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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Sargon V: World Class Chess
DOS1991 Activision
Sherlock: The Game of Logic
DOS1991protected Everett Kaser Software
SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony
DOS1991 Maxis
SimAnt is a life simulation and strategy game developed by Maxis, released in 1991, and part of the "Sim" series. Created by Will Wright, SimAnt focuses on simulating the life of an ant colony. In SimAnt, you play as the black ant colony in a backyard and household environment, competing against the red ants, environmental hazards, and even hu...
SkiFree
Windows 3.x1991
Solidarnosc
DOS1991 P. Z. Karen Co. Development Group
The Basket Manager
DOS1991 Simulmondo
The Lost Patrol
DOS1991 Astros Productions
The Lost Patrol is an abandoned multi-type action game set in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam war. The Lost Patrol was developed by Astros Productions (DOS version) and released by Ocean Software in 1991 for DOS, Amiga and Atari ST.
The Magic Candle 2: The Four and Forty
DOS1991 Mindcraft Software
The Perfect General
DOS1991 White Wolf Productions
The Perfect General is a turn-based strategy military game developed by White Wolf Productions and released in 1991 by Quantun Quality Production. The Perfect General gameplay is quite simple compared to other wargames, but it's based on a solid set of rules and let the players progress at their own pace through missions and scenarios. The Perfect ...
The Taking of Beverly Hills
DOS1991 Off The Wall Productions
Tristan Pinball
DOS1991 Littlewing
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams
DOS1991 Origin Systems
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams is an abandoned science fiction RPG designed by Jeff George, developed by Origin Systems and released in 1991 for DOS. Martian Dreams uses the Ultima VI engine to depict Mars in a top down perspective.
V for Victory: D-day Utah Beach
DOS1991protected Atomic Games
Vengeance of Excalibur
DOS1991 Synergistic Software
Volfied
DOS1991 Taito
Volfied is an arcade game developed and released by Taito Corporation in 1989. It's a puzzle game that gained popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The game is named after the fictional planet "Volfied", where the gameplay is set.In Volfied, players control a small spaceship called "Challenger" and must eliminate 80% or more of the playfiel...
Wild West World
DOS1991 Software 2000
X-Men 2: The Fall of the Mutants
DOS1991 Paragon Software
Xenopods
DOS1991 Softdisk Publishing
ZZT
DOS1991freeware Epic MegaGames
A Line in the Sand
DOS1992protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Amberstar
DOS1992 Thalion
Amberstar is a fantasy old school RPG very similar to Ultima 6 that uses a top-down view for interiors and small locations and a first person pseudo 3D view for everything else. Unfortunately, the sequel (called Ambermoon) was available for Amiga only and no version existed for DOS or Windows. Amberstar was developed and published by Thalion for DO...
Angband
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinux1992freeware
Bass Tour
DOS1992
Bicycle Bridge
DOS1992
Blitz Draughts
DOS1992 PC Solutions
Bolo Ball
DOS1992 Soleau Software
Bolo Ball is a DOS game from the mid-1990s. It features a physics-based gameplay where the objective is to knock opponent balls out of an arena. When you start the game, you find yourself in a 2D arena set against a starry, space-like background. You control a colorful ball, which, despite being a 2D sprite, appears somewhat three-dimensional due t...
Bomberman
DOS1992 Hudson soft
Bridge 7.0
DOS1992 Artworx Software
Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed
DOS1992protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed is a CRPG developed by SSI Strategic Simulations Inc. and released in 1992 for DOS only. Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed is the sequel to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday and it's based on a campaign setting created by TSR in the late 80s. The game uses the Gold Box engine, common to much of the RPGs developed by SSI.
Carrier Strike: South Pacific 1942-44
DOS1992protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.