Abandonware DOS retro gaming spotlight

2000 games and applications

After a quite a few years, Abandonware DOS reached the 2000 games (and applications) milestone. I personally played each game to ensure it worked, took screenshots, wrote info and added everything to the Abandonware DOS database. The trick was to come up with a method to do this in the least ...

What were your favourite shoot'em ups?

Shoot 'em ups were extremely popular in the '80s and '90s, even among PC owners.In a shoot 'em up, players control some sort of vehicle (or an aircraft) with the only goal of destroying the largest number of enemies while dodging their bullets as long as they ...

The worst games based on movies

Movies have always been a source of inspiration for video games. Almost every successful movie has its video game (and sometimes even unsucessful ones). The results in the gaming world weren't always so good. I remember lots and lots of mediocre games that tried to patch together different moments of ...

GOG Spring Sale Classics

It's spring time and everyone in the world is waiting for this COVID-19 hell to fade and become a thing of the past (me included, sheltered in my home in northern Italy).For all of us trying to come up with new ways to fill this free time, Good Old ...

Puzzle games based on TV game shows

Games based on TV game shows were popular in the early days of DOS video gaming on older PCs. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that every major game show of the eighties was translated into a video game: Family Feud, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and more.Here's ...

What does COVID have to do with Abandonware DOS?

As you probably know, Abandonware DOS is run by one person only: here I am. I'm Italian and - lucky me! - I live in Lombardy, the Italian region where the Coronavirus is most present: almost 15000 cases so far, and rising.It's like living under curfew. I can go out ...

Games set during the cold war period

There was a time when the two major political superpowers were at war, but nobody knew. U.S.A. and the former U.S.S.R. used spies, subterfuge, blockades, political and military influence all over the world. The so called "Cold War" era lasted decades and ended in 1989 with ...

Business simulations: merchants, managers, CEOs

Business simulations (also called tycoon simulations) are video games that focus on the economic and the management side of running a business. In tycoon games the player can be in charge of any kind of business: a company, a sports team, an hospital, an amusement park, even a drug ...

CODiE Awards 1996: Dark Forces, Ascendancy, IndyCar Racing 2

In 1996 quite a few things happened. Charles and Diana got divorced, France finally stops nuclear tests in the Pacific, Nintendo releases the Nintendo 64 and the mad cow disease hits Britain. Deep Blue defeats chess champion Kasparov, Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 3 and Windows NT 4.The 1996 CODiE awards go to an almost ...

Commander Keen: side-scrolling platformers

In the 90's PCs weren't exactly popular as a gaming system for platform games. The whole Commander Keen series was an exception. Created by a trio of talented designers (John Carmack, John Romero and Tom Hall), Commander Keen games - side scrolling platformers - contributed to put PCs under the ...

David Braben: an Elite game designer

David Braben is a British game developer and designer, also founder and CEO of Frontier Developments plc. He's best known for co-creating Elite in 1984 (with Ian Bell), the space trading and exploration game that started a whole genre. Name: David Braben Born on: 02/01/1964Occupation: game designer, programmer and entrepreneurKnown for: ...

Old school forgotten RPGs from the past

RPGs are a strange animal when it comes to old-school PC gaming. If you exclude huge hits and successful franchises, the games that remains are often obscure RPGs, sometimes so awful that playing them is a pain in the keyboard. There are of course exceptions: underdogs that somehow were a ...

The best abandonware games of 2019

2019 has ended. Each game in the "top abandonware games" chart of Abandonware DOS received many votes. This means that you, dear visitor, care about these games, you loved them when they were released and they left something in you... a pleasant memory, a warm feeling of nostalgia maybe?This ...

Abandonware DOS in 2019: what's changed and what's new

First 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! In 2019 I changed the way that I usually add content on Abandonware DOS. This means that it takes me less ...

Old school: first-person party-based CRPGs

Party-based role-playing games with a first person perspective became popular after the release of Dungeon Master in 1989. Before Dungeon Master only a handful RPGs used first person, the Bard's Tale and Wizardry series among others. Dungeon Master managed to create a very neat user interface without sacrificing the gameplay.Some ...

Death Sword (AKA Barbarian): the art of fighting slowly

Death Sword (also known as Barbarian in Europe), is a fighting game developed by Palace Software, set in a fantasy world full of huge sword-wielding barbarians. Compared to modern brawlers, Death Sword gameplay may seem slow, but at the time it was considered adequate. Instead of rushing into multiple chain ...

Simulation games: Team Yankee, Hill Street Blues, Epic and more

Simulation and vehicle simulation games are often the least remembered video game genres by retro gamers. While many simulations did achieve a certain degree of success back in the day, quite a few fell in the dark pit of forgotten retro games. Let's see how many of these you can ...

Play abandoned roguelike RPGs in your browser

Roguelikes are peculiar kind of RPG that always intrigued me. Permadeath and procedurally generated dungeons means a very high replayability. The history of roguelikes has its roots in the early age of video gaming. The first roguelike dates back to the 70s!Abandonware DOS hosts a few good old roguelikes, ...

A niche genre: Metroidvania

Metroidvania is a made up word born from the merge of two game series titles: Metroid and Castlevania. Both games share gameplay and design elements that defines the genre. Metroidvania games are platform games featuring a game world that is freely explorable. Certain areas can be accessed only with player ...

Hard Drivin' in vector graphics

"Hard Drivin', a fast moving, solid-filled vector graphic racing game, gave you the chance to compete against the clock on two separate tracks: a speed track and a stunt track. And for those skilled enough to get a good enough time on either of these, there was a championship ...