Games with beautiful graphics sorted by release date

The concept of beauty is often very personal. Beauty is in the eye of the watcher, even when we're talking about video games. A first-person 3D game could be a joy for the eyes of some gamer or a pain to others. Pixel graphics is often considered beautiful if the player grew up playing in a decade when games were almost entirely pixellated. Lots of old games are considered aesthetically pleasing even today: Another World is still a beautiful game to most of us, and so is true for Loom (those wonderfully colored backgrounds!) and many others.

Most popular beautiful graphics applications

The Need for Speed

racingDOS

Albion

rpgDOS, Windows XP/98/95

Prince of Persia

actionDOS, Mac

Beautiful graphics applications

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Blackthorne

DOS19944.2/5 Blizzard Entertainment

Blackthorne is a sci-fi / fantasy abandoned action platform game designed by Ronald Millar, developed by Blizzard Entertainment (yes, the creators of Diablo and World of Warcraft) and was released by Interplay Productions in 1994 for DOS and Mac. Blackthorne was also published for SNES, Sega 32X, Game Boy Advance and other systems.
Little Big Adventure

DOS1994protected4.2/5 Adeline Software International
Noctropolis

DOS1994protected4/5 Flashpoint Productions
Pinball Fantasies

DOS19944.2/5 Digital Illusions
The Chaos Engine

DOS1994protected4/5 Bitmap Brothers
X-COM: Ufo Defense

DOS1994protected4.3/5 MicroProse Software

UFO: Enemy Unknown (or X-COM: Ufo Defense) is a sci-fi tactical strategy game created by Julian Gollop set in a not-to-distant future where aliens are invading the Earth. The gameplay switches between tactical combat, where you fight aliens in a turn-based fashion, and strategic micromanagement, where you manage your X-COM base and personnel.
Albion

DOSWindows XP/98/9519954.3/5 Blue Byte Software

Albion is a role-playing video game that was released in 1996. Developed by Blue Byte Software and published by Blue Byte in Europe and by Ubisoft in North America, the game is notable for its unique combination of science fiction and fantasy elements.Albion features a first-person perspective for exploration and turn-based combat. Players navigate...
Earthworm Jim

DOS1995protected4.1/5 Shiny Entertainment
EF 2000

DOS19954/5 Digital Image Design
Screamer

DOS1995protected4.3/5 Milestone
The Need for Speed

DOS19954.2/5 Electronic Arts

The Need for Speed is a first-person perspective racing game developed and published by Electronic Arts in 1995 for DOS where the main goal is to win race after race in a variety of game modes. In the process, the player must elude traffic, pedestrians, and the police.
The Orion Conspiracy

DOS19953.2/5 Divide by zero
Transport Tycoon Deluxe

DOS19954.3/5 Chris Sawyer Productions

Transport Tycoon Deluxe is a business simulation game that puts the player at the head of a transport company to compete against rival companies. The player can build stations, airports, railroads to transport passengers, mail and various goods using trucks, trains and planes. The game became a cult and a few talented fans created some of the best ...
Earthworm Jim 2

DOS1996protected4.4/5 Shiny Entertainment
Fable

DOS19964.2/5 Simbiosis Interactive
The Settlers II: Veni, Vidi, Vici

DOSMac1996protected3.8/5 Blue Byte Software
City of Lost Children

DOS19973.9/5 Psygnosis
Little Big Adventure 2 (Twinsen's Odyssey)

DOSWindows XP/98/951997protected3.9/5 Adeline Software International
X-Men: Children of the Atom

DOS19973.8/5 Capcom

X-Men: Children of the Atom is an abandoned fighting action game developed by Capcom and released by Acclaim Entertainment in 1997 for DOS and it's a conversion from the arcade version. X-Men: Children of the Atom was also published for consoles: Sega Saturn and PlayStation. As the title suggests, it's based on the Marvel comics characters known as...
Zork: Grand Inquisitor

Windows XP/98/95Mac1997protected3.8/5 Activision