*POLL* 1996 - The Dawn of Modern PC Gaming...Which was the best game?

In 1996, games were now being made primarily for a Windows operating system (Windows '95) and now on CD-ROM discs. 3d advancements began the Graphic Wars, and the Golden Age of PC Gaming (1996-2000 IMO) began. And Gamespot was a fledgling website ;).

Which of these was your favorite? Apologies to Duke Nukem 3d and a couple other games, not enough room on Poll. These 5 are rock solid.

In a VERY tough vote I'm going with the original Tomb Raider, the Atmosphere of this game even eclipses Diablo and Quake and their tremendous soundtracks IMO.

The T. Rex leaving the cave remains my most frightening moment in gaming!

Command and Conquer for sure. Once I figured out online play it was a blast. EArly day comp stomps were so much fun.

beautiful start, 1 vote for each game

You and your polls. Well, I broke the five way tie. Command & Conquer all the way!

You and your polls. Well, I broke the five way tie. Command & Conquer all the way!

Phoenix534

Yeah, I like to throw them out there for fun

guarantee someones gonna say "where's Duke Nukem! This poll sucks". I've had enough experience with polls to know you can't please everyone.

All 5 of these games belong in the Hall of Fame.

My favorite game from 1996 isn't in the list: Duke Nukem 3D.

Edit: Just so you know, I don't think this poll sucks - I just wanted to post my fav, which happened to not appear on it. There were many great PC games other than those listed in the poll.

I don't like the original Red Alert (RA2 is awesome, though). Don't care for the original Diablo much (Diablo 2 is awesome, though). I only in the last year and a half or so played Quake 1 for the first time, it's OK, but kind of a bland game for me (Doom is infinitely better). Never been into Tomb Raider games, and what I played of the original on the Playstation waaayyyy back when didn't impress me. Haven't played any Civ games yet (besides the demo for the Civ 4 expansion in space, which didn't appeal to me).

I suppose I'd pick Quake out of these options. As you bring up DN3D, though, I'd definitely vote for that if it were on the poll.

My favorite game from 1996 isn't in the list: Duke Nukem 3D.

Edit: Just so you know, I don't think this poll sucks - I just wanted to post my fav, which happened to not appear on it. There were many great PC games other than those listed in the poll.

Stinger78

fair enough....thanks for being respectfull :)

I would have loved to include it, so often I just need that 6th option on my Polls. Honestly, the 5 games on my Poll are each different genres, theres just no way I could have Duke Nukem on here and Quake off!

I'm finally playing that old classic (DN3d) now, and i love it!

DOOM II is my fav game of all time, but Duke Nukem has been a worthy followup.

Voted diablo although I wouldn't call any of the games my top favorites though (loved their next iterations more - Diablo 2, red Alert 2, quake 2) . for 1996 it would Master of Orion 2, HoMM 2, Duke Nukem

Voted diablo although I wouldn't call any of the games my favorite (loved their next iterations though - Diablo 2, red Alert 2, quake 2) . for 1996 it would Master of Orion 2, HoMM 2, Duke Nukemnaval

Ouch! I missed Heroes of Might and Magic II....argh!

Also, Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was that year, though it was quite buggy.

Still, 5 solid choices there, but it makes me wonder now if I should have made 2 polls for 1996 and had the winners go head-to-head. Suppose I could still make a second tommorrow.

This should be on the list.

[QUOTE="naval"]Voted diablo although I wouldn't call any of the games my favorite (loved their next iterations though - Diablo 2, red Alert 2, quake 2) . for 1996 it would Master of Orion 2, HoMM 2, Duke NukemAFBrat77

Ouch! I missed Heroes of Might and Magic II....argh!

Also, Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall was that year, though it was quite buggy.

This should be on the list.

bogaty

great game also, I had that puppy, I always felt 1996 was the first great year of PC Gaming, seems I forgot some of the clas*ics, but no room, five I have are all clas*ics and important also.

