The '90s were a bit of a golden age for strategy games. The power of computers and consoles hadn't gotten to the point where every series was leaning into first or third-person action but were powerful enough that strategy games could be more expansive than ever. The peak of strategy games occurred during the '90s, and it showed as some of the landmark series in the genre began in that decade. Many of these games are so good, they still have active communities around them, with people flocking back to play these classics.

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You'll probably recognize a lot of these names as these IPs got their start in the 1990s as strategy games, and they are still the most popular in their respective series. All these games hit right when we still had big CRT monitors, clackity keyboards, and ball mouses. What a time.

8 Anno 1602

This is perhaps the unique entry into the list. German company Max Design put together Anno 1602 in 1998, and it went on to be the best-selling game in Germany that year. It also spawned a series of Anno games. The best part? It's more about running an economy than being violent.

Anno 1602 focuses on building colonies through trade and economic management as opposed to military intervention. While other games on this list are all about blowing things up, Anno 1602 does have military units, but taking action is extremely difficult and should be used sparsely. The game still has an awesome community around it today, and it’s a nice change-up as a relaxing economy sim.

7 Starcraft

After its successful Warcraft games, Blizzard moved into space and knocked this real-time strategy game out of the park. Released in 1998, Starcraft became the gold standard for esports and was essentially the purest form of a real-time strategy game until its sequel came out.

The original Starcraft did an amazing job balancing three races: the Zerg, Protoss, and Terrans. They each played differently and had unique strengths and weaknesses. Blizzard's Battle.net was very active with Starcraft matches easy to find well into the 2000s, and the game kept people engaged thanks to its robust map editor. Different custom scenario makers spawned some wildly creative maps and play styles for people to enjoy. If people stuck with single-player, the campaign featured all three races and was a grand, sweeping space opera.

At the time critics called it the best real-time strategy game ever made, and it remains one of the most influential games in the industry. The latest remaster by Blizzard brought the game up to 4K resolution, if you want to go back to an era when we all had beige PC towers.

6 Warcraft 2

Before Warcraft was a behemoth of the MMORPG genre, it was a humble real-time strategy series that put Blizzard on the map. Warcraft: Orcs and Humans came out in 1994 and set the stage for the ultimate battle for Azeroth, but the gameplay was slow and clunky.

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Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, released in 1996, was much faster-paced, streamlined, and brought in naval and air units. While Orcs and Humans were essentially the same with a few minor differences, the visual differences and overall art direction were much improved. While released before Battle.net, it did have some multiplayer capabilities and an online community quickly sprung up around it. It also garnered a huge LAN fanbase. The game went on to sell three million copies by 2001, and it’s easy to see why. Resource management and dealing with expanding after your initial mine and tree stand collapses makes this a really time-consuming and interesting RTS, even today.

5 Command & Conquer

Released just years after the Gulf War, Command and Conquer depicts a modern warfare setting with a twist. The 1995 RTS throws in Tiberium, a substance that spreads across Earth and can be harvested in-game as a resource. The story features a war between the Global Defense Initiative and the mysterious Brotherhood of Nod - which has different units in-game.

Usually compared with Warcraft 2, Command and Conquer had a faster pace of play and had more units on screen. The use of modern battleground tech was certainly a different feel from Orcs taking on Humans.

The full motion videos, lighting quick gameplay, novel interface, and engaging campaign were a huge hit. C&C sold millions of copies and spawned a game series that still exists today. However, the original C&C is still considered to be the best of the series.

4 Command & Conquer: Red Alert

While a 'prequel' to Command and Conquer, C&C: Red Alert was a fun alternate history that asks “what happens if Hitler disappeared before the Second World War?” The story features Allied Forces battling the USSR in Europe as Joseph Stalin aims for world domination.

Red Alert changed the gameplay to have more focus on air and naval units, meaning tactics from the first game would not always work. Critics praised the game’s balance, new units, and story, saying it complemented the original Command and Conquer game well. It would go on to spawn a Red Alert series that was as well-liked, if not more liked than the series it spun off from.

3 Age Of Empires

Microsoft’s venture into real-time strategy stood out from the Command and Conquer and Warcraft clones by throwing a novel wrinkle into the genre. Age of Empires is set in ancient times and allows the player to advance their civilization through the stone, tool, bronze, and iron ages. These tech advances mean players had to weigh whether they should spend money on more advanced tech, or more troops.

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While other games at the time had a couple of different races to play, Age of Empire had twelve different civilizations with different technologies and attributes. The sound design of the game is also burned into the brain of pretty much every gamer who popped it into their CD drive. While the game got good reviews, the next games in the series - Age of Empires 2 and Age of Empires 3 - would really refine this type of RTS and are hailed as some of the best games of all time.

2 XCOM

Released in 1994, X-COM: UFO Defense was turn-based tactical strategy gaming at its best. While defending Earth against an alien invasion with all sorts of baddies, players have to manage X-COM bases at the strategic level along with individual troops on the tactical level.

Considered by some to be the best PC game of all time, X-COM was a hit in both Europe and the United States. Naturally, this game has gone on to spawn many other X-COM games and remains the revered series when it comes to turn-based strategy. Plus, you got to fight aliens and there aren't many gamers that would turn down that prospect.

1 Homeworld

Released in 1999, Homeworld brought real-time strategy into the third dimension as it used battles in space instead of 2D sprites on a flat map. The game features Kushan exiles battling against the Taiidan Empire. Players can use their spacecraft-making mothership to build many different types of spacecraft with different purposes. This was Sierra's swan song as the company went out of business after this game came out, but it was a beautiful one at that.

Homeworld was the highest-rated game of 1999 as its gameplay, connected mission structure, and graphics were all incredibly impressive for the time. The rotatable camera was novel when trying to take in these large space battles and the multiplayer was very entertaining. Even today, the series is considered one of the best gaming has to offer.

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