Lets talk about Apple Computers

[TheyCallMeTheSwede]

Recentily, I have a nostalgic craving to get some Macintosh computers, I mean the stuff from the late 80s to mid 90s. Just looking at the old Black and White games on the Macintosh 128K, games like Dark Castle, Slime Invaders ect. ect. just pretty much set me back in time, back when we had our first computer, I'd had fun messing around that computer.

So yeah, I've been thinking of buying an old school Macintosh computer, my question is, what is the best version/model of the ole Mac, and which the best OS, and I want an OS that has a good balance of playing games in the 90s (ex. Myst, Marathon) and B&W stuff of the late 80s (like what I mentioned above).

PS,
I tried emulators, its a little too complicated for me.

[bladerunner]

We always had PCs when I was growing up. The only exception was an old Mac Classic that my dad brought home and gave to my brother. The only game I remember was Scarab of Ra, which was pretty cool. Of course my brother had to go and break the thing, so that ended my Mac gaming.

[noiseredux]

My elementery school had some Apple IIe's. I remember Oregon Trail, Math Blasters, and a printing program... was it Print Shop Deluxe? I don't know. That was the extent of my Mac gaming.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Personally, I have, and would recommend a PowerBook G3 pismo running OS9.2.2. It's great for old games. I'm currently playing Diablo 2 on mine.

[CRTGAMER]

Agree with your nostalgia bug.

I'm surfing right now on a beloved imac slot G3 upgraded to 1gb and OSX.
Installed a DVD internal reader and kept OS9 for the older games.
Recommend one of these to run lotta older games.

Just like Retro games I guess I like Reto Computers.

[Hatta]

Yeah, most of us here didn't use Macs back in the day because they were in all honesty pretty bad for gaming. Apple IIs had some great games on them, but Steve Jobs wanted to focus on the business market. As a result, there aren't a whole lot of compelling games.

I have a Mac Classic I use as a networked hard disk for my IIgs. Honestly, I haven't found a single game worth playing on the thing. Sure I could play Dark Castle, but why when there's Castlevania?

The operating system on that thing is really a pain to work with. Makes me long for DOS. Trying to get files onto the computer is just about impossible. Early Macs embedded information about file types in a "resource fork". So even if you get the files onto the computer they may not run because the resource fork isn't transferred by most communication programs. I was extremely lucky that Clarisworks was already on my machine, and it understands "MacBinary format" so I can get software that's packaged in that format to run. It's still a huge pain in the ass though.

These days, I love Apple computers. It's real UNIX, with a command line and everything. But to be a Mac head back in the early 90s? You'd have to be crazy.

Not to rain on your parade or anything. There is a nice abandonware site for Macs. Check it out, see what you like, and report back.

[Betamax001]

My elementary school had some Apple IIe's. I remember Oregon Trail, Math Blasters, and a printing program... was it Print Shop Deluxe? I don't know. That was the extent of my Mac gaming.

I think our school had some Apple IIs also. I'm not exactly sure what model thought. I wanna say Apple IIe though. I vaguely remember people playing Oregon Trail. I remember seeing them and thinking WOW these are old!! By then this had to be at least 1999 to 2002.

"I remember the screens were green and black....."

[TheyCallMeTheSwede]

Yeah, most of us here didn't use Macs back in the day because they were in all honesty pretty bad for gaming. Apple IIs had some great games on them, but Steve Jobs wanted to focus on the business market. As a result, there aren't a whole lot of compelling games.

I have a Mac Classic I use as a networked hard disk for my IIgs. Honestly, I haven't found a single game worth playing on the thing. Sure I could play Dark Castle, but why when there's Castlevania?

The operating system on that thing is really a pain to work with. Makes me long for DOS. Trying to get files onto the computer is just about impossible. Early Macs embedded information about file types in a "resource fork". So even if you get the files onto the computer they may not run because the resource fork isn't transferred by most communication programs. I was extremely lucky that Clarisworks was already on my machine, and it understands "MacBinary format" so I can get software that's packaged in that format to run. It's still a huge pain in the ass though.

These days, I love Apple computers. It's real UNIX, with a command line and everything. But to be a Mac head back in the early 90s? You'd have to be crazy.

Not to rain on your parade or anything. There is a nice abandonware site for Macs. Check it out, see what you like, and report back.

Yeah, I have not been a PC user at least until 92 when Windows 3.1 came out, ohhhh Packard Bell computers, you where a real piece of work. But I have to give respect to Apple for exposing me to computer gaming. I mean, I never used a Commandor 64 before, MS-DOS was non existent, the only time I used Apple II computers is around Kindergarten to 2nd Grade with Reader Rabbit games, and Stickybear games (I used to remember calling them STINKY Bear). So pretty much I give where credit is due.

[Dakinggamer87]

My elementery school had some Apple IIe's. I remember Oregon Trail, Math Blasters, and a printing program... was it Print Shop Deluxe? I don't know. That was the extent of my Mac gaming.

Yeah, same here we also had games like Number Munchers an educational math learning game and some others!! Good times especially with Oregon Trail my Mac gaming nostalgia

[marurun]

Pick up an old Quadra with system 7.1-ish. That's the best way to play some of the most classic Mac games. It'll run most System 6 software and most System 7 software. The system should also be able to run System 7.5 should you want to try some of the newer classic Mac games, like Marathon 2.