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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Baby Joe in: Going Home
DOS1991 platform
In 1991, DOS gamers were treated to the weirdest parenting simulator ever: Baby Joe in: Going Home. You play as Baby Joe, an infant inexplicably left to crawl through caves, forests, and other extremely child-unfriendly terrain. Why is a baby traversing spike pits and lava flows? No one knows. Maybe his babysitter was the final boss. With floaty co...
Back to the Future Part 2
DOS1990
1990’s Back to the Future Part 2 for DOS is a game that tries very hard to be as confusing as time travel itself. You’re Marty McFly, zipping between timelines, avoiding paradoxes, and trying to not get arrested for pixelated trespassing. The gameplay consists of side-scrolling, light puzzle-solving, and deep regret. It looks like someo...
Bad Dudes VS Dragon Ninja
DOS1988protected beat 'em up
Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president? If that line doesn’t make you want to punch a ninja through a hotdog stand, nothing will. Bad Dudes VS Dragon Ninja is peak 80s: mullets, muscles, and more side-scrolling beatdowns than a Chuck Norris fan convention. It's cheesy, it's repetitive, and yes — it's absolutely glorious.
Bad Street Brawler
DOS1987 beat 'em up
Bad Street Brawler is a beat 'em up video game developed by Beam Software and published by Mindscape. Originally released for the Commodore 64 in 1987 and later for other platforms. The game features Duke Davis, a former punk rocker turned vigilante, as the protagonist. In "Bad Street Brawler," players guide Duke through various urban environm...
Bagman
Windows 10/112013freewareremake platform
No, it’s not about a guy who holds your groceries. Bagman is a retro-style indie throwback where you’re a pickaxe-wielding convict trying to steal bags of cash from a mine while dodging guards and gravity. Released decades after the original arcade version, this 2013 remake proves two things: pixelated heists never go out of style, and ...
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 morning cartoons. It’s not original, but it sure is bananas.
Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior
DOS1989 platform
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...
Barbie
DOS1992 platform
Released in 1992, Barbie for DOS is what happens when someone asks, “What if pink could be a video game?” You play as Barbie on a quest to collect accessories and win Ken's affection, which probably says more about early '90s gender norms than we’d like to admit. Still, the music is bubbly, the visuals are sparkly, and the fashion...
Barbie Super Model
DOS1993 racing: car
If Barbie was mildly passive in her 1992 debut, Barbie Super Model (1993) puts her on the runway—literally. You’ll practice walking, dodging obstacles, and matching outfits because nothing screams "video game challenge" like coordinating accessories under pressure. Half driving sim, half fashion quiz, all unapologetically pink. It&rsquo...
Batman Returns
DOS1992 beat 'em up
Just like the movie, Batman Returns (1992) is dark, gritty, and full of dudes in clown makeup getting punched in the face. You play as the Caped Crusader in a beat-‘em-up side-scroller that delivers satisfying combos and a surprising amount of bleak holiday cheer. It’s Gotham at its weirdest, Tim Burton style. One moment you’re sw...
Batman: the Movie
DOS1990
The 1990 adaptation of Tim Burton’s Batman hit DOS screens with a moody mix of driving, platforming, and side-scrolling bat-beatdowns. Batman: The Movie swings between genres like a bat on a bungee cord. One moment you're cruising through Gotham, the next you’re grappling across rooftops like a vigilante Spider-Man with fashion sense. I...
Battle Arena Toshinden
DOS1996 fighting
Battle Arena Toshinden was the first game in the Toshinden series and was originally released for the Sony PlayStation in 1995 and later for DOS. Battle Arena Toshinden introduced 3D graphics to the fighting game genre, allowing characters to move in a three-dimensional space.The game featured a diverse roster of eight playable characters, eac...
BC's Quest for Tires
DOS1984
In BC's Quest for Tires, you play a loincloth-wearing caveman who’s riding a unicycle through danger, because apparently that’s how courtship worked in 1984. The goal? Rescue your cave-girlfriend from some surprisingly athletic dinosaurs and other slapstick hazards. It's basically Frogger meets a comic strip you’ve probably seen o...
Beast
DOS1984 maze
Beast is ASCII horror at its most gloriously minimal. You’re a brave soul (well, a smiley face) trapped in a dungeon with sentient blobs (the titular beasts) that want you very, very dead. Armed only with moving blocks and raw fear, you’ll test your puzzle reflexes against relentless monsters. It’s like Sokoban had a nightmare, an...
Beats of Rage
DOS2003freeware beat 'em up
Beats of Rage is what happens when fans of Streets of Rage decide to stop waiting for Sega and just build their own game—with a side of King of Fighters for flavor. This DOS beat 'em up is so full of punches, kicks, and pixel-blood that you can practically hear a '90s arcade groaning in approval. It’s got more combos than a fast-food me...
