From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to:

- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?
- Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (February 15, 1996)*
The first fully graphical Zork adventure game!
- Abuse (February 29, 1996)
A crackin'** shooter/platformer!
- Civilization II (February 29, 1996)
Needs no introduction
- Alien Trilogy (February 29, 1996) (PS1 version)
Not a great game... but aliens!
- Bad Mojo (February 29, 1996)
One of the rare games about roaches


And, a bit pre-emptively but it'll save me some work next week:

- Z (March 1996)
A fun but mostly forgotten RTS game
- Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (March 1996)
One of Looking Glass Games' forgotten gems
- Descent II (March 1996)
That damn thief bot stole my missiles!
- Resident Evil (March 1996) (PS1 version)
Love it or hate it, the game left a mark

Did I miss any other notable titles that deserve a toast? Chime in and
let us know what other games from thirty years ago deserve to be
remember. We'll raise a glass to all these games! First person to pass
out gets stuck with the tab! ;-)









----
* Release dates often approximated. Exact dates for games of this era
were hard to get, back before we had cheap overnight shipping and
tight control by publishers about when games actually came out.
** Secret pun!!!!


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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to:

- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

- Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (February 15, 1996)*
The first fully graphical Zork adventure game!
- Abuse (February 29, 1996)
A crackin'** shooter/platformer!

I actually have this installed right now.

Tried heavily modifying it back in the day, but had the shareware
version that came without the editor, so there were limits to what I
could do.

- Civilization II (February 29, 1996)
Needs no introduction
- Alien Trilogy (February 29, 1996) (PS1 version)
Not a great game... but aliens!
- Bad Mojo (February 29, 1996)
One of the rare games about roaches

I remember the hype at the time, but I never got or played it.

And, a bit pre-emptively but it'll save me some work next week:

- Z (March 1996)
A fun but mostly forgotten RTS game
- Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (March 1996)
One of Looking Glass Games' forgotten gems
- Descent II (March 1996)
That damn thief bot stole my missiles!
- Resident Evil (March 1996) (PS1 version)
Love it or hate it, the game left a mark

Played D2 that's about it I think.

Did I miss any other notable titles that deserve a toast? Chime in and
let us know what other games from thirty years ago deserve to be
remember. We'll raise a glass to all these games! First person to pass
out gets stuck with the tab! ;-)

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 28 Feb 2026 13:34:08 -0500, Xocyll <[email protected]> said this
thing:

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

Hey, you remember "Starlancer" too! Almost nobody else does. It's
another forgotten gem (albeit only 26 years old; a relative newcomer
;-). Not the greatest game of its type but fairly decent. Sadly, it
got overshadowed by the "Freespace" games (which were undeniably
better titles) and "Freelancer" (which Starlancer was a prequel too)

- Abuse (February 29, 1996)
A crackin'** shooter/platformer!

I actually have this installed right now.
Tried heavily modifying it back in the day, but had the shareware
version that came without the editor, so there were limits to what I
could do.

That's right! I remember, "Abuse" came with a built in game-editor,
and a fairly robust one if I am recalling correctly. I think the
developers --Crack Dot Com-- had the hopes of its engine being used
similar to the way Quake was, to create whole new games, but nothing
really came of it.

- Bad Mojo (February 29, 1996)
One of the rare games about roaches

I remember the hype at the time, but I never got or played it.

It was an interesting game but beyond the shock-appeal of some of its
graphics and unusual story (a Kafka-esque tale of a lowlife being
turned into a roach), its gameplay wasn't anything too special. In
fact, since a lot of the 'puzzles' were about manuevering your
bug-avatar across the screen, the slightly wonky controls made things
less fun than they could have been. If you're an adventure game fan
and want something different... well, "Bad Mojo" scratches that itch.
But if you're not a regular adventure game player I'm not sure it's a
game I'd recommend.

- Descent II (March 1996)
That damn thief bot stole my missiles!

Played D2 that's about it I think.

I was never a fan of the Descent series, although I kept banging my
head against the games hoping I'd finally see why others loved them.
"Descent II" was probably my least favorite of the three; while
technically impressive (for its time, especially the AI) the
labyrinthian dungeons annoyed me and the game seemed designed for
people who had mastered the first (an early 'git-gud, scrub' game),
with little accessibility towards more novice players. The damn thief
bot epitomized that attitude.

A good game, sure, just not one that I enjoyed.





