Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight
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Space Harrier: third-person rail shooter
26th June 2021shooterSpace Harrier is a 3rd-person view rail-shooter developed by Sega in 1985. Space Harrier was a hit in the arcades, and later it was converted for a number of platforms, including DOS (4 years later!). The sequels - Space Harrier 3D and Space Harrier II - were never ported to DOS. -
Games set in South America
12th June 2021adventureVideo games set in South America usually involve Inca or Aztec cultures and mythology. Typical South American settings and cliches are: the jungle, the Amazon, ancient temples, guerrilla warfare, petty dictators, etc.Here's a few of them:Indiana Jones and his Desktop Adventures Windows 3.x 1996 LucasArts Flight of the ... -
Telarium: early interactive fiction
5th June 2021adventureTelarium was known for interactive fiction adventure games with graphics. Their adventure games were almost all based on novels such as Farenheit 451 and Rendez Vous With Rama. Telarium often cooperated with the authors of those books.Based in: U.S.A. Established in: 1984 Closed in: 1987 gamegenrereleasedAmazonadventure1984Dragon Worldadventure1984Farenheit 451... -
Plan 9 From Outer Space: inspired by a B movie
29th May 2021adventure"There was so much potential for a decent game within Plan 9's dire plot and general naffness that the game seems a real cop-out. I'm a real fan of all those awful B-movies, and likes of The Creature From The Black Lagoon and King Kong are just gagging for ... -
Collector's info: Leather Goddesses of Phobos
15th May 2021adventure, big box PC gamesInfocom interactive fiction games are fondly remembered by fans not only for their quality, but also for the sheer number of "feelies" (physical items) you could find in each original big box.Leather Goddesses of Phobos, a sci-fi humorous text adventure, came with some of the most peculiar feelies ever. ... -
Wargaming: The Perfect General
2nd May 2021strategyThe Perfect General is a turn-based strategy military game developed by White Wolf Productions and released in 1991 by Quantun Quality Production. The Perfect General gameplay is quite simple compared to other wargames, but it's based on a solid set of rules and let the players progress at their own pace ... -
1998 in PC gaming: Dune 2000, Axis and Allies, Railroad Tycoon 2
24th April 2021action, puzzle, strategy20 years ago PC gaming was thriving. Half-Life re-defined the game design of FPSs. Baldur's Gate and Fallout 2 gave hope to gamers who were waiting for the next generation of RPGs. Adventure gamers enjoyed Grim Fandango immensely. Real-time strategy fans spent countless hours playing StarCraft. And let's not forget&... -
RPG spotlight - Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
17th April 2021RPGUltima IV is remembered as one of the best Ultima games ever released, designed as usual by Richard Garriott. Garriott took the Ultima series to a whole new level by introducing the eight virtues: honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality, humility. Ultima IV started the trilogy known as "Age ... -
Relaxing with Alpha Waves
10th April 2021actionAlpha Waves was the ultimate relaxing experience for PC. As a platform game, Alpha Waves it's an ok game; not bad, not very good, but if you consider the whole relaxing experience, it's worth a try. Alpha Waves stands the test of time, after all these years it's still fairly ... -
Delivering papers as a digital paperboy
3rd April 2021actionPaperboy was an unusual 1985 arcade hit developed by Atari, later published by Mindscape for DOS in 1988 and for other platforms as well. Paperboy gameplay is peculiar: you control a paperboy on a bicycle and you have to deliver newspapers to a number of houses while avoiding dogs, cars and other ... -
Supremacy: Your Will Be Done
27th March 2021strategySupremacy: You Will Be Done (also known simply as Overlord) is a rare example of mix between real-time strategy and science fiction themed 4X game (eXplore, eXpand, eXploid, eXterminate). Supremacy was developed by Probe Entertainment and published by Mastertronic in 1990.PC Review wrote about Supremacy in 1992: "Two huge civilisations battle ... -
Zool: the ninja from the Nth dimension
20th March 2021actionZool was to Amiga what Sonic was for Sega consoles: a cool protagonist (a ninja of the Nth dimension!) for a high adrenaline action platformer. Zool was designed by George Allen and published by Gremlin in 1992 and it was an instant success. It was ported for many platforms, DOS included, ... -
Collector's info: Bureaucracy
11th March 2021adventure, big box PC gamesInfocom interactive fiction games are fondly remembered by fans not only for their quality, but also for the sheer number of "feelies" (physical items) you could find in each original big box.Bureaucracy is an abandoned text-adventure game designed by Douglas Adams (yes, the writer of The Hitchhiker Guide of ... -
Electronic Games Arcade Awards: Games of the Year 1979
6th March 2021top games and awardsElectronic Games was a magazine published in the 1980s and the 1990s entirely focused on video games (one of the first ones, if you think about it). Every year, Electronic Games magazine held a Game of the Year "Arcade Awards".These are the best games published in 1979 according to Electronic ... -
Asteroids: the abandoned remakes
30th January 2021remakes and sequelsThe original game Asteroids was one of the most popular arcade games of the 80s; a fixed-screen shooter first published for arcade machines in 1979.Original title: Asteroids First released in: 1979 Developer: Atari Publisher: Atari, Taito Designer: Lyle Rains, Ed Logg, Dominic ... -
Electronic Games Arcade Awards - 1981
23rd January 2021top games and awardsasElectronic Games was a magazine published in the United States between the 1980s and the 1990s. It was one of the first computer magazines entirely dedicated to video games, and it wasn't that common in the early 80s.The Arcade Awards was perhaps the first "game of the year" type ... -
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers
16th January 2021RPGJ.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers is an abandoned fantasy top-down DOS RPG game set in the The Lord of the Rings universe. The Lord of the Rings II was developed and released by Interplay Productions in 1992. The Lord of the ... -
The Infocom InfoComics
8th January 2021adventureInfoComics was an engine developed by Infocom, used for a series of adventure games that today would be described as visual novels (something like non-interactive comics). InfoComics weren't much popular and, apparently, were one of the causes that lead to Infocom demise. Infocom published four games based on the Infocomics ... -
Abandonware DOS in 2020: what's changed and what's new
2nd January 2021Abandonware DOS updatesFirst of all, I would like to thank everyone who donated a few bucks to help me keep working on Abandonware DOS. THANK YOU, THANK YOU and again THANK YOU! 2020 will go down in history as the COVID year. I live in northern Italy, in one of the first regions ... -
Operation Wolf: first-person shooting gallery
20th December 2020shooterOperation Wolf was a hit at the arcades, in part thanks to that wonderful cabinet. I have to admit that I've never played it outside my home. I used to play Operation Wolf first on a Commodore 64 (and yes, I enjoyed it) and later on a 386 PC. What I really ...