showing 22 games

namepublisher(developer)year arrow_downwarddescription
Windwalker Origin Systems (Micro Magic)1990 labelimageminimize
Quest for Glory III: Wages of War  Sierra On-Line1992 labelimageminimize
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss  Origin (Blue Sky Productions)1992Historical note: This game was the first, first person 3D game (it preceded Wolfenstein 3D by two months). Also the engine is much more advanced than the Wolfenstein 3D engine was. Not just in the RPG elements but the 3D environment, dynamic lighting, curved surfaces, real bridges and tunnels, texture resolution and variation, and vertical variation in the terrain. However, the system requirements of UW are higher than Wolf 3D.
[Zerothis]
labelimagesubject
Star Control II  Accolade (Toys For Bob)1992The story mode is purely singleplayer, but the melee is playable by 1-2 human players.***I split SC2 and Ur-Quan Masters... no real reason other than [game=#162327]Ur-Quan Masters[/game] isn't the name of the original and the open source game doesn't have Star Control in its name, also UQM is ported to wider variety of systems, wasn't developed (the code, I mean, not the game content) and published by the same people, etc. etc.***Directly from the manual:

The gameplay takes place 20 years after the great war of Star Control I. This time, your mission is to explore and liberate the various alien races and planets in the different star systems and take part in action filled space battles.

Super Melee:
A bonus game in which you take part in spaceship to spaceship combat with the choice of 28 different starships. Challenge a friend or the computer.***One of my favorite games. Good news everyone! You can play StarCon2 with slightly updated graphics (from the 3DO port) and remixed music on Windows (also, MacOS X and Linux)! Toys For Bob released the source code for StarCon2 and a dedicated team is working hard porting it to modern PCs. The project is opensource, that means you can download it for FREE! Did you hear that? FREE!

Check here for details:
[[link:http://sc2.sourceforge.net/]]
[cjlee001]
labelimageminimize
Veil of Darkness SSI (Event Horizon Software)1993[b]difficulty[/b] - adjusts only combat difficulty which isn't the main point in this game, so you don't need to bother with it as much as with the real problems (puzzles).***Back in the days when I had the chance to try this I found the puzzles to be extremely difficult, but my English skills weren't up for much anything back then either, so it might be that was the only problem with it. The game had an unusually dark feel to it, but since I never got very far, I can't really tell much of it.

The story started with a plane crash though, where the player was stranded in some foggy valley with no way to contact the outside world and there was a small rural-ish village.

The gameplay was a mix between action and adventure (not action-adventure mind), with the interface being like that of an RPG game. It had mostly a slowish pace akin to some older RPGs and adventure games, with few but hard battles.
labelimageminimize
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds  Origin (Looking Glass Technologies)1993Comes with five 3.5' and 5.25' disks. labelimageminimize
Tajemnica Statuetki Metropolis Software1993 labelimageminimize
Ultima VIII: Pagan  Origin1994Requires CPU 386, but a 486 is recommended.***
[22]***85% if run on a DX33
93% if run on a DX2 66
[37]***Comes on 8 3½ floppy disks or one CD.***I didn't like Pagan as much as the previous titles, mainly because you have no companions travelling with you. Still a great game nonetheless. Check this site to get this to run on Windows:
[[link:http://pentagram.sourceforge.net/]]
[cjlee001]
labelimageminimize
Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure Mindscape (Cryo Interactive)1995You play Lt. Col. Hericksen, an ex-colonial marine who is now the commander of a three-man terraforming team. Your objective is to travel to remote outpost B54-C in order to find the cause of a distress call your vessel received.

Gameplay is a point-and-click adventure with limited, inventory-based puzzles. Grid-based combat is present as well. The player is given what amounts to timed objectives throughout the game, and must uncover the truth about the mysterious outpost's history before the colony's sudden destruction.

The game functions as a sequel to Dark Horse Comic's Aliens: Labyrinth, and follows up on characters and events from the end of that series.***
[84]***A very unusual point&click adventure where events continue spiraling out of control regardless of your activity (like that incoming meteor shower right at the start of the game) and there's turn&grid-based combat even.

Primarily based on some Dark Horse Aliens comics instead of the original movies.***Latest version: 1.0.3 (as of 1996-03?)***Comes on 2 CDs.
labelimagesubject
Anvil of Dawn New World Computing (DreamForge Intertainment)1995[b]Minimum[/b]
* DOS 5.0 or greater
* 486/33 CPU
* 4 MB RAM
* 5 MB free HD space
* 2X CD-ROM drive
* Mouse

[b]Recommended:[/b]
* 486/66 CPU
* 30 MB free HD space***The game's unusual in the manner that although you select one of the five heroes to play as in the beginning, you get to meet the other four in your travels.