Out of all the games in the actual poll, it would be a close match between Quake and Tomb Raider - though I've enjoyed the sequels to those games more often than the originals.

Out of all the games in the actual poll, it would be a close match between Quake and Tomb Raider - though I've enjoyed the sequels to those games more often than the originals.

Stinger78

Interesting, I've always felt the original Tomb Raider was definitely the best until maybe the remake (which i haven't played), but I do know there are a share that like Tomb Raider II even more than the original.

As for Quake, I also liked the original better (but I liked Quake 2 alot), I enjoyed the dark gloomy Goth setting and preferred Trent Reznor's creepy soundtrack to the Strogg and the heavy metal soundtrack.

1996? Only a few select people had a 3dfx Voodoo. I got mine on Christmas 1996. The first wholly 3-d accelerated game was Mechwarrior 2 which was bundled with the card. Demos of 3d-accelerated versions of EF2000, Tomb Raider, Descent were also included.

All other games with 3d-acceleration patches wouldn't get them until 1997.

That said, I loved the 3dfx Tomb Raider. It's what tore me away from my N64.

Edit: The card was a Diamond Monster 3D

Also I distinctively remember Quake as somewhat meh in the reviews until the GLQuake patch came along in late January 1997. After that, it was a firestorm.

Definitely Red Alert, such a great game.

RA had me hooked when I was a kid, always liked to build up my base full of tesla coils, get a huge tank army and steam roll the AI, good times.

way to little votes for Civilization 2. _Pedro_

I added my vote for CIV II......that was AWESOME !

*+

I built a new rig in 1996, specifically for Quake; also spent hundreds of hours playing Red Alert and Diablo.

But I voted for Civ II... so many nights that turned to dawn. Just. One. More. Turn.

Of the games listed, Tomb Raider created a sense of immersion the likes of which I hadn't experienced to that point. Thus it's my choice.

i've played all the games (except Civ 2) on the poll list and love them all equally. but if i had to choose, it's gonna be Tomb Raider. the sense of great adventure impressed the hell outta the teenager that i had been.

Also I distinctively remember Quake as somewhat meh in the reviews until the GLQuake patch came along in late January 1997. After that, it was a firestorm.

jun_aka_pekto

Still, it was 1996's games that inspired 3dfx and the graphics age.

Tomb Raider did not need a 3dfx card to be great. A 3dfx card using Open GL made Quake look 10 times better, but Quake already had (IMO) the most perfect soundtrack for a particular game ever, and it was still quite excellent with or without Open GL (though at that time it looked unbelievably superior using Open GL, can't stress that enough).

My first 3dfx card was Diamond Monster II coupled with an ATI card. Probably '98 i got that.

kings quest 5 or doom1

i've played all the games (except Civ 2) on the poll list and love them all equally. but if i had to choose, it's gonna be Tomb Raider. the sense of great adventure impressed the hell outta the teenager that i had been.

Jinroh_basic

Not to mention that T.Rex.....as I stated earlier still my scariest moment in gaming, the Atlanteans and mummy's popping out late in the game could be unsettling since the game made you feel you were there.

Great thing about Tomb Raider, besides the 3d, was the locales, which looked beautiful, whether in Central America, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, or Atlantis. The game was overflowing with Atmosphere. It was lonely and scary, and you were there!

Hmmm.....I wonder if I can still play it on Vista. I'm still using my original 17" Samsung CRT monitor, served me well.....PC's have come and gone but this monitor has been the rock.

what can i say.... it's the gaming counterpart for Indiana Jones.

Civ2 - it outlasted everything. Diablo burned brighter, but ended too soon. Red Alert ended eventually. I never could find a Quake LAN party - too rural :(. And Laura jumped and shot her way to the end game. But Civ2 just would not die - ofthese games, it is the only one I would take if I needed a single game to last me 5 years.

EM

what can i say.... it's the gaming counterpart for Indiana Jones.

