Top Games - According to Me (not exactly a dynasty)

[EagleFan]

Year after year magazines post their list of top games and there are plenty of things to disagree with. Things like the list not really being a list of the magazine but of whomever wrote it that year. That is the only reason that games which are 15 years old suddenly show up on the list, or move up the ranking.

Because of that I decided to try to come up with my own list. It will take a while and I will go year by year for about the last 30 years.

Probably won't be of a lot of interest to others but what the hell.

[EagleFan]

1986
My first year starting to play PC games, entirely arcade before that. I only had a couple games and only one that was memorable.

Starflight - This game ruled my year. While the graphics and options may be very dated this had a lot of depth and allowed the imagination to fill in any gaps. Exploring many solar systems, finding worm holes, hiring a better crew and dealing with the looming intergalactic threat.

Memories - No specific memory except the feeling of how vast the universe seemed to be that it allowed me to explore.


1987
The year I really started playing PC games much more.

Earl Weaver Baseball - First foray into a computer baseball game and this one was amazing for a teenager that loved the game of baseball. Being able to create your own stadium and setup your own teams made this a joyous playground that just sucked up the hours.

Memories - I ran a "fantasy league" with this using a season disk, my first foray into running a league as well. The league was with a few teachers from my school (I worked after school as a janitor through high school); they were as big of baseball fanatics as I was.


Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards - A funny game, especially to my teenage self. Probably wouldn't hold up to the test of time for what I may consider funny now but it was fun to play back then.

Memories - Not really many memories here, just that I thought it was funny.


Sid Meier's Pirates - This one sucked up a lot of time. I spent many hours crossing the seas and terrorizing the French merchants. Thankfully this one didn't have a stupid dancing mini game built into it.

Memories - Some nights it seemed like a voyage across the seas were endless due to heavy head winds. Hated having to start out a battle against the wind, though it made it more challenging.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
3) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
4) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)

[EagleFan]

1988

Caveman Ughlympics - Nothing outstanding but was a fun alternative to regular sports games. It didn't really grab me though.

Memories - Just remember liking trying something different but nothing really stands out.


Wayne Gretzky Hockey - A top down look at the game of hockey with "fights" shown on the video screen. This one sucked in a lot of time playing/watching the games play out.

Memories - First time seeing a fight play out on the video screen, just something that made things seem complete. Still wish one of the current hockey games could play out as well in the top down sim (unless I remember it being better than it was)


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
3) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
4) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
5) Leisure Suit Larry (1987) -1
6) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)

[EagleFan]

1989

SimCity - This was a game that started out as something that looked fun but then after a couple tries it just got very tiresome and boring. It has been the same story for every attempt at every SimCity that followed.

Memories - Unleashing hell on my city, then pretty much being done with the game.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
3) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
4) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
5) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
6) SimCity (1989)
7) Caveman Ughlympics (1988) -1

[EagleFan]

I have to add another game here. I didn't realize the game was as old as it was and that it actually came out in 1985. I think this was a game that I played in 87/88 but will add it now.


Autoduel - This was a game that I absolutely loved. Improving your car and having battles on the open road that while the game is very low res it seemed that imagination was what made this game what it was. While the battles were just dotted lines being fired it was so much more than that. It was a dangerous world where the streets between cities were a war zone with incredible carnage and destruction.

Memories - Playing this game with my best fried watching and adding his suggestions. Watching my best friend play, and adding my suggestions. Playing a combined game with him where one of us would do one run from city to city and then we would switch for the next run. That nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach when you reached the near end game where saves were no longer allowed.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
7) SimCity (1989)
8) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)

[EagleFan]

1990

Sid Meier's Covert Action - This was a fun game that I played quite a bit as I didn't get many new games this year. It was a nice first dip into a spy based action game. Not an all time favorite but better than average.

Memories - Just the feeling of trying to pull off a mission successfully for the first time and the satisfaction when completed.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
7) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
8) SimCity (1989)
9) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)

[EagleFan]

There is one game that I can't remember the name of and I think it was in that 89-91 range. I think you were stuck on an island and had to solve a mystery. One of the things that I remember is that there was a werewolf also in the game and if you accused the person who was the werewolf of being a werewolf they turned into it. If you weren't properly equipped you would be killed. I found that out the hard way as I would randomly accuse people and at one point was correct... and died quickly, probably with an oh shit look of surprise on my face.

[EagleFan]

1991

NHL Hockey - While I want to say I loved this I didn't have a good computer and it ran like a dog so I got little enjoyment out of this one.

Memories - Not.... any.... good.... damn the wishful thinking that I could run this. The intro was cool.


Tony LaRussa Baseball - Little joy from this one. Same story each game it seems; other team hits line drives to the gaps whenever they need runs.

Memories - I think this was my original rage quit game.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
7) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
8) SimCity (1989)
9) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
10) NHL Hockey (1991)
11) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)

[Young Drachma]

Love the flashback into old games we've lost since forgot. I hadn't played video games much until the early 90s. Little League Baseball for Nintendo was my jam. But it wasn't until my brother (born a decade after me) got old enough to play games that we started playing a lot. My dad got into them and so we got all of the new Madden games, then I started working at the video game store, so I could bring games home and that really amped things up.

