The best top down games

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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Austerlitz 1805

DOS19893.9/5 Cornerstone Software

The Ancient Art of War

DOS19843.9/5 Evryware

The Ancient Art of War is a classic video game that was released in the late 1980s. Developed by Evryware and published by Broderbund, it was available on various platforms, including Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, and MS-DOS. The Ancient Art of War is a strategy game that takes place in various historical settings, such as ancient China, Greece, and t...

5th Fleet

DOS19943.9/5

Ante-Up at The Friday Night Poker Club

DOS19903.9/5

Dark Reign 2

Windows XP/98/952000protected3.9/5 Pandemic Studios

SkiFree

Windows 3.x19913.9/5

Vengeance of Excalibur

DOS19913.9/5 Synergistic Software

Action Fighter

DOS19893.9/5 Sega

Scavengers of the Mutant World

DOS19883.9/5 Interstel Corporation

The Magic Candle 3

DOS19923.9/5 Mindcraft Software

Nobunaga's Ambition 6

DOS19943.9/5 KOEI

Outbound

Windows XP/98/952001freeware3.9/5

V for victory: Velikiye Luki

DOS1992protected3.9/5 Atomic Games

Boston Bomb Club

DOS19913.9/5 Silmarils

Kasparov's Gambit

DOS19933.9/5 Heuristic software

Sito Pons 500cc Grand Prix

DOS19903.9/5 Zigurat Software

Space 1889

DOS19903.9/5 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 1889 is loosely based on the tabletop game of the same name.

Into the Eagle's Nest

DOS19873.9/5 Pandora

Unnatural Selection

DOS19933.9/5 Maxis

Oxyd

DOS19923.9/5 Dongleware

The Aethra Chronicles

DOS19943.9/5

The Aethra Chronicles is not a well know fantasy RPG, but it deserves some praise. It was developed by only one person (Micheal Lawrence) and, as the title implies, was intended to be the first volume of a saga. Unfortunately, volume two and three were never made. For a shareware game, Aethra was pretty solid and is still loved by the ones who play...

Subtrade: Return to Irata

DOS19933.9/5 Century Interactive

Subtrade: Return to Irata is an abandoned science fiction business simulation game developed by Century Interactive and published by Boeder Software in 1993 for Amiga and later ported to DOS. Subtrade is an updated multiplayer clone of the classic M.U.L.E., set underwater on an oceanic world.