Growing up in the 90s with a PC gaming dad, I played a lot of good games from back then. I would get demo disks with my monthly PCGamer issues every month. Some of the good games are well known, but these... These I have never seen mentioned online ever.

Space Sims:

Tachyon: The Fringe

This game, your characters is a very talkative mercenary played by BRUCE CAMPBELL of Evil Dead fame! There are plenty of other colorful and hammy characters. You are in the space wild west essentially, full of criminals and scummy corporations, and freedom fighters. A short way into the campaign, you choose which side (on the mission to attack the Bora base in Hub Sector), for completely different sets of missions (it's sort of like what Witcher 2 does with Iorveth). This game has a lot of ship customization, you change out not only what ship (different ships are good for different missions), but the hardware and software packages. You also manage the energy between different subsystems and shield facings. And you can hire wingmen with fun dialogue.

Starlancer

The game Freelancer is a sequel to, break out the joystick for some tough but fair, mission based space dogfighting. You have to be careful with your load-out in this. Expect to spend half your time pressing the afterburner (fuel pods are a must). The lore of this game is pretty simple: Democracies fending off Russia, China and the middle east. In space. One notable thing about it, is the in depth command system for ordering your squad-mates around (you'll need the help.) You can also command a "nanny" vessel to come repair and refill your ammo mid-mission (like some of the Star Wars dog-fighting games).

Darkstar One

Freelancer-lite. You upgrade your organic ship in one of three ways with alien artifacts (besides the usual equipment): Firepower, Turrets, Engines (for replay-ability with different builds). In-between missions, you choose how to make money from a variety of methods, including smuggling. You especially want to clear pirate worlds and hidden wrecks for the best equipment.

Point & Click Adventure:

Ripley's Believe It or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu

You play as a real life person (Robert Ripley), in an indiana-jones lite world trotting adventure, using items and solving puzzles. A game with a great sense of humor, and unlike many other in the genre, many ways to die (with an amusing message playing for each one). This actually sparked my interest in history as a kid. Set around the start of WWII, you look for secrets hidden in a Bhuddist Temple, Easter Island, and an Inca mountaintop ruin, talking to interesting (and devious) characters along the way.

The Journeyman Project (All three games!))

Do you like science fiction for reasons other than things exploding and fights? Do you like nail-biting tension and death being just around the corner in your adventure games? Then you'll love these. The first game is extremely atmospheric, almost horror. The easiest way to play it now is the Pegasus Prime remake which tries to lighten the atmosphere with an AI companion, for better or worse. The second game, where you must clear your name for being framed for a crime, introduces a comedian sidekick and has you needing to turn invisible to not get caught. It has some really amusing death screens, like this. The third game actually lets you talk to people, and take the form of anyone you've met to have different conversation options and responses (this doesn't disrupt the timeline because the civilizations get wiped out soon after you visit).

Tomb Raider Clones:

Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine

Much like the early Tomb Raiders, this is a bit clunky. It's basically everything you'd expect from an old Tomb Raider. What stands out about it, are the ancient artifacts you get besides your 10 weapons. One can break open damaged walls, one can turn you invisible, one can levitate you. Fun fact, is in this game, Indiana Jones fights Soviets instead of Nazis, deals with some inter-dimensional beings, and a few levels are in Latin America. All more than a decade before the Crystal Skull film.

Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb

Do you like punching Nazis? Do you want a amazing brawling/boxing adventure game, where you use objects as improvised weapons like a friggin wrestler? Make sure you use the guard button to block attacks (It's kind of not taught to you well, it can break the experience not knowing how to), and you'll have a ton of fun fighting in this game. You can grab a person, and throw them, either straightforwardly, or if you grab them from behind, you throw them HEAD FIRST. If you throw an enemy into a wall, they stand there dazed for a while, and Indy will go into BEATDOWN MODE, mercilessly wrecking them with his fists. Otherwise, it's a much more refined tomb raider clone, with all the good puzzles and platforming you'd expect.