Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

Pew pew! Boom boom!

Pew pew! Boom! Pew pew pew! Crash! I have to admit... I really don't know what to write about shoot'em ups. Well, let's try.Here's a bunch of (mostly) vertical scrolling shoot'em ups: shoot enemies, avoid more enemies, reach the end of each level, meet the boss.There's really not ...

More adventure games: ecology, horror, comedy...

I added every possible Sierra Online adventure to the Abandonware DOS database... and then I found out that I missed something: EcoQuest. I never liked the EcoQuest series, I never even really played them much, but they deserve a place on Abandonware DOS.  I also missed Last Half of ...

GOG St. Patrick's Day Sale

Lots of games on sale as usual. This time you can also buy Leprechaut Hats (!). Every hat is a mystery game: you don't know what you're buying. Last time I bought something like that I got a game for children. Should I try again?

CODiE Awards: 1988

In 1988 I was a proud owner of a Commodore 64. A couple of years later I bought an Amiga, but 1988 I was still playing Ultima 5 on 5 1/4 disks. I didn't know a thing about PCs, even less about PC gaming. Older people I knew at the time used PCs to work on ...

Racing everywhere

Racing games are all about arriving first in a racing competition. If you think "racing" youìre probably thinking about fast cars. Not every video game about racing was about Formula 1 or Nascar, some of them were... well... unconventional. Take BC Racers for example, or Yacht Racing Simulator. BC ...

Nice movies and shitty games

In the 80s and the 90s we all saw a lot of good blockbuster movies come out. Some of them were good, some of them were bad. Unfortunately, most of video games based on movies (called 'tie-in') were really bad. Developers tried to put everything they could in those games ...

GOG Chinese new year: King of Fighters 2002 is free

Happy new chinese year! Lots of games on GOG are on sale at low prices. Also, if you're quick enough know that GOG is giving away The King of Fighters 2002 for free: the offer is ending soon!

Paper and cloth maps from the past

Many old games published during an age of PC video gaming where digital distribution was still a dream of some publishers, came in physical boxes full of various goodies.A few enlightened publishers gifted (well, we paid...) us players with gorgoeus maps. RPG was perhaps the genre that most of ...

A pint of point and click and a barrel of interactive fiction

After RPGs, a genre that is really loved among nostalgic DOS and Windows PC gamers is adventure. And by adventure I mean interactive fiction, point & click, etc. Unfortunately, the best ones are far from being abandoned: I'm talking about LucasArts and Sierra adventures aren't abandonware. From time to time ...

RPGs from the 80s and the 90s

Dear DOS gamers, you seem to particularly like RPGs, so I started looking for old RPGs I missed in the past updates. It turns out that there's A LOT (and I mean A LOT) of lesser known (and often ugly, unplayable, forgettable) role playing games developed for DOS. Without further ...

Strategy across the ages

It's time to update Abandonware DOS with a few more strategy games (you seem to like the genre). From the ancient past to the far future, not forgetting the fantasy genre, here are some turn-based strategy games to download and play. Fantasy EmpiresThe Great War: 1914 - 1918Pacific GeneralMech Brigade

Platforms, arcades and Mario

Yes, you read it right: Mario. I'm obviously referring to the beloved Italian plumber, protagonist of many Nintendo games. On PC, Mario is seldom seen; he appears almost exclusively in fan-made games or indie remakes. Mario Bros VGA, Super Mariio Bros (with two 'i') are two examples of fan-made remakes. ...

GOG Winter Sale ending soon

Every year there's a winter sale: Steam winter sale, GOG winter sale, everything else winter sale. If you didn't spend all of your money during the Black Friday sales, you can do it now. The GOG winter sale is about to end, but the Steam sale has just begun.

Obscure RPGs (almost) no one ever heard of

The most loved RPGs from the PC era are known to everyone: the Ultima series, the Might & Magic series, Wizardry, etc. There were also a lot of minor and sometimes unsuccessful RPGs that made it on the shelves but almost never appeared on video games magazines. Have you every ...

Darklands map of medieval Germany

Darklands was a unique isometric RPG that mixed real historical data from medieval Germany with a touch of folklore-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 lives of saints!) ...

Olympic sports

In the past sports gaming on PCs was more diverse than what it is today. Simulated sports ranged from classic sports like soccer, american football, basket, to lesser followed "sports" like darts, fishing, volleyball. A sports subgenre that stood out was "olympic sports". I'm talking about Winter Games, Summer Games, ...

Black Friday on GOG

Black Friday is coming and lots of games on GOG are on sale at very low prices: The Witcher, X-Com, Anvil of Dawn, The Settlers 2, Theme Hospital, Titan Quest, Heroes of Might and Magic, Wing Commander, Ultima, Tomb Raider and many more. Also: MDK is free, go and get it.

Fighting rabbits and fat men

Apart from Mortal Kombat, One Must Fall and Street Fighter, the "fighting game" genre wasn't so popular in the 80s and the 90s on PCs. That's why you will not find many fighting games on Abandonware DOS. I tried to find a few more games fitting the genre description and ...

Virtua Cops

Since Operation Wolf, shooting gallery games (or rail shooters) became quite popular. Apart from Operation Wolf, Cabal and a few others, there wasn't much on PC until Virtua Cop ("Virtua Squad" for the american audience). Virtua Cop brought 3D to the genre, but the gameplay is the same that every ...

Humor in old video games

Here's a bunch of games involving some kind of humor in one way or another. It's not always great humor and it's not always great games either. Bad Street Brawler deserves to be played! Dilbert's Desktop GamesNord and Bert Couldn't Make Head or Tail of ItMonty Python's Flying CircusUltimuh MCMLXVII: ...