My Favorite Retro Games For Windows 98

Windows 98 was once considered a premium gaming platform. The ease with which games installed and had few problems was refreshing compared to the display driver issues of modern games. There weren’t any compatibility issues since Win 98 was it. Except Win 95 and NT but nobody played anything other than card games on those OS.

Windows 98 was there for the introduction of games like Warcraft II, Starcraft, Doom, Quake, and many, many more. While those games aren’t family friendly, there are plenty of family friendly titles from that era. This is a list of those games.

Dust off that old Pentium II in the basement and fire it up for Red Baron II. This game is a classic shooter where you’re a World War I fighter pilot.

The graphics are simple but the gameplay is awesome. For a nearly 30 year old game it holds up surprisingly well. There are 30 missions, each becoming harder than the last. Eventually you run into the Red Baron for an incredible aerial dogfight.

The graphics were state of the art for the time, yet modern gamers might be put off by the low resolution. The graphics don’t get in the way of the action though. The dog fights, bombing, and anti aircraft defenses are very balanced. This is one game still provides a lot of entertainment.

Another Windows 98 era game, Streets of SIM City is still an incredibly fun game. From the music to the missions, this crazy car fighting game doesn’t disappoint. Except when the game crashes.

I’ve never been able to complete the Forever War level without it crashing. Maybe the developers knew this which is why they rated it 5 out of 4 stars for difficulty. Asking whether you can reach level 10 is probably sheer sarcasm since they knew it would crash.

On the other hand, all the other levels in the different channels are loads of fun. From racing, to delivering, to fighting aliens and gangsters this game has a lot to offer.

The upgrades are necessary to complete later missions. At some point you’ll have so much money you can equip yourself any way you want for the missions. Shooting missiles is fun but gets very expensive quickly.

The graphics look like something from a 1980’s arcade but don’t detract too much from gameplay. The soundtrack, sound effects, animations, racing, and fighting are extremely entertaining. Even if the game is nearly three decades old.

There are many racing games out there but this gem from the 1990’s is worth checking out. I’m old enough to remember when most racing games were terrible. The controls were terrible, the physics were terrible, and preventing crashes was impossible.

3-D Ultra Radio Control Racers is a top view fixed screen race. While that limits the track somewhat, there’s still plenty of drifting, jumps, and power ups. I think the top down view actually enhances the racing and eliminates a lot of trouble with the physics that plagued most racing games from that era.

You can see your place at all times, anticipate the next turn or any obstacles. It’s not as glamourous as Mario Kart 8 deluxe, but for an older racing game it’s still a lot of fun.

There’s also 8 tracks, and 4 types of cars to choose from. Each type car offers different racing characteristics. However, they’re well balanced enough that I enjoy racing with the heavy slow car as much as the light fast one. Some games those two extremes are just terrible.

3-D Ultra Radio Control Racers is also two players. We’ve enjoyed many races even though we both had to share the same keyboard. If you enjoy racing games, then this classic is worth checking out.

There are many good games from the 1980s still worth playing today.