Top-down perspective
Top down games were very popular in the 80s and the 90s, when graphic cards were not capable of supporting 3D, and even when 3D started to become popular, 2D games continued to be easier to develop, at least in the infancy of 3D gaming. 2D game offered the player a viewpoint that helped keeping things easily under control (think about top down party-based RPGs or hex-based strategy games).
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Slash'Em
Windows XP/98/95LinuxMac OS1997freewareremake
SLASH'EM (Super Lotsa Added Stuff Hack - Extended Magic) is a roguelike game based on NetHack, one of the most famous dungeon-crawling games of all time. It expands upon NetHack 3.4.3, adding new monsters, items, spells, roles, and challenges while keeping the core mechanics of exploration, permadeath, and turn-based combat intact. SLASH'EM is...
Sleuth: A Murder Mystery
DOS1983freeware Norland Software
Slicks 'n' Slide
DOS1993
Snack Attack 2
DOS1982 Funtastic
Socrates
DOS1993
Soko-Ban
DOS1984 ASCII Corporation
Sokoban is a classic puzzle game first released in 1982 by Hiroyuki Imabayashi for the NEC PC-8801 in Japan and later ported to a number of platforms, including DOS, as Soko-Ban. The name "Sokoban" translates to "warehouse keeper" in Japanese, which perfectly describes the game's premise. You control a warehouse worker (the Sokoban) who must p...
Solar hockey league
DOS1992 Bethesda Softworks
Solar Winds 2: Galaxy
DOS1993 Stone Interactive Media
Solidarnosc
DOS1991 P. Z. Karen Co. Development Group
Sorcerer Lord
DOS1987 Personal Software Services
Soviet
DOS1990 Opera Soft
Space 1889
DOS1990 Paragon Software
Space 1889 is an abandoned top down RPG developed by Paragon Software and released in 1990 for DOS, Atari ST and Amiga. Space 1889 setting is classic science fiction, but is set in the Victorian. It's worth noting that Space 1889 is loosely based on the tabletop game of the same name.
Space Crusade
DOS1992 Gremlin Graphics / Gremlin Interactive
Space Federation
DOS1994 Interplay Productions
Space Rogue
DOS1989 Origin Systems
Space Rogue is a science fiction RPG developed by Richard Garriott's Origin and desined by Paul Neurath. Space Rogue combines a 3D space simulation with a top down view RPG gameplay. As a space pilot you can hunt bounties, buy and sell goods, land on starbases or outposts and talk to NPCs, do quests, etc.
Spacewar
DOS1985
Spacewar is one of the earliest digital computer games and is often considered the first interactive video game. It was created in 1962 by Steve Russell, Martin Graetz, and Wayne Wiitanen at the MIT. The game was developed on the PDP-1 minicomputer; this is a DOS port, released in 1985.Spacewar! features two spaceships, controlled by players, that ...
Speedball
DOS1988 Bitmap Brothers
Speedball 2
DOS1992 Bitmap Brothers
Spirit of Excalibur
DOS1990 Synergistic Software
Spiritual Warfare
DOS1993protected Wisdom Tree
Spy Hunter
DOS1984 Midway Manufacturing Company
Squarez Deluxe!
DOS1993freeware Adept Software
SSN-21 Seawolf
DOS1994 Electronic Arts
Star Command
DOS1988protected SSI Strategic Simulations Inc.
Star Control
DOS1990protected Toys for Bob
Star Control 2
DOS1992protected Toys for Bob
Star Control 3
DOS1996protected Legend Entertainment
Star General
Windows XP/98/95DOS1996protected Catware, Inc.
Star General is a turn-based strategy game developed by Catware and published by SSI (Strategic Simulations, Inc.). It was released in 1996 for MS-DOS and later for Windows. The game is set in a science fiction universe where players take command of one of five different factions, each vying for control of the galaxy.In Star General, players comman...
Star Goose!
DOS1988 Logotron
Star Goose is a classic video game developed by Logotron and released in 1988 for various home computer systems of that era, including the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC. It is a top-down, vertically scrolling shooter that combines elements of shoot 'em up gameplay with exploration and power-up mechanics.
Star Trek Combat Arena
DOS1989