These days, most games find their way to both computers and consoles. This was not always the case, however, and most famous PC games of the early aughts, '90s, and before often stayed on the computer forever. Because of this, many expect some of the most legendary PC titles to be exclusive to the platform. It is easy to forget the ports of the ten games featured below.

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Many of these have huge differences too, making them worth a look to see how developers got them running on consoles. We're thankful this is less of an issue these days, though playing on the PC usually affords higher frame rates and resolutions, assuming one has a powerful enough rig.

10 Half-Life On PS2

Half life PS2
Half life PS2

Valve's premier entry into their legendary first-person shooter franchise revolutionized the genre. Fortunately, console players got to see what all the fuss was about when it came to PS2. The graphics were improved and it came with a cooperative multiplayer campaign called Decay.

Of course, some will always prefer mouse and keyboard controls over a DualShock 2, but PS2 owners couldn't complain about getting one of the best FPS games of the '90s in their homes.

9 Deus Ex On PS2

Deus Ex Original aiming weapon at troops and business man

JC Denton's journey through the cyberpunk future presented in Deus Ex gave players an unprecedented level of freedom and immersion in 2000. The game was a touch too ambitious for Sony's second console, so some cuts were made when making the port.

Related: 10 Ways Deus Ex Changed The Immersive Sim Genre

Open areas are split up by walls to help with pop in and draw distances, while the individual limb damage is completely removed. The latter especially changes the way one approaches the game. Not the ideal way to play, but well worth it if one's PC was not up to the task in 2000.

8 Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind On Xbox

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was the first three-dimensional mainline Elder Scrolls game, which made its arrival on Xbox doubly special. Sprawling western RPGs like Bethesda's series always seemed out of reach for console owners, and this port, despite its drawbacks, made a big leap in bridging the gap between console and computer games.

Of course, these days Morrowind is cheap and easy to find on internet marketplaces, so there is no reason to dust off the old Xbox for it.

7 StarCraft 64

starcraft 64
starcraft 64

Making a real-time strategy game work on consoles is no easy feat, which is why few developers even tried. Blizzard did their best, however, when bringing the legendary space opera, StarCraft, to the Nintendo 64.

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Fitting the campaign and Brood War expansion is already an impressive feat on its own, but managing a decent control scheme was a whole other fight. The game sold well, but Blizzard isn't proud of it, and sites it as a reason for not porting a game to consoles unless it makes sense to do so from a game design perspective.

6 UFO: Enemy Unknown

UFO enemy unknwon
UFO enemy unknwon

The turn-based strategy series X-COM started off with 1994's UFO: Enemy Unknown. A PlayStation port of the alien invasion game came out the next year, which retained the look and feel while adding higher quality music.

It even supports the PlayStation Mouse, though a save file takes up five blocks on the memory card, a third of its total space. It is a lot, but the game is so hard, one shouldn't juggle it between other titles, since it requires one's undivided attention.

5 Quake IV On XBOX 360

Quake IV
Quake IV

Raven Software, who now work on the Call of Duty franchise, took over for id Software on Quake IV, which received universal praise. Primarily thought of as a PC first-person shooter, the fourth entry received a proper console port on the Xbox 360. It didn't garner the same praise as the original version, but was still considered a worthwhile way to play the game.

Some reviews at the time of its release were harsher on the technological downgrades than others. One's enjoyment depends on what type of gamer they are. Those interested in tech will know and feel disappointment when playing the inferior version

4 Baldur's Gate

Baldur's Gate screenshot

BioWare's legendary RPG series is the closest thing people have to a tried and true Dungeons and Dragons game. Playing them today takes some getting used to due to their age and complexity, but any fan of western RPGs owes it to themselves to at least dip their toes in and experience one of the most legendary contributions to the genre.

Related: BioWare's 10 Best Games, Ranked

Thankfully, that's easier than ever with the recent ports of the original two games and all of their expansions to the PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One, which came out in 2019.

3 Ultima

Ultima III
Ultima III

Richard Garriott is often credited with creating the first video game RPG, and there isn't much evidence to dispute this claim. While primarily thought of as a PC series, many of the Ultima games made their way to consoles, starting with Ultima III on the NES, which saw significant changes to its structure when being translated to Nintendo's premier piece of gaming hardware.

Given their difficulty and length, they were certainly a good value for the price on a console whose games usually lasted a few hours.

2 Syndicate

Syndiate genesis
Syndiate genesis

Anybody into PC gaming in the early '90s is no doubt familiar with Syndicate. While computers held the definitive releases, versions came out for the SNES and Sega Genesis as well, though these were changed to accommodate the less powerful hardware. The 3DO and Atari Jaguar could handle the PC's graphics, however.

The game came out on PSP as a part of a compilation, though this was the SNES version, an odd choice considering its drawbacks.

1 Diablo On PS1

Diablo PS1
Diablo PS1

When Diablo III came out on both generations of consoles early in the PS4 and Xbox One's lifespan, it seemed like Blizzard was finally branching out from PC gaming. Little do people remember, the first Diablo made its way to the original PlayStation in 1998.

As expected, its graphics take a hit, but the experience was worth it for the ability to go through the campaign cooperatively. The biggest minus is the ten blocks it takes up on the PlayStation's memory card.

Next: 10 PlayStation Exclusives We Want To See On PC