*NEW POLL* Championship - Which is the Best PC game of 1996? Gameplay Links!

Culled from my first 2 Polls, here are the most popular PC games on this forum going head-to- head....along with some NEW gameplay links for nostalgia and a feel for gaming that year:

Command and Conquer: Red Alert

Release Date: 10/31/1996

GS Score: 9.5

GameRankings score: 90.91% (11 reviews)

GS Line: "Red Alert has the pedigree of a champion and a premise to match"

Gameplay Sample: C&C: Red Alert - Late Allied Mission

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Diablo

Release Date: 11/30/1996

GS Score: 9.6

GameRankings Score: 89.29% (14 reviews)

GS Line: "Diablo is the best game to come out in the past year, and you should own a copy. Period."

Gameplay Sample: Diablo - Deckard Cain's revelation, Lazarus quest (very thorough, D2 players should watch, nasty succubi!)

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Duke Nukem 3d / Atomic Edition

Release Date: 01/31/1996 (original), 10/31/1996 (Atomic)

GS Score: 8.8 (original) / 8.9 (Atomic)

GameRankings Score: 88.50% (6 reviews, original game)

GS Line: "The ballots have been cast and the verdict has arrived: The Duke is A-#1."

Gameplay Sample: Duke Nukem 3d Atomic Edition - Babe land Level

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Quake

Release Date: 05/31/1996

GS Score: 9.3

GameRankings Score: 93.63% (8 reviews)

GS Line: "If you're into action games, or even if you're not, you should be playing Quake right now - it's as good as PC gaming gets."

Gameplay Sample: Quake - Episode 1, level 2 (Castle of the Damned)(looks like GLQuake here, popularized in 1997 thanks to the improved graphics)

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A few more links:

Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall - The first Dungeon

HoMM II - Epic battle to vanquish

Tomb Raider - run through of Boss battles

Enjoy!

i am just a wee baby, kinda sad i missed out:(

diablo, but a close second was duke nukem 3d.

Well, I cannot in good conscience vote for a first person shooter (unless it was N64 and that shooter was GoldEneye 007), and I've never understood why people like C&C so much, so while I'm quite certain there were better PC games in 1996, Diablo wins by virtue of me not giving a **** about any of the other choices presented. (I love Diablo II, but the first one...meh.)SpaceMoose

[QUOTE="SpaceMoose"]Well, I cannot in good conscience vote for a first person shooter (unless it was N64 and that shooter was GoldEneye 007), and I've never understood why people like C&C so much, so while I'm quite certain there were better PC games in 1996, Diablo wins by virtue of me not giving a **** about any of the other choices presented. (I love Diablo II, but the first one...meh.)kevy619

Well, time for bed, vote on if you haven't.

Youtube doesn't provide the best quality videos, but the game videos should give you an idea of the state of gaming from 1996.

Man, i think I'll throw the original Diablo in and play it.....it plays on Vista by the way.

I was only 7 then, so I never got a chance to play those games. Though from the clips they all look great for their time.millerlight89

Yeah great games all, really seemed Gameplay won over Graphics then. Daggerfall had awful graphics, but there are many who feel it was a much better game than either Morrowind or Oblivion. Certainly was much much bigger (and uh unfortunately perhaps buggier as a result)! Probably why they made the world's smaller in Morrowind and Oblivion.

I wish the Quake video played the soundtrack to that level, the soundtrack (by Trent Reznor) intensifies Quake beyond belief.

My favorite 1996 game was Tomb Raider, very few games have that kind of Atmosphere.

All 4 of these games in the Poll are absolutely legendary in PC Gaming.

[QUOTE="millerlight89"]I was only 7 then, so I never got a chance to play those games. Though from the clips they all look great for their time.AFBrat77

Yeah great games all, really seemed Gameplay won over Graphics then.

I wish the Quake video played the soundtrack to that level, the soundtrack intensifies Quake (by Trent Reznor) beyond belief.

Good start to the poll....tight race

Duke Nukem 3D all the way, tho all of them are superb games. There were not bad games in the 90's only superb games, extremely good or good and this poll has only superb games:).

