Good ol' games for good ol' gutless computers

[Damian Domino Davis]

Sometimes, I get tired of normal mapping and orchestrated soundtracks and hollywood-worthy plots. Sometimes I want to play Starcraft of all things, or whip out a GBA emulator, or even fire up Magic Workstation. There was a time when PC cards weren't made with non-euclidean geometry and cooled by liquid nitrogen.

ITT: From Solitaire to Starcraft, games that could run on anything that still rock. (Bonus points for rpg, strategy, or otherwise intellectually challenging.)

 

[JC175]

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, on a SNES emulator.

The original System Shock.

Doom still goes alright when you're in the mood.

 

[Emeli]

Baldur's Gate. Played it on every computer I've owned since I was 12. Number 2 would probably run okay, too.

Impressions games series of city builders, Zeus, Cleopatra, Emperor, Caesar and... the other one.

Fallout 1 & 2.

 

[Damian Domino Davis]

Yeesss, I remember Bauldur's Gate. Oh my God that game left me irritated the whole time I was playing it, but in a good way, the same way we watch American Idol so we can rage at the people who suck.

System Shock is a win as well.

 

[MontyGommo]

Baldur's Gate. Played it on every computer I've owned since I was 12. Number 2 would probably run okay, too.

Impressions games series of city builders, Zeus, Cleopatra, Emperor, Caesar and... the other one.

Fallout 1 & 2.

It was surprisingly difficult to get my fallout2 to run on vista

 

[Emeli]

Baldur's Gate. Played it on every computer I've owned since I was 12. Number 2 would probably run okay, too.

Impressions games series of city builders, Zeus, Cleopatra, Emperor, Caesar and... the other one.

Fallout 1 & 2.

It was surprisingly difficult to get my fallout2 to run on vista

Well if we're talking about computers that can't run new games, then I'd think vista would be the biggest challenge. Though I know the feeling, I'm an old games junkie and vista is the bane of my existence.

 

[Leftnt Sharpe]

The Baldur's Gate games like other people have said, but also Total Annihilation. I love that game so much.

 

[Damian Domino Davis]

I don't think the older Command & Conquers are much of a stretch. Red Alert, Tiberian Sun, Red Alert 2 in a pinch.

 

[lordcookies]

How about the first Unreal? (not the Tournament) One of the best fps i've ever played.

 

[jzmn]

I think you can still get the early GTA's for free from Rockstar.

 

[Kyoufuu]

NetStorm.
Just get it.

 

[Vern]

I still play Doom, Blood, Warcraft II, and Starcraft regularly. I just started playing Diablo again a few nights ago. I still haven't tried playing Deus Ex, System Shock, or Thief since I got Vista. Just remembering what an ass ache it was to get most of them working on XP still haunts me. I really wish a patch for Grim Fandango was released that could make it work on computers made after 1998. Trying to play it on XP was an exercise in futility.
I really need to start looking for a Pentium 233 with 32mb running Windows 95 so I can finally play all those great games again.

 

[Damian Domino Davis]

I've had no troubles getting Grim Fandango to run on XP. From a disc image, no less.

Speaking of long-lost lucasarts goodness, anyone remember The Secret of Monkey Island? That will be the ultimate adventure game for the rest of time.

 

[riftinducer]

I still play Doom, Blood, Warcraft II, and Starcraft regularly. I just started playing Diablo again a few nights ago. I still haven't tried playing Deus Ex, System Shock, or Thief since I got Vista. Just remembering what an ass ache it was to get most of them working on XP still haunts me. I really wish a patch for Grim Fandango was released that could make it work on computers made after 1998. Trying to play it on XP was an exercise in futility.
I really need to start looking for a Pentium 233 with 32mb running Windows 95 so I can finally play all those great games again.

I got Deus Ex and System Shock 2 working alright (SS2 did require a hell of a lot of messing around though, but on the right side I did get the improved model and texture mods working great) on a Vista machine, but Thief 2 is an absolute ***** - I can't remember why, but all the shadows are varying shades of green. Playing it on an old computer worked wonders (it doesn't even have a video card).

 

[rohit9891]

Baldur's Gate. Played it on every computer I've owned since I was 12. Number 2 would probably run okay, too.

Impressions games series of city builders, Zeus, Cleopatra, Emperor, Caesar and... the other one.

Fallout 1 & 2.

Zeus and Caesar were really great.They were some of my favorites.

 

[AlyxX]

Doom, Fallout series, Tomb Raider 2 and 3, Blood 1 & 2, Command & Conquer + Red Alert, Half-Life, Quake.

 

[Sanaj]

Doom, Doom 2, C&C:Red Alert, Starcraft, Sonic 1 & 2 for a Sega Genesis Emulator

If I want to play Doom or Doom 2 on a computer that isn't gutless, I use Doom Legacy.
The system requirements are still quite low, easy to use and it revamps /improves the game play experience.

http://legacy.newdoom.com/downloads.php
Free Port of Doom or Doom 2 game with OpenGL

(I accept that was similar to add there, but I'm feeling a bit lazy.)

 

[Slash Dementia]

Try the game "I Want to be the Guy," it's sure to kill off a few hours. It's a platform game.