--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:13:50 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

- Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (February 15, 1996)*
The first fully graphical Zork adventure game!

https://www.mobygames.com/game/1219/return-to-zork/

Ahem. 1993 called. It wants its accolades back.
--
Zag

Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe,
and to utter freely according to conscience, above
all other liberties. ~John Milton
--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:13:50 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Did I miss any other notable titles that deserve a toast? Chime in and
let us know what other games from thirty years ago deserve to be
remember. We'll raise a glass to all these games! First person to pass
out gets stuck with the tab! ;-)

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders?
--
Zag

Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe,
and to utter freely according to conscience, above
all other liberties. ~John Milton
--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 28 Feb 2026 18:47:15 -0600, Zaghadka <[email protected]>
said this thing:

On Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:13:50 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

- Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (February 15, 1996)*
The first fully graphical Zork adventure game!

https://www.mobygames.com/game/1219/return-to-zork/
Ahem. 1993 called. It wants its accolades back.

Ohmigod, you are so right. I totally blanked on that one!
(Instead, I expected to be called out with regards to "Zork: Zero", an adventure game which had some marginal graphics, or the Zork Infocomic
titles, which were all graphics and no game). But "Return to Zork" I
forgot entirely!

Maybe it was because I didn't really LIKE "Return to Zork". It didn't
help that when I first purchased the game, it came without its
documentation --including an Encyclopedia that contained clues
necessary to finish the game-- and the store I purchased it from
refused to replace my incomplete copy. That soured my experience from
the start.


I LIKED "Nemesis" though. That's probably why it the accolades I gave
it... even if they aren't actually accurate ;-)

Did I miss any other notable titles that deserve a toast? Chime in and
let us know what other games from thirty years ago deserve to be
remember. We'll raise a glass to all these games! First person to pass
out gets stuck with the tab! ;-)

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders?

Released December 23, 1994; we missed its 30th birthday by two years
and two months. But I'll hoist a glass to it anyway. ;-)


--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:48:46 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Sat, 28 Feb 2026 18:47:15 -0600, Zaghadka <[email protected]>
said this thing:

On Fri, 27 Feb 2026 11:13:50 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

- Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (February 15, 1996)*
The first fully graphical Zork adventure game!

https://www.mobygames.com/game/1219/return-to-zork/
Ahem. 1993 called. It wants its accolades back.

Ohmigod, you are so right. I totally blanked on that one!
(Instead, I expected to be called out with regards to "Zork: Zero", an >adventure game which had some marginal graphics, or the Zork Infocomic >titles, which were all graphics and no game). But "Return to Zork" I
forgot entirely!

Maybe it was because I didn't really LIKE "Return to Zork". It didn't
help that when I first purchased the game, it came without its
documentation --including an Encyclopedia that contained clues
necessary to finish the game-- and the store I purchased it from
refused to replace my incomplete copy. That soured my experience from
the start.

I LIKED "Nemesis" though. That's probably why it the accolades I gave
it... even if they aren't actually accurate ;-)

Did I miss any other notable titles that deserve a toast? Chime in and >>>let us know what other games from thirty years ago deserve to be >>>remember. We'll raise a glass to all these games! First person to pass >>>out gets stuck with the tab! ;-)

Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders?

Released December 23, 1994; we missed its 30th birthday by two years
and two months. But I'll hoist a glass to it anyway. ;-)

Oh no. Not just "Heretic." Shadow of the Serpent riders was *extra
levels* and released in Feb 1996!

Yes, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.
--
Zag

Give me the liberty to know, to think, to believe,
and to utter freely according to conscience, above
all other liberties. ~John Milton
--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> writes:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to:

- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Gah. I think I got bored when 3 came out. Fly to these nav points and
shoot everything in sight. After two games of that it seemed a little
tired. Amazing there was a fifth game too and I think played it as well?

- Z (March 1996)
A fun but mostly forgotten RTS game

Oh, I remember this. Super hectic levels (against the computer),
somewhat frustratingly had to do exactly the right things right away
when a level started to twist the balance in your favor. The computer
usually started with quite a big advantage. But no base building or
resource gathering so pretty simple.

Some fun elements, like soldiers gaining experience. Although as I
recall you couldn't see which soldiers were experienced. But amazing to
watch a jeep zigging and zagging and blasting away at a tank. I don't
think the jeep usually won though but often it was useful to damage
enemy tanks so even a light tank could kill off a bigger one. Or if the
driver was inexperienced he'd pop up his head out of the hatch and you
could have a sniper shoot it off... And then the tank was up for grabs.

