Games released in 1988 sorted by popularity

In Bionic Commando, you're a soldier with no jumping ability—because who needs knees when you have a grappling arm? Swing through 1988 DOS architecture like a pixelated Tarzan, blasting bad guys and trying not to fall to your death every five seconds. It's like Contra met Spider-Man, had a disagreement about controls, and made up over explosi...

In Annals of Rome, you don’t just play history — you command it, badly. This 1988 strategy title lets you take control of the Roman Empire and try to keep it from falling apart, which it will, probably because you let Gaul get too uppity. It’s part turn-based strategy, part “HR simulator,” as you shuffle around senator...

MicroProse Soccer is an abandoned action-oriented soccer game, developed by Sensible Software and released by MicroProse Software in 1988. The appeal of MicroProse Soccer was its simplicity and the smooth controls. In the United States it was known as Keith Van Eron's Pro Soccer.

Released in 1988, Alien Fires 2199 AD looks and plays like someone tried to translate a fever dream into a sci-fi RPG. You control some dude with a chin of steel and a crew that seems perpetually confused. The interface is clunky, the combat baffling, and the plot? Something about galactic diplomacy, maybe? It’s not quite “so bad it&rsq...

Remember when being radical meant wearing neon shorts and dodging killer squirrels on a skateboard? No? Well, Awesome Earl in SkateRock is here to educate you. Released in 1988, this sidescrolling oddity lets you control a tubular dude with more 'tude than pixels, skating his way through a world of questionable design and rockin’ background t...