Has to be Pre-2001 and include a picture if you can.

I'm hoping this can be used as a resource for those who got into gaming late, and may have missed some of the classics which helped shape gaming.

X-Com UFO Defense

http://www.warphammer.net/imagenes/xcom_ufo_02.jpg

Taken from IGN.

X-COM: UFO Defense holds a fond place in any true PC gamer's heart. This squad-based strategy title was awesome for so many reasons. It was incredibly in-depth for its time (even more so than most games today), its slowly unfolding storyline gave you the sense that you were up against overwhelming odds without ever being frustrating, and the individual battles -- in part because of the game's turn based engine -- served up a tension and suspense that we've experienced in no game since (there's nothing quite like the feeling of opening a door and seeing an alien just as your movement points run out). All this and the ability to rename all of your squad-mates as you real-life friends so you can cry (or laugh) when they get caught in a grenade blast makes X-COM a game that will live on in the annals of computer gaming history.

http://www.holyfile.com/upload/screenshot1334-1.jpg
INDIANA JONES and the fate of atlantis...

Fate of Atlantis featured three different paths to choose for completion of the central part of the game. At this point, during a dialogue sequence, the player can choose between: The Wits Path (Indy has to use his brains to solve problems), the Fists Path (lighter puzzles, lots of fist fights and action movie-like solutions to problems), and the Team Path (features Sophia Hapgood as a reluctant sidekick and part of many puzzles). Each path includes some new objects and locations, different characters and dialogue lines, and alternate ways to progress through the adventure to reach Atlantis. The player who finished all of the puzzles in all three paths and all of the alternative solutions, which requires multiple playthroughs) received the 1000 full IQ (Indy Quotient) score.
Taken from wikipedia..

It HAS to be Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie (both N64), or Super Mario Bros 1 on Gameboy.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/1/13/Bowser_(smb1).png

http://www.virginmedia.com/microsites/games/slideshow/stealthgames/img_2.jpg

http://daedalus.boob.co.uk/images/xbox_banjo_kazooie.jpg

Oh just got one. Zelda Ocarina of Time. And another one. Tekken 2.

http://media.arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.media/tekken2ps3.png

http://www.igniq.com/images/zelda_online_ocarina_of_time_170805.jpg

And another one. Crash team racing.

http://www.gamerevolution.com/images/games/sony/crash_team_racing/crash_team_racing_002.jpg

Good recommendations codinthepocket, but can you add a bit of text to the screenshots?

Shadowrun - SNES

http://www.freeinfosociety.com/chimage.php?image=ae/reviews/shadowrun2.jpg

What Shadowrun presents you with is an engaging action game blessed with a deep veneer of freedom and housed in a pre-existing world oozing with depth and personality. Whether you are fighting for you life in a slums arena against the many clones of a competent mage, slicing through the ghoul population of the local cemetery or locked in combat with a towerblock tall dragon, it's the sense of authenticity that shines through. Jake lives, breathes, struggles and fights in as believable a setting as you are ever likely to find. And when you transplant yourself into it, you are promised a thrilling experience that, despite the game's relative shortness, will stay with you for a long time after.

Just because I'm a fallout fanboy

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/PC_Game_Fallout_2.jpg

And this is a true classic, Great game, still though to this date I never finished. But maybe someday. Either way if you can find a copy for PC or genesis go and get it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Flashback_cover_MD.jpg

Mutant league football....nuf said.

Super Metroid
Descent
The Longest Journey
and Day of the Tentacle.

Really, those games were all just that good.

Earthbound
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Earthboundpic.png
EarthBound, released in Japan as Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back (MOTHER2ギーグの逆襲, Mazā Tsū Gīgu no Gyakushū?), is a role-playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. While it is known as EarthBound in the United States, it is the second game in the Mother series. The game was never released in Europe.

EarthBound is a sequel to the original Mother, a Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System title released only in Japan. Mother and EarthBound are not directly connected. One of the only connections plotwise between the two is Giygas, the primary antagonist in both games, who was also significantly changed between the first and second games. EarthBound is also notable in part for its caricature of modern culture and its parody of the console role-playing game genre.

Phantasy Star Series
http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/genesis/ps4/images/walkthroughpics/part11/tower11.gif
Phantasy Star (Japanese: ファンタシースター) is a RPG video game series by Sega. It started as a traditional single player game series, but has progressed into an MMORPG series. Unlike many other console role-playing games, it has a science fantasy setting where the player battles monsters using a variety of guns in addition to the staple of melee weapons and magic that are found in other RPGs.

The original Phantasy Star was released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987. It was one of the first cartridges to include battery backed RAM for saving game positions. The game featured 3D maze-like dungeons, which players traversed in a first-person mode. Phantasy Star, along with Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, distinguished itself as a pioneer of what came to be defined console role-playing.

