Looking For Older Game Recs

Thought I'd come to the experts for some game recs. My laptop has died so at the moment I'm using an ancient PC, probably will be for another several months until I can afford a new PC. It's Windows 98 SE with only a 500MHz processor and 2MB video card.

So I'm looking for some older games to play that will work on this PC. I've been playing some of the older Nancy Drew games and also just finished Amerzone. Did get some recs from the annual games recs list, but it's such a mix of older & newer that it's a little hard to look up all of them and figure out which will work on my PC.

So far my list is: Grim Fandango, the first 2 Gabriel Knight games, Shivers 1 & 2, Sanitarium, The Curse of Monkey Island, and the first 2 Broken Sword games.

Any other suggestions?

Cameron Files,The Messenger,Necronomicon, are good games also.

these are slightly influenced by my preferences: Byzantine, The Last Express, Blackwell Chronicles, 7th Guest, llth hour. A lot of folks liked Amber. Keep your old 98 after you get your new computer. Financially it is not worth much but it's a pearl beyond price when playing old games.
Marion

niteowl7, thanks much for the additional recs!

bouv mama, I actually just read a review of The Last Express and was planning to add it to my last b/c it looks good. Glad to get a 2nd nominations for it. Will check the others on your list too. Thanks!

Jess,
I'd say Zork Nemesis; I'm not sure how it will play in Win98, though. And I'd second Amber.

Sherlock Holmes: Case of the Rose Tattoo is another good one. I'd second the vote on Byzantine too.

Jesse519- I loved the Last Express. There are some fight scenes in it but they be worked around-including the last scene. I hope you can get hold of it and enjoy.
Marion

Mary, thanks for the recs. For Zork Nemesis, when you say you're not sure it'd work on 98, does that mean it needs OS older than 98? Or would it work on XP?

nickie, thanks to you too. I'll check out both those. And I'm glad to get second nominations for a few games.

bouv mama, I actually don't mind some fight scenes and combat. Have played a few action games as well. Thanks for the warning though!

Also, as long as I'm hear asking for game recs, does anyone have suggestions of where to buy older games (be it stores or websites). I did order from InteractCD for the first time last week, and was very pleased. But they don't have a lot of these older games that I'm looking to buy.

Jess, have you tried our trading post forum? You be surprised the games our members have stashed away.

Ana

Cdaccess is one of the best places to buy older games.

http://www.cdaccess.com/

They have reviews and requirements for most games. Bad Mojo is a good one, also Discworld Noir, Myst III Exile, Aztec, Black Mirror, Riddle of the Sphinx and Outcast.

The Tex Murphy games and Black Dahlia are also excellent old gems.

BrownEyedTigre, thanks for the tip. Looked around that forum, and it does indeed look promising.

Pokey, thanks for the link, I'll check it out. Thanks also for the game suggestions. Think I will definitely get The Riddle of the Sphinx, seen it recced other places too. Did you like The Omega Stone too? And I actually already bought The Black Mirror but then found out it needs 2GB hard drive space, and I don't have that much. Have 3GB split between two different hard drives, so can't install.

Barry, thanks for the recs. I'd heard from a friend that Black Dahlia was very cool but really hard. Is that true?

Hi Jess,
Black Dahlia has one of the best stories and character acting of any game and is one of my all time favorites. Yes it is rough at times but there are many walkthroughs out there and I'm sure you can also get hints and saved games from the Hint forum. It's well worth playing. I guarentee you'll hate to shut it down.

Regards,
Barry

Hi Jess519

Actually your old computer is pretty spiffy and will play more games than you can imagine. Pretty much anything older than 2000 with the possible exception of some DOS games.

The Zork games will definitely play in 98se and a 500 processor is pretty darn speedy for the oldies. I loved Return to Zork, Amber: Journeys Beyond, Ark of Time, Riddle of Master Lu (sometimes plays in 98se, sometimes you need win 95), Syberia, Clue Fatal Illusion, Discworld 1&2, Broken Sword 1&2, Flight of the Amazon Queen, gosh but the list goes on forever

I heartily agree with bouv mama about keeping the 98se machine! I had to buy a refurbished because I wasn't smart enough to hang onto my old computer that was running win me.

Enjoy the oldies, they really are fantastic.

Linda

How about The Dig, Full Throttle, Sam and Max Hit The Road,Night Long Union City Conspiracy,Chrono Master,Harvester,Day Of The Tenticle,Phantasmagoria 1 and 2,Kings Quest Series I could go on and on lol but those are some very good games.

Alot of great games mentioned, your in for a treat.I have an old win95 stashed up in my room just for those oldies. Like everyone says, hang onto it.

Space Quest series
Kings Quest series

Thanks, Barry. Will definitely try to find Black Dahlia.

And thanks to Linda, Mr2u, and Guybrush for your recs also.

Clearly there's tons of older games I haven't played. Guess I could wait quite awhile to buy a new PC and still have lots of games to play.

I appreciate also the suggestions that I keep this PC. Hadn't really thought about that but it makes sense. Especially since I'm probably going to buy my new PC with Vista and I know there's lots of problems with older games on Vista.

So thanks again for all the help!

Jess519, if you're a little strapped for cash you can always check out the Free Games Galore site here. Most of those games should work on your old computer. Happy gaming

Hi, Jess.

You could always try Lighthouse, The X Files, Gabriel Knight 3, The Ripper, Dracula 1 and 2, Simon the Sorceror 1 and 2 also, I played them all on my Win98SE...with a 450 processor...
I reccommend keeping your Win98 too, I have mine linked to my newer computer with a KDM switch...so I can boot up either PC whenever I want.

