Retro Game Timewarp

Let's go back in time to the early 90's for a moment. I mentioned in my very first post that one of my first forays into the world of PC gaming was the original Wing Commander. In this game, I found an amazing experience that I still fondly remember today (along with its sequels). Set in the distant future (2364 if i remember correctly), you, the player, are thrust into the shoes of a newly-minted space fighter pilot assigned to a carrier on deep space assignment during a bloody war between the Terran Confederation and the Kilrathi, a feline-humanoid hybrid species. You fly with one other computer controlled pilot, who acts as your wingman during each mission.

The whole experience was immersive and cinematic - from the cartoonish "cutscenes" where you advanced the plot, to the frantic music that played when you were rushing to your cockpit, to the satisfaction that you gleaned from each successful engagement. If you did well in your missions, you could even earn medals and accolades. What encouragement! I replayed many missions over just to fill out my chest with "candy." I still remember the few mission where you encountered one of the enemy "aces" - they were noticeably better than the typical cannon fodder, and downing one usually resulted in a loud "YEAH!" from the player (Yes, I'm guilty!).

All in all, what an amazing experience for a 14 year old playing one of his first PC games ever, in MS-DOS, on a 486SX with 1MB of memory and a 120MB hard drive. Those were the days!