Mountain bike market was fierce during that era. Early 90s models had the best rigid geometry for handling. Other brands to consider: Diamond Back (Ascent, DBR), Barracuda, Schwinn PDG. Stay with mid to upper level offerings...Treks of 9xx designation. Early GTs that were made in the USA IMHO are better than later Taiwan only product. There's a high end Canada-made brand that escapes me....hmmm.
Mid 90s suspension frames were no match for today's properly sorted front and rear dampers.
Rocky Mountain? I should have added that to my short list above.
Brad