Abandonware DOS title

Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

  • Rampage: monsters VS buildings

    Rampage: monsters VS buildings

    24th October 2020action
    As a kid, I remember spending hours at the bar down the road playing at Rampage as Lizzie. Destroying buildings and eating tasty humans was one of my favourite past-times. It's surprising that the coin-op conversion of Rampage for DOS ended up as a nice game. Granted it's not the ...
  • What was your favourite fighting game?

    What was your favourite fighting game?

    19th September 2020action
    Fighting games (or VS fighting), is a genre that appeals quite a wide range of gamers.Fighting games involves hand-to-hand fighting against a single opponent for the whole duration of a match. A distinctive trait of fighting games are special attacks, i.e. combinations of graphically striking moves which enhance ...
  • The worst games based on movies

    The worst games based on movies

    28th March 2020action
    Movies have always been a source of inspiration for video games. Almost every successful movie has its video game (and sometimes even unsucessful ones). The results in the gaming world weren't always so good. I remember lots and lots of mediocre games that tried to patch together different moments of ...
  • Commander Keen: side-scrolling platformers

    Commander Keen: side-scrolling platformers

    22nd February 2020action
    In the 90's PCs weren't exactly popular as a gaming system for platform games. The whole Commander Keen series was an exception. Created by a trio of talented designers (John Carmack, John Romero and Tom Hall), Commander Keen games - side scrolling platformers - contributed to put PCs under the ...
  • Death Sword (AKA Barbarian): the art of fighting slowly

    Death Sword (AKA Barbarian): the art of fighting slowly

    21st December 2019action
    Death Sword (also known as Barbarian in Europe), is a fighting game developed by Palace Software, set in a fantasy world full of huge sword-wielding barbarians. Compared to modern brawlers, Death Sword gameplay may seem slow, but at the time it was considered adequate. Instead of rushing into multiple chain ...
  • A niche genre: Metroidvania

    A niche genre: Metroidvania

    23rd November 2019action, adventure
    Metroidvania is a made up word born from the merge of two game series titles: Metroid and Castlevania. Both games share gameplay and design elements that defines the genre. Metroidvania games are platform games featuring a game world that is freely explorable. Certain areas can be accessed only with player ...
  • From the arcades: coin-operated conversions

    From the arcades: coin-operated conversions

    24th September 2019action
    There was a time when coin-operated games were constantly being converted for home systems. Now coin-ops are really difficult to find and everyone prefer playing from home, online or offline, without the hassle of driving/walking to an arcade and lose coin after coin into those hellish money-eating machines. I ...
  • Action games: Platoon, Moonwalker, TekWar, Strider and more

    Action games: Platoon, Moonwalker, TekWar, Strider and more

    30th August 2019action
    From time to time I browse the Abandonware DOS database looking for not very popular games that need an update. Here are some action games (platformers, shooters, sports games) I just updated with new content.Tag Team WrestlingSports / Action - Developed by Technos Japan - Published by Data East in 1996 ...
  • The Underdogs on Abandonware DOS

    The Underdogs on Abandonware DOS

    11th April 2019action
    No, I'm not talking about the long gone site Home of the Underdogs, a milestone in the abandonware website scene, I'm actually talking about games available on Abandonware DOS that almost no one pay attention to (myself included).Download count for these games is low and - for a few ...
  • It's winter time! Snow, Santas and trains

    It's winter time! Snow, Santas and trains

    22nd December 2018action, sports
    Christmas is coming and I decided to add a few games in theme with the holiday season. Winter, Christmas, snow... every ingredient that makes "winter time" is present in the following games. A few of them are special editions of games already published (Skyroads, Jetpack). Transarctica is a peculiar one; ...
  • Dizzy, by the Oliver Twins

    Dizzy, by the Oliver Twins

    20th October 2018action, adventure
    Every gaming platform has its video game mascotte: Mario, Sonic, etc. Codemasters came up with their own character: an egg shaped... thing... called Dizzy. This strange fellow was the protagonist of a series of action adventure games on Spectrum, C64 and many other systems, PC included. Here are some Dizzy ...
  • Pinball: the art of bouncing balls

    Pinball: the art of bouncing balls

    1st October 2018action
    Pinball is a very specific subgenre of action games that can't be assimilated to other kind of games. It's not a platformer or a shooter, and there were a lot of pinball games in the 80s and the 90s, so I think it's only fair that there's a whole category ...
  • Action and arcades: Comix Zone and other games

    Action and arcades: Comix Zone and other games

    1st September 2018action
    I was browsing platform games on Abandonware DOS when I noticed something was missing. I talking about a game I loved and I bet most of you played it at least once: Comix Zone. So... here it is, available with this content update along other action and arcade games. Comix ...
  • Sequels to action games: Gauntlet, Rick Dangerous, Xenon and more

    Sequels to action games: Gauntlet, Rick Dangerous, Xenon and more

    30th July 2018action, remakes and sequels
    Back in the day, sequels were not always appreciated. That number "2" after the title for many meant lack of ideas. This wasn't just about video games, everything was subject to that kind of treatment "if it's good, why change it?".I don't see this kind of hate anymore. In fact, ...
  • Comics and superheroes in videogames

    Comics and superheroes in videogames

    14th July 2018action, adventure
    When I think about superheroes and supervillains what comes to my mind are comics, big budget movies, cosplayers. And then, and only then, videogames. If you think about it, the superhero theme wasn't that popular in old videogames. Nonetheless, there are a few DOS games about super-men in tights.With ...
  • To the arcades! Abandoned coin-op conversions

    To the arcades! Abandoned coin-op conversions

    21st April 2018action
    No, I'm not talking about the actual place where you can play coin-ops, and I don't even know if such places still exist. I'm talking about very old games that can be defined as "arcades".Jumpman Lives! is a classic and need no presentation. Pango is a rip-off (homage?) to ...
  • Nice movies and shitty games

    Nice movies and shitty games

    24th February 2018action, adventure
    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 ...
  • Platforms, arcades and Mario

    Platforms, arcades and Mario

    25th December 2017action
    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. ...
  • Fighting rabbits and fat men

    Fighting rabbits and fat men

    18th November 2017action
    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 ...
  • Humor in old video games

    Humor in old video games

    3rd November 2017action, adventure
    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: ...