Underrated Classic Mac Games

[savvos]

What are your favorite underrated classic (or newer) Mac games? Mine is Space Rogue--it is a fun combination of top-down RPG with a fairly good story, 3D space battles and trading, all in 16-color goodness.

[Radio Monk33]

Any of the Escape Velocity games..

They've aged pretty well imo.

[chiefroastbeef]

The Oregon Trail!

[dukebound85]

nanosaur!

[FizzZ*]

the good old old old game DESCENT!! i dont like the new versions just version 1 and 2 .. try the demos its very good

and HALO but i dont know if halo is a mac game but now a lot of mac users play it, i wish there is counter strike for MAC :,,,,,,(

[Zortrium]

Alpha Centauri. Wish I could still play that...

[semicharmed]

I have to second Alpha Centuari & the Alien Crossfire expansion.
Never played them on a Mac, but I think they're my two favorites of all the Sid Meier's Civ-series game. Graphics looked good(!), gameplay was snappy. I wasted hours of my middle-school years playing that.
I'd love to see someone re-release, in it's original form (graphics & all), just updated to run on OS X.

[mkaake]

One of my old favorites growing up was the original Prince of Persia series. Good times there.

[liptonlover]

nanosaur!

I loved nanosaur! Me and my two siblings would cram into the chair to play it together... *sigh*
I've been looking for a way to play nanosaur 1 for ages... does anyone have a solution? It wouldn't work in sheepshaver, and they never updated it, even for old times' sake. And nanosaur 2 is stupid, IMO.

Civ 3 is awesome as well. I played that all the time, until we upgraded to intel. It's better than 4.

[Scooby_Doo]

Crystal Quest, The Manhole, KidsPix (not really a game), Spaceship Warlock, and The Last Express (highly worth playing on Gametap if you have Boot Camp/Parallels or a Windows PC)

[darklyt]

Spectre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(computer_game)) - Kept me busy for years.

Same with Looney Labyrinth (http://www.littlewingpinball.com/contents/en/info/ll/feature1.html), just a lot of fun.

My family is still holding on to a couple of our older Macs from the OS 7 era specifically for those games and a couple of others (the names of which I cannot remember).

[Xeem]

Any of the Escape Velocity games..

They've aged pretty well imo.

If only Ambrosia would port EV to the iPhone!

Now, it isn't nearly as old as some of the other games mentioned, but I really miss the Myth series from Bungie. I believe it never quite achieved the success it deserved.

[Zortrium]

Also along the lines of Spectre, Super Maze Wars.

[Eric5h5]

I thought this topic was supposed to be about underrated games...almost none of the games mentioned so far were underrated.

My answer would be Galapagos. I can kind of see why it didn't do too well--some parts are really hard--but I enjoyed the heck out of it.

--Eric

[Schmittroth]

Maelstrom (asteroids clone) with Simpsons sounds mod pak.

'Bring him to me!'- Mr. Burns announcing the impending arrival of an extra life floating across the screen.

Actually if anyone knows how to easily get this for my new Intel, I'd love to know. I think Ambrosia made it.

[savvos]

I just remembered two more great, underrated games: Spin Doctor (which I think can be found at the Macintosh Garden) and Slick Willie. Slick Willie really represented an era. You played Bill Clinton's head and went around eating hamburgers and cheerleaders while avoid flying George Bushes and scandals. Good times.

[CorvusCamenarum]

Maelstrom (asteroids clone) with Simpsons sounds mod pak.

'Bring him to me!'- Mr. Burns announcing the impending arrival of an extra life floating across the screen.

Actually if anyone knows how to easily get this for my new Intel, I'd love to know. I think Ambrosia made it.

You should be able to get that from VersionTracker. Dunno about the sound mod though.

Two games I really miss are Master of Orion 2 and Majesty. I also wish someone would do a proper port of After Dark, and not just the stupid fish module.

[Zortrium]

Seconded on both - MOO 2 is a great game (too bad 3 was such a disappointment). Majesty was also lots of fun and very unique, and I was always disappointed that the expansion never made it to the Mac. Both games play well in classic if you've got a PPC Mac hanging around, though.

[pit29]

Pirates!

[keysersoze]

Pathways into Darkness. First FPS I ever played, actually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathways_into_Darkness

[Beric]

Spaceward Ho!

