Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

Abandonware game spotlight: Starquake

Starquake is a weird DOS science fiction platform game developed by Bubble Bus Software in 1988 and designed by Stephen Crow and Dave Collins. I remember it fondly... it's not punishing and it's still very much enjoyable even today, after more than two decades. The Commodore 64 version boasts a ...

From the arcades: coin-operated conversions

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 ...

Sports: American Football games

American Football is a sport that received much attention from developers in the past decades, expecially from american ones. There are american football games of every kind: realistic sports simulations, management strategic games and of course action games.

Strategy games: Battle Bugs, Beyond Columns, Roadwar Europa and more

Lately I'm taking some time to update the info of some of the less popular games on Abandonware DOS. Here's a few:Beyond ColumnsFalling block puzzle - Released in 1989 for DOS. This blatant Columns clone is not much in terms of graphics, but it fills an empty spot in the ...

Play interactive fiction online in your browser

Interactive fiction is a niche genre. It was more popular in the 80s, when software houses like Infocom, Level 9, Legend Entertainment developed "text adventures" en masse. There is an active IF scene and, thanks to modern interpreters, it's easy (and often free) to play modern interactive fiction games.Abandonware DOS ...

Chris Crawford: game designer

Chris Crawford is a computer game designer known for simulations and strategy games, including the popular Balance of Power. Among developers he became known for his passionate advocacy of game design as an art form, founding both The Journal of Computer Game Design and the Computer Game Developers Conference (now ...

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

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 ...

Canceled game: Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans

There was one time, in the mid nineties, when Blizzard was developing a point & click adventure game set in the Warcraft universe. Unfortunately the game was canceled after a few years of troubled development. The few players that were able to grab an almost working copy weren't impressed: it ...

Video games can educate people

Educational games are a peculiar kind of video games of various genres. Gameplay, graphics and sound are still important aspects of educationals, but the mail goal of the developer is to teach the player something: math, history, ecology, anything! Some educationals are created with a young audience in mind, other ...

An old school RPG: The Magic Candle

It's a pity that I never played The Magic Candle when it was published, in 1989. I'm an Ultima fan and the Magic Candle series is very similar to some of the Richard Garriott masterpieces. Lately, I dedicated a few hours to Magic Candle and I felt at home: I loved ...

Mechwarrior 2: Mercenaries

"The graphics are enhanced, the gameplay is faster and more dynamic and the net play fully incorporated. MW2 fans will be very pleased with the upgrades and those new to the MW2 universe will enhoy a well paced game with superb graphics and cut-scenes. Just make sure you have ...

Retro game spotlight: B-17 Flying fortress

"B-17 Flying Fortress is a stunning creation from the creators of Falcon 4.0 and European Air War. Considering the depth to which B-17 will let you experience the terror of daylight strategic bombing in WWII from so many different and simultaneous angles, I'm amazed they were able to pull it ...

More shoot'em ups from the past

Shoot'em ups were one of the most popular video games genre in the 80s and, perhaps, in the 90s. Then, for a number of reasons, shoot'em ups gradually lost their appeal as a genre. Yes, there were exceptions like Geometry Wars and similar games, but the golden age was long ...

Flying around on a Magic Carpet

I remember little of Magic Carpet, but one thing I remember clearly was the plain fun I had flying around casting spells. It was one of the smoothest first-person games around at the time and it gave me a wonderful feeling of flying freedom. Sadly I never got a chance ...

Game Informer Greatest Games

The winners of the Game Informer Game of the Year are chosen by Game Informer editors. During their earlier years of publication they would give awards for the best game on each console available at the time, occasionally giving an award to the overall best game of the year.Here's ...

Play classic arcades in your browser

Installing and running old DOS games is never easy. You need a basic knowledge of your system and you need a DOSBOX front-end or a Virtual Machine insalled (which could be a daunting task). That's why I try to make some of the DOS games on Abandonware DOS available to ...

Cards, tabletop and board games

Card games and board games are not the most popular games available on Abandonware DOS. After all, there are countless versions of Poker, Clue, Scarbble, Monopoly and many other board/card games you can play for free online or buy on Steam or GOG. That's not an excuse for not ...

CODiE Awards 1992: Lemmings, Civilization, SimAnt

In 1992 two major hits saw the light: Lemmings and Civilization. Both spawned countless sequels, still published to this day.If you were a fan of combat flight simulations, Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe (by LucasGames) was the obvious choice.And let's not forget SimAnt, one of the weirdest (in a ...

The Ultima series: old school RPGs at its finest

Ultima is perhaps the most popular old-school RPG series of all time. The whole series was designed by Richard Garriott, head of Origin, who redefined the genre more than one time with moral choices, cutting edge graphics, state of the art interface. It's a shame that Ultima lasted only 9 chapters (...

Unconventional racing games

Racing games is a genre loved by many and ignored by others. Me, I was never a huge fan of racing games. I used to play Super Speed at the arcades long ago, but I never quite grew fond of Formula 1 simulations or Outrun-like games. In time, I completely stopped ...