Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

It Came From The Desert: giant ants from the 50s

It Came from the Desert is an abandonware action-adventure game developed by Cinemaware and released in 1990 for PC (DOS) and Amiga. It Came From the Desert is an action-adventure game with a peculiar flavor: it's set in the 50s, in the USA, and it's based on those old monster movies ...

Starflight: classic space exploration

Starflight is a classic space exploration and role-playing video game released in 1986 by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts. It is known for its innovative gameplay, as well as its open-ended approach to space exploration and storytelling. The game is set in a massive, procedurally generated universe with thousands ...

For every Star Trek fan: Starfleet Command

Star Trek: Starfleet Command (1999, Windows XP) is a dream come true for anyone who memorized warp core schematics. It’s a tactical space combat simulator that rewards patience, planning, and nerves of steel. You command starships in battles that play out like chess at warp speed — every subsystem, ...

Classic adventure: Maniac Mansion

Maniac Mansion is one of the most famous point and click adventure games developed by Lucasfilm Games and designed by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick. The story is a blend of old sci fi and horror b movies and the player can choose between many characters, each one with a ...

1996 in retro gaming: from Diablo to Daggerfall

Thirty years ago — yes, 1996, the year we all discovered that 3D graphics could both amaze us and instantly melt our PCs — computer gaming had finally learned to walk, run, and occasionally trip over its own polygons. The DOS era was still hanging on, Windows 95 was flexing its new ...

FIFA Soccer 97: the best of the series?

FIFA Soccer 97 is a football video game developed and published by EA Sports as part of the FIFA series. Released in 1996 for various platforms, it was the fourth installment in the FIFA series and introduced several new features. FIFA 97 was the first in the series to use a polygonal 3D ...

From the arcades: Turbo OutRun

Zero Magazine: "On the ol' addictiveness and playability front, Turbo Outrun is absolutely brilliant. The little extras, like the turbo, make the game different from the usual racey ones and hitting turbo just as a police car reaches you, is fab. Okay, it's yet another drivey game. But it's ...

Zoo Tycoon: a zoo management simulation

Ever dreamed of running your own zoo without needing a shovel for elephant poop? Zoo Tycoon lets you do exactly that. Build the ultimate animal empire - until the lions escape, the penguins riot, and your guests storm out because the hot dog stand is too far from the Komodo ...

Into the past: classic Cyberpunk PC games that still shine

There’s something irresistible about old cyberpunk games. Before neon-drenched trailers and open-world mega-budgets, PC developers in the 90s (and a little beyond) were already hard at work building grimy, paranoid visions of the future. Sure, the pixels were chunky and the interfaces clunky, but the atmosphere? Unmistakable. These ...

Ultima 6 soundtrack added

In Ultima 6, you finally meet the Gargoyles, who aren’t the snarling monsters everyone assumed—they’re just misunderstood neighbors with a different perspective. Cue moral dilemmas and cross-cultural negotiations, sandwiched between dungeon crawls. The game introduces a slick new interface and bigger world to explore, one ...

Dungeons, Dragons and pixels: old games inspired by D&D

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop role-playing game (RPG) that blends storytelling, strategy, and chance. First published in 1974 by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, it has since grown into one of the most popular and influential role-playing games in the world.Over the decades, Dungeons & Dragons ...

The Terminator: Future Shock

In 1997 PC Powerplay wrote: "The Terminator: Future Shock offers a new slant on the tried and tested Doom formula. The control system makes the game more involving and really draws you into the realistic game world Bethesda have created. The way the plot updates between stages when ...

1995 in retro gaming: from Command & Conquer to The Need for Speed

Thirty years ago, in 1995, monitors were bulky, the word “multimedia” was plastered onto anything that moved, and CD-ROMs promised “realistic” gaming experiences that often looked like low-budget school plays filmed on a camcorder. Windows 95 had just arrived with its legendary startup chime, and PC gaming was ...

The Sims: a masterpiece by Will Wright

The Sims, released in 2000, marked the beginning of the Sims series. Developed by In The Sims, players create and control virtual characters known as Sims. They can customize their Sims' appearance, personality traits, and aspirations, shaping their lives and interactions within the game world. Players are responsible for meeting their ...

The Typing of the Dead: kill them with your keyboard

The Typing of the Dead is a distinctive video game, essentially a typing adaptation of the classic rail shooter arcade game, The House of the Dead. Initially debuting in 1999 as an arcade machine, it later became available on other platforms as well. In The Typing of the Dead, players wield ...