Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

Interactive fiction to play online

Interactive fiction is a niche but fascinating genre. Its golden age was in the 1980s, when pioneering software houses like Infocom, Level 9, and Legend Entertainment created intricate "text adventures" that are still rememberd today. These games relied solely on text to tell their stories, requiring players to type commands and ...

Castle of the Winds: a classic CRPG for Windows 3.x

Castle of the Winds is a fantasy roguelike role-playing game developed by SaadaSoft in the early 1990s for Windows 3.x.The game features a top-down perspective and incorporates elements of dungeon crawling, exploration, and character development. The game uses a simple turn-based combat system.

Gabriel Knight 2: a worthy sequel

Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within is a point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line. It was released in 1995 as a sequel to the original Gabriel Knight game, Sins of the Fathers. The game was designed by Jane Jensen, who also wrote the story and script. This time, Gabriel ...

Steel Panthers: turn-based wargame

Steel Panthers is the first game in the Steel Panthers series. It was released in 1995 by Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI). This initial release laid the foundation for the series and introduced players to the turn-based tactical wargame experience that would be further developed in subsequent titles. The game focused on ...

Play abandoned roguelike RPGs in your browser

Roguelikes are a fascinating subgenre of role-playing games that have always captured my interest. Defined by features like permadeath and procedurally generated dungeons, roguelikes offer an exceptionally high level of replayability: no two runs are ever the same.The history of roguelikes stretches back to the very early days of ...

Simulating Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe is a combat flight simulation game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games in 1991. It was designed for MS-DOS systems and later released for Amiga computers. The game is focused on the Luftwaffe's experimental aircraft and secret weapons. Players could choose from a variety of World ...

Castlevania converted for DOS

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 ...

Ski or Die soundtrack added

Ski or Die is a winter sports-themed video game that was originally released in 1990 for various platforms, including the Commodore 64, Amiga, and MS-DOS. The game was developed by Electronic Arts and was a follow-up to their earlier title, "California Games". Ski or Die features a collection of winter sports events: ...

Robocop: the original video game

Robocop is an abandoned beat 'em up / run and gun shooter game developed and released by Data East in 1989 for a number of platforms, including DOS. Robocop is a conversion from an arcade game released by Data East in 1988 and it was based on the movie of the same name, ...

The Best DOS Platformers: Beyond Jazz Jackrabbit and Commander Keen

When people talk about DOS platformers, the same two names almost always pop up: Jazz Jackrabbit, the green rabbit with more charisma than most human protagonists, and Commander Keen, the boy genius with a stun gun and a space helmet. But the DOS platformer world of the ’90s was ...

Who is Brian Fargo?

Brian Fargo is a seasoned video game designer, producer, and entrepreneur, widely recognized for his influential role in the gaming industry as the founder of Interplay Entertainment. Among his most iconic contributions is Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic RPG, and he also served as executive producer for the original Fallout and Fallout 2.

The first Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel

Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel is an adventure game released in 1987 by Sierra On-Line, designed by former police officer Jim Walls. In the game, you play as Sonny Bonds, a police officer in the fictional city of Lytton, California. The story follows Bonds as he investigates a ...

Loom: soundtrack added

Loom is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games (LucasArts). Loom is distinctive for its interface, which revolves around musical notes and spells. The protagonist, Bobbin Threadbare, is a young weaver who can use a magical distaff to play musical drafts to interact with the world. The ...

Electronic Games Arcade Awards - 1993

The Electronic Games Arcade Awards, often called the Electronic Games Awards or simply the Arcade Awards, were annual accolades celebrating achievements in the electronic gaming industry during the 1980s and 1990s. These awards were organized by Electronic Games magazine, a leading publication of the era.Winners were chosen through a ...

Theme Hospital, by Bullfrog

PC Powerplay review (1997): "Theme Hospital is a very rewarding game. It definitely has a hook-managing a score of things at once, admiring the amazing detail and AI the Bullfrog have put into the game, all while doing what's most natural to human beings, trying to make money, has a definite ...