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Experts Tell Us the Best 90s Computer Games

This article showcases our top picks for the Best 90s Computer Games. We reached out to industry leaders and experts who have contributed the suggestions within this article (they have been credited for their contributions below). We are keen to hear your feedback on all of our content and our comment section is a moderated space to express your thoughts and feelings related (or not) to this article This list is in no particular order.

SimCity 2000 (1995)

This product was recommended by Dominic Harper from Debt Bombshell

The simcity has always been one of my favorite 90’s computer games, and it’s basically because it’s an online version of the game we used to play when we were kids – lego’s. It’s fun playing build up games as it boosts your imagination and can exercise futuristic approaches since it’s way ahead of your league during that time period. Simcity allows you to customize your terrain and build a whole lot of different cities, as close as you would imagine a perfect one is. What I find even more enjoyable with Sim CIty is its interface which is very colorful and engaging even up to today. Playing simcity now seems like retro, but the attraction to the game is still there no matter how old you get.

Earthworm Jim

This product was recommended by Ted Mosby from CamperAdvise

What I fancy most about this specific game, is how vibrant and colourful this adventure filled game is. Not only are the aliens, space suits and whimsical creatures fun to play with, the story incorporated in every level makes it more engaging for streamers wayback that time. Also it’s stress relieving which is a characteristic that is very different from today’s online games which are full of stressful levels basically stripping off the purpose of what games are supposed to be for. Also it came with different sequels adding up to more fun for the users.

Half-Life 1 Anthology

This product was recommended by Stephen Curry from CocoSign

This game brought a whole new level of storytelling panache to the FPS genre that was still young at the time. Unlike other games where you drop into monster-filled levels, here you get slowly introduced to situations with expository dialogue, in-engine cutscenes, and deliberate-yet-relentless pacing. You play Gordon Freeman – a nuclear physicist at the Black Mesa Research Facility as a player. He gets caught up in a teleportation experiment that went wrong. There is an invasion of hostile extraterrestrials, and the soldiers clean up the mess by eliminating anything that moves. The game has some creative designs, a palpably atmospheric setting, masterful pacing, and superb enemy A.I. to make it an instant classic and the best FPS ever. It has some outdated graphics, but you will still enjoy the superbness of the game.

Diablo

This product was recommended by Robert Johnson from Sawinery

There wasn’t much of a story, character customization was limited, and the gameworld was basically limited to a town and the dungeon beneath it. Diablo, on the other hand, wasn’t attempting to be Ultima or Might and Magic. It was a Skinner-box fantasy in which you clicked on nasty minions, ended their sad little lives, and gathered up loot in their wake, launched in 1996.

Lemmings

This product was recommended by Robert Johnson from Sawinery

Your duty, if you choose to take it, is to manage a motley crew of cute creatures who insist on marching forward oblivious no matter what is in front of them. You must clear the path to safety by using special Lemmings with specific skills (climbers, diggers, etc.). Rockstar North created the game, which debuted in 1991.

Resident Evil 2 (1998)

This product was recommended by Shivbhadrasinh Gohil from Meetanshi

Back to 90s, the game came out when I was just 12, and I still remembered the hype this game had amongst the kids then. It had an extreme thrilling experience amongst the gamers and some of us even had nightmares of zombies chasing us! The was albeit in low resolution i.e. 640×480, but believe me it had the super high quality of graphics of that time. It allowed the gamers to be the part of the story with an immersive gaming experience. Playing this game today is still a nostalgic moment for me.

The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain

This product was recommended by Ted Mosby from CamperAdvise

The puzzles are designed to require the combined efforts of your seven intelligences“. While one activity requires primarily hand-eye coordination, others require more complex mathematical thinking and problem solving. For example, players must navigate a three-dimensional maze using a two-dimensional map, use a set of basic computer commands to direct a robot around a grid, build a replica of a 3-D block construction using a rotating model, flip the switches, and so on. Other puzzles include rearranging eight bars of music to play a requested tune, moving letters across a grid to construct words, and positioning and matching photos of sign language letters in a grid.