I play the OS X version (http://www.deltatao.com/ho/), though. But The Ho is a great simple 4x game, and I've seen nothing like it before or since.

[TSE]

I used to get MacWorld in the mid-90s to early 2000's, and every issue would come with The Disk which would include wallpapers, videos, games, and apps. I played them all on a really old Mac Clone with 190 MBs of RAM and they all worked great.

Here are some games I really had fun playing as a kid:

-Killing Time
-CaveFox
-Pac the Man
-Oregon Trail II
-Super Munchers
-Age of Empires Mac Edition
-Warcraft II
-A few others that I forgot the names to.

[Beric]

Ahhh yes, OTII was great.

[stab]

Need I say more?

Bloodbath (or Bloodbath at the house of death) was the extreme game of its time (early 90's).

It featured actual real video footage of typical badguys who'd pop out from behind doors and open fire with sub machine guns. When hit, blood would fly everywhere!

I esp remember the tombstone level where you were in the cemetery and they'd jump out from behind! Bad tendonitis on that level...

[shinji]

continuum
scarab of ra
original glider

[TSE]

Need I say more?

Bloodbath (or Bloodbath at the house of death) was the extreme game of its time (early 90's).

It featured actual real video footage of typical badguys who'd pop out from behind doors and open fire with sub machine guns. When hit, blood would fly everywhere!

I esp remember the tombstone level where you were in the cemetery and they'd jump out from behind! Bad tendonitis on that level...

Bloodbath was fricken awesome I remember that game! The guy that would pop out right in front of you with the knife gave me a laugh everytime.

[ert3]

I wasn't much of a gamer back in the mac clasic days but you guys may find this
http://www.maccompanion.com/macc/archives/December2007/Columns/AccordingtoHoyle.htm

interesting.

[Paramecium]

A-10 Attack!

For its time, and even by today's standards, its flight model was fairly realistic and it had a 3-D cockpit well before most other flight sims were even playable.

I still have my Performa 631CD in the back room and will sometimes play it every once in awhile and I still love it! By far one of the best, if not the greatest flight sim game ever created (and I've played X-Plane, Flight Sim X, and even the real thing).

[Echoes]

I must have spent thousands of hours on those two, back in the days...

Pararena (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pararena) and Pararena 2 (http://www.mwilber.com/retrogaming/pararena2/)

[executioner]

I played ALOT of power Pete on our performa 6300 back in the day. :apple:

Titanic...... Lol

There was this game that I think was called Castles? I'm not sure on that, but it was a fun game! I think you just built a castle and defended an enemy at some point.... anyone remember the name of it?

Sam & Max, as well as Day of The Tentacle, and the other LucasArts game Full Chopper.

[Fonzijr1964]

The Oregon Trail!

FTW

[Counterfit]

Any of the Escape Velocity games..

They've aged pretty well imo.
I tried playing EV: Nova earlier this week. It only kinda-sorta ran.
If only Ambrosia would port EV to the iPhone!

Unfortunately, the team behind EV pretty much never wants to work on it again. Maybe if they got a big publisher on board...

[Chone]

I still play Marathon on Aleph One from time to time, it's an awesome game :)

It wasn't underrated during it days since most Mac gamers knew about it but Macs were such a minority and the game has faded away to the point that I think a lot of people (even on a Mac forum) wouldn't know about it.

[AtariMac]

Myth!!!!! That game rocked. Little dudes chucking fire bombs yelling "BURN!!!!!!"

Good times, GOOOD TIMES.

[Mac-Biodiesel]

I played ALOT of power Pete on our performa 6300 back in the day. :apple:

There was this game that I think was called Castles? I'm not sure on that, but it was a fun game! I think you just built a castle and defended an enemy at some point.... anyone remember the name of it?


That would be "Castles: Siege & Conquest". Not a bad game at all. I loved the Prince of Persia series. Strategic Conquest never seems to get much kudos for being an awesome turn-based strategy game. Spaceward Ho! is great.

Anyone ever play Movod II?

[tYsopz]

Bolo!

Used to sit with several friends of mine each with a mac each and LAN using localtalk/appletalk ports. Magic times.

Also Power Pete/ Mighty Mike, MacWorms, Marathon, Jazz Jackrabbit (2?) and Realmz do come to mind, tho some of them might not be underrated or considered "classic" they are all 10+ year old and works of art.

WATCH BEHIND YOU A THREE-HEADED MONKEY!

