The best side-scroller games
A side-scroller (or horizontal scrolling) is a video game in which the action is shown in a side perspective and the environment scrolls mainly on an horizontal axis. Characters usually have to move from the left to the right side of the screen to go on in the game.
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Castlevania
DOS1990 Distinctive Software
Castlevania, originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986, was developed and published by Konami. The game was known in Japan as Akumajo Dracula (Devil's Castle Dracula) and was later renamed Castlevania for its North American release. In Castlevania, players take on the role of Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter from the Bel...
Home Alone
DOS1991 Manley Associates
Dark Ages Volume I - Prince of Destiny
DOS1991freeware Scenerio Software
Heroes of the Lance
DOS1989protected U.S. Gold
Crystal Caves
DOS1991protected Apogee Software
Night Breed
DOS1990
Hercules
Windows XP/98/951997protected Eurocom Developments
Soccer Kid
DOS1995 Krisalis
Yie Ar Kung Fu 2: The Emperor Yie-Gah
DOS1985 Konami
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
DOS1989 Psygnosis
Ah, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior—the game where loincloths are tiny and sword swings are deadly. This 1989 fighter slashed its way onto DOS with decapitations, grunts, and enough low-res gore to make Conan blush. Forget finesse: this is about button mashing your way to glory while your opponent’s head rolls off like it’s auditi...
Elvira: the Arcade Game
DOS1991 Flair Software
Shinobi
DOS1989 Sega
The Amazing Spider-Man and Captain America in Dr. Doom's Revenge!
DOS1989 Paragon Software
Blood Money
DOS1990 DMA Design
Blood Money (1990) answers the question: what if every level in a shoot-'em-up was a different kind of sci-fi fever dream? You fly through alien-infested caverns, collect cash, and try not to get obliterated by things that look like angry underwater Christmas decorations. The game has that classic early-90s Euro-vibe: tough as nails, oddly beautifu...
Colorado
DOS1990 Silmarils
Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare
DOS1994protected Epic MegaGames
Uridium
DOS1988 Graftgold
Uridium is a classic shoot 'em up video game that was originally developed by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1986 for various home computer platforms (including MS-DOS). In Uridium, players control a spaceship known as the Manta, and the objective is to destroy a series of enemy spacecraft, as well as ground-based inst...
Monty Python's Flying Circus
DOS1991 Core Design
Cougar Force
DOS1990 Coktel Vision
Lorna
DOS1990NSFW Topo Soft
Creatures Village
Windows XP/98/95Mac OS2001protected Creature Labs
Mega Man
DOS1990 Capcom
Side Arms Hyper Dyne
DOS1988 Capcom
Side Arms: Hyper Dyne is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up arcade game developed and published by Capcom in 1986 and later ported on various platforms. Players control a "mobilsuit," a futuristic combat robot, in a war against alien invaders. Side Arms is set in outer space and features mechanical and alien-inspired aesthetics.
Secret Agent
DOS1992protected Apogee Software
Armor Alley
DOSMac OS1991
In Armor Alley, you command a helicopter in a warzone that looks like a side-scrolling office meeting gone wrong. It’s strategy meets action: you must manage resources, deploy units, and not crash into the ground every five seconds. It’s chaotic, a little clunky, and far too fun. The game shines in its mix of arcade shooting and light t...
Billy The Kid
DOS1990 Level 9 Computing
Saddle up, pardner. Billy The Kid puts you in the dusty boots of the infamous outlaw himself. This is the Wild West, DOS-style — pixel pistols, wanted posters, and dialogue that might make a cactus wince. Whether you’re shootin’ varmints or causin’ a ruckus, justice is whatever you can code in QBasic.
Lollypop
DOS1994
Oliver & Company
DOS1989 Coktel Vision
Dragons of Flame
DOS1989protected U.S. Gold