Abandonware DOS title

Underdog games: underrated worth playing sorted by release date

In order to be an underdog, a game has to be "not well known" to the public (not now, nor at the time of its release) or underrated, but worth mentioning and playing for some reason. There are plenty of games that won the love of gamers against all odds; some of them even had a cult following. By the way, this keyword pays tribute to Sarinee Achavanuntakul, the owner of the first version of Home of the Underdogs, the site that started and popularized the abandonware concept.

Most popular underrated underdog games

Albion
rpgDOS
Dope Wars
simulationWindows XP/98/95
Death Rally
racingDOS

Underrated underdog games

  • alteregof-1
    DOS19864.1/5 Activision
  • alteregom-5
    DOS19864.1/5 Activision
  • starflight-3
    DOS19864.2/5 Binary Systems
  • airball-03
    DOS19873.3/5 MicroDeal
  • driller-2
    DOS19874.1/5 Incentive

    Driller (also known as Space Station Oblivion) is an abandoned action-adventure game developed by Incentive and released by Epyx in 1987 based on the Freescape Engine. In Driller, you control an excavation probe in a real 3d environment, through a first person view. The goal of the game is to place a drilling rig in each of the 8 regions of the moo...

  • roadwareuropa-1
    DOS1987protected3.9/5 SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
  • 4thinches-1
    DOS1988protected3.2/5 Accolade
  • battlechess-1
    DOS1988protected4.2/5 Interplay Productions

    Chess was a niche genre in video gaming. There were lots of chess simulations: black and white very old games, licensed games from chess champions, etc. No one ever attempted to broaden the audience until Interplay published Battle Chess. Battle Chess appeal was almost entirely focused on the animations when two pieces ended on the same square.

  • feud-03
    DOS19884.2/5 Binary Design
  • knight-games-05
    DOS19883.8/5 Mastertronic

    Olympic games were something back in the 80s and the 90s: Winter Games, Summer Games, California Games, anything-you-can-think-of games. Some imaginative developer thought that the world needed a different kind of "multisport" action game and came up with he idea behind Knight Games.

  • shadowgate-splash
    DOSWindows 3.xMac19884.1/5 ICOM Simulations

    Shadowgate is an abandoned fantasy-themed adventure game developed by ICOM Simulations and released by Mindscape in 1988 for Macintosh, DOS, and also for Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, NES. Shadowgate uses the ICOM MacVenture engine (Deja Vu, Uninvited). Shadowgate was later remade in an enhanced version for Windows 3.1.

  • virus-3
    DOS19884/5
  • bombuzal-4
    DOS19893.6/5 Image Works
  • fastfooddizzy-2
    DOS19894/5 Codemasters
  • stormlord-02
    DOS19894/5 Hewson Consultants

    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.

  • time-bandit-08
    DOS19894/5 MichTron
  • altereddestiny-4
    DOS1990protected3.8/5 Accolade

    Altered Destiny is a sci-fi themed point and click adventure game designed by Michael Berlyn, developed and released by Accolade in 1990. Altered Destiny runs on DOS but was also published for Amiga.

  • cadaver-1
    DOS19903.9/5 Bitmap Brothers
  • hugoh1-1
    DOS1990protected3.8/5 Gray Design Associates
  • powerdrift-02
    DOS19904.1/5 Sega
  • red-baron-05
    DOS1990protected4/5 Dynamix
  • dgeneration-3
    DOS19914/5 Software Toolworks
  • hillstreetblues-2
    DOS19914/5 Krisalis

    Hill Street Blues is an old DOS "driving" game developed by Krisalis in 1991. The gameplay it's similar to a Grand Theft Auto clone (we're talking about GTA 1 or 2) in which you are the police and you have to apprehend criminals. Hill Street Blues is a rare example of game based on a TV series.

  • monuments-of-mars-02
    DOSWindows XP/98/95Mac1991freeware3.3/5 Scenerio Software
  • gorilla-bas-01
    DOS1991freeware3.9/5 Microsoft
  • scorched-earth-05
    DOS1991protected4.1/5
  • simant-4
  • supaplex-5
    DOS1991freeware4.1/5 Think!Ware Development
  • darklands-3
    DOSLinuxWindows XP/98/95Mac1992protected3.9/5 MicroProse Software

    Darklands was a unique historical isometric RPG that mixed real historical data from medieval Germany during the 15th century with a touch of folklore and fantasy. Unfortunately it was also the only Microprose RPG of that kind and beauty. The original game box contained a huge manual with info on european folklore (including the live...

  • dylan-dog-the-murderers-01
    DOS19923.7/5 Simulmondo