Xargon (1993): Epic MegaGames’ Most Overlooked Free Platformer
Long before Unreal, Epic MegaGames made its money on shareware platformers. Xargon is arguably the best of that early lineup, […]
Games
Free classic DOS game downloads and reviews
Hugo III: Jungle of Doom (1992) — A One-Man Studio’s Trilogy Closer
David P. Gray built the entire Hugo trilogy essentially by himself under his own Gray Design Associates label, and Jungle
Hugo II: Whodunit? (1991): David Gray’s Agatha Christie Homage
A year after his first Hugo game found an audience through disk libraries and bulletin boards, David Gray had a
Hugo’s House of Horrors (1990): One Programmer’s Answer to Sierra
David P. Gray didn’t have a studio behind him in 1990 — just a home computer, a shareware mailing address,
Epic Pinball (1993): James Schmalz’s SVGA Tables Still Feel Like Real Machines
The Pinball Sim That Made the Rest Look Cheap DOS had no shortage of pinball simulations, but most of them
Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy (1991): id Software Before the Guns
Two years before Wolfenstein 3D and three before Doom, id Software’s biggest release wasn’t a shooter at all — it
Ski or Die (1990) Review — EA’s Winter Answer to Skate or Die
Five snow sports, one relentlessly attitude-heavy presentation, and a cast of characters who treat a ski resort like a skate
Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993): LucasArts’ Weirdest Road Trip
Sam is a dog. Max is some kind of hyperkinetic rabbity thing. Together, they’re the Freelance Police, and in 1993
Death Rally (1996): Remedy’s Debut, Long Before Max Payne
Before Max Payne, before Alan Wake, before Control, Remedy Entertainment made a top-down racing game where you shoot your opponents
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (1992): The Best Indy Game LucasArts Never Filmed
Most licensed movie tie-in games are disappointments, cranked out to hit a release date rather than to tell a good
Strife (1996): The Doom Engine’s Strangest, Best Detour
What do you get when you bolt a quest log and a reputation system onto Doom’s combat engine? Rogue Entertainment
Dark Forces (1995): The Star Wars Shooter That Out-Engineered Doom
Out-Building Doom, One Feature at a Time id Software’s Doom engine spawned countless imitators in the mid-90s, but Dark Forces