Great dos games

However, back in Syndicate caused a few raised eyebrows and a sharp intake of breath from the various focus groups on video game violence. This dark look at the future has you trying to take over the world with the help of a team of androids.

You could be as ultra-violent or as passive and sneaky as you like, as long as the end goal of world domination was achieved. The sequel was even more intense, too…. I had plenty of first person shooters, combat sims, space trading games galore, and platformers to pick from in my diskette boxes of goodies. But the one game that kept me coming back for more, time and time again, was The Incredible Machine. This amazing little puzzle game grabbed you and refused to let go until it was late at night and you finally realised that you had work to go to in the morning.

It was seriously addictive. A great vertically scrolling shooter from Apogee, one that seriously threatened what little remained of a social life you once had, or — again — any chance of getting up in the morning. Raptor was fairly basic in its gameplay.

You headed ever onward, collecting power-ups and cash and obliterating everything that streamed down from above. After each level you could use the collected cash to buy even more destructive weapons, or the ability to last a little longer. Either way, it was a fab little game — even the shareware version of one level.

Pipe Mania was a cunning puzzle game my brother used to play endlessly. It has you placing down sections of a pipe, that appear Tetris -like on one section of the screen, to a set grid in the main game area. A clever little game, and one that was fiendishly addictive. It also appeared in the second Microsoft Windows Entertainment Pack. The jetpack wearing, and initially flame-thrower wielding Harry could collect coins from downed aliens, and use the coins at certain stations to buy different weapons from missiles, to mini Nukes and an Omega Bomb.

The shareware version was simply called Halloween Harry when it was released, and later named Alien Carnage for all four episodes. The Bitmap Brothers certainly knew how to make a cracking game, and Chaos Engine was one such example. With their usual flair for top-down mayhem, The Bitmap Brothers gave us this wonderful steampunk themed game, filled with tons of enemies, two-player action, loads of power-ups and great sound effects with a cool sound track playing continuously in the background.

Seriously one of the best DOS games of the mids, although originally banned in Germany due to excessive violence, it still looks and plays pretty well today. But the canny DOS gamer would, among those titles, name Descent. This seasickness-inducing true 3D game was an absolute marvel to behold.

Flying through the various mines looking for the exit and the reactor to destroy, while trying to work out whether you were the right-way up or still upside down, was one of the most visually impressive gaming experiences of Even when you entered a cheat code and had the computer voice call you a cheater.

Ocean Software and Digital Image Design have a number a great games under their collective belts; one memorable DOS game is Epic , an immense space shooter with a fantastic story and beautifully rendered graphics. It had plenty: fast space combat, a Battlestar Galactica -like storyline, and quite splendid visuals.

MDK was a thoroughly strange game I picked up on sale from a local computer game shop in Leeds, towards the end of This third-person run and gun, with hints of puzzles, has you as Kurt Hectic in a bio-armour suit taking on waves of enemies on board giant, city-sized Minecrawlers heading towards various locations on earth.

Hewson Consultants Ltd. The likes of Firelord , Uridium , Nebulus , Ranarama — all for various platforms — were played countless times by us in our youth. Incidentally, the Sega Mega Drive version had to be cleaned up before it was allowed on sale — cleaned up as in the fairies had to put some clothes on. The pretty bland looking first episode of a trilogy of games, Jill Of The Jungle , was surprisingly good. Okay so it was a basic platformer, and it was awful to control, but this shareware competitor to Commander Keen and the like worked quite well.

You play as Jill, an Amazonian warrior who has to get from one end of the jungle to the other. A decent enough, harmless game this, with the strange addition of having every key on the keyboard mapped to a sound effect in the game. Tyrian has you as ace pilot Trent Hawkins, seeking revenge against MicroSol who killed your best mate Buce Quesilliac over the discovery of an ultra-rare mineral Gravitium. Not only that, you could link up a couple of PCs with a Null Modem cable or network and get some two player action against the onslaught of MicroSol henchmen.

Jazz Jackrabbit — A fantastic platformer, one that really put the PC out there as a proper games platform capable of knocking the consoles off their perches.

Aces Over Europe — An immense combat simulator with a huge page instruction manual to weigh the box down. Rogue — Everyone mentions Rogue-like games these days, but this is where it all started. Skip to main content area. Dope Wars Another DOS game that caused something of a stir from various focus groups, churches, parents against things corrupting their young and pretty much everyone on the planet with a moral consciousness. Rise Of The Triad Apogee had a lot to answer for back in its shareware days.

Albion Albion is easily one of best DOS games of the mids. Red Baron Enjoying the flight simulation genre with the likes of Falcon on the ST was a fantastic experience, but these modern fighters lack the intense dogfights of World War I games.

It holds together today too, and is awaiting you on Steam if you have a few coins spare… Wing Commander DOS was no stranger to 3D space combat simulators, and while there were some incredible titles to be had, not many gamers seem to recall the original Wing Commander too much these days. An odd, but also rather good Sierra-like adventure at the same time.

Magic Carpet Bullfrog Productions brought us Populous and Syndicate , both of which were immensely popular. Comanche NovaLogic, of Delta Force fame which was an amazing game first toyed around with its Voxel Space engine technology in Comanche , or Comanche: Maximum Overkill as it was also known.

