As the name suggests, the player plays a German general in World War II. The basic design of the game is based on the traditional hex map, with a wide variety of units available and displayed as profiles. While the names and info for the units is reasonably accurate, the scenarios are only approximations of historical situations.
Allied General, the same basic game but with the player on the Allied side, came out in 1995.
In 1997, Panzer General II (titled Panzer General IIID in Germany) upgraded the interface to use an overlay of photorealistic terrain, and to display units facing in different directions, resulting in a much improved appearance. In the April 2000 issue of PC Gamer, it was voted the 44th best computer game of all time.
True 3D came in with the 1999 release of Panzer General 3D Assault; the units were small 3D models, and the view could be a perspective view over the battlefield.
Panzer General III: Scorched Earth was released in 2000, with better graphics and a redesigned interface.
SSI also produced the games Pacific General, Star General, Fantasy General using the same general design, but with different themes.