Sid Meier's Civilization

The Good
An incredible scope, and yet still great detail. This set the level of all games to come after it. I was playing the old game "Empire" before this. It was as big a jump as going from a black and white 10" screen (yes, I had one when I was a kid) to a 35" color HDTV today. This game was a bigger jump in innovation than any game before or since.

The Bad
It was actually a little buggy at the time. Of course it, probably strained that poor 286DX I had at the time. It used to crash quite often, but I would still immediately reboot and continue playing.

The Bottom Line
This is the classic conquer the world game. Start as nomad wondering the plains and advance over the next 6000 years to send a mission to the nearest star. Be warned this game is incredibly addictive.