That's all I can think of at the moment, unfortunately I've forgotten the name of all the really old classics that I used to run on Mac Plus / SE.

EDIT:
You bet I've played Movod II! Awesome game!

[Mac-Biodiesel]

Well, I was trying to stick to underrated games like the OP said, but I definitely played Marathon more than any other Mac game back in the day. It kicked DOOM's butt!

I actually still play a Mac Classic game (using the vMac emulator) called Xyphus. That's a great adventure game!

[synth3tik]

Oh, thank god Someone remembers Super Munchers. I was starting to loose faith in MRs ;)

[Mac-Biodiesel]

Oh, thank god Someone remembers Super Munchers. I was starting to loose faith in MRs ;)

I've still got that game on my Mac, too, though I only got it recently. It got tons of play in the school labs growing up, though. It was a favorite of both teachers and students. Finished your work in the lab? Play Number Munchers. :D

[dmr727]

It all begins and ends with Bolo. Play it on a Mac Plus. Play it on a Mac Pro. It's like chess - simple to learn, but takes a lifetime to master.

[KingYaba]

Ye olde Stronghold.

[AC Rempt]

Marathon certainly was underrated, but it certainly was addicting. Digital crack.

Crystal Quest, too. Loved that game.

[Xavier]

Crystal Crazy was by far my favorite game.

Oxyd was also amazing, and I have to say I still play this game and cannot beat it! I have the Oxyd book (found it in my closet) and I still can't really beat it

[Cantello]

Seconded on both - MOO 2 is a great game (too bad 3 was such a disappointment). Majesty was also lots of fun and very unique, and I was always disappointed that the expansion never made it to the Mac. Both games play well in classic if you've got a PPC Mac hanging around, though.

I absolutely loved Majesty back then on my PC. Is it still available for Mac somewhere, or even playable on a current MBP? SheepShaver maybe?

[Beric]

I absolutely loved Majesty back then on my PC. Is it still available for Mac somewhere, or even playable on a current MBP? SheepShaver maybe?

It works on OS X. Just look around. ;)

[HiRez]

Clan Lord (http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/index.html) was pretty awesome. It's an MMORPG with primitive yet somehow charming graphics, but very big on story and has a sense of community that I don't think any other game even comes close to. It's been around for I think at least 10 years now (I played it on and off for at least 7-8 years) and somehow it's still going. It has a bunch of things no other game I've ever seen has (for one small example, you can compose and play your own music, even synchronized to other players). People developed incredibly sophisticated tactics in the game for dealing with combat with a very limited toolset (there is a very short list of spells or fighting abilities available). World of Warcraft has much better graphics and more quests and classes and soforth, but it doesn't have the heart that Clan Lord does. I wish somehow they could combine the two.

http://www.deltatao.com/clanlord/images/screenshots/cl08_kiril.gif

And yeah, I loved Crystal Quest too.

[wrldwzrd89]

My favorite game of yore is Realmz. Fun RPG, that. Shame it was never ported to Mac OS X.

[iMouse]

Pathways Into Darkness
The Marathon Series
Star Wars - Dark Forces
Full Throttle
Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
Phantasmagoria (sucker was on 7 CDs)
A-10 Attack!
Dirt Bike
Tetris Max

Gerbils! (Yeah, it wasn't technically a game, but it was still awesome!)

[flrazor]

Mortal Pongbat was always a hit with my friends and I. Countless days wasted playing that game, screaming at each other for cheap shots and all the crazy power-ups. I'd get a classic OS Mac just for that game...too many good times.

[miles01110]

Here's another vote for the EV & Myth series.

Ambrosia recently released a patch that allows EV:N to run on most current machines. Still, nothing really compares with buying your first Kestrel.

[GT41]

Of the not "under rated games" definitely wasted ages on Dark Castle, Oregon Trail.

If we are looking at more under rated games I'd have to say:
Scarab of Ra
The Manhole
Number Munchers

[savvos]

Wow, a lot of you like Scarab of RA. I really liked that game. So simple, so addictive. Another great one is Slick Willie, if you haven't heard of it. You play a giant Bill Clinton head going around eating M&Ms and hamburgers while dodging scandals and H.W. Bush.

[Beric]

Ambrosia recently released a patch that allows EV:N to run on most current machines.

:confused:

The current EVN patch has been out for at least a year.

