Remembering the good all days, when me and my friends were playing Doom, Mortal Kombat, Quake or War Craft on a Pentium 133 MHz computer with Sound Blaster and a 4MB video card. A lot has changed since then.

Video games actually are a lot older than that we used to play in the 90s. The first video game was created in 1947 called Tennis for two and it was played on an oscilloscope like device.

With the release of Apple II, Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum in late 70s early 80s people could afford to buy such devices and to play video games from their own home. By the mid 80s the video game industry started to evolve at a fast pace releasing games such as Zork, Battlezone and Bard’s Tale.

The 1990s became the golden age of computer video games and gave birth to a large number of game developers and publishers such as Activision, Electronic Arts, Blizzard and id Software

From design and graphics point of view, video games greatly evolved and continue to do so. Writing about 90s computer games in 2008 is somewhat nostalgic and in the same time it’s funny, because what can you expect from a 16 bit graphic display and a 100 MHz machine, but remembering that in those days these configs were king just as 3,6 GHz and Nvidia GeForce 9400 nowdays.

So, let’s look at how the graphics and design evolved starting from 1990.

1990

Nintendo releases Super Famicom 16 bit console

Creative Labs introduces Soundblaster Pro

Wing Commander



Source: mobygames.com

Super Mario World



Source: mobygames.com

Final Fantasy III



Source: mobygames.com

Commander Keen



Source: mobygames.com

1991

Graphic accelerator cards are born

id Software is founded

Tim Berners-Lee introduces the World Wide Web

Intel sells 486SX processors

Civilization



Source: mobygames.com

Road Rash



Source: mobygames.com

The Legend of Zelda



Source: mobygames.com

Neverwinter Nights



Source: mobygames.com

1992

Microsoft releases Windows 3.1

Mortal Kombat



Source: mobygames.com

Wolfenstein 3D



Source: mobygames.com

Dune II



Source: mobygames.com

1993

Microsoft releases Windows NT and MS-DOS 6

Intel Pentium 60 MHz processor is released

Sim City 2000



Source: markhell.wordpress.com/2008/02

Doom



Source: mobygames.com

Virtua Fighter

Source: Wikipedia

Master of Orion



Source: warpcore.org

1994

Commodore computers files for bankruptcy

3DFX is founded (company known for it’s Voodoo video cards)

First Sony Playstation is introduced

Heretic



Source: http://www.happypenguin.org/

Warcraft



Source: mobygames.com

Tekken



Source: mobygames.com

1995

The first E3 is held in Las Vegas

Microsoft Windows 95 is released

DirectX 1.0 is introduced by Microsoft

ATX motherboards are born

Warcraft II



Source: immortalmachines.com

The Need For Speed



Source: mobygames.com

Command and Conquer



Source: mobygames.com

1996

Intel released 200 MHz Pentium

DirectX 2.0 is released

Nintendo releases the first true 64 bit game console

Quake



Source: www.geocities.com/adel_bball/fun.html

Duke Nukem 3D



Source: mobygames.com

M.A.X.



Source: mobygames.com

1997

Wi-Fi is released

DirectX 5.0 is released

Intel introduces MMX chips

First DVDs are sold

Intel 233 MHz processor is introduced

Grand Theft Auto



Source: mobygames.com

Total Annihilation

Source: mobygames.com

Age of Empires



Source: gamegoldies.org

Final Fantasy VII

Source: TeamTeaBag

Quake 2



Source: midwesternbias.blogspot.com

Diablo



Source: chello.at/theodor.lauppert

1998

Intel releases Celeron processors

AMD 3DNow! is born

Rockstar Games is founded

Half Life



Source: mobygames.com

Starcraft with Broodwar expansion



Source: mobygames.com

Microsoft Flight Simulator 98



Source: mobygames.com

StarCraft



Source: thezeal.com

Unreal



Source: mobygames.com

1999

Sega Dreamcast is released

Pentium III 500 MHz is introduced

nVidia introduces the GPU (Graphics Processor Unit)

