Starflight was the first "real" computer game I got when I purchased my Tandy 1000SX from Radio Shack back in the mid-80s. We used to build blanket forts in my bedroom that simulated the ship, and would put the monitor and keyboard in the "cockpit" room of the fort. We made our own immersion. ;) This is where "mining" and resource gathering originated, as I spent countless hours planetside, attempting to get that last bit of ore in my rover before the fuel gave out. This is where your space battles came from - having zero shields and limited amount of armor left, being pursued, and firing off that last torpedo that annihilates your enemy. This game captured my imagination to the point where I still have it on my shelf to remind my of my forays deep into the universe.
Icewind Dale, along with Baldur's Gate II, can be considered the pinnacle of the Bioware top-down engine and is the perfect mix of adventure, story-telling and turn based combat. Jeremy Soule's haunting score keeps pace as you make your way through a linear, but engrossing story. This is the perfect game to team up with one or two people and adventure through over this winter.
Duke Nukem3d is one of the seminal shooters, alongside the DOOM and QUAKE series, that really propelled the first person shooter genre to where it is today. One of those games where you play it and your mind registers, "Ok, this is something different...." Duke Nukem3d was also fantastic for it's multiplayer mode - nothing like laying down some laser mines in a corridor and having your friend/opponent wander into them. Interesting and varied environments - unique opponents to engage - and how can you not like a main character who has the depth of a kidding swimming pool but still knows how to kick butt?
What other game can you fire up in less than a minute - use an assortment of weapons against some fairly cunning bots, and rock it all out to some decent techno music? I could spend hours just sniping on Face to Face, or running over people in the Mantis....
Even though I no longer had a system to run these games - I still had my boxes in my study. My wife would complain, my children would ask why - and now I know. This is a throwback to a more pure form of what would be considered Stronghold, though with far superior RPG elements.
