Ok, so I recently purchased 2 old Compaq Laptops for $25 each, my plan is to have MS DOS and Windows 95 or 98,

I used to love playing PC games with my buddies in the early days of the dial up Modems!

We would play Duke3D, Warcraft 1, C&C, ... Etc

We would also play RPG type games at ge same time and compare notes when we got stuck (a few of my fondest memories were Myst, Savage Empire, and Solar Winds) <- all fantastic!

So my question to you guys, which 3.5" floppy or CD games should I go hunt down to play with my buddies on my new / old DOS-Win95 machines!?!

Thanks in advance!

I really enjoyed the Tomb Raider games, IMO the controls were better suited on a PC. Overall the unique platforming and exploration component had me playing for hours. It's scary with the music too 

Another game similiar to this was Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine. You might be familiar with its N64 port, but the PC version is far superior. Beautiful Graphics with more emphasis on puzzle solving and less tomb raider jumping.

Not unsurprisingly, the best games of the pre-90s PC era weren't multiplayer, given the platform restrictions.
Exceptions exist - MULE, Archon, North and South, and some of the MUDs.
Things really open up in the 90s with the expanding popularity of the Internet. World's your oyster if you are looking for 90-99 games.

Good Ones! I need to check out the Indy Jones one!

Another one just hit me! "Scorched Earth"!! So fun 2 player!!!

When I was a kid I would use a null modem cable to link up my PC with my brother's PC. I can't remember everything we did that with. We played a lot of original Doom and the other Doom engine games like Heretic & Hexen. Since you mentioned Duke 3D, the other Build engine games are awesome too (Blood, Shadow Warrior) and even Rise of the Triad which slightly preceded the Build engine I think... Dune 2 was another good old RTS. The original DOS version of Worms was always fun too.

On the single player front, the Sierra adventure games like King's Quest and Quest for Glory still hold up.

What he said about Doom. I still have my null modem in my computer tool box. I was the only one out of my friends that had two computers with Doom and a null modem. Didn't work all that well, but enough for us to play together. 

Started making my my own WAD files using DoomBuilder and the rooms were impossible to complete single player. Spent hours upon hours on one level because of how many enemies I'd put in each room. 

 

Don't forget to add modem to modem Diablo to your list, though we were already well versed in the practice from Doom, Duke3d, and Descent.

Star Wars Jedi Knight series. I never got to play Dark Forces II multiplayer, which is one of my biggest regrets since 10 year old me couldn't figure out how to connect online to play. I did play a ton of Jedi Knight II/Jedi Academy online though, but those were early 2000 titles.

Good Suggestions!! I guess you are right, not too many 80s multiplayer PC games, Keep em coming!

There were a lot in the 80's, they were just generally text-based RPGs and all involved dialing into a BBS.

 

Gawd, I loved this one.  Great space game.... and excellent multiplayer.


I'd have to say Jedi Knight, personally.  It was one of the greatest games to play online multiplayer with.  Back in the days of the MSN Zone... I don't know if anyone else was on then  

Also Doom 2, I know it was mentioned but great game.  Total Annihilation was pretty fun as well.  A lot like the Command and Conquer series.  This thread makes me want to go get an old piecer and get back into it
 

Age of Empires and Age of Empires II plus all the expansions. Some of my favorite RTS games ever made. The multiplayer on MSN Zone or single player, both were a lot of fun. I could list more games but they stretch into the 2000s so I didn't include them. I played a lot of single player PC games in the 90s but it wasn't until '97-'98 that I finally played some online multiplayer games.

In the mid-90s I played Warcraft 2 MP all the time.

I was big into Rainbow Six in the late 90s.

Have you actually played Infernal Machine on PC and N64 back-to-back? The N64 port is vastly improved with better graphics, better controls and it does tend to be less glitchy than the PC version. Indy 64 does need the expansion pak though, it looks a lot worse with the jumper pak, that and the level "King Solomon's Mines" isn't available with the jumper pak installed.

I'm happy to see Age of Empires and Jedi Knight being mentioned, those are total classics.

EDIT: Didn't notice the OP until now.


Are you planning to put MS-DOS and Windows 9x on the same laptop? You're gonna need a 3rd party bootloader if you want them on the same hard drive, or careful configuration of the Win9x bootloader if you know what you're doing. MS-DOS and Win9x think of themselves as the same thing from a booting standpoint, they were never intended to be installed together on one PC. Win9x and WinNT are very compatible with multiboot though.

You may also have trouble finding drivers if you got really old Compaq laptops. What models are they? If they're too new, there won't be any Win9x drivers, much less MS-DOS. I have lucked out with certain Dell and IBM laptops being "too new" for Win9x yet drivers can still be found a la carte elsewhere.

If you are serious about MS-DOS and Win9x gaming, you should sign up at VOGONS, there is a wealth of information there.

I just remember playing it on PC back in the day. Never played B2B though, graphics could be better. I remember the last level (Called return to somewhere) on PC could be unlocked by buying a map, while the N64 port you needed a certain amount of idols. Just like Tomb Raider though; how Indy/Laura move by pivoting, the direction keys just feel smoother for moving. Even with the N64 Hori.

I always thought the C buttons looked a bit cubbersome, better fitted in OOT. But maybe the C buttons on the N64 port were a better alternative than hitting individual keys on the keyboard. One thing that is annoying on the N64 port though is how frequently you have to open the menu, PC you just push a key.

Playing through the N64 port recently though.. I did come accross one game breaking glitch. Last level where you rescue sophie, those Zero gravity tube things. The very last one to get to the boss glitched out and I would fall to my death. I finally triggered it so the glitch wouldnt happen, (Which happened to be not saving) and I finally beat it. Cant rememebr any glitches on the PC port.. but i also havent played in 15+ years.

That's very interesting that King solomons mine doesnt work without an expansion pack.. Curious it it just skips you to the next level, or pauses the game until you get an expansion pack. I'm happy to hear someone else has played through Infernal Machine  

If you can play duke, then you should be able to play diablo.

I'd definitely recommend the fan project "Diablo: The Hell", as it makes Diablo harder and uses all the elements (even unused ones) from Diablo: Hellfire. And all you need is a file from the original Diablo disk to play it.

Otherwise, while they're not multiplayer... Xargon (parts 1-3), Billy The Kid and Corridor 7 were my games back when I was a kid and we had a Windows 95 computer. Xargon is an action platformer with a mediocre story, and Corridor 7 is a Doom clone of sorts, for those unfamiliar.



This topic makes me nostalgic for games like Gateworld, Virtual On, and Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego, haha.

I've been wanting to get into Quake myself, seeing as how they are going to try and shoehorn it back into the realm of eSports.

Arena shooters have always looked fun.

Myth
Myth II
Total Annihilation
Original Counter-Strike