Top-down perspective sorted by release date
Top down games were very popular in the 80s and the 90s, when graphic cards were not capable of supporting 3D, and even when 3D started to become popular, 2D games continued to be easier to develop, at least in the infancy of 3D gaming. 2D game offered the player a viewpoint that helped keeping things easily under control (think about top down party-based RPGs or hex-based strategy games).
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Return to Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
Kroz returns, and with it, your CRT monitor’s worst nightmare: ASCII graphics! Return to Kroz takes you back to a time when @ meant “you,” and everything else was trying to kill you. Using only your wits, a whip,...
Rings of Medusa
DOS1990 Starbyte Software
Rings of Medusa is a strategy / RPG developed by the German studio Starbyte Software. It was released in 1989 for various platforms including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS. In Rings of Medusa, players assume the role of...
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2
DOS1990 KOEI
Romance of the Three Kingdoms II is a turn-based strategy game developed and published by Koei. It was released in 1989 for various platforms, including the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), MS-DOS.In Romance of the Three Kingd...
Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
Windows 3.xMac OS1990 Activision
SimEarth
DOSWindows 3.x1990 Maxis
SimEarth is a simulation in which you can shape and mold a planet in almost every way you can imagine. In SimEarth our planet is simulated as a whole: life, climate, atmosphere are all aspects of a single Gaia-like Earth. SimEarth...
Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix
DOS1990 Zigurat Software
Ski or Die
DOS1990 Electronic Arts
Ski or Die is a winter sports-themed video game that was originally released in 1990 for various platforms, including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS. The game was developed by Electronic Arts and was a follow-up to their earl...
Soviet
DOS1990 Opera Soft
Space 1889
DOS1990 Paragon Software
Space 1889 is an abandoned top down RPG developed by Paragon Software and released in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga. Space 1889 setting is classic science fiction, but is set in the Victorian. It's worth noting that Space ...
Spirit of Excalibur
DOS1990 Synergistic Software
Star Control
DOS1990protected Toys for Bob
Stratego
DOS1990 Accolade
Subbuteo
DOS1990 Goliath Games
Temple of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
The Final Crusade of Kroz
DOS1990freeware Apogee Software
The Global Dilemma: Guns or Butter
DOS1990 Mindscape
The Punisher
DOS1990 Paragon Software
Tracon 2
DOS1990 Wesson International
Trog
DOS1990 Midway Manufacturing Company
Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan
DOS1990 New World Computing
Tunnels & Trolls: Crusaders of Khazan is a computer RPG released in 1990 for MS-DOS and PC-98 platforms. It is based on the tabletop role-playing game Tunnels & Trolls created by Ken St. Andre, which was a lighter and more...
TV Sports: Basketball
DOS1990freeware Cinemaware
Ultima 6: The False Prophet
DOS1990protected Origin Systems
Ultima VI: The False Prophet is a classic RPG released in 1990 by Origin Systems. It’s the sixth main entry in the Ultima series and marks the conclusion of the Age of Enlightenment trilogy. The game was originally developed...
Uncharted Waters
DOS1990 KOEI
Visual Star Trek
DOS1990
War of the Lance
DOS1990protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Warlords
DOS1990 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
DOS1990freeware Origin Systems
After the success of Ultima 6: The False Prophet, Origin decided to "create worlds" not part of the popular Ultima series (strictly speaking) using the same engine of Ultima 6. They came up with two games: The Savage Empire and Ma...
Xenon 2: Megablast
DOS1990 Bitmap Brothers
Xenon 2: Megablast is a classic shoot'em up developed by Bitmap Brothers and released by Image Works in 1990 for DOS and for a plethora of other systems. Xenon was good, Xenon 2 was far better. Compared to today standards Xenon 2 ...
7 colors
DOS1991 Gamos
7 Colors is one of those puzzle games that sounds simple on paper but ends up consuming your entire afternoon before you even realize it. Released in 1991 for DOS, it throws you into a digital turf war where the weapon of choice i...