Patient Gamers

BBC - Radio 4 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy https://share.google/rvSbuN9n4gnVMKY2c

Starflight came out in 1986, and if you liked Mass Effect, you should give it a try. IMO it has a deeper and more interesting implementation of the space/planet exploration mechanics, not to mention a solid story to tie it all together.

The UI looks dated, of course, but it's straightforward enough to use. It influenced the Star Control games, another series that holds up (but just barely misses the 1990 cutoff).

The game of GO

Playing Wizardry is king of a right of passage. You most likely won't enjoy playing it, but it is worth experiencing in my opinion.

The gold box RPG series: Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Secret of the Silver Blades, and Pools of Darkness.

These are set in the Forgotten Realms, and using the old AD&D ruleset. They’re very old school and may not be to your liking, but they are classics for a reason. Combat is very tactical, and the story interesting.

Metal Gear 1 & 2

MSX versions. Like from the MGS3 HD Collection.

Populous, Peter Molyneux.

And (1990) Wing Commander, although I'd guess that you have at least played the sequels.

Snatcher (1988). Cyberpunk text-heavy adventure by Hideo Kojima. The MSX version was fan-translated and the Mega CD/Sega CD version received an official English localization a few years after the PC88 and MSX versions came out.

For my money, Robotron 2084 and Smash TV are still the best 2 twin-stick shooters of all-time. Recently, we've had games like Assault Android Cactus+ and Nex Machina come close, but the OGs are still untouchable, IMO.

Wasteland. There's a HD version on PC that plays nice with modern systems. No I ain't talking about the weird remake.

Ultima V

E:

Bomb Jack

Klax

Lode Runner

Not BEFORE 1990, but not after either: Stunt Island

Blaster Master

nethack, super startrek (basic), space quest, infocom games, ultima,

one of my favorite games of all time is called Rags To Riches on commodore64. you play a homeless guy getting your life together getting a job and education with very addictive gameplay in my opinion.

there is a pico8 remake you can play oline but the og is better. https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=29519

Dungeon keeper, emperor: rise of the middle kingdom, Rome, theme hospital, zeus/atlantis, pharaoh/cleopatra why yes, i am big on world builders.

Mega Man 2

Super Mario Bros. 3

A lot of pre-1990 games are pretty clunky, so you kinda have to see them either as someone from the era would or try to appreciate them for what they are today. That being said, a lot of them are still fun with this in mind.

The Gauntlet series is probably my favorite early game. It's better played with 2-4 people, but can be played alone. It's essentially a dungeon crawler, but the levels and enemies are interesting and fun to navigate.

Some other good ones are Dig Dug (pacman but more fun and underground), Galaga or Galaxian (arcade space shooters), Adventure for the Atari 2600 (first rpg and first easter egg in video game history), Rampage (be a giant monster and destroy buildings), 1943 (airplane shmup (shoot em up) with cool powerups and pixel art) and toobin (also a shmup where you're on an inertube and navigate perilous waters. Sounds boring but it has really cool level progression and game mechanics later in the game).

For games that "hold up" look at arcade games. So install mame and go nuts. Or buy one of those cheap "3000in1" arcade joystick systems which plug into your tv. Arcade games really are better played with the arcade "ball stick" and buttons.

Then if you insist on PC, anything by Sid Meier, and then all the quest games by Sierra.

My two favorite arcade games of all time are UN Squadron and Hot Rod

UN Squadron is a side scrolling shooter by Capcom with a solid anime theme. My understanding is it's based on an Anime called Area 88. Quite the quarter eater, but if you like seeing GIANT machines and blasting them with your airplane, give it a go. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.N._Squadron

Hot Rod is a top down racing game by Sega. (The name is so generic that it can be hard to find.) The cool 'hook' on this game was that it was meant to be played with four players standing around a tabletop arcade cabinet, so every player was looking down on the screen. It also had the interesting note that the game never ended, it played much like a campaign where you are championing a racing team. Manage your power-ups, because they break down, and are often the wrong one for the next track (with the artificial difficulty that you can only change 1 part per race). At my home arcade, the difficulty was set low enough that I could loop the game until I got tired of standing, which definitely helped make it one of my go-to games.

I should add - the original version of this game plays kind of slow - there's a lot more focus on car control & driving clean lines. But Sega released a mod chip set for it later that doubled the game speed, which turns it into a 'just hang on & don't hit anything' type of racing. Both are fun, but it's like two different games. https://www.arcade-museum.com/Videogame/hot-rod

Pre-1990, you're mostly looking at the NES library as the go to. The older Atari games I don't think are worth it, outside of the historical context angle.

I'd say give Zelda I and II another shot. They are clunky, as most things from the era will be. But when you engage with them on their own terms, I think they're both really rewarding experiences.Don't be afraid to look for hints, some things can be obtuse - you can probably find old magazines in the Internet archives to reference.

If 1990 exactly counts, Crystalis is a Zelda-like with RPG elements that outdoes Zelda is many ways.

Castlevania is another one that's really great, but very clunky. There's no air control, so once you jump that's your arc. The game challenges are built around that in a satisfying way though.

SMB 1-3 you probably have played before, but if not those hold up.

Even more frictionless, the first 2 or 3 Mega Man games feel just as refined as if they were made today.

Ninja Gaiden is known for challnge, but it also controls super smoothly and feels good to play.

Basically I guess my recs are mostly just explore the NES library. There's some Sega worth checking out and probably TurboGrafx too, but NES had most of the classics.

What kinds of newer games do you generally like?

Xexyz, on the NES, is an underrated gem. It's a mix of platformer and shoot-em-up, and honestly seemed a bit ahead of its time.

Qbert, Space Fury, Looping