How you play really old PC games?

[BlankyBoyAUS]

I just recently bought a Windows 95 computer on eBay that has been cleaned and refurbished with the CMOS battery being replaced. Now I haven’t got the computer yet but the idea behind my purchase was so I can use real hardware to play old PC educational games I used to play starting really early in childhood like Madeline and other Creative Wonders games as well as a number of Humongous games like Putt-Putt Saves The Zoo. I tried to setup up a virtual machine with Windows 95 and installation failed. Had better luck with Windows 98, but I like the Win95 startup sound better. Plus I think Windows 95 might allow me to play MS-DOS games better than later OS’s.

It’s just emulation is not perfect and I think real hardware brings in a more genuine authentic experience.

So tell me guys, what method have you used in playing really old PC games from more than 20 years or so ago?

 

[BlueHama]

vm ware maybe?. Used to be like a right click and run in an older version of windows thing too. Couple websites that you can play old games on.

 

[BlankyBoyAUS]

vm ware maybe?. Used to be like a right click and run in an older version of windows thing too. Couple websites that you can play old games on.

I mean I did play an MS-DOS pinball game I remember playing on an emulator during my teenage years. Via Archive.org.

But like I said, real hardware tends to bring in a more genuine authentic experience for me. The only time I’m using an emulator is if I don’t have any more room or if the console or computer is too obscure, or old and fragile.

 

[Newbaby110521]

Most games from my childhood run on modern systems including titles like Age of Mythology, The Sims 2, and CIV 4. However since gaining a Mac I’ve played less because Mac PCs aren’t great for gaming (one of their failings) so I’m planning to buy myself a Xbox Series X so I can game easier and one of the best parts of Xbox is it will play older games that I first played with my cousins when they got the first generation Xbox.

 

[LainIsLain]

DOSBox seems to be my go to for the old stuff under Windows 10. I built a Windows 98 machine but haven't messed with it very much because DOSBox works really well.

Although... If I'm being honest, a 486DX machine with dual VooDoo2's sounds appealing just like the one I use to have! *Never Mind! Just checked the price on those!

 

[Lortimer]

Getting actual old hardware would be prohibitive for me financially and in terms of how much space it would take up. However, like others have said DosBox has been a big part of my gaming habits for close to ten years now. I love how GoG packages a lot of old games with pre-optimized DosBox configurations.

 

[Saltedcaramel64]

I use the gaming app GOG wich stands for good old games. They have a huge catalogue of games that are set up to run on modern machines through dos emulators or whatever the case may be. I'm not sure what to do with an actual windows95 machine. Its pretty cool that you got one and I hope you get some old disks with games on them. Id recommend checking on ebay or similar websites for the games. Some great old titles to check from that era would be Day of the Purple Tentacle, Monkey Island, Doom 1&2, Wolfenstein, Darksun Shattered Lands, Hero Quest, Sam and Max and Full Throttle, just to name a few. I hope you have fun with your new toy.

 

[Raven801]

GoG and dos box ... I have tried all sorts of emulators and yeah they can be buggy for sure I have tried all sorts over the years to play some classics like alien vs predator and a lot of the original first person shooters and I'm starting to gather some old hardware for a retro build

 

[PrincessNozomi]

A few of those games recently came out on the Nintendo Switch.
But yeah, there are always emulators out there for almost any kind of really old game even if they're often really hard to find the good quality ones.

 

[FudgedInLuvs]

I really miss the old math games the school PCs (macs) had. The machine one, Math Blasters the search for Spot, there was also one where you drove a little race car through a maze to get to a castle and every wall you hit was actually a math reading puzzle, Word Munchers, Think Quest (always modified it so I was building a car), Tonka games, the updated Oregon Trail, I Spy Spooky Mansion, and there's another one that for the life of me is aggravating me not knowing the damn name. Would anyone happen to know a math game from the late 90s-early 00s where the main character/icon was a kangaroo? Think it opened similar to Arthur and then you had a menu of functions to explore like a rubber band peg board, shape building (very geometry focused)? Thinking I need to somehow get these games, and a n64 with Rush, Rush 2049, Gex and Ms Pac Man for starters. I so miss being a kid in that era!

 

[KitsuneFox]

I use D-Fend Reloaded
Single click DOS game loading, no configurations required

I use it to play ZZT, Civilization 1, Command & Conquer 1, and quite a few other games.

 

[PrincessNozomi]

I really miss the old math games the school PCs (macs) had. The machine one, Math Blasters the search for Spot, there was also one where you drove a little race car through a maze to get to a castle and every wall you hit was actually a math reading puzzle, Word Munchers, Think Quest (always modified it so I was building a car), Tonka games, the updated Oregon Trail, I Spy Spooky Mansion, and there's another one that for the life of me is aggravating me not knowing the damn name. Would anyone happen to know a math game from the late 90s-early 00s where the main character/icon was a kangaroo? Think it opened similar to Arthur and then you had a menu of functions to explore like a rubber band peg board, shape building (very geometry focused)? Thinking I need to somehow get these games, and a n64 with Rush, Rush 2049, Gex and Ms Pac Man for starters. I so miss being a kid in that era!

