incentivize trying new songs, just the ones you can Perfect/Marvelous Attack.

 

[Dan of Steel]

Based on what the internet has told me, old games are the realm of the tranny and I'm not allowed to enjoy them.

What gave you that impression? Just because the PS1 warbly textured polygons artstyle is en vogue now? Those games inspired by PS1 games are still new and therefore shit.
I grew up playing PC games as a kid since I didn't have any of the big consoles growing up until I could run emulators, so I have a fondness for DOS/Windows 9x PC games. Here's a list of some of the more popular/well known ones that I enjoy, and how to get them running on modern computers: (PC Gaming Wiki is your friend, although I have my own gripes with its incompleteness for older games):

Quake I would argue it's the most influential game of all time in terms of how it revolutionized how 3D graphics are rendered, as well as modding, competitive gaming, etc etc. Still has a great moody atmosphere and one of the best OSTs ever for a computer game. There's a billion sourceports to get it running now but I personally use Ironwall.

Diablo Hack 'n slash gothic dark goodness. The slower pace of it makes it feel closer to a horror RPG than just a regular isometric RPG, which is what I think the devs were going for and is one of the reasons why I dislike Diablo 2 as a sequel to this game. Similar to Doom in that it spawned an entire genre of "Diablo clones" for RPGs with similar mechanics to it that are more focused on combat. Use DevilutionX to run it.

Blade Runner One of the best cyberpunk video games ever made and the best Blade Runner/Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep game adaptation. It's a point and click adventure game, but one that has an amazing atmosphere and great dialogue. The GOG version already comes bundled with SCUMMVM, an emulator for old adventure games.

Freespace 2 Still the best space combat/arcade space sim for me. The colorful graphics, easy to learn yet hard to master gameplay, and just the way it immerses you with how good it feels to pilot ships. The game is just comfy to sum it up in one word, and it's crazy that a lot of this game's code was built off of the Descent games, the previous series the dev team worked on prior to Fresspace. Check it out, it's a lot of fun. Use FS2Open to run it.

The Beast Within One of the stranger points in computer gaming history was the mid 90s trend of using full-motion video, a technique involving actual actors and a soundstage and then digitizing them into assets that the game's engine can render. Most games that rely on FMV are fucking terrible, but have a strange charm to them. This is a good game, with a really fun story, but still has that FMV cheesiness, but in a way that's endearing. It's an adventure game about a writer named Gabriel Knight, this is actually a sequel to the first game, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, but you don't really need to play the first game to understand what's going on here. It's a murder-mystery taking place in Germany, has well written, likable characters, a great villain, and you get to learn a bit of German history along the way too. The GOG version comes bundled with ScummVM.

Dark Forces II - Jedi Knight I have little nostalgia for Star Wars, the first SW movie I actually watched was The Phantom Menace in theaters when I was 9, and I thought it was boring. I do however, enjoy a lot of Star Wars games, because I was a big fan of LucasArts adventure games, so anything made by them I wanted to play. This is a direct sequel to Dark Forces, a 2.5D FPS similar to Doom, but has things that separate it from just being a Doom clone. Jedi Knight is fully 3D, and also allows you to use lightsabers and force powers. Story is fun, feels like how a Star Wars story should feel, you can tell the people that made it were massive Star Wars geeks and wanted to make something good that other Star Wars fans would enjoy. The best for it is still in beta, but I haven't ran into any issues playing it.

Dungeon Keeper It would be criminal to list great PC games without mentioning at least one game developed by Bullfrog Productions. Along with LucasArts, id, Westwood, Blizzard, and many others, Bullfrog were heavyweights in computer gaming in the 90s. Dungeon Keeper is a weird game, it's a hybrid of being a management sim, god games, and a strategy game all thrown in a blender. Normally mixing and matching game mechanics like this would be a fucking disaster, but Dungeon Keeper keeps everything simple. The UI is readable, and the game has a great sense of dark humor that perfectly fits simulating running a dungeon full of evil baddies and monsters. Use KeeperFX to run, and also check out Dungeon Keeper 2, which I in some ways enjoy even more than I do the first game.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 Along with FPSs and RPGs, easily one of the biggest genres for computer gaming was real time strategy. There's a lot of really good RTS games out there, I love Starcraft and AOEII like everyone else, but my favorite will always be Red Alert 2. It was the first RTS game I ever played, and I love that it balances the line between comedic cheese and goofiness, while still taking itself seriously in its own world and not breaking the fourth wall. Everything about RA2 is ridiculous, from the unit types, to the story, to the FMV cutscenes, you can tell everyone involved in making this game was having a really good time. Any game where you play as the Soviets and shoot the Eifel Tower with tesla coil cannons, turning the tower into a massive tesla coil is awesome. Has an incredible OST, as does the first Red Alert. Unfortunately doesn't have a sourceport so here's the PC Gaming Wiki entry on it to get it to play nice with your computer.

 

[Vapor Sauce]

Devil May Cry 3
Resident Evil 4 (the original)
Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku 2
Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask
Bayonetta 2
The Ezio Assassin's Creed Games (2, Brotherhood, Revelations)
Dead Space (the original) and Dead Space 2
Metroid Fusion
Dishonored
Dark Souls 1
Left 4 Dead 2

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole 2]

A Link to the Past, Jagged Alliance 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic 3. You play HOMM3 during the year then on holidays you crack out the other two.