Beethoven 2
DOS1993 platform
Yes, it’s that Beethoven—the slobbery St. Bernard, not the piano guy. In Beethoven 2, you control a surprisingly agile dog on a quest to rescue your kidnapped puppies. Along the way, you’ll bark at birds, jump on trash cans, and drool on everything in sight. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds, with controls that feel like you'r...
Bert and the Snake
DOS1983remake
In Bert and the Snake, you are Bert. And yes, there's a snake. That’s the plot. It’s a maze game from a time when naming conventions were refreshingly honest and graphics were aggressively square. You guide your little Bert blob through perilous corridors while avoiding a rather enthusiastic snake with boundary issues. It's the kind of ...
Beyond the Black Hole
DOS1989
Beyond the Black Hole promises an interstellar voyage into mystery—and delivers... a disorienting 3D shooter that kind of feels like flying a cardboard spaceship through a kaleidoscope. The idea is noble: space combat meets puzzle-solving. The execution? Let’s say it was ambitious for 1989. You fly through wormholes, blast weird shapes,...
Billy The Kid
DOS1990 shooting gallery
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.
Bio Menace Episode 1: Dr. Mangle's Lab
DOS1993freeware platform, run and gun
Mutants! Explosions! Green slime! Bio Menace kicks off with Dr. Mangle’s Lab, a side-scrolling blast of carnage where you, Snake Logan (yes, really), shoot your way through a monster-infested city with a machine gun and a bad attitude. Think Duke Nukem’s cousin after a rough day. Cheap thrills, big pixels, and even bigger mullets.
Bio Menace Episode 2: The Hidden Lab
DOS1993freeware platform, run and gun
Snake Logan is back, and this time the lab is... hidden! The Hidden Lab cranks up the challenge with more grotesque mutants, more lethal traps, and slightly improved sarcasm. It’s like episode one, but with less common sense and more toxic goo. Still powered by the Commander Keen engine, because who needs originality when you have grenades?
Bio Menace Episode 3: Master Cain
DOS1993freeware platform, run and gun
The trilogy concludes in Master Cain, where Snake Logan faces the ultimate evil: a villain with a name that sounds like a Bond bad guy and a plan straight from Saturday morning cartoons. Expect one last hurrah of mutant-blasting mayhem, complete with bad platforming, louder explosions, and enough neon to cause eye strain. Long live DOS carnage!
Bionic Commando
DOS1988 platform, run and gun
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...
Blackthorne
DOS1994 platform
Blackthorne (1994) is what happens when a '90s action hero gets lost in a side-scrolling alien world and decides to shoot everything until it makes sense. You’re Kyle, a shotgun-wielding rebel with a mullet that could cut glass. This game oozes style—literally, some of the monsters do. The combat is slick, the animations smooth, and the...
Blade Warrior
DOS1991 beat 'em up
Blade Warrior (1991) is a side-scrolling beat 'em up that looks like it was illustrated entirely in heavy metal album covers. You’re a silhouette of rage, cutting through demonic hordes in a world where nobody believes in color. It’s stylish, moody, and borderline impossible at times. The controls are a bit stiff, but that’s just ...
Bob Winner
DOS1986 beat 'em up
Ah, Bob Winner (1986, DOS), the game that asks: what if Indiana Jones had a cousin who got lost in a side-scroller? You play as the titular Bob, an adventurer who walks like he’s late for a dinner date and punches wildlife like it owes him money. There’s a story somewhere—something about treasure and evil—but mostly you&rsqu...
Body Blows
DOS1993 fighting
Body Blows is a 2D fighting game developed and published by Team17, released in 1993. It was initially launched for the Amiga and later ported to MS-DOS. Body Blows was one of the few fighting games to emerge from Europe during the early 1990s and was heavily inspired by the success of games like Street Fighter II. Body Blows features traditio...
Bomb Jack remake
DOS2002remake platform, action puzzle
The classic bomb-defusing, platform-hopping, enemy-dodging chaos of Bomb Jack gets a fresh coat of pixels in this 2002 DOS remake. You’re still the tiny superhero hopping around grabbing bombs while evil smiley faces and floating pyramids try to end your run—because of course they do. The updated version keeps the original’s frant...
Bomb Run
DOS1991
Bomb Run (1991, DOS) sounds like an action-packed thriller—and then you play it and realize you’re just trying to drop bombs in the right spots while flying what feels like a pixelated paper airplane. The game has that cold-war-paranoia-meets-math-homework feel to it. You plan your altitude, aim carefully, and hope your bomb hits someth...
Bomberman
DOS1992 maze
It’s Bomberman (1992, DOS), the legendary bomb-dropping game where you play a suspiciously cute guy with an infinite bomb supply and questionable indoor safety habits. You move through grid-like mazes, drop bombs, destroy walls, and try not to blow yourself up (spoiler: you will). It’s simple, it’s brilliant, and it’ll ruin ...