The Jump Start series was my introduction to PC gaming. I also remember Math Blasters and Oregon Trail.

 

[Newbaby110521]

I really miss the old math games the school PCs (macs) had. The machine one, Math Blasters the search for Spot, there was also one where you drove a little race car through a maze to get to a castle and every wall you hit was actually a math reading puzzle, Word Munchers, Think Quest (always modified it so I was building a car), Tonka games, the updated Oregon Trail, I Spy Spooky Mansion, and there's another one that for the life of me is aggravating me not knowing the damn name. Would anyone happen to know a math game from the late 90s-early 00s where the main character/icon was a kangaroo? Think it opened similar to Arthur and then you had a menu of functions to explore like a rubber band peg board, shape building (very geometry focused)? Thinking I need to somehow get these games, and a n64 with Rush, Rush 2049, Gex and Ms Pac Man for starters. I so miss being a kid in that era!

For me the best math game was called ‘I Love Maths’ By DK you played a game where you had to save 4 ancient civilisations using your math skills. It was great unfortunately DK no longer really exists they also had one for spelling and science.

 

[PrincessNozomi]

For me the best math game was called ‘I Love Maths’ By DK you played a game where you had to save 4 ancient civilisations using your math skills. It was great unfortunately DK no longer really exists they also had one for spelling and science.

When I see DK, what comes to my mind is Donkey Kong. There was a fun educational game that stared Donkey Kong Jr back in the NES era. Was that what you were talking about?

 

[Deleted member 63979]

I just recently bought a Windows 95 computer on eBay that has been cleaned and refurbished with the CMOS battery being replaced. Now I haven’t got the computer yet but the idea behind my purchase was so I can use real hardware to play old PC educational games I used to play starting really early in childhood like Madeline and other Creative Wonders games as well as a number of Humongous games like Putt-Putt Saves The Zoo. I tried to setup up a virtual machine with Windows 95 and installation failed. Had better luck with Windows 98, but I like the Win95 startup sound better. Plus I think Windows 95 might allow me to play MS-DOS games better than later OS’s.

It’s just emulation is not perfect and I think real hardware brings in a more genuine authentic experience.

So tell me guys, what method have you used in playing really old PC games from more than 20 years or so ago?

Follow LGR/Lazy Game Reviews on Youtube. Clint is a sucker for hardware from that era and he has all kinds of advice on sourcing and running the kind of kit and games you're after.

 

[KrankyPants]

Socket 478 system are very versatile when it comes to older games.

 

[Pino]

So tell me guys, what method have you used in playing really old PC games from more than 20 years or so ago?

To play Amiga Games i do use an Emulator now on a Raspberry Pi, i would be happy to use a real one, but in good condition and recapped they are really expensive now. I did own a A500a and A2000a as a kid.

For PC Games, i do still own a DELL XPS 700 (2007) with Win98 / Win7 dual on it, a monster with 35kg and massive chassis, i decided to put it back to original hardware (Core2Duo, 8GB (3GB) RAM, Raid, GTX8600) and use it like that. including the monitor, scanner and printer. I do own a Fujifilm ASK2000 which does not work with Win10, so there is a real use additional.

I am still looking for a Win95 / DOS System like i owned them back in the day, i had several, but the Siemens Nixdorf were my favorites.

 

[BlankyBoyAUS]

To play Amiga Games i do use an Emulator now on a Raspberry Pi, i would be happy to use a real one, but in good condition and recapped they are really expensive now. I did own a A500a and A2000a as a kid.

There’s a website in the UK that sells Amigas in refurbished, recapped conditions called RetroPassion. I bought an A500 from them over a month ago and in recent weeks paid my remaining deposit to them for the computer. If you buy an Amiga from them, you wanna wait a least a month before they’ll start shipping the computer since it takes weeks for them to process the refurbishing and recapping of the computer since they have many clients they work with at the same time and it’s like a small business. They do ship outside the UK if you don’t live in there.

RetroPassion Ltd - Retro Computer and Console Servicing

Retro Computers and console servicing

www.retropassion.co.uk

 

[BlankyBoyAUS]

Follow LGR/Lazy Game Reviews on Youtube. Clint is a sucker for hardware from that era and he has all kinds of advice on sourcing and running the kind of kit and games you're after.

Well I was given everything I’ll need to reinstall windows 95 if my Win95 hard drive dies including installation CD and floppy disk and backups of exclusive DOS booting files and backups of maybe all the drivers in the computer. Maybe I could see myself installing a Voodoo graphics card, but the computer I just got yesterday has a SIS 530 integrated graphics card shared with the motherboard with 8 MB RAM for the video card.

 

[Newbaby110521]

When I see DK, what comes to my mind is Donkey Kong. There was a fun educational game that stared Donkey Kong Jr back in the NES era. Was that what you were talking about?

No definitely not. DK stands for Doring Kingsley they do a lot of educational things you’ve probably seen at least one of their books. Then someone at the company put a lot of focus on the Star Wars Information books they were making and the country’s educational focus got lost.