[McGiord]

My all time favorites:
- Lode Runner
- Dark Castle
- Beyond Dark Castle
- The Ancient Art of War
- Pirates!

These is the best website I ever found:
http://mac.the-underdogs.info/

[Fonzijr1964]

Any one know how to play Oregon trail on OS X.5 ?

I have started a thread:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=597308

[eevor]

http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/abandonware/pc/strategy_games/games_w_z/warlords_2.html

I spent far, far, far too many hours with my friend playing this to death. Ah a misspent youth....

[paduck]

Strategic Conquest from Delta Tao was really good.
Also, the Mission: Thunderbolt series

To really date myself, anyone play the "original" Warlords - an INT BASIC game on Apple DOS 3.2? That was a real classic. Along with the original Castle Wolfenstein.

[MindBrain]

A-10 Attack!

For its time, and even by today's standards, its flight model was fairly realistic and it had a 3-D cockpit well before most other flight sims were even playable.

I still have my Performa 631CD in the back room and will sometimes play it every once in awhile and I still love it! By far one of the best, if not the greatest flight sim game ever created (and I've played X-Plane, Flight Sim X, and even the real thing).

I played A-10 Cuba! with a CH Flightstick Pro joystick. Great times.

[Mr. lax]

The original Deus Ex FTW!!

[Gmaster]

Airborne! was simple and thus addictive.

Xyphus, although I never finished it.

[dbnd1031]

Day of the Tentacle changed my life. That game was awesome to my little mind. i wish so badly i could play it again... know how?

[ZiggyPastorius]

Add another vote for Marathon. I think Marathon was underrated, though some may disagree. I say this because it was largely eclipsed by Doom, despite being superior in many, many ways. Great game, love it.

[SeaFox]

Maelstrom (asteroids clone) with Simpsons sounds mod pak.

'Bring him to me!'- Mr. Burns announcing the impending arrival of an extra life floating across the screen.

Actually if anyone knows how to easily get this for my new Intel, I'd love to know. I think Ambrosia made it.
Actually, something really cool happened with Maelstrom: it got open-sourced.

You can get it here:
http://www.devolution.com/~slouken/Maelstrom/index.html

I'd like to chime in for Steve Chamberlain's Tetris Max. One of the best versions of Tetris for 68k. I wish I could have bought the extended add-on pack that came on three floppy disks.

[cricketbird]

Crystal Quest
Scarab of Ra (hated it, but couldn't stop playing)
Myst
Manhole (boy, do I miss Hypercard *sniff*)
Maelstrom
Dark Castle

[MowingDevil]

Mortal Pongbat was always a hit with my friends and I. Countless days wasted playing that game, screaming at each other for cheap shots and all the crazy power-ups. I'd get a classic OS Mac just for that game...too many good times.

Holy frick, ya Mortal Pongbat was awesome!

Quick time wasters like Aperion were great, Tetris Max and Jewel Drop (I think that was its name)...remember Eric's Solitaire Sampler?

What about Burning Monkey Solitaire?!? (where are my JuJuBees?)

Asterax from the Mac Arcade Pack wasted countless late evening hours for me.

WarCraft 2 was the first game that seriously hooked me for days.

Myth was incredible...scared the bajeezaz outta me. :eek:

[molokaicreeper]

Return To Zork
Zork Nemesis
Zork Grand Inquisitor (which BTW is/was OSX native)

[2112]

Alpha Centauri. Wish I could still play that...

There's a Carbon version that will run on OS X (PPC at least).

[mcrazza]

I recall playing a few games on the mac back in the mid 90s on my friend's mac. I remember playing Blood Bath, Prince of Persia, Marathon and many more. But there is one game I remember but I cannot recall the name of it. Can anyone help me? It's a 2D platformer game that was already around by the mid 90s and the main character was what I think was a robot who moved on a wheel (like a unicycle) and was able to move left, right and jump and had to traverse platforms suspended in the air whilst dodging obstacles and enemies like bats. It may have been mentioned in this thread before but I don't know its name. Does this game ring any bells for anyone here?

[ColinEC]

Spectre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(computer_game)) - Kept me busy for years.

Oh yes, that game was one of my favorites as a kid.


Going to download it now :D

[austinsevo]

-EV
-Marathon (the best game ever!)
-A-10 Attack
-Oregon trail

[Unspeaked]

Also along the lines of Spectre, Super Maze Wars.

This gets my vote, too.