Silent Service 2 This is one I picked up as part of a compilation MicroProse pack from a charity shop in the mid to late 90s. We only split larger pieces, just to help contain loading times and such like. Apologies again… Scorched Earth Where Gorillas. SimAnt SimAnt was an interesting game I picked up at one of those travelling computer fairs — one that was held in Bolton. Alien Breed This top-down, Gauntlet -like game was immensely enjoyable back in the day.

You gain experience throughout your adventures by using abilities and engaging in combat. There are always multiple ways to complete objectives. For instance, if you come across a locked gate there are many ways to get past it- lockpick the gate, climb it, blow it up with an RPG, or use a crowbar to pry it open. One unique feature of Wasteland that made it pretty advanced for its time was the environment continuity.

Basically, whatever changes you bring about in an area through your actions will stay that way when you come back, instead of resetting. This is a science-fiction strategy game developed by Microprose and Mythos Games. Originally released in March for the MS-DOS operating system, this game combines real-time management simulation with turn-based tactics.

As the player, you are an X-COM commander. X-COM is an advanced organization created by world governments to combat alien invasions. You do really cool stuff like shooting down UFOs, commanding an army of infantry with access to futuristic weapons, and you can even retrieve alien tech.

Successful assault missions will reward you with alien DNA and their technology, which your scientists can use to manufacture weapons that are just as good, or even better.

The alien tech also allows you to understand their culture and race, bringing you one step closer to developing a counter-strategy for their invasion. Certain governments around the world will enter into secret pacts with alien civilizations, exchanging insider info for alien goodies. This will impact X-COM funding and reduce your ability to research or create new technology. The story of the game brings us to a fantasy world, one that is inhabited by dragons, mages, warriors, kings, etc.

You play around the Moonsea region, in the city of Phlan which has been taken over by dark forces. This brave city has fended off multiple attacks from several invading armies before, but the attackers now are led by a powerful dark lord.

A bronze dragon has been possessed by an ancient evil spirit named Tyranthraxus. Your objective is to cleanse the city of its demonic parasites, leading the rebellion so the people of Phlan can recoup and rebuild their damaged civilization. Based around the Star Wars cinematic universe created by Lucas Film, this is a space simulation video game in which you pilot starfighters for the Rebel Alliance. This is one of the very first games to use 3D polygon graphics and the iMuse music system.

Updated and re-released multiple times since its debut in Feb , the game was a massive success. Pretty much every Star Wars fan who grew up in the 90s and had an interest in computer games has played it.

You reenact that scene, taking the role of a Rebel pilot fighting against the Galactic Empire. There are a total of around 12 to 14 operations per hour, and 3 tours in total throughout the story. You can play tours out of order, but operations are played linearly. There are mission briefings, cutscenes, and in-game dialogue to advance the plot. Released in North America all the way back in November of , this is the game that started it all.

It made Blizzard a household name and has spawned an entire series of Warcraft games that are still being released and updated to this day. Do you prefer the brute strength of Orcs? Or the resourcefulness and wit of humans? Build strongholds, and defend them from invading hordes of enemies. Take over new territories, gather resources, and build a massive army consisting of many creatures such as Demons, Elementals, Necromancers, Archers, etc.

One of the things that made Prince of Persia stand out from the rest of the action-adventure games of that time was its fluid, life-like character animation. It inspired an entirely new genre of games that came to be known as cinematic platformers.

The plot for this game is fairly simple, you are a prince trying to rescue the girl you love from the hands of an evil wizard. You even have to fight an evil version of yourself, an apparition that has been created from a magic mirror. He filmed his younger brother David running, climbing, and jumping across obstacles. All the while David was wearing white clothes. He then digitally transferred that motion captured on a real camera into the game world.

You can learn more about the process from this Forbes article. Ever wanted to build your very own city? I mean, how else are you going to prepare for winning big on the show, like that guy from the documentary? I used to be terrified of this game as a kid for whatever reason.

Your goal? Oh, yes. The A. You build your own city and manage it to greatness. You can play the game as long as you want, as many times as you want, and it never gets old because you create a uniquely evolving design as you go along. Where to get it: Electronic Arts hosts a free browser edition of SimCity on its website. Fan devotion to this game, which pits the player against an invading alien force, comes partly from the deep attachment X-Com players develop to the soldiers they custom-build.

And you can play the game over and over without getting bored, thanks to the randomly generated maps and the seemingly endless combinations of equipment and technology. Completing the X-Com recipe took a few more ingredients: the building-management elements of SimCity, the technology development aspects of Civilization, and a slew of s pop-culture UFO references with a hint of Star Trek. The result is an irresistible cocktail of PC gaming goodness that many players say has yet to be surpassed.

Where to get it: X-Com is available for purchase and download from Steam. This often overlooked title may not have sold millions of units, but thanks to shareware distribution, more people have played it than you might think.

With its numerous gameplay settings, variable computer AI, and an impressive array of entertaining power-ups, Scorched Earth possesses nearly infinite replay value. You may need DOSBox to run it.