Late 1990s - 2000s Game Period Recommendations and Discussion

By gargantua
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gargantua

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When I was a kid, my brother passed down to me his computer and XBox along with all of his games. To this day, most of my gaming goes to those very same games or other games from that period of time. I am in desperate need of more games with a similar look and feel. Here is a shortened list of the ones I loved then and still love today:

Valve classics (Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, etc)

Postal 1&2

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy

Garry's Mod

Fallout 1 through New Vegas

TES Oblivion and Skyrim

Doom 3

Halo 1-3

Let me know if you old-heads have any suggestions :) Obviously there are plenty that I did not list, so I'm sure I might respond saying I've played it and add it to the list. I would love to hear about that era from those of you who experienced it directly, so please do share your nostalgia if you feel so inclined to do so.

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Som

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On 06/11/2025 at 18:23, Warwagon said:

Beyond Good and Evil

I remember I was subscribed to PC gamer magazine back then, and every month beyond good and evil was in the list of recommended games. Finally got around to buying it and they were right. Great game.

There was a space game called i-war that nobody talks about that I loved too.

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DramaInc

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Clive Barker's Undying is one of my all time fave classics.  Can get on GOG.  

StarCraft, Warcraft, Total Annihilation

There's a super old DOS game called Liero that was great for split screen play. 

Old Simcity's.  Neverhood games are classics that my partner just adores.  

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+InsaneNutter MVC

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  • Unreal Tournament (both 99 and 2004) - essentially the Call of Duty multiplayer of that era. Both games still have a community run server list today, so you'll find populated servers to play in. I don't think you can buy these digitally any more, but I’m sure you'll find them on Ebay.
  • Quake 3 - The other must play FPS of the era.
  • Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - I loved this, a great 2D side scroller with a level editor. You can download loads of single and multiplayer levels from Jazz2Online 
  • The Settlers 2 - one of my favourite strategy games, in my opinion the best game in the series too.
  • Theme Park / Theme Hospital - building your own Theme Park is loads of fun, Theme Hospital is the next game in the series (the people who made that game had a great sense of humour too!)
  • Mafia - such an immersive story, worth playing the original, then the remaster at a later date.

Half-Life, UT and Quake also have a lot of mods / total conversions / community maps which are worth checking out.

Grand Master

inactive

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On 07/11/2025 at 04:35, InsaneNutter said:

Mafia - such an immersive story, worth playing the original, then the remaster at a later date.

My #1 video game experience outright (I first played it when it was new in Aug/Sep 2002 and here and there over the years since). it's one of those games I replay here and there as the years pass and it never fails to prove to me it's my clear cut #1 game experience of all-time. I doubt it will ever be dethroned for me at this point.

NOTE: if someone plays it today you will likely need to restore the ab.dta/a0.dta files to the game directory (and delete the 'sounds' folder) to get the original experience as some stuff was removed on the current Steam version etc. I also use a widescreen mod on it (i.e. https://github.com/ThirteenAG/WidescreenFixesPack/releases/tag/mafia ) so it works on modern resolutions like 1080p, increases draw distance etc.

p.s. Mafia (2002) and Mafia II (2010) (on PC) are my Top 2 game experiences outright. my 3rd spot and lower I don't have anything clear cut as it's up for debate for me. 'Mafia: Definitive Edition' (2020), while it's a proper remake, does not have the overall magic of the original as some missions that stood out in the original (A Great Deal etc) are just-another-mission in the remake. plus, the ending is better on original and lead character is better on original along with his two buddies Paulie/Sam etc. basically Mafia (2002) is a 10/10 (Mafia II is a 9/10) and Mafia: Definitive Edition is a 7-8/10. Mafia III is a 7/10 as it's a bit underrated but still is the overall worst of the series (I suggest using 'Racket Damage Missions Removal' mod on Mafia III, especially on future playthroughs as it helps pacing). I did not play the new one (Mafia: The Old Country) from 2025.

Edited by ThaCrip
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Nick H. Supervisor

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  • System Shock 2
  • Crash Bandicoot
  • Spyro the Dragon
  • Heart of Darkness

If you want to go really old school, I loved playing Knights of the Sky, Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures (which I have been able to get running on Windows 11) and Frogger. But that is probably going back too far for what you're looking for. :laugh:

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gargantua

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On 07/11/2025 at 06:27, Nick H. said:
  • System Shock 2
  • Crash Bandicoot
  • Spyro the Dragon
  • Heart of Darkness

If you want to go really old school, I loved playing Knights of the Sky, Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures (which I have been able to get running on Windows 11) and Frogger. But that is probably going back too far for what you're looking for. :laugh:

I love System Shock 2. Used to scare the **** out of me when I was a little kid watching my brother play it lol.

Grand Master

Nick H. Supervisor

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On 08/11/2025 at 17:21, gargantua said:

I love System Shock 2. Used to scare the **** out of me when I was a little kid watching my brother play it lol.

It might be worth noting that System Shock got a remake a couple of years ago. Better controls, better graphics.

Also, if you like the System Shock series, Bioshock Remastered would be worth checking out. It's the spiritual successor to System Shock, and the story (of the first game) was awesome. I can't speak for the rest of the Bioshock series.

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gargantua

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I can't believe I didn't add Bioshock to the original list. I love Bioshock soooo so much. The first one, like you said, has some of the best writing and plot work of any game ever!

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gargantua

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On 10/11/2025 at 07:57, xrobwx71 said:

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces I & II

I'll check those out because I love Jedi Outcast

On 10/11/2025 at 09:51, Steffan said:

There's a lot of good games from that era. Some of mine include Doom, Wolf 3d, Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Soul Blazer, and Mortal Kombat.

I have been wanting to play Zelda emulated on PC. Any emulators and games you recommend?

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Nick H. Supervisor

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On 10/11/2025 at 15:05, gargantua said:

I have been wanting to play Zelda emulated on PC. Any emulators and games you recommend?

Depending on quite a few things, DOSBox would probably be your best bet for old school games.

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satukoro

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On 10/11/2025 at 10:05, gargantua said:

I'll check those out because I love Jedi Outcast

I have been wanting to play Zelda emulated on PC. Any emulators and games you recommend?

If you want to play Ocarina of Time or Majoras Mask, I highly recommend Ship of Harkinian for OOT and 2Ship2Harkinian for MM. These tools offer some quality of life improvements to those two games for newcomers and have a bunch of additional settings to configure the experience to best match your play style. Check out the Ship of Harkinian discord for info on getting it set up.

If you are trying to play any console zelda game up to n64, check out retroarch which can emulate a bunch of different consoles. For gamecube or wii check out dolphin emu. For wiiu/switch theres a few different emu options available but some are in the middle of legal battles with nintendo so are randomly available. I used yuzu pretty well on linux for a bit.

My favorite zelda games are (in no particular order):

  • A Link to the Past (snes) - a textbook example of what i think a zelda game should be in terms of the length of the game and how it progresses, the best zelda game imo
  • Majoras Mask (n64) - dark and moody but unforgettably touching
  • Ocarina of Time (n64) - basically a 3d version of a link to the past, renowned as a contender for best game of all time
  • Windwaker (gamecube) - very charming, more relaxed vibe in general
  • Oracle of Ages / Oracle of Seasons (gbc) - both excellent games, they have a password system where you play one game and then continue your file in the other one

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