The series is noteworthy in that all of its games take place in the same universe, as opposed to many RPG series such as Final Fantasy, wherein successive game settings are unrelated, or, at most, superficially related. Each major Phantasy Star game adds onto the series' overall story, culminating in Phantasy Star IV which ties all of the series' plot elements together into a final, epic conclusion.


Final Fantasy VII
http://www.snesclassics.com/history/images/full/FF7.jpg
Greatest JRPG ever made a description is not necessary.

The Unholy War
http://www.1gamemasters.com/Unholy%20War%20ps1%20%203-1.JPG

The Unholy War is a PlayStation game developed by Toys For Bob for Crystal Dynamics and published by Eidos Interactive in 1998. It is a fighting game in which characters fight in a 3D environment using mêlée and projectile attacks. The game features two modes: Mayhem Mode, in which the player fights other characters in one-on-one battles; and Strategy Mode, in which the player fights campaigns on various battlefields.

Rival Schools
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/4880/rivalschoolsnoframelimiwi4.jpg
Rival Schools, originally titled Justice Gakuen (Japanese: ジャスティス 学園, - Jasutisu Gakuen, Justice Academy) in Japan, is a fighting game series made by Capcom. It focuses on students and teachers from various schools duking it out to fight for justice.

Despite being rather obscure, the series is known for being a very plot-heavy game for the genre, where storylines are usually ancillary and disposable. The games feature a story mode with dialogues advancing the story before and after fights, and include a secondary, non-fighting mode that reveal additional details about the characters and their lives.

The first game in the series, Rival Schools: United By Fate (Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Legion of Heroes in Japan), was released in arcades and on the PlayStation in 1997. The game features 2-on-2 fights, where characters could be switched out between rounds, and the second character could be called out during the fight for team up attacks like in the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

Story-line wise, this is the path (and GOOD CHOICE! After PSU, I forgot to concider any Phatnasy STar classic enough for this list):

Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star 2, Phantasy Star 4, Phantasy Star 3, Phantasy Star Online

Universe, Im not sure how it attaches yet. I have a guess, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Found a great one today. FarCry. I have been lent it today. Its great and will run on pretty much every system. brilliant gameplay and graphics.

^^ Far Cry was 2004.

Cannon Fodder

"War has never been so much fun"

Where to start? What's not to like about Cannon Fodder? Tongue-in-cheek satire of the futility of war, cute graphics before cute graphics existed, great gameplay, not forgetting a dash of controversy to spice things up. You command a squad of four Special Forces soldiers across different continents including jungles, snowy mountains, deserts and underground caves. Along the way, the team can pick up rocket launchers and grenades as well as drive tanks, skidoos, helicopters and Jeeps. The levels are always fun, sometimes frustrating and occasionally nearly impossible, forcing the player to find alternate ways of completing the mission. The game unfortunately lacks any sort of multi-player element, but fans around the world wait with bated breath for a new instalment. If that is the worst issue then this is surely a game anyone old enough to remember will never forget... just make sure Jools, Jops, Stoo and RJ make it to the end!

http://www.videogamecritic.net/images/jaguar/cannon_fodder.jpg

Sid Meier's Pirates!

http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Pirates_Gold_GEN_ScreenShot3.jpg

The original Sid Meier's Pirates! is one of the famed designer's most beloved games, which is saying a lot. After all, Meier is responsible for some of the greatest games ever made, most notably Civilization. Sid Meier's Pirates!, first published in 1987, is renowned to this day for its addictive blend of action, strategy, and role-playing. Sid Meier's Pirates! is an amazing, wonderfully lighthearted game that boasts an intoxicating blend of strategy and action, and as such it's a dire threat to your professional and personal productivity

Chrono Trigger
FFI-FFIX(excluding II)
Super Mario Bros. 1-3(include Lost Levels)
LoZ
LoZ:A Link to the Past
LoZ:OoT
Super Metroid
Megaman X 1-5

Just because I'm a fallout fanboy

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/PC_Game_Fallout_2.jpg

I managed to find a boxed set of Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics. Can't wait for Fallout 3!

Classic-game wise, Rogue Squadron, Homeworld, Mario Kart (SNES) and Super Metroid all spring to mind. Oh, and Donkey Kong 1 and 2.

(Pictures when I get time.)

Original tomb Raider and first silent hill. Two classics. Also first Metal Gear and original warhawk (yes that was a ps1 game first. Its come along way...)

Good Suggestions Sinfulfate, all of those games were mint! And i had totally forgot about Unholy war, been so long since i last played it :D but what a good game :P

Hmmm, pre 2001....

