The most popular 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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England Championship Special
DOS1991 Tiertex Design Studios
Chessmaster 3000
DOS1991 The Software Toolworks
Pizza Tycoon
Windows XP/98/95DOSLinuxMac OS1994protected Software 2000
Checkers for Windows
Windows 3.x1997
Legend of the Silver Talisman
DOS1996freeware Inter-Active Arts
Moebius
DOS1987 Origin Systems
Scavengers of the Mutant World
DOS1988 Interstel Corporation
Ivan 'Iron Man' Stewart's Super Off Road
DOS1990 Leland
Ivan 'Iron Man' Stewart's Super Off Road is an abandoned diagonal-down off-road racing game developed by Leland and released by Virgin Interactive in 1990 for DOS, but also published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, ZX Spect...
Nectaris
DOS1995 Hudson soft
Rescue at Rigel
DOS1983 Epyx
Lords of Conquest
DOS1987 Eon Software
Toobin
DOS1989 Domark Software
Toobin is an abandoned action game developed by Domark Software and released in 1989. Toobin runs on DOS but was also published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy Color, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum. It's a conversi...
Cannon Fodder
DOS1994protected Sensible Software
War never changes—but it does get oddly cute in Cannon Fodder. Guide your tiny commandos through missions filled with explosions, carnage, and dark humor. The game mixes arcade action with light strategy, and the body count ...
Raiden
DOS1994 Seibu Kaihatsu Inc.
Raiden is a vertically scrolling shoot 'em up game developed by Seibu Kaihatsu and first released in arcades in 1990 and later for many home computers and consoles. Raiden follows the classic vertical scrolling shoot 'em up f...
Dragonfly
DOS1986
Dolphin Boating Simulator
DOS1988 Dolphine marine systems
Boxer Rebellion
DOS1982
Before realistic fighting games, there was Boxer Rebellion—a 1982 title so primitive, it makes Pong look flashy. It’s boxing with fewer rules and more pixels per punch. The controls are stiffer than a week-old baguette...
M.U.D.S. - Mean Ugly Dirty Sport
DOS1990 Golden Goblins
Styx
DOS1984 Windmill Software
Oubliette
DOS1983
Dungeon of Shalan
DOS1988
O-Pong
DOS1996
Caverns of Kroz
DOS1989freeware Apogee Software
Sarakon
DOS1991 Starbyte Software
Turbo Gomoku
DOS1985
Blitz Draughts
DOS1992 PC Solutions
Don’t let the title fool you — Blitz Draughts isn’t a military simulation but rather a gloriously intense checkers game from 1992. This DOS brain-bender turns the classic board game into a high-speed duel of wits...
OverKill
DOS1992freeware Tech-Noir
Backgammon
DOS1986
Arrakis
DOS2000
No relation to Dune (except for being a total rip-off), Arrakis is a homebrew strategy game that feels like a tribute to the sandiest planet in sci-fi. You mine spice, fight vaguely Harkonnen-looking enemies, and try not to crash ...
Knights of the Desert
DOS1983protected Tactical Design Group