Old Windows games

[nocturnal YL]

I've been digging out old Windows games (built-in or as part of Plus!) to play with. Not the more popular ones seen online (FreeSki, Reversi, 3D Pinball, Minesweeper, Spider Solitaire, Solitaire) though. I've been playing...


Lose Your Marbles!

You may have heard of or tried this as part of Plus! 98. Lose Your Marbles! is a SegaSoft title with very simple rules: You can move columns of marbles up and down, or shift the middle row rightwards. Line up 3 marbles horizontally in the middle row to make them disappear. Form chains and combos to make marbles appear at the opponent's side. You lose by having your entire play field filled up.

Now, let me launch this thing up...

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

*Ahem*

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

Despite the game being irresponsive and VMware's less-than-ideal emulation making the game's pace uneven (this happens when I use Windows 98 to play music as well), the computer player is pretty dumb. Winning isn't that much difficult at all.

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

...And that's it, really. You'll keep playing with the computer player until you exit the game, and the difficulty isn't going to rise. Most Microsoft Plus! games are like this, as they are just demo versions of otherwise paid-for games.

Trying to play in Windows 7 results in this horrible image:

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

The original didn't look like this either; it was coluored wrongly in other ways. I guess Windows 7 support for 256-color programs is finally broken.

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

Do the phone numbers still work, now that SegaSoft is history?


Hover!

This demo game is found in the Windows 95 disc and is meant to showcase the capabilities of the new OS. Quite surprisingly, this still works in Windows 7 64-bit.

CLICKETH TO VIEWETH
CLICKETH TO VIEWETH
CLICKETH TO VIEWETH
CLICKETH TO VIEWETH
CLICKETH TO VIEWETH

It's fun for a while, but since I didn't have the Windows 95 disc with me back when I was using the OS, it doesn't have much nostalgic value to me, unlike the other Windows games mentioned.


Maybe I should try XP Plus! next, but it's not like I haven't played that for a long while.

[8bitretroshit]

Late here, but I have a soft spot for ye olde DOS/early Windows games too so I always enjoy reading things like this

[BeamClaws]

Oh god oh god my brother's old computer had Lose your Marbles

Wave of nostalgia bro

He also had a DOS game called Alley Cat that was really damn fun. I should download it again...

[8bitretroshit]

Hell yes, Alley Cat top tier DOS game. Those murdering pixelated pitbulls still scare me to this day

[Prince~Of~Light]

I stil remember the fond memories of having DX Ball 2 when I got a PC first time at age of 6. (-=[]=-)

Got it again and it felt like I stepped on a time machine.

[Nester the Lark]

I liked playing Rattler Race, which is a variation of the "Snake" game.

Also, speaking of SegaSoft, there was one program they released back in the late '90s. I can't remember the name of it, and it wasn't a "game" per se, but it made a FPS-style gun appear on your desktop or web browser, and you used it to shoot and destroy web pages. There were some expansion packs. One was "food fight," in which you could throw eggs and other food products. Others you had to pay for, so I never got them. It was somewhat fun just to mess around with.

[Da Robot]

Ones I remember as a kid were Freeski (damn that yeti!), Jezzball/Maxwell's Maniac*, Rattler Race, Rodent's Revenge (kill the cats and turn them into . . . cheese?), and Chip's Challenge.



* The two are just clone games.



And if anyone is interested in Chip's Challenge, the creator is trying to get a sequal/spiritual successor made via Kickstarter.

[BeamClaws]

Ha ha, I remember Rodent's Revenge and Rattler Race. I couldn't read, and my family called it "Snake", so that's what I always called it. Thanks, now I can go download it again.

I also remember a program that put you inside a house that had various rooms, including one that let you view space. It wasn't really a game, but more a GUI for the computer. I had no idea what I was doing though.

I also remember another game, it was a golf game. It's very vague so I can't say anything, but the background was brown I think.

[8bitretroshit]

Apr 16, 2012 19:26:37 GMT -5 BeamClaws said:

I also remember a program that put you inside a house that had various rooms, including one that let you view space. It wasn't really a game, but more a GUI for the computer. I had no idea what I was doing though.

Sounds like Packard Bell Navigator. They made a bunch of these, including a really crappy first person 3D one. It's kind of fun to roam around the crazy Myth like enviroments, but really unpractical to actually work with..