 

[Calandrino]

I consider old to be anything before the ps4 and Xbox one.

I think of anything with textured polygons as "new". I am also looking for the best new games.

 

[Corette]

I think of anything with textured polygons as "new". I am also looking for the best new games.

Have you heard of 4D Sports Boxing, good sir?

 

[Tablet County]

What gave you that impression? Just because the PS1 warbly textured polygons artstyle is en vogue now? Those games inspired by PS1 games are still new and therefore shit.

Do you think the PS1 warbly textured polygon artstyle came from nothing? Trannies love everything you love. Billions must sneed.

On topic I've been playing Homeworld remastered with the player patch recently, and aside from the occasional crash when a level tries to load it's pretty good.

 

[WilliamDeLaPole]

Racing:
Motorstorm
Burnout Paradise
Motor Toon Grand Prix
Jet Moto
Diddy Kong Racing
Crash Team Racing
Ridge Racer
F-Zero
Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver
Moto Roader
Pen Pen Trilcelon
Rock N Roll Racing

Sports:
Kirby's Dream Course
Sonic Spinball
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
ESPN Extreme Games

Platformer:
Ape Escape
Gex
Lomax
Pandemonium

Puzzle:
Geom Cube
The Lost Vikings

Arena:
Blast Chamber (play this with friends)

Tactical:
Military Madness
Herzog Zwei

Side-Scroller:
EVO
Metal Slug

Beat em Up:
God Hand

Fighting:
Clay Fighter
World Heroes Perfect
Samurai Showdown

And the Best Game Ever Created:
Sinistar

 

[CryptoHermit]

The 1st 4 Rachet & Clank games ( 1-3 and Gladiator) are incredible games so I would recommend you either hunt down the physical copies or emulate the originals. Don't get the remakes, they suck ass.

 

[Banana Hammock]

I consider old to be anything before the ps4 and Xbox one.

You got it.

Spoiler: Nintendo Consoles

Nintendo: Zelda 1, Super Mario Bros, Dragon Quest 1, Dragon Quest 2, Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, and Mother 1.

Super Nintendo: Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong Country 3, Super Mario World, Super Mario World 2, Super Mario All Stars (For SMB2, SMB3, and Lost Levels), A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Dragon Quest IV, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest VI, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire 2, Illusion of Gaia, Kirby Super Star, Kirby's Dream Land 3, Lufia & The Fortress of Doom, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals, Mega Man X, Mega Man X2, Mega Man X3, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, Secret of Mana 2, Super Mario RPG, Super Metroid, and Claymates.
-I haven't played the Shin Megami Tensei games, the Fire Emblem games, or a few others (Slayers, Sailor Moon, Romancing Saga, etc), so while I've heard that they're good, I can't personally recommend them.

Gameboy/Gameboy Color/Gameboy Advance: The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Mother 3, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, Summon Knight, Summon Knight 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Dragon Quest Monsters 1, Dragon Quest Monsters 2 (either version), Golden Sun, Golden Sun 2, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man Zero 2, Mega Man Zero 3, Metroid Fusion, Pokemon Red/Fire Red, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Emerald, Wario Land 2, Wario Land 3, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon 1, Demikids Dark Version, Demikids Light Version, and Pokemon Trading Card Game.

N64: Paper Mario, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

Gamecube: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Skies of Arcadia, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2, and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3.

Wii U: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
-Easier to emulate these two than the Wii versions, and they're better than the Gamecube versions.

Spoiler: Playstation Consoles

Playstation: Alundra, Ape Escape, Breath of Fire 3, Breath of Fire 4, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Digimon World 2, Digimon World 3, Dragon Quest VII, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Lunar 1: Silver Star Story, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, Mega Man X4, Mega Man X5, Mega Man X6, Monster Rancher 2, Monster Rancher 2, Persona 2 Part 1: Innocent Sin, Persona 2 Part 2: Eternal Punishment, Spyro 1, Spyro 2, Spyro 3, Tomba!, and Tomba! 2.

Playstation 2: Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny, Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Dark Cloud, Dark Cloud 2, Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition, Disgaea 1: Hour of Darkness, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, .hack//Infection, .hack//Mutation, .hack//Outbreak, .hack//Quarantine, .hack//G.U. Volume 1: Rebirth, .hack//G.U. Volume 2: Reminisce, .hack//G.U. Volume 1: Redemption, Dragon Quest VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 2, Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome, Metal Slug Anthology, Monster Rancher 3, Monster Rancher 4, Persona 3 FES, Persona 4, Phantom Brave, Radiata Stories, Rogue Galaxy, Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga, Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Soul Nomad & The World Eaters, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Boese, and Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra

PSP: Digimon World Re: Digitize, Fate/Extra, Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (use a patch to fix the animation slowdown), Riviera: The Promised Land, and Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman

Playstation 3: Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Disgaea D2.

Xbox is notoriously difficult to emulate, so I'm not going to bother with those ones, and I never owned any Sega consoles. Also, I only listed the games that I've actually played (that I enjoyed), or games in the same series as games that I've played.

Edit: Look into romhacks, as well. There's dozens, if not hundreds of fan-made Pokemon games. Not all of them are great, but there are plenty that are just as good as the normal games, if not better. Fewer for other games, but you can get some "new" Super Mario games, Zelda games, etc. Plus, things like A Link to the Past Randomizer, which randomizes which items are in which chests.