One of my favourite things about PCs is that "old" is relative, really. Generations don't exist in any meaningful capacity. Steam and GOG sell everything from shiny new blockbusters to ancient relics, meaning the same hardware I use to power realistic puddle physics can be easily used to resurrect childhood favourites and discover painfully pink DOS experiences I missed out on the first time around. Most of the time the only difference is the name I click in whatever software library I have open in front of me.
For every older game I clear, another two I discover that I'd like to play somehow seem to pop up in its place. Whether some big publisher's carefully polishing up a beloved classic or a boutique label's unearthing long forgotten… maybe not treasure, but something weird and a little broken in all the ways that make me sit up and pay attention, there's always so much to catch up on.
RPGs - Roll 'em
Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989)
OK so yes, I know it looks so old it might need to literally be dug out of the earth to play, but there's a remarkably forward-thinking RPG hiding underneath those grey battlefields and slightly awkward interfaces.
The relatively uncommon use of morale in combat, my foes sometimes so frightened they might feel compelled to surrender or run away, makes my party—effortlessly transferred across from an earlier Pool of Radiance save and ready to fireball anything that stands in their way—feel powerful and dangerous in ways that go beyond mere stats. And the story itself is a tightly written adventure that's happy to throw some fun character or new and convincingly organic twist my way as often as possible.
Alt: The Temple of Elemental Evil (2003)
This impressively thorough take on D&D3.5 has been fixed up and made ready to play, finally allowing role players everywhere to spend more time wading knee-deep in its tactical potential than wondering if they were killed by a Giant Bug (Hit dice: 4d8+8, Initiative -1) or a, well, giant bug.
If any RPG deserves a second chance to shine, it's this one.
Shmups - Spaceships and 'splosions
RayCrisis (1998)
Lo-poly models and deliberately disjointed environments make a session with Taito's old arcade shmup feel like something out of a wonderful techno-dream. One minute I'm blasting my way through somewhere that looks like the insides of the world's largest computer, and in another moment I might be battling giant mechs over boiling lava. A fun combo mechanic that's obvious enough to engage with casually and complex enough to reward effort, as well as a host of other quirks, ensure there's always something worth practising, even all these decades later—and M2's new info-laden "gadgets" around the edges of the screen make understanding it all easier than ever.
Alt: Galaga (1981)
Not that a shmup has to whirl a camera around a 3D environment to be enjoyable, of course. Galaga may look simple, but there's an elegance to its ideas that has withstood the test of time. Getting a ship stolen, recovering it with my next life, and then (hopefully) tearing through enemy formations with double firepower never gets old.
Compilations - Byte-sized buffets
Capcom Arcade Stadium (1984~2001)
This is perfect for those "I don't know what I want to play, but I know I want to play something" moods, with enough additional features to satisfy nerdier desires. Do I really want to play the Japanese version of a game? Must this action play out on a specific colour of a particular type of arcade cabinet I've never seen outside of photos? Crisp pixels? Scanlines? Scanlines with an additional CRT-like curvature to the image?
Whether I end up slotting a virtual coin into the comfortingly familiar likes of Ghosts 'n Goblins and Strider or spend some time with Battle Circuit's angry eyepatch-wearing flamingos and Mega Twins' colourful fantasy action, there's something in here that's going to scratch my gaming itch.
Alt: Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium (1985~2003)
And if nothing at all in the first collection catches my eye? Then playing some Vampire Savior will probably fix that. Or The King of Dragons. Or Saturday Night Slam Masters. More Capcom is never a bad thing.
Puzzle - Elementary!
Legends of Murder (1989)
The magical fantasy murder mystery market should be much bigger than it is, especially when games like Legends of Murder are this much fun. I may only be moving a tiny rectangle of Inspector-representing pixels around an abstracted castle and pressing S a lot (to [S]earch the area), but there's just enough for me to see, and the text is descriptive enough to bring it all to life. There are "beautiful oaken tables" in the dining hall, a crystal orb has a "cool, smooth surface" and nobody is quite as honest as I'd like them to be.
It's almost as much fun to poke around these stone halls as it is to actually try and solve this mystery.
Alt: Puzzle Bobble 2 (1995)
Fantasy head-scratchers can come in many forms, and bubble-popping dragons battling purple ghosts on a beach is as valid as any DOS mystery. There are roughly a million different variations of Puzzle Bobble now, but this old sequel will always be my favourite thanks to its simplicity. Later entries in the series bring new characters and entertaining new gimmicks, but this is the one that strikes a perfect balance between pure joy and skill-rewarding depth.
Alone, it's a lot of fun. With a friend, it's an absolute riot.
Remasters - When it's new but also old
Time Gal HD Remaster (1985)
Dinosaurs, laser guns, and swordfighting—few games pack as much variety into five expressive minutes of anime action as Time Gal does. Few games have as little player input either, to be fair—press up now or die, press right now or die, press left now or… ah, you get it. But it's hard to stay mad at a game with sprinting mammoths, pirates, and Death (or so many bespoke failure cutscenes, each one played for laughs).
Is it some deep, layered experience with a lot to say or packed with challenge? Oh goodness no, not even close. Am I always happier after inexpertly stumbling my way through a few time zones? Absolutely. And the best part is, thanks to this remaster this old arcade laser disc game's never looked better, or been easier (and rarely cheaper) to buy.
Alt: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (1997)
With the The Ivalice Chronicles bundling an accurate version of the original (English text thankfully updated) and an exquisitely executed remaster liberally sprinkled with brand new material into one package, returning to this troubled land for another round of tactical god-slaying has never been so much fun. It's the old game I love. It's a new game ready to surprise me. It's as brilliant as ever.
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