Jinroh_basic

As an indicator, it was a lot more. Rough, tough and capable female leads were not very common at all until Tomb Raider arrived. No, I don't think that Tomb Raider caused the change - it was just one of the first media items that proved that a heroine could carry an action title, be it game or movie.

EM

[QUOTE="Jinroh_basic"]

what can i say.... it's the gaming counterpart for Indiana Jones.

Evilmeanie

As an indicator, it was a lot more. Rough, tough and capable female leads were not very common at all until Tomb Raider arrived. No, I don't think that Tomb Raider caused the change - it was just one of the first media items that proved that a heroine could carry an action title, be it game or movie.

EM

haven't thought about that but i agree. good point. on the other hand, i remember the game was viewed unfavourably by certain feminists, who claimed the game was only portraying Lara as a sexual object. i guess you can look at it both ways - but luckily, it looked and played great either way. :D

Man did I love the crap out of Diablo when I got a copy.

I voted Quake but Civilization II is still pretty damn sweet.

Never did finish Tomb Raider due to Super Mario 64. My vote will probably go to Quake - at the time I didn't even knew the game was name Quake nor who even developed it, lol...

Tomb Raider did not need a 3dfx card to be great. A 3dfx card using Open GL made Quake look 10 times better, but Quake already had (IMO) the most perfect soundtrack for a particular game ever, and it was still quite excellent with or without Open GL (though at that time it looked unbelievably superior using Open GL, can't stress that enough).AFBrat77

Tomb Raider was great on all the platforms it was on. But at that time, I was at a crossroad on whether to stick with pc gaming or move on to consoles. Both PSX and N64 had 3D acceleration. But, it was the N64 which was cutting edge at the time.

The framerates for the SVGA versions of both Quake and Tomb raider weren't that great and that was on my pc with a P-200MMX and a Matrox Millenium. I was forced to play at low-res for both games to be enjoyable. 3dfx fixed both problems in one fell swoop and that's why I'm still on the pc today. It all harks back to that year.

Sooner or later I'll probably be at a similar crossroad again. Who knows what I'll pick next time. But, it has to be good when there are choices to pick from.

I said C&C Red Alert just because it was the first real game I played, spent so many hours on that game. On a side note, man does that Tomb Raider look stupid, her breasts are almost as big as her head, and considering how big her head is... -.-xwolfghost

Trust me.....Tomb Raider is a great game, if i could get it to work on Vista I would. Sure, the remake called Anniversary is out, but something tells me it will lack some of the charm of the original. I do need to get that though.

[QUOTE="xwolfghost"]I said C&C Red Alert just because it was the first real game I played, spent so many hours on that game. On a side note, man does that Tomb Raider look stupid, her breasts are almost as big as her head, and considering how big her head is... -.-AFBrat77

Trust me.....Tomb Raider is a great game, if i could get it to work on Vista I would. Sure, the remake called Anniversary is out, but something tells me it will lack some of the charm of the original. I do need to get that though.

[QUOTE="AFBrat77"]

[QUOTE="xwolfghost"]I said C&C Red Alert just because it was the first real game I played, spent so many hours on that game. On a side note, man does that Tomb Raider look stupid, her breasts are almost as big as her head, and considering how big her head is... -.-xwolfghost

Trust me.....Tomb Raider is a great game, if i could get it to work on Vista I would. Sure, the remake called Anniversary is out, but something tells me it will lack some of the charm of the original. I do need to get that though.

Ok, I get ya. She is a Tomb Raider anyhow so i could have taken it that way as well.

To all- I'll have a 2nd Poll for 1996 later today, the top games from both Polls will battle it out.

I'm going to include gameplay sample linksfor each of the games as well, for a throwback feel.

Diablo. Simply because it was the first game to streamline online gaming. Remember having to manually put ip address into quake. Then Diablo was released, great game - and Bnet was definitely revolutionary.