And some fun set pieces to turn the tables on the overpowered computer
side. A little like old Spy vs. Spy, watching the computer driving a
tank over a bridge and then blowing up the bridge with the tank on it...

- Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (March 1996)
One of Looking Glass Games' forgotten gems

Another fun game to be sure although I don't really remember much about
it. I seem to remember Heavy Gear 2 from 1999 much better.

--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:46:49 -0600, Zaghadka <[email protected]>
said this thing:

On Sun, 01 Mar 2026 12:48:46 -0500, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action,
Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Released December 23, 1994; we missed its 30th birthday by two years
and two months. But I'll hoist a glass to it anyway. ;-)

Oh no. Not just "Heretic." Shadow of the Serpent riders was *extra
levels* and released in Feb 1996!
Yes, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek.

Aaaaaa! You got me twice! Consider me chagrinned. ;-)

In fairness, I never really thought of the difference between
"Heretic" and "Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders". I originally
knew it only as the first name, but later when I heard it referred to
with its sobriquet, I never considered there was any difference
between the two.

But, as you pointed out, there is. The original single-word entitled
game was just the Shareware version (one free, two paid episodes),
while "Shadow of the Serpent Riders" was the retail (sold in stores
with a box an' everything!) version, which included the original three
episodes and two more besides.

And yes, as you pointed out, that latter version came out in February
1996 (or March, depending on whom you ask, but close enough that we'll celebrate either way).

So not only did I learn something new, but now I get to chug down
another glass. Say, is the room spinning for anyone else, or is it
just me?


--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:10:50 +0200, Anssi Saari <[email protected]> said this thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> writes:

- Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri (March 1996)
One of Looking Glass Games' forgotten gems

Another fun game to be sure although I don't really remember much about
it. I seem to remember Heavy Gear 2 from 1999 much better.

TN:SFC was closer to the FPS genre than Heavy Gear, which still
followed the clumsy (but fun) rompy-stompy robots sim format. The
former got dinged by the public for its lack of multiplayer and its
cheesy full motion video cutscenes, but it was a fun open-world
shooter released back when most FPS games were still stuck in tiny
mazes. It was also a technical tour de force; not only did it have a
large open world with rolling hills, but a built-in physics engine, reflections, and reverse kinematic animations... features many other
FPS games wouldn't get for years later.

It's biggest sin in this regard was, released in an era when the 486
was still king, it didn't support resolutions higher than 320x240...
mostly because computers of the day just couldn't handle anything
higher at a useable framerate.

While I often bitch about remakes and remasters, this is one game I'd
LOVE to see get that treatment. Alas, its poor sales means that few
even remember the game existed.


--- Synchronet 3.21c-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 2/28/2026 10:34 AM, Xocyll wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to:

- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

What?!?! No 3? That was my favorite. Armada and Privateer were up there though.

- Abuse (February 29, 1996)
A crackin'** shooter/platformer!

I actually have this installed right now.

Looks somewhat interesting. Also looks somewhat familiar, maybe a
friend had it? Or maybe because it's AvP with the names filed off. I
know I didn't have it.

- Descent II (March 1996)
That damn thief bot stole my missiles!

Played D2 that's about it I think.

Out of all of them I think WC4 and D2 are it for me.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Justisaur <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:

On 2/28/2026 10:34 AM, Xocyll wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to:

- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

What?!?! No 3? That was my favorite. Armada and Privateer were up there >though.

When 3 and then 4 came out I had not upgraded and all that FMV in the
cockpit took a massive toll on fps that my older system could not
handle.

In fact the first time I saw 3/4 was on a guys new state of the art
computer and it still lagged in combat what with the chatter from
wingmen being done in full FMV in a window onscreen.

The sheer number of FMV shit just walking around the ship. Click to
leave room, FMV of mark hamill leaving room, click to go to ready room,
FMV of mark walking down the hall and going in a door, and so on.
What used to be instant transitions now had utterly pointless transition animations.

Not my Wing Commander.

I pay for the game to be able to fly, not watch Mark Hamill walk around.

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Thu, 05 Mar 2026 07:14:54 -0500, Xocyll <[email protected]> said this
thing:

Justisaur <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:

On 2/28/2026 10:34 AM, Xocyll wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to: >>>>
- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

What?!?! No 3? That was my favorite. Armada and Privateer were up there >>though.

