1000 Best Games for Windows

• Platform: IBM PC Compatible
• Release Date: 1998
• Genre: Compilation
• Style: Miscellaneous Collection
• Similar Games: 100 Great Games Vol. 1 (IBM PC Compatible), Galaxy of Games: Platinum Edition (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

1000 Best Games for Windows gives computer gamers of all interests and skill levels a nearly endless selection of shareware and freeware games. Organized by genre, this collection contains adventure, arcade, board, card, casino, kids, logic, sports and strategy titles, with a diverse array of games in each group. Players are also given the option to view a list of all the games or all the games in several categories at once. Players can view the descriptions and registration information before installing individual games, as well as search for games by keyword.

The adventure category contains such games as Castle of the Winds and Stellar Empires while under the arcade categories, many variations on classic games are found, like Frogg for Windows and Pong3D. The board and card game categories offer revised versions of many favorite games, from Action Checkers and Poker Golf. The casino games simulate gambling with games like Cherry Delight Slots and Video Poker. The kids games include Coloring Book for Windows and Math Flight. The sports category has Matchup Hockey and Soccer Simulator. Logic and strategy include Gem Storm and Wars of Conquest.

Roots & Influences

The designer notes indicate that more than 8,000 Windows shareware games were reviewed from which 1,000 were selected for this collection. Genres include card, action, board, adventure, children, strategy, arcade, logic and sports games.

Review: Overall

While 1000 Best Games for Windows has a fairly lackluster presentation, it does live up to its promise. Although not all of these shareware games are necessarily the "best," there is a lot of fun to be had in this extensive collection, once users get the hang of how it works.

The organization of this collection of games is a bonus, although some of the categories tend to cross over each other. Still, the divisions keep long list of games from becoming overwhelming and allow players to ignore the ones they're not going to be interested in. The games are given little more than descriptions and registration information, and while screen shots for them are nice, browsing the games is quick and easy.

Installation of individual games varies, and quite a few are troubled in this area, giving users errors about missing DLL files or missing archive files. Mostly, the games aren't directly installed onto the user's computer, but the necessarily zip or setup file is copied, and players have to extract it from there, causing the creation of a lot of unnecessary folders. For some games, the inconvenience barely seems worth it, but with patience, players can find some great games.

The diversity and general good quality of games in 1000 Best Games for Windows gives it an advantage. Although there are many clone games, like an abundance of Tetris imitations and Pong copies, most games feature original ideas, from the serious-minded games like Tasholiiwe to the absurd like Catch the Unabomber. The large selection of games just for children is also a good feature of this collection.

Still, 1000 Best Games for Windows doesn't make things as easy as they could be for their users, and that will more than likely cause frustration. Overall, though, this is an impressive selection of games, even if it takes some getting used to.

Review: Enjoyment

There are a lot of fun games to be found in this collection.

Review: Graphics

Although it is a collection of mostly shareware games, the graphics are surprisingly good as a whole.

Review: Sound

The sound varies from game to game, but is decent overall.

Review: Replay Value

Some games are definitely not worth playing again, but plenty will keep players coming back.

Review: Documentation

Along with installation information, there are notes on what shareware is.

Production Credits