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OK, what about the UFO series from Altar? I never played them but lots of people like them.

There's also the open-source Project Xenocide which looks cool (haven't tried it though.)

I played X-Com just a few years ago for the first time, back when it was already a well over a decade old and yet it was nothing short of a mind blowing experience where nothing I have played more recently came close and I don't even like turn based games.

X-Com: Enemy Unknown is generally regarded as one of the best PC games ever. Last year at IGN it was voted the #1 Best Game Ever, ahead of Civilization IV at #2. For a game released in 1994, that really says something. I bought the game when it came out and could only barely play it on my 386SX16 machine. 14 years later, I still play that damn game once every few months. I still occasionally play a few old games (e.g. Master of Orion 2 and Master of Magic), but none really compare to the full-bore "replayability" of the original X-Com.

-Steam has all the original X-Com games available for download. Take-Two, who owns the rights to the X-Com franchise, has even patched some of them recently.
-Rumor has it that Take-Two is working on a new installment in the X-Com series, but I'm not hopeful. All the sequels have failed to capture some key aspect of the original game.
-Some crazy russian dude actually created a freeware PocketPC/Windows Mobile version of the original X-Com. Not only is it completely true to the original game, it actually works a little better. The only drawback is that you generally are stuck playing it on a screen about the size of a business card. Still, it keeps me occupied during long, boring "all hands" meetings.
- Xenocide is an ongoing attempt to create a modern version of the original X-Com: Enemy Unknown. Like most such fan projects, it's perpetually about 30% done. (yes, FreeOrion, I am looking at YOU)

There is currently an open source project trying to recreate X-Com using modern graphics and technology, etc.

It looks promising, but there is quite a ways to go yet:

http://www.projectxenocide.com/

You might try http://www.projectxenocide.com/ I downloaded it, but I haven't tried it, yet.

Swi

http://docs.projectxenocide.com/index.php/General: FAQ#What_Licence_is_Xenocide_under.3F

I wasn't doing anything tonight so i went and made that for ya. There you go ;)

If you need your fix, I'm pretty sure Project Xenocide (an open-source X-Com clone project) uses the original Blue Marble data for its Geoscape view.

I'm still longing for a worthy successor to X-Com. Nothing is as satisfying as mind-controlling a sectoid, having him scout around for other aliens, and then dropping a blaster bomb on all of them :)

As for modern implementations, you've got UFO: Aftermath and Silent Storm. UFO:AM is very similar in terms of combat, but you don't have nearly as much control over your base. SS has great combat and a simple RPG system (character classes and levels with an ability tree). Both were developed by Eastern European teams, so they're a bit buggy and localization was a bit sub-par. I'd recommend SS over UFO:AM, but both were pretty entertaining.

There's also an expansion to Silent Storm called Sentinels, but I haven't played that yet.

Some upcoming games you might be interested in:
* Hammer & Sickle - sequel to SS
* UFO: Aftershock - sequel to UFO:AM
* Nightwatch - tactical RPG using the SS engine
* Rebelstar - GBA game from the makers of X-Com

And of course, since it's Slashdot, there's the obligatory open-source project in development:
http://www.projectxenocide.com/

If you've got any other recommendations, I'd love to hear them. These sorts of games are like crack to me.

This isn't a joke! I spent most of my life playing strategy and RPG games on a PC or mac. Then one weekend I was helping a friend by playing a small part in a film for him... that's neither here nor there, but the producer brought a Playstation, which I'd never seen. And a copy of Driver. I played about 14 hours of driver that day, and then drove home from the shoot.

I hit 110 without knowing it at one point, dodging in and out of traffic on LA freeways like it was child's play. I snapped out of it after the second near accident that would have been been fatal at that speed.

A distant second is X-Com: UFO defense, which sucked me in emotionally like no other game. I spent an entire spring break week playing it one year in college. So much that at one point I stopped caring and had my team blaster-bomb themselves for fun. When I got up from my chair, I was instantly hit with a wave of nausea and headache like I'd never felt before or since - the effect of some 60+ hours staring at the screen almost nonstop, plus on-off play for another 2.5 days before. I tottered off to the loo, violently blew my lunch, and crept back to bed, where I lay sobbing for hours because the intense pain of the migraine plus huge caffeine load prevented me from falling asleep. I've never felt so sick.

But to this day, I think X-Com: UFO defense is the greatest game ever created. Can't wait for the opensource remake to bear fruit...