EverQuest



Source: flatrock.org.nz

Heroes of Might and Magic III



Source: mobygames.com

2000

Sony Playstation 2 is released with better graphics capability than a PC

The Sims



Source: thesims.eagames.nl/

Counter Strike



Source: ob81.com

Colin McRae Rally 2



Source: mobygames.com

Grand Theft Auto 2



Source: ugo.com

2001

Microsoft enters the game consoles market with it’s XBox console

Max Payne



Source: mobygames.com

Grand Theft Auto 3



Source: compactiongames.about.com

Return to Castle Wolfenstein



Source: softpedia.com

Halo



Source: mobygames.com

Empire Earth



Source: gamesurge.com

2002

Mafia



Source: the-nextlevel.com

Diablo II Lord of destruction





Source: freegamesclub.blogspot.com

Warcraft 3



Source: ogre3d.org

Neverwinter Nights



Source: mobygames.com

Splinter Cell

Source: Wikipedia

Dungeon Siege



Source: gameogre.com

Battlefield 1942



Source: juegaenred.com

Baldur’s Gate – Dark Alliance



Source: filefront.com

2003

Nokia introduces the first console / mobile phone hybrid,the N-Gage series

Sony Playstation Portable is developed

Call of Duty



Source: Wikipedia

Tony Hawk’s Underground



Source: g4tv.com

Prince of Persia



Source: mobygames.com

Max Payne 2



Source: thierrygagnon.com

Rise of Nations



Source: compactiongames.about.com

2004

Acclaim declared bankruptcy

Doom 3



Source: flickr.com

World of Warcraft



Source: mobygames.com

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas



Source: flickr.com

Far Cry



Source: flickr.com

Half Life 2



Source: flickr.com

Halo 2



Source: computergames.ro

2005

XBox 360 is released

Sony Playstation Portable is released

Medal of Honor – European Assault



Source: mobygames.com

F.E.A.R.



Source: flickr.com

Age of Empires 3



Source: flickr.com

Guitar Hero



Source: mobygames.com

Need for Speed Most Wanted



Source: flickr.com

2006

The Godfather



Source: mobygames.com

Gears of War – 2006 (on XBOX), 2007 (On Windows)



Source: mobygames.com

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Source: Wikipedia

Elder Scrolls IV – Oblivion

Source: IGN

Hitman Blood Money



Source: mobygames.com

Prey



Source: steamreview.org

Heroes of Might and Magic V



Source: www.gameogre.com

Titan Quest



Source: gaming.hexus.net

2007

Blizzard announces Starcraft II

3D Realms released teaser trailer for Duke Nukem Forever

Halo 3



Source: flickr.com

Super Mario Galaxy

Source: Wikipedia

Crysis



Source: flickr.com

Call of Duty IV – Modern Warfare

Source: Wikipedia

Unreal Tournament 3



Source: flickr.com

FIFA 08



Source: computergames.ro

The Witcher



Source: flickr.com

Guitar Hero 3



Source: mobygames.com

2008

Blizzard announces Diablo III

Grand Theft Auto IV



Source: flickr.com

Prince of Persia



Source: Diversion Projects

Metal Gear Solid 4



Source: flickr.com

Shaun White Snowboarding

Source: IGN

Command and Conquer 3 Kane’s Wrath



Source: filefront.com

Madden NFL 09



Source: easports.com

Fallout 3



Source: theforumsite.com

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Source: Wikipedia

2009

Upcoming releases for the next year

F.E.A.R. 2

Source: IGN

Alan Wake



Source: IGN

Starcraft 2 Terrans: Wings of Liberty



Source: IGN

Diablo 3

Source: IGN

Written exclusively for WDD by Gyorgy Fekete

Which one is your favorite game? Share your favorites with us and let us what you think of this list!