Age of Empires 2: Age of Kings

This product was recommended by Cam Morris from The Good Pad

Even just looking at a photo of the box the game came in is enough to give me massive nostalgia! There were so many things I loved about this game, the first thing being how groundbreaking it was, being one of the first history based real time strategy games. Another part of the game I really enjoyed was the campaign mode, which thrusts you into historical medieval events giving you control of armies such as the Persians, Mayans, Romans and the Vikings. I loved this part of the game because I was really into the middle ages as a child, so I got to learn about the history as I played the game. The final part of the game I loved (I could write about another 5 different reasons) was the extensive ‘cheats list’ the game had. Whether it was a cheat to give you unlimited resources such as gold, food, wood and stone to create an unlimited amount of soldiers to go and destroy your enemies city, or a cheat to give you a super fast car with a rocket launcher on it (which looked incredibly out of place) that could single handedly destroy the whole team of the opposition.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge

This product was recommended by Stephen Connolly from Interact Software

I loved all the LucasArts games, but the Monkey Island series absolutely dominated my brain as a young teenager. Released in 1991, Monkey Island 2 is a point and click adventure/puzzle game where you take control of Guybrush Threepwood, a hapless pirate looking to become notorious. The game sees you sailing between Scabb, Phatt, and Booty islands as you look for treasure, try to win the heart of Elaine Marley and defeat the evil ghost pirate, LeChuck. In addition to being sufficiently difficult that the gameplay keeps you entranced for hours, Monkey Island 2 is funny, like really funny. All the little jokes and asides come from a company that didn’t just know how to make video games but how to create blockbuster film franchises too. They’re also really beautiful. The background art if a masterclass in how to make something visually appealing with a limited amount of pixels.

Myst

This product was recommended by Eden Cheng from PeopleFinderFree

This is a popular adventure puzzle point-and-click game that was launched in the early 90s and became the best-selling game of the decade. In it, players are armed with a magical book and are able to hop through different worlds, as they go around solving puzzles and finding the missing pages of even more magical books. However, for a game that is so simple, it was astonishingly addictive, as there were no lives, no deaths, no time limit, and no score to keep up with. It’s one of those fun games that one enjoys at their own pace, with the only pressure in the game being imposed upon yourself, as you aim to solve the puzzles and complete the storyline. The game was also rated very highly for the quality of its visuals and sound, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it has also had its fair share of remakes over the past 25 years to the point that it is now available on console and mobile devices.

Super Mario World (SNES)

This product was recommended by Rodney Riley from North West Turf Ltd

Super Mario World was for me the definition of the 2d platform game. The graphics were beautifully drawn in a style that hasn’t aged badly and the gameplay was exceptional for the time. I spent many happy childhood hours jumping around this world on a Yoshi.

My Arcade Street Fighter 2

This product was recommended by Wilhelmina “Billie” Zeelen from Bzice

I grew up playing video and computer games with my older brothers, and this was the first game where I could play as a woman and beat them both, time and time again. It was, is, and always will be my favorite game.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Rogue Spear

This product was recommended by R. M. S. Thornton from The Writings and Ramblings of R. M. S. Thornton

It’s the perfect combination of action and strategy. It’s great because it fixed various patches that caused issues in the original. It’s an older game now (1999), but still very fun to play.

Road Rash

This product was recommended by Saskia Ketz from Mojomox

Who can forget the fun we had with this motorbike racing game? We used chains, bats or even kicking to fulfil our desires. There was nothing that it didn’t do for your pleasure.

Microsoft Midtown Madness

This product was recommended by Stewart McGrenary from Freedom Mobiles

This car racing game was undoubtedly part of everyone’s childhood, from pushing down the accelerator pedal to feeling a sense of freedom.

Prince of Persia Collection

This product was recommended by Amit Raj from The Links Guy

We can’t forget the endless inside of that dingy castle, only to get stabbed in our backs. Let’s say we never reached princesses sound like a good idea anymore.

Retro Handheld Game Console with Protector Case

This product was recommended by Cathy Mills from Net Influencer

What better game of the ’90s than a console. This device with more than 300 games will remind anyone about childhood and the excellent era of computer games. The best part is that it is compatible with the TV and allows up to two players.

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Written by Zak Parker

Journalist, writer, musician, professional procrastinator. I'll add more here later.

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