The choice of hero mostly affects the voice-overs (and dialog with it) and appearance, attributes are freely customizable if you so desire.***The game was apparently re-released in 2007/01 with Windows XP support. Unable to verify this currently, though.
labelimageminimize
The Dig LucasArts1995A group of scientists discovers an asteroid that is on its way to a collision with the Earth. Is there any way to prevent the disaster? Boston Low, a NASA veteran, is sent to command a space expedition on the asteroid. Accompanied by the journalist Maggie Robbins and the archaeologist Brink, Boston investigates the asteroid and finds a strange structure that undoubtedly belongs to an alien civilization. During the course of investigations, the team finds itself on a seemingly deserted planet. They have no knowledge of the planet and no possibility of going back. Will they ever discover the secret of this strange world and find a way to get home?

The Dig is a point-and-click adventure game with a simple one-cursor interface. Most of the puzzles are inventory-based, tending to be somewhat more complex than in most preceding LucasArts' adventure games. There are also a few logic-based puzzles, which require understanding and manipulation of alien technology and life forms on the planet. Traditional branching dialogue system is utilized; however, the game focuses more on puzzle-solving than on conversations to advance the plot.

The game's story is influenced by science fiction literature and movies, and strives to be realistic, departing from the comedy style of LucasArts' adventures. Despite that, humorous elements are present in some of the dialogues and text descriptions. The game utilizes hand-drawn graphics with a few pre-rendered 3D images.***[media=youtube]jRMGxQCitRU[/media]***
[84]***2009-07-08 on Steam, by LucasArts (lang: eng) ; uses an emulator wrapper for the game that forces 2xSAI or similar interpolation.***[b]Minimum:[/b]
* DOS 6.0
* 486DX2 / 66 MHz CPU
* 256-colour GPU
* 8 MB RAM
* 1 MB free HD space
* 2X CD-ROM drive
* MS-compatible mouse

Win95 is mentioned for backwards compatibility.

The game puts only soundcard configuration and save files on HD, otherwise it runs completely off the CD.***DOS and Mac demos as well as the soundtrack are available in [url=http://dig.mixnmojo.com/]The Dig Museum[/url].
labelimagesubject
Mutation of J.B.  TopWare Interactive;LK Avalon (Invention)1996You control a young boy called Johnny Burger who plans to visit his cousin Emanuel for two weeks. As he arrives he finds him gone. A scientist, who's also looking for Johnny's cousin, comes by and offers Johnny 500DM (Deutsche Mark) for an experiment. Of course, the experiment goes awry. During the procedure a mysterious guy flashes the scientist's memory. The emerging irritation causes the professor to start pushing random buttons, which results in Johnny's transformation as a human pig. After Johnny wakes up the professor is gone, too, as he was kidnapped to the Planet Ladea.

So, Johnny's quest comprises of finding the professor to be transformed back into a normal state and finding out what happened to Emanuel.***
[65]
labelimagesubject
Daggerfall  Bethesda Softworks1996The various demo various support sound hardware that the final version does not.***
[84]***[b]Minimum:[/b]
* DOS 6.0
* 66 MHz 486DX2 CPU
* 8 MB RAM
* 50 MB HD space
* mouse

[b]Recommended:[/b]
* 450 MB HD space

[b]Soundcards:[/b]
*Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster 16, AWE 32
* Pro Audio Spectrum
* Ensoniq Soundscape
* Gravis Ultrasound***2009-07-09 made temporarily available for free, on the 15th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series.***Latest version: 1.07.213 (as of ?)***The control system for Daggerfall was surprisingly advanced for its time (in DOS game, anyway), I think. You could easily have mouse look in and practically use similar-ish control mechanism to what's in modern games (e.g. in Dark Messiah) to control which way or how you swung your weapons. The only difference was that instead of swinging in the direction you moved, it swung in the direction you dragged the mouse, which in effect prevented you from turning around with the mouse as long as you had the attack button pressed. The controls were also quite customizable, since you could easily configure them to resemble something similar to that time's control system. The game was also quite unique that you could scale any straight wall almost indefinitely, defying any laws of sensibility by dragging yourself across to heights that made no sense. Lack of this ability was one of the most disappointing factors in the sequels, I think (though I have to really blame the blatantly lighter mood of the other games for _really_ disappointing me.. honestly, the story description of both Morrowind and Oblivion is much darker, yet I feel like I'm playing in some kind of [[link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletubbies Teletubby]] land).***The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall is the second chapter in the highly acclaimed Elder Scrolls role-playing series. Its predecessor, TES: Arena, won over twenty Best Role Playing Game of the Year awards and set a new level for computer role plating. TES: Daggerfall is the most ambitious CRPG ever created and surpasses the high standard set in Arena.

