Nostalgia In The Gaming Market: Best Retro PC Games Of All Time
If you like paying attention to the PC gaming market, you’ll have noticed something of a trend. Many of the past’s biggest titles are making comebacks, proving the strength of interest and nostalgia for retro games.
But what’s interesting is that many players aren’t just playing the remakes of those classic games: they’re actually going back and playing the originals. Yes, that’s right, with pixelated graphics and all.
Driving this is the perception that the 1990s and 2000s were a golden age of gaming. Some of the most impressive titles ever launched during this period, with franchises continuing to last and grow until today.
Of course, retro gaming extended well before the 1990s, and numerous addictive games came before then. But it’s this return to the roots of gaming that’s surprising many people in the industry. Despite fully immersive 3D environments, VR, and other advanced technologies, people are still looking to the past regarding their gaming decisions.
So which games are they playing? Let’s take a look.
Doom II (1994)
The original Doom was released in 1993 and was a tour de force by ID Software, looking for a way to capitalize on the success of Wolfenstein 3D. The game became synonymous with the phrase “first-person shooter,” providing players with a 3D environment to battle the minions of hell.
The original game, though, was a little tepid for the developers at ID software, so they decided to up the ante a year later with Doom II, based on the same graphical engine. This new version of Doom brought more vertical environments and a slew of new interesting enemies to kill. It also added the super shotgun, perhaps the most iconic weapon in the Doom series. The final level involved shooting a rocket into the master demon’s brain to end the demon invasion.
Doom III was released in the 2000s but met with lukewarm reception. The game was more horror rather than action-themed, and never quite sat right with players. The real return was the release of a rebooted Doom in 2016 followed by the awesome Doom Eternal in 2020 which set a new high-water mark for first-person shooters. The game made tremendous improvements to the combat cycle and computer graphics to the point where some outlets called it the “perfect game.”
Doom II, though, maintains that 1990s grittiness which is hard to find in modern shooters. The unlimited hordes of demons combined with haunting music create an atmosphere that’s hard to replicate with 3D graphics. It’s almost a shooter version of Diablo II, encouraging fans of the franchise to stay up all night and explore every nook and cranny.
Civilization II
The original Civilization wasn’t a commercial success, but Civ II as it came to be known, was massively impactful. The developer Firaxis finally got the formula right, creating a semi-realistic turn-based state-building strategy game that would become an instant classic.
The game’s graphics were basic, but players were able to engage in diplomacy, build cities, raise armies, and destroy their enemies. Multiple civilizations were available including the Americans, Chinese, Vikings, English, and more.
Later games, particularly Civilization VI, improved on the original formula considerably to better reflect the costs and benefits leaders face when making any civilizational decisions. However, players keep going back to Civ II because of the game’s complexity and the numerous available strategies.
The game was also inherently difficult, particularly when fighting off raging hordes of barbarians while also trying to act diplomatically with foreign adversaries from positions of weakness. Players would struggle to gain control of the map’s resources to build city improvements that would ultimately help them win the game. It’s this tension that made the game such an instant classic.
SimCity 2000
When Maxis released the new version of SimCity in 2012, players felt disappointed. The game felt small, restrictive, and “canned.”
That wasn’t the case with SimCity 2000, a unique game that built on the success of the developer’s first release in 1989. The concepts and artwork in the title were ground-breaking, allowing players to develop stunning cities that felt real, despite the cartoonish and pixelated graphics.
The goal of the game was to maximize the development of the city. Players would construct power plants, lay down water pipes, and zone areas for residential buildings, commercial hubs, and industry. Players would also need to manage traffic, garbage disposal, schooling, healthcare, and city ordinances – and avoid going bankrupt.
What was great about SimCity 2000 was how challenging it was to master, particularly when subjecting cities to disasters. Players had to balance the books and make real trade-offs between pollution, tax revenue, public services, and resident happiness.
Maxis continued this formulation into SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4, the culmination of the original series before the failed reboot. These latter games added more impressive visuals and gave players the opportunity to build truly fantastic cities with advanced manufacturing, towering skyscrapers, and elegant suspension bridges connecting neighboring settlements.
Minesweeper
Microsoft released Minesweeper in the 1990s in a Windows Entertainment Pack the company released as part of the classic Windows 3.11. The game was written in-house by Robert Donner and Curt Johnson, with the design borrowed from another game called Mined Out by ZX Spectrum, released in 1983.
That original game didn’t have a great deal of impact, but Microsoft’s later version of Minesweeper certainly did. The game involved trying to work out whether mines were present on various tiles, marking them for destruction at the end of the round. Players would click block and the game would either reveal areas free of mines or reveal a mine, in which case the round would end and the player would lose. Gamers had to work out where mines were, based on numbers in revealed squares indicating the number of mines in hidden tiles.
For many Windows users, the game provided some mild relief from work. Office staff would regularly fire up Minesweeper to pass the time. However, it soon became more popular, with multiple spin-offs. When Microsoft decided to discontinue Minesweeper in Windows products, there was almost an uproar. People had come to love and cherish the game.
Half-Life
Valve released Half-Life in 1998 and the game immediately received critical acclaim. Set in a dystopian world, the franchise introduced players to the concept of a story-driven shooter. Mr. Freeman would have to make his way through a strange and compelling world with high technology, inhumane architecture, and interesting characters, caught up in the story.
While Doom dominated the market for fast-clicking games, Half-Life required players to be more strategic. Going into a room and firing as many rockets as possible wasn’t a viable option in most situations, unlike in Doom II.
Valve followed up Half-Life with Half-Life 2. This game included the use of the famous wrench and dramatically improved the graphics to the point where people began using the term “photo-realistic” to describe what they were seeing.
Eventually, Half-Life became a cult classic, and fans have been waiting for Valve to release follow-ups ever since.
Warcraft II
Blizzard released Warcraft II in 1995. The game added improved gameplay over the original Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, launching players headfirst into the mythical world of Azeroth.
The game defined real-time strategy games for the next fifteen years. Players had to build bases, hire workers, chop wood, mine gold, and raise armies. Multiple units from archers to axe throwers to two-headed ogres were available, all ready to do their master’s bidding.
What made Warcraft II unique was the ability to wage war on land, air, and sea. Players could build deadly death knights who could conflate entire patches of earth or cajole dragons into joining their forces which could fly unimpeded by forests, rivers, seas, or any other obstacles on the map. Massive juggernauts and battleships were available, as well as crafty submarines that went undetected until they attacked.
Blizzard, of course, tried to bring back the franchise, promising players an experience close to the original. However, the half-baked approach backfired and fans were left disappointed by what they finally received, with many demanding their money back.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Finally, we are seeing nostalgia in the gaming market in the form of the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The title along with Skyrim represents the peak of Bethesda Studio’s game development success, with rave reviews from critics all-round.
The game was successful because of the sheer level of effort and detail Bethesda put into the title. Every tree, forest track, building, and item was meticulously crafted to look realistic and fit in with the theme of this part of Tamriel.
Skyrim was essentially Morrowind taken to its graphical extreme, offering players an enormous open world to explore and enjoy. What was interesting about Skyrim was the way Bethesda showed players it was possible to have an entirely new gaming experience, despite claims that future titles would essentially be revisions of existing titles. The open world and dungeon-based adventure inspired a generation and set a high standard for any title wanting to follow in its footsteps.