The best abandonware action games
Action video games are a genre of video games that emphasize physical challenges, hand-eye coordination, and reaction time. These games typically involve fast-paced gameplay, where players control a character who must navigate through a dynamic environment filled with obstacles, enemies, and other challenges. The primary focus is on the player's ability to react quickly and make split-second decisions.
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Ant Attack!
DOS1994freeware maze
Released in 1994 (long after it originally debuted on other platforms), Ant Attack! is what you get when you mix isometric graphics, giant ants, and questionable urban planning. You play a brave soul navigating a crumbling city to...
Freddy Hardest
DOS1988 platform
Bananoid
DOS1991freewareremake block breaker
Is it Breakout? Is it Arkanoid? No — it’s Bananoid, the fruitiest bat-and-ball clone you never asked for. With bananas, monkeys, and psychedelic colors, it feels like someone laced Pong with banana peels and Saturday m...
Karnov
DOS1987 platform
Karnov is a classic side-scrolling action arcade game developed by Data East in 1987. The game features a unique protagonist named Jinborov Karnovski, or "Karnov", a fire-breathing, muscle-bound, bald, shirtless strongman from the...
CHAMP Pac-em
DOS1996remake maze
Demon Stalkers
DOS1989 maze, dungeon crawl
Disney's Tarzan
Windows XP/98/951999 platform
Fire Power
DOS1988 tank simulation
Kingdom of Kroz
DOS1988freeware maze
Litil Divil
DOS1993protected action puzzle
The Geekwad: Games of the Galaxy
DOS1993
The Typing of the Dead
Windows XP/98/951999 word puzzle, rail shooter
The Typing of the Dead is a distinctive video game, essentially a typing adaptation of the classic rail shooter arcade game, The House of the Dead. Initially debuting in 1999 as an arcade machine, it later became available on othe...
TwinBlok
DOS1996 block breaker, action puzzle
Wreckers
DOS1991
X-Men: Madness in Murderworld
DOS1989 beat 'em up
Xargon
DOS1993freeware platform, run and gun
Pac-girl
DOS1982 maze
Axet
DOS1994freeware block breaker
Few games from 1994 dared to ask the real question: “What if you gave an axe to someone with absolutely no training and dropped them into a dungeon with the reflexes of a sloth?” Axet did. This little-known DOS action-...
Rollo and the Brush Brothers
DOS1983
Jet Set Willy remake
DOS1999freewareremake platform
Jet Set Willy is a classic platform video game released for various home computers in the 1980s. It was developed by Matthew Smith and published by Software Projects for the ZX Spectrum in 1984. The game is the sequel to Manic Min...
Bubble Dizzy
DOS1993 platform
Dizzy the egg is back, and this time he’s underwater and floating up on bubbles because... sure, why not? Bubble Dizzy is a mix of patience, timing, and yelling “WHY DID THAT BUBBLE POP?!” at your screen. It's mo...
Dungeons of Kroz 2
DOS1989 maze
Willy the Worm
DOS1985
McDonald Land
DOS1992 platform
Pyjamarama
Windows 10/11Mac OS2004freewareremake platform
Pyjamarama is an abandoned action adventure game released in 2004 for Windows; it's a remake of the original Pyjamarama. The original is a classic video game developed by Mikro-Gen and first released in 1984 for 8-bit compute...
Popcorn
DOS1988freeware block breaker
Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware maze
Ghostbusters
DOS2006remake
Ghostbusters is a abandoned action game based on the 80s hit movie Ghostbusters. Ghostbusters was released in 2006 as a remake of the game of the same name developed by Activision in 1984 for a number of platforms including C...
Jump 'n Bump
DOS1998freeware platform
The Three Stooges
DOS1987freeware