Well has to be a few games :D

Open spoilers for piccys

1. Apocalypse
You play as a scientist who was put in prison wrongfully, and he just happens to be Bruce Willis! The Character model is him, the Voice is him, everything, what a legend

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/8827/apocalypsentsccdcoverscsc3.jpg

2. Future Cop LAPD
You play as a Mech in the LAPD, and have to take down the countries biggest crime-lords, and their illegal operations. You can be in either Walker mode, or Hovercraft mode, used both in different situations. It also had an awesome multiplayer, 2 player, base vs base, you had to capture certain points, to get points (also gained from killing the other player) and send AI units (usually Butterflies :P) to destroy the other base. You can also create an elite unit, which is very hard to kill.

http://img.gamespot.com/gamespot/images/screenshots/1/197411/lapd2100_screen002.jpg

and lastly: 3. World Cup '98
Best football game ever created! Nuff Said

http://www.dpluss.nl/world-cup-98.jpg

Shadowgate for the NES. 'Twas my first adventure game, and I still go back and play it through from time to time. Back in my youth, I spent a good month trying to beat the game, and had a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finally got through it. Screenshots don't do this game justice, so here's the first 8 minutes of gameplay.
7xAVMnNiY3c

Ah yes, SHADOWGATE! Seriously, this game scared the crap out of me when I was little... I absolutely love it! I got an N64 long after it's lifetime just to play the next one!

Jeez dude ! This could be the largest list topic ever ! There have been so, so many good classics.

Chuckie Egg (spectrum)
Attic Attac (spectrum)
720 (spectrum)
Skool Daze (spectrum)
Chaos (spectrum)
Ghouls and Ghosts (Spectrum 128)
Midnight Resistance (spectrum 128)
Elite (spectrum)
Rebelstar Raiders

Amiga
Shadow of the Beast
Gods
Xenon II
Speedball 2
Canon Fodder
Sensible Soccer
Alien Breed
Super Frog
Populous
Sim City
Simon the Sorceror (1 & 2)
Flashback
Another World



PC
Doom (1,2 NOT 3!)
Duke Nukem 3D
Rise of the Triad
Ultima : Online
Shadowcaster
Syndicate Wars
Theme Hospital
Theme Park
Ultima Underworld (1 & 2)
System Shock (1 & 2)
Xcom
Sam and max
Beneath a Steel Sky
Prince of Persia 1 & 2

And that is just quickly from the top of my head....

If you guys are interested I have just started putting together a website/forum to talk about what games would be great to remake for PSN and XBL. It is pmi.alienjs.com - although it has bog all users atm.. Yo MODS - fancy making a topic on SG for this instead??? I don;t mind doing contribs for it ?

Anyhoo,

Cheers

Moose

zbiggie wins this thread with Fallout 2.




Since he took F2, I'll say...

System Shock 2
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/719QP7NNP7L._AA280_.gif
Better than you.

Bioshocks bigger and better sister. She may be a tad ugly but shes far far better at what she does. Man oh man. Coop? Check. Class system that makes a difference? Check. Skill system that makes a difference? Check. Fecking scareh? Check. Throw in some of the best voice acting in any game of the time (heck, even now) and you have one bitching game.

Fantastic start, fecking brilliant twist (that was executed so incredibly well, especially with the tech limits of the time) and a wonderful ending if you ever played SS1. The body of the many section is pretty bad, but it lasts about 30mins max so its a minor glitch. The music is also horrid, turn it down the second you load the game.

One of the finest games ever made. Bioshock isnt even a footnote.

We are we are we are


How can you hope to challenge a perfect immortal machine?




I need to go replay this again....

Contra! If you have a DS get Contra 4 because Contra and Super C are unlockable! When it comes to classic shooters these games deliver!

I don't feel these games need any screen shots.

zbiggie wins this thread with Fallout 2.




Since he took F2, I'll say...

System Shock 2
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/719QP7NNP7L._AA280_.gif
Better than you.

Bioshocks bigger and better sister. She may be a tad ugly but shes far far better at what she does. Man oh man. Coop? Check. Class system that makes a difference? Check. Skill system that makes a difference? Check. Fecking scareh? Check. Throw in some of the best voice acting in any game of the time (heck, even now) and you have one bitching game.

Fantastic start, fecking brilliant twist (that was executed so incredibly well, especially with the tech limits of the time) and a wonderful ending if you ever played SS1. The body of the many section is pretty bad, but it lasts about 30mins max so its a minor glitch. The music is also horrid, turn it down the second you load the game.

One of the finest games ever made. Bioshock isnt even a footnote.

We are we are we are


How can you hope to challenge a perfect immortal machine?




I need to go replay this again....

Where the hell can I get this game from? I really want to play it, but everywhere I go, there are no copies. Ebay etc have nothing, and my local games stores just laugh at me when I ask.

Three Words
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j15/aztec81/Super20Smash20Bros20U.jpg

For me this game was amazing, i never really played any fighters out side of the Arcade and this made me forget about Banjo kAzoie which was the only thing I played Before hand.