I can't remember the space games that I actually BEAT once, which was huge for me because I don't really play games that I can beat preferring more open ended games with long story arcs, but yeah this is a cool flashback.

Also Front Page Sports Baseball and Football were a revelation, but my parents weren't keen on me spending hours on the computer, my friend had it at his house, but wasn't as into it as I was.

[EagleFan]

1992

Wolfenstein 3D - My introduction to shooters. Was a very fun game at the time but really doesn't hold up much and wasn't very replayable.

Memories - Beating it the first time, and then not really feeling the need to play again.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
7) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
8) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
9) SimCity (1989)
10) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
11) NHL Hockey (1991)
12) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)

[EagleFan]

Will pick this up tomorrow evening. Mid to late 90's will be where I start to pick up the volume.

[EagleFan]

1993

Mutant League Football - Fun for a bit but the novelty wore off pretty quickly.

Memories - Liked the initial destruction and chaos.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
7) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
8) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
9) SimCity (1989)
10) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
11) NHL Hockey (1991)
12) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
13) Mutant League Football (1993)

[collegesportsfanms]

Boy, some of those games bring back memories. We'll have to agree to disagree on a few though.

I like that you have EWB so high. My biggest complaint about the game is there seemed to be way, way too many home runs, especially on pitches out of the strike zone. From my experience playing it, a bad pitch only resulted in 3 options: a ball, a swinging strike, or a massive home run. Other than that, loved the game.

I actually loved Tony LaRussa Baseball and Mutant League Football. I wasn't very good at Mutant League, but I thought it was fun. Unless I'm thinking of a different Tony LaRussa baseball, the one I remember playing was very fun. I always started an initial fantasy draft and mixed up the rosters.

I remember Leisure Suit Larry, I think I'm familiar with the one you're speaking of, but it's been a long time since I played it. I would put all 3 of those games a lot higher than you had them, but that's just me

[EagleFan]

1994

A job change and getting married took up most of my time this year. Entered IT and the casino industry. May have been my favorite job ever but it just didn't pay enough and was only an entry point into the industry. It also took up a large portion of my day as I worked 10 hour days with an hour added onto each end for the drive so the days I worked was pretty much get up, eat, go to work, come home, go to sleep, repeat...

Doom 2 - While I did have a good time with this it got very tedious for me. I never made it to the end and kind of gave up halfway through. For me this is only a decent game.

Memories - Nothing really stands out about this one for me.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
7) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
8) Doom 2 (1994)
9) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
10) SimCity (1989)
11) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
12) NHL Hockey (1991)
13) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
14) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

1995

NHL 96 - Was able to play this one and this one sucked up a lot of my time, when I had free time that is. While not the greatest representation of the game it was still fun to play.

Memories - No specific memories but chewed up a lot of time on this one while my wife was at work on days when I was off.


Rise of the Triad - A fun game that never really caught my eye enough. I think I spent more time playing hockey ao never really gave this one a chance.

Memories - I am getting old, can't remember much about this one.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Autoduel (1985)
3) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
4) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
5) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
6) NHL 96 (1995)
7) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
8) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
9) Doom 2 (1994)
10) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
11) SimCity (1989)
12) Rise of the Triad (1995)
13) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
14) NHL Hockey (1991)
15) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
16) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

1996

Duke Nukem 3D - This one made me start to enjoy shooters. There was humor that caught my attention and enough action to keep the game moving. Remember setting up modem connections with my friend to play against each other (seemed to take forever to get the connection working but was worth it when we connected).

Memories - The entire game but specifically the insults that you could hurl at your opponent when playing against each other.


Lords of the Realm 2 - This game really caught my eye. The strategy of building your mini empire combined with the real time strategy of the battles was something that was a brand new type of gaming experience for me. One of my all time favorites.

Memories - Setting up the perfect choke point in battle for the first time and funneling the enemy into their final resting place. The arrows rained down, oh so many arrows... Bow to me...


Phantasmagoria - This one was another new experience, a horror game on the PC. It had its moments but seemed to be more about raising the bar and less about being something that I wanted to play again when I was done.

Memories - This one let me see just what kind of potential there was in gaming, it just may start to reach farther than just games for kids.


Current Ranking
1) Starflight (1986)
2) Lords of the Realm 2 (1996)
3) Autoduel (1985)
4) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
5) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
6) Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
7) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
8) NHL 96 (1995)
9) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
10) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
11) Doom 2 (1994)
12) Phantasmagoria (1996)
13) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
14) SimCity (1989)
15) Rise of the Triad (1995)
16) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
17) NHL Hockey (1991)
18) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
19) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

I have to do some additional digging as there are games that I am certain were out in those past couple years that aren't showing up on the list of releases.

[EagleFan]

Anyone know a good resource for historical game releases? Going to have to add a few games to the list so far. Doing some research on years for some of the ones that I missed as they weren't on the lists that I was going by.

Will add a few that I can find today, that were from 96 or earlier.

Work trip this week so I probably won't pick up again until next weekend.

