Abandonware DOS title

Best abandonware games by genre

Having a chart for the best PC games, both Windows and DOS games, ever published in the (remote) past is a must for every abandonware site. The logical next step was a chart for every video game genre: action, adventure, puzzle, racing, RPG, shooter, simulation, sports, strategy and vehicle simulation (this last one is there because I hate to mix management games with flight sims).

Here are the top 10 games for every genre available on Abandonware DOS, according to user's votes.


# action year rating
01 Street Fighter 2 1992 4.32/5
02 Volfied 1991 4.31/5
03 Super Street Fighter 2 1996 4.27/5
04 Alley Cat 1984 4.27/5
05 Mortal Kombat 1993 4.26/5
06 Lode Runner 1983 4.25/5
07 Gods 1991 4.24/5
08 Joe and Mac Cavemen Ninja 1991 4.24/5
09 Hocus Pocus 1994 4.23/5
10 Rampage 1988 4.23/5
# action-adventure year rating
01 Impossible Mission 2 1988 4.25/5
02 Flashback: The Quest for Identity 1993 4.24/5
03 Outcast 1999 4.23/5
04 Driller 1987 4.21/5
05 Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk 1993 4.21/5
06 Little Big Adventure 1994 4.20/5
07 X-Men 2: The Fall of the Mutants 1991 4.19/5
08 Wrath of the Demon 1991 4.17/5
09 Spider-Man 2: The Game 2004 4.16/5
10 Thief: The Dark Project 1998 4.16/5
# adventure year rating
01 The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 4.32/5
02 Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards 1987 4.27/5
03 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge 1991 4.25/5
04 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 1992 4.24/5
05 Loom 1990 4.24/5
06 Hero's Quest: So you want to be a hero 1989 4.23/5
07 Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter 1986 4.23/5
08 Gobliiins 1991 4.23/5
09 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars 2009 4.23/5
10 Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz 1983 4.22/5
# application year rating
01 Turbo Assembler (TASM) 1989 4.39/5
02 NeoPaint 3.2 1996 4.30/5
03 Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 1992 4.29/5
04 QBASIC 1991 4.29/5
05 Borland DBase 5 1994 4.22/5
06 Norton Commander 5.5 1998 4.21/5
07 VisiCalc 1.0 1979 4.20/5
08 Deluxe Paint 2 1988 4.19/5
09 D-Fend Reloaded 2008 4.17/5
10 Wordstar 4 1986 4.17/5
# puzzle year rating
01 Tetris Classic 1992 4.31/5
02 Pipe Dream 1989 4.26/5
03 Chip's Challenge 1991 4.25/5
04 Lemmings 2: The Tribes 1993 4.24/5
05 The Incredible Machine 2 1994 4.22/5
06 The Incredible Machine 1993 4.22/5
07 Night Shift 1990 4.21/5
08 Tetris 2.0 1990 4.21/5
09 Puzznic 1990 4.20/5
10 Locomotion 1992 4.18/5
# racing year rating
01 Micro Machines 1994 4.27/5
02 Grand Prix 2 1995 4.24/5
03 Lombard RAC Rally 1988 4.24/5
04 Screamer 1995 4.24/5
05 Cisco Heat 1991 4.24/5
06 Carmageddon 1997 4.23/5
07 Whiplash 1995 4.23/5
08 Road Rash 1996 4.23/5
09 The Need for Speed 1995 4.23/5
10 The Duel: Test Drive 2 1989 4.22/5
# RPG year rating
01 Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate 1992 4.31/5
02 Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant 1992 4.25/5
03 Dungeon Hack 1993 4.24/5
04 Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon 1991 4.24/5
05 Eye of the Beholder 1991 4.24/5
06 Ultima 6: The False Prophet 1990 4.23/5
07 Albion 1995 4.22/5
08 The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall 1996 4.21/5
09 Conan: the Cimmerian 1991 4.21/5
10 Pools of Darkness 1991 4.21/5
# shooter year rating
01 Operation Wolf 1989 4.28/5
02 Doom 2: Hell on Earth 1994 4.25/5
03 Battlezone 1983 4.25/5
04 Quake 1996 4.24/5
05 Alien Breed: Tower Assault 1994 4.24/5
06 Virtua Cop 2 1997 4.23/5
07 Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf 1994 4.23/5
08 Doom 1993 4.22/5
09 Alien Syndrome 1989 4.21/5
10 Defender 1983 4.21/5
# simulation year rating
01 Capitalism 2 2001 4.25/5
02 Patrician 1992 4.24/5
03 SimCity 2000 1993 4.22/5
04 Caesar 3 1998 4.22/5
05 Transport Tycoon Deluxe 1995 4.22/5
06 The Oregon Trail 1990 4.22/5
07 Caesar 2 1995 4.22/5
08 Pharaoh 1999 4.21/5
09 Zeus: Master of Olympus 2000 4.20/5
10 SimEarth 1990 4.19/5
# sports year rating
01 Skate or Die 1988 4.24/5
02 Brutal Sports Football 1993 4.23/5
03 Virtual Pool 1995 4.23/5
04 World Class Leader Board 1988 4.22/5
05 Speedball 1988 4.20/5
06 Sharkey's 3D Pool 1990 4.20/5
07 Football Manager 3 1993 4.20/5
08 Championship Manager 1992 4.20/5
09 Panza Kick Boxing 1991 4.19/5
10 Premier Manager 1992 4.19/5
# strategy year rating
01 X-COM: Ufo Defense 1994 4.31/5
02 Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares 1996 4.29/5
03 Populous 2: Trials of the Olympian Gods 1993 4.26/5
04 Pacific General 1997 4.26/5
05 Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings 1999 4.24/5
06 Space Hulk 1993 4.24/5
07 Empire Earth 2001 4.23/5
08 Civilization 2 1996 4.23/5
09 L'Empereur 1991 4.23/5
10 Civilization 1991 4.23/5
# vehicle simulation year rating
01 Night Hawk: F-117A Stealth Fighter 1991 4.24/5
02 B-17 Flying Fortress 1992 4.24/5
03 Red Baron 1990 4.24/5
04 Chuck Yeager's Air Combat 1991 4.23/5
05 F-22 Lightning 2 1996 4.23/5
06 Falcon 3.0 1991 4.23/5
07 Jane's Combat Simulations: Advanced Tactical Fighters 1996 4.22/5
08 Silent Service 2 1990 4.22/5
09 Carrier command 1989 4.22/5
10 Battlehawks 1942 1988 4.22/5