For me, the first Metal Gear Solid is the best game in the series, and this port is based on the Japanese re-release dubbed "Metal Gear Solid Integral" which added a lot of improvements to the base game, that American gamers didn't get to have on the PlayStation. This release features modern controller support out of the box, but to further extend your enjoyment, get the custom launcher for it that allows stuff like proper widescreen.
You'll be hard pressed to find a more perfectly polished Contra-like. This game oozes a pixel perfect cyberpunk aesthetic with multiple playable characters, lots of weapons, enemies to use them on and boss encounters.
I'd call this more of a port than a "remaster" as Nightdive didn't really remaster anything. What they did do is faithfully port one of the best Build engine games to modern Windows, with just enough QoL improvements to make it a more desirable option than playing the original in DosBox.
While it shares audiovisual assets and it's general plot with Powerslave Exhumed, this plays more like a traditional FPS. So if straight up run-and-gun is more your speed, this is a great game to add to your collection. For best results, I recommend playing it through the BuildGDX source port, which affords you all of the QoL niceties a modern remaster would.
A true successor to the original Alien Breed games that features the one thing those original games was sorely lacking, twin-stick controls.
Yes, there have been better FPS games before and since, but F.E.A.R. does so much right, that it deserves to be recognized. The AI is especially good! It tries to get the heck out of your way when you're laying down heavy fire, runs from your grenades and will regroup and try to outflank you!
Piko Interactive snatched up the rights to a game that had been released as freeware for years, started charging money for it. And packaged it with an emulator that has zero quality of life improvements.
Sometimes you just wanna shoot some bad guys! With it's B action movie plot, and over the top gore, this is a solid game! Using a modified version of the Quake 2 engine, this game employs location-based damage, meaning if you shoot someone in the face, there's no face left. You can blast off limbs, etc. There are certainly worse ways to spend ten bucks.
Because the PC was it's own thing in the sphere of 1990s gaming, you seldom saw ports of popular console franchises. Instead you'd get someone's attempt at making their own version of a coveted game. Jazz Jackrabbit was Epic Megagames' attempt at Sonic the Hedgehog for the PC, but with some new elements like gunplay through into the mix. The end result is spectacular.
Ocean is not known for making great games, but this game flirts with greatness. In fact I'd say it's very good. Released when sprite-based FPS games were out of fashion, Last Rites looks archaic when stacked against it's late 90s contemporaries, but it does some novel things for the time. Its not just you against waves of zombies, you also get squad-mates. The gameplay isn't just "Find the key, find the exit!" You need to achieve objectives and then return to the drop zone. Your mission is spelled out for you via between-level briefing screens, which feature some nice artwork. The gameplay itself is very satisfying. My main gripe is the lack of a proper map. This was 1997 after all.
