The best abandonware vehicle simulation games
Vehicle simulation games put the player right in the pilot’s seat, for an immersive and realistic game experience. Vehicles can be cars, airplanes, spaceships, or tanks. Simulation is often based on details in order to augment realism, like full-features dashboards, controls, gauges, and indicators.
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Blue Angels: Formation Flight Simulation
DOS1989 flight simulation
Ever wondered what it’s like to fly inches from another jet’s tail while defying both gravity and common sense? Blue Angels: Formation Flight Simulation (1989, DOS) tries to capture the precision of elite aerobatics wi...
Starglider 2
DOSMac OS1989 space simulation, space combat
Xiphos
DOS1990 space simulation, space exploration, space combat
Transarctica
DOS1993
MDDClone
Windows 10/11LinuxMac OS2007remake space exploration
Deep space: Operation Copernicus
DOS1986 space combat, space simulation
Babylon 5: I've Found Her
Windows XP/98/952003freeware space simulation, space combat
Released in 2003 for Windows XP, Babylon 5: I've Found Her is the kind of fan-made game that makes you question whether it’s actually fan-made or secretly a pilot for a new sci-fi show. You pilot sleek Starfuries in this spa...
Cybercon III
DOS1992 first-person action-adventure
Ocean Ranger
DOS1988 naval simulation
Arctic Fox
DOS1987 tank simulation, first-person shooter
Tank controls + polar bears + Cold War vibes = Arctic Fox. In this early vehicular combat sim, you're piloting a futuristic snow tank across an icy wasteland to stop some aliens or Russians or alien Russians. The plot is thin, the...
Navcom 6: The Persian Gulf Defense
DOS1988 naval simulation
Up Periscope!
DOS1988 submarine simulation
Tracon for Windows
Windows 3.x1993 civilian flight simulation, flight simulation
Mechwarrior
DOS1989 mech simulation
MechWarrior (1989) was one of the first games to put players inside a 3D cockpit of a giant mech, but it wasn’t just a combat game, it was also an open-ended mercenary RPG, with strategy, politics, and personal revenge at it...
3-D Helicopter Simulator
DOS1987 civilian flight simulation, helicopter simulation, flight simulation
Released in 1987, this is less of a simulator and more of a fever dream where you pilot a flying box over a grid pretending to be terrain. 3-D Helicopter Simulator was ambitious for its time, with wireframe graphics that suggest a...
Destroyer
DOS1986 naval simulation
PHM Pegasus
DOS1987 naval simulation
Sub Command
Windows XP/98/952001protected submarine simulation
Sub Command is a naval warfare simulation game developed by Sonalysts Inc. and released in 2001. In Sub Command, you assume the role of a captain commanding one of three advanced nuclear-powered submarines. The game focuses o...
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict
DOS1988 space combat, space simulation
Wing Commander Academy
DOS1993protected space combat, space simulation
Starglider
DOS1986 space combat, space simulation
LHX Attack Chopper
DOS1990 helicopter simulation, flight simulation
Super Huey II
DOS1988protected helicopter simulation, flight simulation
ACE: Air Combat Emulator
DOS1986 flight simulation
This 1986 DOS classic sounds way cooler than it is — ACE: Air Combat Emulator promises combat, but delivers what feels like flying a lawnmower through molasses. Still, for its time, it gave players the thrill of joystick jos...
Independence War
Windows XP/98/951997protected space combat, space exploration, space simulation
Abrams Battle Tank
DOS1989 tank simulation
Get ready to drive a tank very slowly while also being very stressed. Abrams Battle Tank (1989, DOS) puts you in the commander’s seat of America’s steel behemoth, and somehow turns desert combat into a tactical crawl. ...
Fleet Command
DOS1999protected naval simulation, real-time tactics
SSN-21 Seawolf
DOS1994 submarine simulation
Tomahawk
DOS1987 flight simulation
After Burner
DOS1989 flight simulation, rail shooter
If you’ve ever wanted to fly a jet fighter at Mach “Oh no, I crashed again,” After Burner is the game for you. This 1989 DOS classic straps you into an F-14 and launches you straight into the danger zone - no tra...