Classic Windows XP/98/95 games

Age of Empires, published by Microsoft and developed by Ensemble Studios, is one of the most popular historical RTS and started a successful series. The player must guide a civilization from prehistory to the iron age, battling other civilizations, building and gathering resources.

Blade Runner is one of those point & click adventure games that somewhat manages to fully capture the spirit of a cult movie without copying the original plot. Fans of the Blade Runner movie will enjoy this game, even without Harrison Ford.

Capitalism 2 is simulation game designed by Trevor Chan, developed by Ensemble Studios and released by UBI Soft in 2001 for Windows and Macintosh. Capitalism 2 is the quintessential capitalistic simulation and involves stock exchange, business management, marketing, etc.

Carmageddon was a controversial and violent vehicular combat / car racing game, where the player must compete against a number of computer controlled opponents. Running over pedestrians and damaging opponents cars grant time bonuses and credits to be spent for upgrades.

Civilization 2, later renamed Sid Meier's Civilization II, is a turn based 4X strategy game developed and published by MicroProse in 1996. The gameplay is similar to the first Civilization, many aspects were improved and new features were introduced: a new isometric perspective, hit points for units, new civilizations, new wonders of the world and more.

Crazy Taxi is an abandoned driving / racing game developed by Sega and released by Activision in 2002 for Windows and other platforms (it's an arcade conversion). Crazy Taxi is set in a city full of potential passengers: get them on your taxi and drive them to various destinations in time.

Dune 2000 is an abandoned science fiction classic real-time strategy game based on the popular Dune franchise. The Dune "universe" took form in the books of science fiction writer Frank Herbert and went on to include movies, TV series, comics, and of course video games. Dune 2000 is one of the finest RTS of its era; it was developed by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive for PC in 1998 and features both single player and multi player game modes.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is the second chapter in the successful Grand Theft Auto series. GTA 2 is an abandoned top-down action-adventure / driving hybrid game developed by DMA Design and released by Rockstar Games in 1999 for Windows. In GTA 2 you are a wannabe criminal roaming the streets of a fictional city, stealing and driving vehicles while escaping the law.

I'm a fan of the original X-COM. I think it's one of the best turn-based tactics games ever released for DOS. Unfortunately, games like X-COM are not many. Jagged Alliance 2 has a similar tactical component: you give turn-based orders to a team of mercenaries, mission after mission. There's no management component (at least not as extensive as in the X-COM series). The setting is quite unusual to gamers like me, used to fantasy or science fiction: Jagged Alliance 2 takes place on a fictional south american country. I'm sure I'm not the only one that loved Jagged Alliance 2. If you didn't play it yet and you love team-based tactics, go buy it immediately.

Magic: The Gathering (sometimes also referred as Shandalar) is an abandoned strategy game based on the popular collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, developed and released by MicroProse Software for Windows in 1997. MTG is set on the fictional plane of Shandalar. You can play a single-player campaign or simply play duels against computer opponents or against other players in one of the multi-player modes available.

Midtown Madness is an abandoned car racing game developed by Angel Studios and released by Microsoft in 1999 for Windows XP/98/95. Midtown Madness gameplay is unique: the setting is the whole (simulated) city of Chicago and the races take place in an open world environment.

Road Rash is an abandoned motorcycle racing game developed by Papyrus Design Group and released by Electronic Arts in 1996. Road Rash runs on Windows XP/98/95 but was also published for Amiga, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, 3DO, Game Gear, PlayStation, Saturn, Game Boy. In Road Rash you're a motorcycle racer that needs to win against other racers by any means possibile, including violent ones. Road Rash was quite successful and was followed by a few sequels.

SimCity 2000 is a classic city building simulation, part of the popular SimCity series, developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. SimCity 2000 is a huge step up from the 2D predecessor SimCity and boasts improvements like: isometric view, underground, water pipes, subways, new buildings like prisons, schools, libraries, museums, etc.

System Shock 2 is a Windows science fiction cyberpunk game developed by Irrational Games, designed by Ken Levine and published by Electronic Arts in 1999. System Shock 2 is a blend of more than one genre: RPG, action-adventure, shooter, stealth game.

Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant is a first-person perspective party-based RPG developed and released by Sir-tech Software in 1992 for Windows, Linux and DOS. Wizardry 7 is the seventh chapter in the Wizardry series and it's part of the Dark Savant trilogy, set in a world where sci-fi themes (space travel, androids) are mixed with fantasy themes (weapons and armors, magic).