I loved all these games and it was the hardest pick of all your polls. But of all of them I had to pick Quake. Diablo would be second followed by Duke but I wouldn't want to live on the difference.

There were not bad games in the 90's only superb games, extremely good or good and this poll has only superb games:).

DanielDust

There were tons of crap, they're just forgotten now.

I choose Quake, with Duke a close second.

[QUOTE="DanielDust"]

There were not bad games in the 90's only superb games, extremely good or good and this poll has only superb games:).

Baranga

There were tons of crap, they're just forgotten now.

I choose Quake, with Duke a close second.

Diablo

Diablo and Quake, quite a battle......with the other 2 JUST behind.

We had many classics back in 1996 like Diablo, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D, Descent II, Heroes of Might and Magic II, Command & Conquer, CivilizationII, and more,but my favorite one was The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.

I'll certainly replay it once DaggerXL project is finished: http://daggerxl.wordpress.com/

Diablo, Daggerfall and Duke Nukem where all awesome games (Red Alert and Civ2 was good to) , i cant jsut pick one

Diablo. Quake is the runner up.

On this poll I pick quake. Good multiplayer FPS practically didn't exist until quake.

On this poll I puck quake. Good multiplayer FPS practically didn't exist until quake.

shakmaster13

Unquestionably Quake was the first multiplayer Masterpiece, there was LAN multiplayer before of course, but if you want to pick the one game that lit the multiplayer FPS fire that blazes on today, it was Quake. For that reason alone, Quake was an automatic Hall of Fame game.

I liked the singleplayer alot too, I'll never forget the sounds of the ogre grenades flying all over or the sound of fiends ready to spring behind me. Not to mention as I've stated before Trent Reznor's perfectly executed soundtrack.

Overall, with a tough choice I picked Diablo, my very first PC game, and the reason I'm here at this site now. Game is close to my heart.......another brilliant soundtrack bringing the games intensity up and Atmosphere thru the roof. VERY addicting like its sequel.

I'll certainly replay it once DaggerXL project is finished: http://daggerxl.wordpress.com/

RyuRanVII

Explain this to me, is Daggerfall's Graphics being updated? and will it be compatible with Vista and Windows 7?

Also don't forget Tomb Raider, my personal favorite from 1996.

1996 IMO was the first great year in PC Gaming, games were being made for the new Windows '95 platform and were now pretty much all on CD's, a huge boost to PC Gaming popularity and with developers. The next 4 years (1997 - 2000 inclusive) were brilliant as well. Heck even PC Gamer was at its best!

Now there were no bad games in 1996...:lol: Anyways, I voted for Diablo.Renevent42

Most are very good, like any year there are a few rubbish games.

To all: Should I make a 1997 Poll? Or should I stop here?

Las call for 1996....still a tight race!

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]Now there were no bad games in 1996...:lol: Anyways, I voted for Diablo.AFBrat77

Most are very good, like any year there are a few rubbish games.

To all: Should I make a 1997 Poll? Or should I stop here?

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]Now there were no bad games in 1996...:lol: Anyways, I voted for Diablo.Renevent42

Most are very good, like any year there are a few rubbish games.

To all: Should I make a 1997 Poll? Or should I stop here?

sure, but just like any year

[QUOTE="Renevent42"][QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

Most are very good, like any year there are a few rubbish games.

To all: Should I make a 1997 Poll? Or should I stop here?

AFBrat77

sure, but just like any year

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="Renevent42"] There were TONS of rubbish games. It was a great year though, one of the best.Renevent42

sure, but just like any year

haha yeah, in 1997 I started buying PC Gamer with the CD's lots of poor demos along with 2 or 3 excellent ones.

Voted Quake. It wasn't just an awesome game..it was a revolution (pioneered multiplayer FPS gaming as we know it today.)

Diablo was good, Battle.net was revolutionary for the time. but way too much character editing going on. No point having a RPG when no one has to earn their gear. So going to have to say Quake for that reason.

The juggernaut that is Quake takes the lead!

Should I make a 1997 Poll later today?