I agree that The Last Express is a great game, along with the Zork ones. I could also play the old Safecracker game if you like mainly a puzzle type game. I could also play Mummy Tomb of the Pharaoh, Shivers I and II, Timescape, Nightlong, Grim Fandango (a favorite), Egypt Tomb of the Pharaoh, Egypt II The Heliopolis Prophecy, Alfred Hitchcock The Final Cut, Amerzone, Myst Exile, Road to India, and Dracula both of them on my old Windows 98. You will find some great games that will turn out to be favorites!

Robin

Jess,
I beleive Zork Nemesis (which is VERY different from the other Zork games) was made for Win95, but I think I did play it on Win98. It is a wonderful game, and holds up quite well for it's age. Lighthouse is also another great game.
You have some tough decisions to make!

Here you go Jess, a link for Black Dahlia from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00001QERF/ref=dp_olp_2/102-5594299-5126533

Another place to check for hard to find games is GameTZ:

http://gametz.com/aGames/PC/Amber%3A+Journeys+Beyond.html

You don't have to subscribe to join. There is always Ebay as well.

You don't have to subscribe to Amazon either and I've always found them to be reliable. Black Dahlia used mint condition for 19.99.

Regards,
Barry

StarLite Moon, thanks for the info on the free games. Unfortunately, along w/the ancient computer I'm also using dial-up at the moment. But I'll check it out once I get DSL.

Tyke, thanks for the recs. Also the info on having both computers. I'm ignorant so what's a KDM switch? And how are your 2 computers actually linked to each other?

Koalanut, I'm happy you recced Egypt & Egypt II because I'd been thinking about buying them (InteractCD has the two together for only $9.95). Thanks for the rest of the list too!

Mary, you're sure right about hard decisions. Be careful what you wish for, right? Now I have to much to choose from!

Barry, thanks very much for the link. Normally I don't like ordering from Amazon, but for some of these games I think I'll have to bite the bullet and order from there. There's nowhere else I can find some of these.

Pokey, thanks for the link. Is that site just for trading games, or can you buy too? Just curious because I don't have a lot to trade.

What is your problem with Amazon Jess? I've always found them to be extremely reliable with excellent customer service (the 2 times I had to return something there was never a problem no hassle at all). I highly recommend them.

Enjoy Black Dahlia,

Barry

Jess, most members are willing to sell as well as trade. I have sold many games as a member. Do a search for different games and you may even see prices posted. You can post a list of games you want and games available. Another thing you might try is to put a list of games you are looking for on the Gameboomers Trading Post.

Pokey, thanks. Will definitely have to look around that site more.

Barry, it's not that I have a problem with Amazon. I just prefer, when I can, to place larger order with & shipping from the same place, all arriving in one package. I know it's a little silly, but it's true. Also don't love having to pay separate shipping for each item.

Hi, Jess

A KVM switch (sorry for typo) shares 'Keyboard', 'Video' and 'Mouse' between both computers. Please check out my link..it explains it better than I could.

KVM Switch

Sue

http://www.playinggames.bigstep.com/homepage.html
(Playing Games Interactive)

is another place to buy older games.

Shelly

No one has mentioned Rama yet, which isn't to be missed. I'm not sure if the X-Files game has come up; if not, try that too.

For something really old because it's a DOS game, get Azrael's Tear. You could play it using DOSBox. It's also the greatest adventure game ever made.

I agree with Ray's comments re RAMA and Azrael's Tear.

RAMA for the mathematically inclined - requires a minimal understanding of working with numbers in different base systems - and Azrael's Tear as the most "engaging" adventure game I have ever played - and replayed multiple times.

I've had great success running Azrael's Tear in a DOS-Window on a P-II 450 MHz (100 MHz system clock) machine running Win98SE. Unfortunately, game character movement speed seems to be linked to processor and/or system clock speed and attempts to load and play the game on faster machines (e.g., P-III, 1 GHz, 133 MHz clock) have been unsat because character movement is too fast to control. I've never tried DOSBox - maybe it solves the problem of this game's character movement too fast on a faster machine. Anyway, worth a try. Azrael's Tear is a wonderful adventure game.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but just wanted to thank everyone one last time for the game recs. I'm playing both Byzantine and Black Mirror right now and love them! So thanks so much to everyone who suggested those.

Also have orders coming in for The Last Express, Black Dahlia, and Amber.

And actually did order a new computer, should be arriving next week or the week after, but I'll definitely be keeping my old PC as so many suggested.

This board is this best!

Here are some more if you are interested:
Ripper
GHOSTS
Nancy Drews Episodes 1 - 9
Discworld (all of them)
Broken Sword 1+ 2
Jack Orlando
Gilbert Goodmate
Remedy
Hope Springs Eternal
Dark Fall
Riven
Myst
Exile
Wierd
Amerzone
Toonstruck
Alone in the Dark
Realms of the Haunting
Seven Games of the Soul
Karma
Timescape
Beyond TIme
Odyssey
Twinsen Adventure
Time Machine
Zork
Return to Zork
Zork Nemesis
Riddle of Master Lu
Liath
Nautilis
Sanitarium
7th Guest
11th Hour
Clandestiny
Atlantis
Beyond Atlantis
Titanic Adventure Out of Time
Azeal's Tear
The Crystal Key
The Dark Eye
Dracula
Goosebumps:Are You Afraid of the Dark
Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland
The Forgotten
Frankenstein: Through the Eyes fo the Monster
Grim Fandango
Inherent Evil
..... just to name a few

inferno

No one seems to have mentioned the three Journeyman Project games. These have great stories, FMV and acting and play flawlessly on my WIN 98se PC.

That's a great list that Inferno put together as well. I enjoyed this string just to renew my acquaintance with a lot of the older games I've played.

Jess519, I would highly suggest the other Monkey Island games, both Discworld games, and Simon the Sorcerer 1&2. All of these games have excellent puzzles and loads of humor. Good luck!