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 | 4.31/5 |
| 02 | Volfied | 1991 | 4.31/5 |
| 03 | Alley Cat | 1984 | 4.27/5 |
| 04 | Mortal Kombat | 1993 | 4.26/5 |
| 05 | Bomb Jack remake | 2002 | 4.25/5 |
| 06 | Super Street Fighter 2 | 1996 | 4.25/5 |
| 07 | Gods | 1991 | 4.23/5 |
| 08 | Lode Runner | 1983 | 4.23/5 |
| 09 | Pinball Fantasies | 1994 | 4.23/5 |
| 10 | Rick Dangerous | 1989 | 4.23/5 |
| # | action-adventure | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Impossible Mission 2 | 1988 | 4.22/5 |
| 02 | Driller | 1987 | 4.21/5 |
| 03 | Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk | 1993 | 4.21/5 |
| 04 | Outcast | 1999 | 4.21/5 |
| 05 | Flashback: The Quest for Identity | 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 | Thief: The Dark Project | 1998 | 4.16/5 |
| 09 | System Shock 2 | 1999 | 4.16/5 |
| 10 | Le Fetiche Maya | 1989 | 4.14/5 |
| # | adventure | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Secret of Monkey Island | 1990 | 4.33/5 |
| 02 | Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards | 1987 | 4.25/5 |
| 03 | Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis | 1992 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter | 1986 | 4.23/5 |
| 05 | Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz | 1983 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Hero's Quest: So you want to be a hero | 1989 | 4.22/5 |
| 07 | Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge | 1991 | 4.22/5 |
| 08 | The Last Express | 1997 | 4.22/5 |
| 09 | Police Quest 1: In Pursuit of the Death Angel | 1987 | 4.22/5 |
| 10 | Police Quest: Open Season | 1993 | 4.21/5 |
| # | application | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Turbo Assembler (TASM) | 1989 | 4.37/5 |
| 02 | Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 | 1992 | 4.26/5 |
| 03 | QBasic 7.1 | 1991 | 4.26/5 |
| 04 | Norton Commander 5.5 | 1998 | 4.21/5 |
| 05 | Borland DBase 5 | 1994 | 4.20/5 |
| 06 | Deluxe Paint 2 | 1988 | 4.19/5 |
| 07 | NeoPaint 3.2 | 1996 | 4.19/5 |
| 08 | VisiCalc 1.0 | 1979 | 4.18/5 |
| 09 | Wordstar 4 | 1986 | 4.15/5 |
| 10 | AutoCAD 2.5 | 1986 | 4.14/5 |
| # | puzzle | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Tetris Classic | 1992 | 4.31/5 |
| 02 | Pipe Dream | 1989 | 4.25/5 |
| 03 | Chip's Challenge | 1991 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | The Incredible Machine 2 | 1994 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | The Incredible Machine | 1993 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Night Shift | 1990 | 4.21/5 |
| 07 | Puzznic | 1990 | 4.20/5 |
| 08 | Tetris 2.0 | 1990 | 4.20/5 |
| 09 | Lemmings 2: The Tribes | 1993 | 4.19/5 |
| 10 | Locomotion | 1992 | 4.18/5 |
| # | racing | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Micro Machines | 1994 | 4.26/5 |
| 02 | Ivan 'Iron Man' Stewart's Super Off Road | 1990 | 4.23/5 |
| 03 | Road Rash | 1996 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | Screamer | 1995 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | The Duel: Test Drive 2 | 1989 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Lotus: The ultimate challenge | 1993 | 4.21/5 |
| 07 | The Need for Speed | 1995 | 4.21/5 |
| 08 | Car and Driver | 1992 | 4.21/5 |
| 09 | Grand Prix 2 | 1995 | 4.21/5 |
| 10 | Cisco Heat | 1991 | 4.21/5 |
