Abandonware shooter games
Shooter video games are all about shooting targets and avoiding being shot down. The kind of game is often defined by the player perspective (FPS stands for First Person Shooter, TPS stands for Third Person Shooter), or by gameplay: shoot'em up, run and gun, shooting gallery.
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Blood Money
DOS1990 shoot 'em up
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 li...
Blort!
DOS1987 shoot 'em up
With a name like Blort!, you'd expect a fart joke or a kids’ cartoon gone wrong, but no—it’s a 1987 arcade-style blaster for DOS. You play as a cosmic defender shooting weird blob-like aliens while dodging pixela...
Bram Stoker's Dracula
DOS1993 first-person shooter
Bram Stoker's Dracula (the game) is based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the movie) based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the book). Confused yet? Good. This 1993 action-platformer has you battling the undead with the grace of a ...
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom
DOS1984 shoot 'em up
Welcome to a future where zooming through tunnels and dodging neon obstacles is considered heroic. Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom is a proto-3D arcade shooter that tries its best to impress—bless its pixelated heart. You fly, y...
Cabal
DOS1989 shooting gallery
If Rambo had a twin brother who preferred hiding behind sandbags and tossing grenades like candy, Cabal would be his biography. This over-the-top shooter puts you in the boots of a one-man army mowing down everything that moves&md...
Capone
DOS1988 shooting gallery
Chicago, 1920s. You’ve got a tommy gun, a fedora, and a score to settle. Capone is part gangster sim, part shooting gallery, and part fever dream. The graphics are muddy, the gameplay’s clunky, and the story’s to...
Catacomb Abyss
DOS1992protected first-person shooter
Before Doom, there was Catacomb Abyss, where you throw fireballs down corridors at zombies who all apparently graduated from the same school of slow shuffling. It's a first-person shooter without the “shooter” part&mda...
Catacomb Armageddon
DOS1993protected first-person shooter
If Catacomb Abyss was “Doom for wizards,” then Catacomb Armageddon is “Doom with a Halloween costume budget.” Bigger levels, more enemies, and slightly more coherent level design make this sequel a fun, if ...
CHAMP Asteroids
DOS1997remake shoot 'em up
A remake of the arcade classic, CHAMP Asteroids lets you relive the joy of spinning wildly in space and smashing rocks with a tiny triangle-shaped ship. It’s like cosmic road rage, but with fewer traffic laws and more flying...
CHAMP Centipede
DOS1993remake shoot 'em up
Ever wanted to shoot a giant caterpillar in the face? CHAMP Centipede is your chance. It brings back that bizarre arcade energy where bugs, mushrooms, and bullets coexist in perfect chaos. The centipede’s relentless descent ...
CHAMP Galagon
DOS1997remake shoot 'em up
CHAMP Galaxia
DOS1996 shoot 'em up
CHAMP Invaders
DOS1997remake shoot 'em up
Chasm: The Rift
DOS1997 first-person shooter
Before Half-Life, there was Chasm: The Rift, a game where time-traveling mutants explode into limbs and every room looks like it was decorated by a doom-metal band. A first-person shooter with surprising depth, it features dismemb...
Chopper Duel
DOS1993freeware shoot 'em up
Think Top Gun but with less Tom Cruise and more pixelated explosions. Chopper Duel pits you against a friend (or the AI) in one-on-one rotorcraft carnage. It’s fast, twitchy, and guaranteed to make you yell at your screen. T...
Colosso Revenge
DOS1997freeware first-person shooter
In Colosso Revenge (1997, DOS), a giant angry head (presumably Colosso) is back, and it’s not in a forgiving mood. Expect side-scrolling mayhem with explosions, mutant monstrosities, and the kind of plot that was probably wr...
Colosso Secret
DOS1997freeware first-person shooter
Colosso Secret (1997, DOS) is the moody prequel/sequel/parallel universe to Colosso Revenge, where secrets abound and subtlety is tossed out the window. Imagine Indiana Jones in a world designed by someone who really, really liked...
Command Adventures: Starship
DOS1995 shoot 'em up
In Command Adventures: Starship (1995, DOS), you’re the captain, the admiral, and occasionally the guy who has to fix the hyperdrive when it’s on fire. This obscure gem lets you command massive fleets in space battles ...
Contra: Locked and Loaded
Windows 10/112013freewareremake run and gun
Contra: Locked and Loaded is like caffeine in video game form—fast, explosive, and just a little dangerous for your health. You’re running, you’re gunning, and you’re wondering how your character’s bi...
Corridor 7: Alien Invasion
DOS1994protected first-person shooter
Corridor 7 is a claustrophobic FPS where every hallway feels like a trap and every door could hide something with too many teeth. You’re humanity’s last line of defense against an alien invasion, which is a lot of pres...
Cosmic Crusader
DOS1982 shoot 'em up
Cosmic Crusader is proof that sometimes simple is perfect. You’re a lone pilot defending space against endless waves of enemies, in a game that’s basically a love letter to classic arcade shooters. The controls are tig...
Crossbow: The Legend of William Tell
DOS1990 shooting gallery
In Crossbow: The Legend of William Tell, you’re not just a heroic archer—you’re a babysitter for an entire group of reckless companions who have an uncanny talent for walking directly into danger. The game is a s...
Crossfire
DOS1982 shoot 'em up
Crossfire is what happens when you throw a tank into a maze, give it infinite ammo, and tell it to go wild. Released in 1982, it’s all about twitch reflexes and precise shooting as enemies pour in from every angle. The maze ...
Crusader: No Regret
DOS1996protecteddemo
In Crusader: No Regret, subtlety is left at the door. You’re a heavily armed operative on a mission to blast your way through enemy installations, leaving nothing but rubble in your wake. The action is fast, the explosions f...
Crusader: No Remorse
DOS1995protecteddemo
The original Crusader: No Remorse sets the tone for the series: brutal, explosive, and unapologetically action-focused. You’re a rogue operative taking on a dystopian corporate regime, and your main argument is a grenade lau...
CyClones
DOS1994protected first-person shooter
CyClones is a first-person shooter where you take on the role of a bio-engineered super-soldier fighting alien invaders. The controls are smooth, the weapons varied, and the level design encourages exploration as much as combat. T...
Dalek Attack
DOS1992 shoot 'em up
Dalek Attack is the digital embodiment of Doctor Who’s “run for your life” mantra—except here, you can also shoot back. Playing as the Doctor or one of his companions, you’ll blast your way through ci...
Darius Gaiden
Windows XP/98/951998 shoot 'em up
Darius Gaiden is a visually stunning side-scrolling shooter where every boss is a giant, weaponized sea creature from a neon-soaked fever dream. You’ll pilot your ship through psychedelic space backdrops, dodging bullet hell...
Dawn Raider
DOS1990 shoot 'em up
Released in 1990, Dawn Raider is one of those obscure DOS shooters that probably spent more time in floppy disk boxes than in actual computers. It’s a vertical shoot-’em-up where you pilot a jet and blow up anything th...
Day of the Viper
DOS1990 first-person shooter
Released in 1990, Day of the Viper is a first-person shooter before shooters really found their footing. Imagine a blend of Doom and a bargain-bin puzzle game, but with robots. You explore mazes, shoot mechanical enemies, and try ...