Side-scrolling games sorted by release date

Stormlord is an abandoned DOS platform game set in a fantasy world, developed and published by Hewson Consultants in 1989 and designed by Raffaele Cecco. There was some controversy about the scantily clothed fairies in the game.

Part racing game, part endurance test, African Trail Simulator dares you to hop on a pixel bike and brave the wild. You’ll encounter hostile terrain, wildlife, and the occasional rock that looks suspiciously like the last one. The challenge? Keep your bike running, your face out of the dirt, and your sanity intact. It’s a one-man odysse...

Altered Beast is a classic side-scrolling beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Sega. It was originally released in arcades in 1988 and later ported to various home consoles, including the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.Players control a resurrected centurion who battles through five levels filled with undead creatures and other mythical beas...

The Beverly Hills Cop video game by Tynesoft is an action-adventure game based on the popular film franchise starring Eddie Murphy. It was released in 1990 for various home computer platforms, including the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC.In the game, players take on the role of Axel Foley, the wise-cracking detective played by Murphy in...

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 like angry underwater Christmas decorations. The game has that classic early-90s Euro-vibe: tough as nails, oddly beautifu...

Castlevania, originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986, was developed and published by Konami. The game was known in Japan as Akumajo Dracula (Devil's Castle Dracula) and was later renamed Castlevania for its North American release. In Castlevania, players take on the role of Simon Belmont, a vampire hunter from the Bel...

Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars is a platform video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software in 1990 as shareware for MS-DOS. The game follows the adventures of an eight-year-old genius named Billy Blaze, who uses his homemade spaceship to travel to various alien planets to save the Earth from alien invaders known as V...

Horror Zombies from the Crypt is a platform game released in 1990 by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS platforms. The game is heavily inspired by 1950s horror movies, both in atmosphere and design, offering a mix of dark humor and gothic horror. The story centers around Count Frederick Valdemar, who lives in a mansion ...