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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Slash'Em
Windows XP/98/95Linux1997freeware
Star Wars: Yoda Stories
Windows XP/98/951997 LucasArts
Steel Panthers 3: Brigade Command - 1939-1999
DOS1997protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Super Bomber Blast Beta
DOS1997remake
Total Annihilation
Windows XP/98/951997protected Cavedog Entertainment
Vlad Tepes Dracula
Windows XP/98/951997 ComputerHouse
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes
Windows XP/98/951997 SSG Strategic Studies Group
Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is an abandoned turn-based fantasy strategy game designed by Steve Fawkner, developed by SSG Strategic Studies Group and released by Red Orb Entertainment in 1997 for Windows. Warlords 3: Reign of Heroes is part of the Warlords game series and features quite a few multiplayer modes: from LAN to PBEM.
Waterworld
DOS1997 Intelligent Games
101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy
Windows XP/98/951998 Empire Interactive
240 Racing
DOS1998
Avalon
DOS1998freeware MiG Outpost
Axis and Allies
Windows XP/98/951998 Wargaming West
Bubble Trouble
Windows XP/98/951998
Dune 2000
Windows XP/98/951998 Westwood Studios
Dune 2000 is an abandoned science fiction classic real-time strategy game based on the popular Dune franchise. The Dune "universe" took form in the books of science fiction writer Frank Herbert and went on to include movies, TV series, comics, and of course video games. Dune 2000 is one of the finest RTS of its era; it was developed by We...
Lego Loco
Windows XP/98/951998 Intelligent Games
Monopoly (Adam Stevens)
DOS1998
People's General
Windows XP/98/951998protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Populous: The Beginning
Windows XP/98/951998protected Bullfrog
Settlers of Catan
DOS1998
Axis and Allies: Iron Blitz
Windows XP/98/951999 Wargaming West
BitStorm
DOS1999
Black Moon Chronicles
DOS1999protected Cryo Interactive Entertainment
Cap Man
Windows XP/98/951999
Grand Theft Auto 2
Windows XP/98/951999 DMA Design
Grand Theft Auto 2 is the second chapter in the successful Grand Theft Auto series. GTA 2 is an abandoned top-down action-adventure / driving hybrid game developed by DMA Design and released by Rockstar Games in 1999 for various platforms, including PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Color. GTA2 is set in a fictional city called "Any...
Gruntz
Windows XP/98/951999 Monolith Productions
Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Restoration of Erathia
Windows XP/98/951999protected New World Computing
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation
Windows XP/98/951999 MicroProse Software
Star Trek: Birth of the Federation is a turn-based strategy video game set in the Star Trek universe. The game was developed by MicroProse Software and published by Infogrames for Windows in 1999. Players take on the role of one of five major Star Trek races: the United Federation of Planets, the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire, the Ca...
Total Annihilation Kingdoms
Windows XP/98/951999protected Cavedog Entertainment
Tyrian 2000
DOS1999freeware Eclipse Software
Tyrian 2000 is an old DOS science fiction classic shoot'em up, developed by Eclipse Software and designed by Alexander Brandon, Jason Emery, Daniel Cook. Tyrian 2000 is one of the most popular shoot'em ups ever published for DOS and it's still remembered by retro gaming fans to this day.
ZAngband
Windows 10/11Mac OSDOSLinux1999freeware
Zangband is a variant of the popular roguelike game Angband. Zangband, short for Zelazny Angband, was developed by Chris Weisiger and first released in 1994. The game features a fantasy world with diverse races, classes, and monsters. Players explore dungeons, caves, and other environments in a quest to reach the bottom level of the dungeon, d...