Armada is too often overlooked in Wing Commander franchise. I found it
a surprisingly fun game, both for its combat and its strategy element.
And you could finally shoot down your buddies in multiplayer! Plus,
its visuals were a nice transition from the classic games to the
polygonal engine used in Wing Commander III (Armada was still sprite
based, but it used much higher-quality sprites than the first two
games).

Even if it was pushed out in haste as a cheap cash-in because EA's
policy at the time was to shove out lots of inexpensive titles rather
than bet the house on mega-projects. That's why we got games like Wing Commander: Privateer, Armada and Academy all in short order; they
re-used the same engine (and many of the same art assets) and thus
were significantly cheaper (and faster) to develop.

But in at least two out of three of those examples, EA was right and
we actually got good games. ;-)

The sheer number of FMV shit just walking around the ship. Click to
leave room, FMV of mark hamill leaving room, click to go to ready room,
FMV of mark walking down the hall and going in a door, and so on.
What used to be instant transitions now had utterly pointless transition >animations.

Not my Wing Commander.
I pay for the game to be able to fly, not watch Mark Hamill walk around.

To be fair, that was mostly just the first few missions. You have to
remember, FMV was /hot/ in 1994. The idea that gaming was actually
competing with Hollywood was revolutionary. Origin top-loaded "Wing
Commander III" with a lot of its cinematics, and I'll be the first to
agree that the first few missions were overburdened by interstitial
video clips. But the game calmed down a bit after a while, and fell
into the usual groove of "mission briefing, loadout, launch, waypoint-waypoint-waypoint, landing, debrief"... which is pretty much
the same formula used in the first two games. In fact, the most
serious complaint with WC3 that most people had was how little that
formulat varied.

And if it still /really/ bothered you, go into game options and
uncheck "transitions" and all the walking animations disappear
entirely. ;-)


--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 3/5/2026 8:25 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Thu, 05 Mar 2026 07:14:54 -0500, Xocyll <[email protected]> said this
thing:

Justisaur <[email protected]> looked up from reading the entrails of
the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs say:

On 2/28/2026 10:34 AM, Xocyll wrote:

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> looked up from reading the >>>> entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:

Let's just get these out of the way so I don't need to do separate
posts for each. Happy Thirtieth Birthday (give or take a few days) to: >>>>>
- Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom (February 9, 1996)
Wasn't that the guy from Star Wars?

Don't think I ever played this; 1, 2, 5, Privateer, Privateer2,
Starlancer and Freelancer were all I tried.

What?!?! No 3? That was my favorite. Armada and Privateer were up there >>> though.

Armada is too often overlooked in Wing Commander franchise. I found it
a surprisingly fun game, both for its combat and its strategy element.
And you could finally shoot down your buddies in multiplayer! Plus,
its visuals were a nice transition from the classic games to the
polygonal engine used in Wing Commander III (Armada was still sprite
based, but it used much higher-quality sprites than the first two
games).

I forgot about the multiplayer. Although I only played against friends
a couple times, it was quite fun. Unfortunately I was too good for them
and trounced them and they didn't want to play after that.

I do remember the missions were more varied than WC III, and without any
of that FMV.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
--- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 07:14:34 -0800, Justisaur <[email protected]>
said this thing:

I forgot about the multiplayer. Although I only played against friends
a couple times, it was quite fun. Unfortunately I was too good for them
and trounced them and they didn't want to play after that.

We only managed a couple of times. I vaguely remember that it was a
bitch to get connected, and -after the initial excitement of being
able to fly multiplayer passed- it just wasn't very much fun. It
didn't help that this was an era before voice-chat, so if you wanted
to crow victory you had to trigger pre-recorded 'taunts' to do so.

I do remember the missions were more varied than WC III, and without any
of that FMV.

They weren't, really. The combat in Arena was very, very simple and
limited to only a few fighters on screen at once. At best, you might
face off against a few fighters and the carrier (the only capital ship
in the game). I think the engine limited you to four fighters
on-screen at once (you, an wing-man, and two enemies), with
reinformcents only spawning in when another fighter was killed. Each
combat was stand-alone (no patrolling the waypoints, no mines and no asteroids). It was just basic sparring against a limited variety of
enemy fighters.

The game made up for this lack with its 'strategy' mode, which many
people disliked but I enjoyed. It was just complex enough to add some
meat to the game without bogging things down so much that it forgot it
was an action game.


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