| # | RPG | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate | 1992 | 4.31/5 |
| 02 | Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon | 1991 | 4.24/5 |
| 03 | Ultima 6: The False Prophet | 1990 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | Eye of the Beholder | 1991 | 4.23/5 |
| 05 | Albion | 1995 | 4.21/5 |
| 06 | The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall | 1996 | 4.21/5 |
| 07 | Dungeon Hack | 1993 | 4.21/5 |
| 08 | Pools of Darkness | 1991 | 4.21/5 |
| 09 | Legends of Valour | 1992 | 4.20/5 |
| 10 | Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | 1992 | 4.20/5 |
| # | shooter | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Operation Wolf | 1989 | 4.27/5 |
| 02 | Doom 2: Hell on Earth | 1994 | 4.25/5 |
| 03 | Virtua Cop 2 | 1997 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | Quake | 1996 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | Doom | 1993 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Star Wars | 1988 | 4.22/5 |
| 07 | Battlezone | 1983 | 4.22/5 |
| 08 | Alien Syndrome | 1989 | 4.21/5 |
| 09 | Defender | 1983 | 4.21/5 |
| 10 | Heretic | 1994 | 4.21/5 |
| # | simulation | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Caesar 3 | 1998 | 4.23/5 |
| 02 | SimCity 2000 | 1993 | 4.22/5 |
| 03 | Caesar 2 | 1995 | 4.22/5 |
| 04 | The Oregon Trail | 1990 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | Capitalism 2 | 2001 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Railroad Tycoon Deluxe | 1993 | 4.21/5 |
| 07 | Transport Tycoon Deluxe | 1995 | 4.20/5 |
| 08 | Zeus: Master of Olympus | 2000 | 4.20/5 |
| 09 | SimEarth | 1990 | 4.19/5 |
| 10 | Balance of Power: The 1990 Edition | 1989 | 4.19/5 |
| # | sports | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Brutal Sports Football | 1993 | 4.23/5 |
| 02 | Virtual Pool | 1995 | 4.23/5 |
| 03 | World Class Leader Board | 1988 | 4.22/5 |
| 04 | Panza Kick Boxing | 1991 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | Speedball | 1988 | 4.20/5 |
| 06 | Sharkey's 3D Pool | 1990 | 4.20/5 |
| 07 | Premier Manager | 1992 | 4.19/5 |
| 08 | The Manager | 1991 | 4.19/5 |
| 09 | Skate or Die | 1988 | 4.18/5 |
| 10 | WWF in Your House | 1996 | 4.17/5 |
| # | strategy | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | X-COM: Ufo Defense | 1994 | 4.31/5 |
| 02 | Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares | 1996 | 4.28/5 |
| 03 | Populous 2: Trials of the Olympian Gods | 1993 | 4.26/5 |
| 04 | Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings | 1999 | 4.23/5 |
| 05 | Civilization 2 | 1996 | 4.23/5 |
| 06 | Space Hulk | 1993 | 4.23/5 |
| 07 | Age of Wonders | 1999 | 4.22/5 |
| 08 | Empire Earth | 2001 | 4.22/5 |
| 09 | Fantasy General | 1996 | 4.22/5 |
| 10 | Civilization | 1991 | 4.22/5 |
| # | vehicle simulation | year | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Chuck Yeager's Air Combat | 1991 | 4.23/5 |
| 02 | B-17 Flying Fortress | 1992 | 4.23/5 |
| 03 | F-15 Strike Eagle III | 1992 | 4.23/5 |
| 04 | Falcon 3.0 | 1991 | 4.22/5 |
| 05 | Jetfighter 2: Advanced Tactical Fighter | 1990 | 4.22/5 |
| 06 | Silent Service 2 | 1990 | 4.22/5 |
| 07 | Night Hawk: F-117A Stealth Fighter | 1991 | 4.22/5 |
| 08 | Red Baron | 1990 | 4.22/5 |
| 09 | Strike Commander | 1993 | 4.22/5 |
| 10 | WinTrek | 1992 | 4.22/5 |