The 1990s were landmark years for PC gaming, giving rise to three of the most deeply ingrained genres on the platform (first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, and massively multiplayer online games), and delivering memorable classics in the role-playing and adventure genres that the PC had long been known for. To celebrate this monumental decade -- even as we look to the end of the current one -- we've put together some reflections on our 25 favorite PC games of the '90s, as selected by GameSpy's editorial staff, and we'll be sharing them with you over the course of five days.
Note that these games aren't ranked (well, one particular game was unanimously hailed by the entire staff as the decade's best, but you'll have to wait for the final day to read about that one). Our election and voting process was thoroughly unscientific; these are the 25 games that garnered the highest collective nomination counts from GameSpy's editors, and we present them to you in no particular order (well, except for that last one... what could it be!?). Enjoy our commentary, discuss what games we picked (and didn't pick), and feel free to share your own choices with us!
Day One:
Wolfenstein 3D
The Secret of Monkey Island
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness
EverQuest
X-COM: UFO Defense
Day Two:
Doom II: Hell on Earth
Star Wars: Dark Forces
Day of the Tentacle
Grand Theft Auto
Lemmings
Day Three:
TIE Fighter
Half-Life
Quake
Outcast
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Day Four:
Diablo
Quake III: Arena
The Curse of Monkey Island
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
StarCraft
Day Five:
Grim Fandango
Baldur's Gate
Counter-Strike
System Shock 2
Doom