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My dad told me a lot about that game when he was younger and how he loved it. How can I play it, even at it's age (Disk or Digital)? I have seen videos of it and I kind of want to give it a go, because it looks fun.

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    Welcome to the site Alex! I've tweaked your question a little bit to just focus on how you can play MechWarrior 2 in the modern day in order to make it more answerable. I hope you're able to figure out how to get the game working on modern systems. Cheers!
    – Wipqozn ♦
    Commented Sep 5 at 18:23
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    "My dad told me".... Wait a minute, people who played this game when they were young are dads now? [Checks calendar] Oh my.
    – Robert Columbia
    Commented Sep 6 at 0:05
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    @RobertColumbia It's worse than that. My dad used to play this game as well. And I have kids. Sorry.
    – Nacht
    Commented Sep 6 at 5:08
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    I remember when this game was released and it felt like the cutting edge of 3D graphics. Man, those were the days, when we were easily pleased ...
    – Time4Tea
    Commented Sep 6 at 9:58
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    @RobertColumbia sigh... gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/409361/… I am also a dad... though my kids are not video-game age yet :P
    – Timmy Jim ♦
    Commented Sep 6 at 16:03

2 Answers 2

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PCGamingWiki gives quite a lot of detail on how you can play the PC version on modern systems. There are also many helpful videos on YouTube, which cover the differences between the multitude of different versions that were released.

From what I recall, many consider the original DOS (software-rendered) version to be the best. It doesn't have the textures that were added in the later 3D-accelerated versions (the surfaces are just shaded), but apparently it performs smoother and is more stable. I believe some of the accelerated versions were more buggy (this was right at the start - the initial 'wild west' phase of 3D API development). Otherwise, the Windows 95 and Titanium editions can be run using MechVM or DxWnd.

Sadly, I don't think the game ever saw a digital release (Battletech have apparently tried to bury it, in favor of their newer version). So, to play it legitimately, you would need to buy a physical CD off e.g. eBay. Be aware though that there are a lot of different versions flying around - many of the 3D-accelerated versions (S3 Virge, Matrox Mystique, etc) are not playable any more, since they used now-obsolete 3D graphics APIs. So, avoid those versions and stick to DOS, Pentium or Titanium.

Regarding the console versions - I believe they were quite different to the PC version. They were designed to be more 'arcadey', with simpler controls, since the controllers had relatively few buttons. The PC version was designed more like a flight simulator, where you have to use the whole keyboard to control the mech's various functions. So, the experience on console vs PC will probably be quite different.

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    "It doesn't have the textures that were added in the later 3D-accelerated versions"... The walk through I watched had that, so I wasn't expecting too much. Double thanks for the eBay warning too.
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 6 at 1:02
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    I played this game on my parents Windows 95 computer which was Pentium based - some 25ish years ago. I have had success using MechVM to run this game though as well.
    – Timmy Jim ♦
    Commented Sep 6 at 16:02
  • @TimmyJim I love it. So you can use MechVM on your computer now? If so, I'll mark this answer as correct.
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 6 at 18:00
  • @Alex it was some years ago (when I asked the first question for this tag), but it was on my Windows 10 PC and I was certainly playing the game without issue
    – Timmy Jim ♦
    Commented Sep 6 at 18:03
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    @Alex Just a nitpick: OS is a general term that refers to any operating system, including windows. You're thinking of MacOS aka OSX, which is Apple's operating system.
    – Hearth
    Commented Sep 7 at 20:39
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The easiest way to play the game today would probably be to grab a copy of the 1997 PlayStation release from your preferred used console gaming dealer. This will play on an original PlayStation as well as on the PS2 or PS3. By going with a console version, you will avoid having to deal with configuring, tweaking, or troubleshooting your MS-DOS emulator.

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  • Short, sweet, fun to eat, and easy as pie. Oh, but wasn't there a PC version too?
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 6 at 0:57
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    What is the point of playing a game, if you don't have to learn how your computer works ti get it running? Where would be the challenge and satisfaction?
    – akostadinov
    Commented Sep 6 at 8:19
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    Kids these days, will never learn the….joy…of making boot disks for game after game.
    – suchiuomizu
    Commented Sep 6 at 10:54
  • @suchiuomizu Today's tech makes it even harder to learn, in your words, "the joy of boot disks for game after game," because those things have become extincted from the tech world. I would love learning how to work with old tech.
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 6 at 17:57
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    @RobertColumbia I just realized, you answered at 0:00 UTC. That's funny.
    – Alex
    Commented Sep 9 at 1:22

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