Well, frankly if the 16F84 worked for you back then, no reason it shouldn't work for you now.
Yes, there are newer, bigger, better, faster, stronger, longer, PICs out there, but if you don't need those options, then you don't need those options...But, check the 16F628A, 16F88. There was a thread a few weeks ago talking about what various people like to have in their 'toolbox'.
My personal current favorites are the 10F222 (6 pin), 12F683 (8 pin), 16F887 (40 pin 16F series), 18F4685 (40 pin 18F series), 18F1320 (18 pin 18F series), 18F2585 (28 pin 18F series), 18F4550 (40 pin 18F series with USB), 18F2550 (28 pin 18F series with USB) and a few others.

PBP circa 1998 is about the same time I bought my first version of PBP, which likely puts it around PBP 2.42 range. Check the MeLabs website for the updates.