When MS-DOS made its debut back in 1981, no one thought that the platform would be one of the early flag bearers of the PC gaming industry and go on to deliver a ton of fantastic games. It gave rise to different genres and titles, some of which went on to make successful franchises. Here are some of the titles that would bring fond memories from the era. If you missed the DOS games, or if this list makes you nostalgic, don’t weep. You can play many of these games online. Typically such games come with DOS emulator software called DOSBox so that you can run them on a modern day browsers and even on operating systems like Windows and Mac-OS.
1. Wolfenstein 3D & Doom
Clubbing both the games together, one may argue that one being superior to another. But, coming from the same studio, id Software; both the games lay groundwork for today’s FPS genre.
Wolfenstein 3D which was the first one to release in 1992 made for a badass game which had you going around in the wielding your gun on the Nazis and killing them with utmost joy. The graphics were a bit jarred by today’s standards but were to swear by if one had a floppy of the game in that era.
Doom, another game with a similar style with much more details and spooky monsters was the first of a generation of fast-paced, smooth action titles which pushed PC hardware to its limits with the new found Doom engine developed by id Software. Gamers would be fighting hordes of monsters from Hell and the dark environment was one of the first in the gaming industry. The term deathmatch was coined with the network multiplayer options and has since been used till date.
2. Dangerous Dave
One of the early works on John Romero, one of the designers for both Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, Dangerous Dave was a side scrolling platformer 2D game, where the protagonist Dave would be collecting gold coins, spectres and gold cups along with jetpack that gave you the ability to fly. Jetpack in 1988, what more you could have asked for. The flying insects and limited number of bullets was the one of the designs that made a lot of gamers try the game again and again to get it right the very first time.
3. Prince of Persia
Literally the Prince of games, Prince in the white garb was an instant hit when the game was first made in 1989. The long jumps, hanging on ledges, fighting animated skeletons and ultimately saving the princess from the evil Vazir, made you a cool dude among your circle. The game has seen various versions but the first game is what comes to your mind when someone says ‘Prince’.
4. Arkanoid
Break the brick game to earn points, Arkanoid, had you in front of the computer for hours trying to break the score or create a new one. The game earned a number of counterfeiters as the years went by, one of which was a notable DX-Ball which improved on the design and the fun part but nothing beat the original.
5. Sky roads
The space adventure game was relished by one and all. The simple UI and the controls that could be understood by all but mastered by very few. The different environments the game provided, right from the red slab that would blow your space ship to the slippery green ones, each one would have you catching your breath so that you don’t fall sideways or the jump doesn’t fall short or is too forward that you are into the pits.
6. Allan Border Cricket
Earliest of the cricket titles to be released, Allan Border was a relief from all the action adventure games that were fighting for the space in the Black Window. The game gave cricket fans a chance to play as one of their favourite teams and play the two formats that only existed that time. The square cuts and the drives along with bowling were some of the features that one could play the gentleman’s game in the virtual world.
7. Super Street Fighter II
The game that brought the brawler genre into limelight and also acclaim to the series, had its origins in the MS-DOS platform. Super Street Fighter II was a game-changer as far as video-games are concerned. Games like Mortal Kombat then came into existence but Street Fighter franchise set the ball rolling and Super Street Fighter II was the game that made that happen.
8. Lode Runner
Lode Runner is a frenetic arcade platformer with strategy being the backbone of the game. Outrun and outsmart your enemies to grab the gold before escaping to face harder levels. The franchise’s real power stems from the baked-in level editor that let players build their own puzzles to challenge friends or the ones who outsmart the game more than one time without any effort.