[EagleFan]

Fill in the Blanks

Front Page Sports Football (1992) - This may be my best find ever. Was at Electronics Boutique and saw it. Thought it was worth a try and the rest was history. Loved this game! The only thing missing were actual players but that didn't matter once getting into the seasons. The other negative was that it took about 15 minutes to simulate each game during the week.

Memories - My biggest memory wasn't even from a game that I was playing. The evil empire Dallas team dominated the season (unbeaten and was beating teams by an average of 3 touchdowns per game) and their crowning seemed inevitable. In the Super Bowl they faced Buffalo and they were held in check. Buffalo had a 14-10 lead with under two minutes left. Dallas drove picking up chunks of yards and had a 1st and goal with under a minute left. First play was a run stopped at the 1. Second play was an incomplete pass. Third play was a run stopped for a loss. Led to 4th and goal with the Super Bowl on the line. Their quarterback was sacked to stop the drive and win the game for Buffalo.


Front Page Sports Football Pro (1993) - Follow up to Football but with real players. I was already hooked but this turned me into a junkie. Sim times were still long but it didn't bother me.

Memories - Picking up my first playoff victory. I don't know what it was but it seemed the playoff games cranked up the difficulty. It seems that teams that I could beat easily in the regular season always found a way to beat me in the playoffs.


Front Page Sports Baseball Pro 96 - This was my holy grail of games. I was always a big baseball fan so this was a perfect fit for me. I loved watching the games play themselves out. The atmosphere of this game was amazing; the soundtrack for this game was second to none.

Memories - Having my first player reach 300 career homeruns (yes, I played the hell out of this game). Just the atmosphere alone was a memory, loading up the game and hearing the music start up is a very fond memory.


Current Ranking
1) Front Page Sports Baseball Pro 96 (1996)
2) Starflight (1986)
3) Lords of the Realm 2 (1996)
4) Autoduel (1985)
5) Front Page Sports Football (1992)
6) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
7) Front Page Sports Football Pro (1993)
8) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
9) Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
10) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
11) NHL 96 (1995)
12) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
13) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
14) Doom 2 (1994)
15) Phantasmagoria (1996)
16) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
17) SimCity (1989)
18) Rise of the Triad (1995)
19) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
20) NHL Hockey (1991)
21) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
22) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

[EagleFan]

1997

Carmegeddon - This game was fun, a lot of fun. I know it was controversial but nothing helped unwind after a rough couple days of work than acting like a mad man and running things down.

Memories - No specific memories except the first time playing and realizing that this was going to be a REALLY fun game.


Jane's Fighters Anthology - This may have been fun but I had a lot of system issues trying to run this one. I liked the idea of taking control of some of the deadliest aircraft in the world and going into battle but I always seemed to have issues running the game so it faded into oblivion.

Memories - Just the issues trying to run the game, too many lockups. I probably didn't have the system to make it work.


Current Ranking
1) Front Page Sports Baseball Pro 96 (1996)
2) Starflight (1986)
3) Lords of the Realm 2 (1996)
4) Autoduel (1985)
5) Front Page Sports Football (1992)
6) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
7) Front Page Sports Football Pro (1993)
8) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
9) Carmageddon (1997)
10) Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
11) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
12) NHL 96 (1995)
13) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
14) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
15) Doom 2 (1994)
16) Phantasmagoria (1996)
17) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
18) Jane's Fighters Anthology (1997)
19) SimCity (1989)
20) Rise of the Triad (1995)
21) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
22) NHL Hockey (1991)
23) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
24) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

1998

Falcon 4.0 - A fun game that was quite realistic if I recall correctly. The problem is that I never really gave this one a chance. I was getting seriously into sport sims (will have to start adding them soon if they aren't showing up).

Memories - Frustration trying to survive missions, that probably led to my lack of attention to this one. Probably much higher on others' lists.


Current Ranking
1) Front Page Sports Baseball Pro 96 (1996)
2) Starflight (1986)
3) Lords of the Realm 2 (1996)
4) Autoduel (1985)
5) Front Page Sports Football (1992)
6) Earl Weaver Baseball (1987)
7) Front Page Sports Football Pro (1993)
8) Sid Meier's Pirates (1987)
9) Carmageddon (1997)
10) Duke Nukem 3D (1996)
11) Wayne Gretzky Hockey (1988)
12) NHL 96 (1995)
13) Sid Meier's Covert Action (1990)
14) Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
15) Doom 2 (1994)
16) Phantasmagoria (1996)
17) Leisure Suit Larry (1987)
18) Jane's Fighters Anthology (1997)
19) Falcon 4.0
20) SimCity (1989)
21) Rise of the Triad (1995)
22) Caveman Ughlympics (1988)
23) NHL Hockey (1991)
24) Tony LaRussa Baseball (1991)
25) Mutant League Football (1993)

[EagleFan]

I know there are several others missing by now. Going to have to find a more reliable release list.

[johnnyshaka]

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane, that was fun!

FPS BB Pro was my intro in online MP leagues...man, that was awesome!

Some other golden oldies (C64) that I spent hours on include Pitstop II, Summer Games, Winter Games and Test Drive. Oh man, those were some great games!!