Daggerfall offers you an opportunity to adventure in total freedom within a world where your destiny is of your own making and consequence evolves from your decisions. A world of love and darkness, magic and sorcery. Whether you choose to follow a quest or to venture out alone, you will interact with thousands of people as you travel across an expansive land in a time of fantasy and imagination.

* The largest world ever created for a computer role-playing game. Adventure through thousands of cities, villages, dungeons, graveyards, ruins, castles, shrines and farms.
* Interact with thousands of characters, both in dialogue and action.
* Involve yourself in a complex world of constantly evolving political intrigue.
* Own property and ships, participate in the politics of guilds and other organisations and trade goods and services.
* Customise your character or even create a unique character class.
* Participate in numerous large-scale, complex quests or venture off on your own.
* A multiple path story, with several different endings. You decide how the game is played and won.
[Box blurb]***Daggerfall is the sequel to Arena. The world is HUGE, with litterally thousands of NPC's, hundreds of towns and dungeons, and a nearly infinate number of choices that can be made. You can spend time on side quests, or attempt your main goal of saving Daggerfall from the spirit of it's dead king.
labelimagesubject
Star Control 3  Accolade (Legend Entertainment)1996[b]keyboard[/b] / [b]mouse[/b] - combat is purely with keyboard, everything else is with mouse.***Has some crude support for running the game in Win95, but it's still DOS game.***Much like the Ultima series, the Star Control series is one of those retrogames that also has a loyal fan-base even today. With that said, most Star Control fans are about as enthusiastic about StarCon3 as Superman is about Kryptonite.
[cjlee001]
labelimageminimize
Dragon Lore II: The Heart of the Dragon Man Cryo Interactive Entertainment1996 labelimageminimize
Realms of Arkania III: Shadows over Riva  Topware Interactive;Sir-Tech;U.S. Gold (Attic Entertainment Software)1996DE 1996-12-31 by Fantasy Productions
INT 1997 by Sir-Tech
INT 2009-10-15 on GoG.com, by Fantasy Productions
labelimageminimize
Aleshar: The World of Ice Hypothermia1997Originally shareware, but made freeware at some point. labelimageminimize
Perfect Assassin Grolier Interactive;PMR International (Synthetic Dimensions;Veritas Productions)1997 labelimageminimize
The Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire Bethesda Softworks1997From the epic role-playing world of Daggerfall and Arena, springs forth a sinister tale of mortal conflict and triumph. The celestial citadel known as Battlespire has been ravaged by a black-hearted Daedra Lord. If this evil Lord and his minions can so easily brush aside an entire defending garrison of the Empire's Battlemages, how can you, a solitary hero, stand against them?

* Create your character using the acclaimed Daggerfall character design system, unrivaled power to custom-build the exact type of hero you want.
* Chat with, conspire and then betray your enemies. Mete out justice with sword and fyre. Battle fiends so cunning they smell your blood, hear your footsteps, and track you like prey.
* Explore exquisitely detailed 3D interiors and exteriors. From ominous dungeons to towering castles, all rendered in splendid hi-res and hi-color.
* Wage war in multi-player mode! Team vs. computer, team vs. team or the ultimate Deathmatch via IPX or Internet.
[Box blurb]
labelimagesubject
Fallout Interplay (Black Isle Studios)1997 labelimageminimize
Baldur's Gate: Edition spéciale  Interplay Productions1998 labelminimizeminimize
The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard  Bethesda Softworks1998Latest version: retail

Comes on 2 CDs.***If there ever was a ridiculous game, then this is it, a DOS game that requires Windows OS to install but DOS to play. Even X-COM Apoc comes with DOS installer (despite being advertized as Win95 game).

Players should see the UESP link for installation and other instructions.***[b]Minimum:[/b]
* Windows 95 or 98
* Pentium 166 MHz
* 32 MB RAM
* 2 MB VRAM
* 16-bit soundblaster-compatible soundcard
* 350 MB free HD space***Sharpen your sword... and your wits

Discover swashbuckling adventure like never before. You are Cyrus, a Redguard mercenary who has returned to his homeland to find it in peril. The quest leads from the Iron Governor, to a restless band of pirates, and even into another dimension. You'll solve their puzzles, with both your wits and your sword, and live an epic story. Action, adventure and storytelling are all combined in the genre breaking game that is Redguard.

* Travel the wish landscapes of REDGUARD. Beaches, rivers, hills, and mountains will test your stamina.
* Return to Tamriel, land of the Elder Scrolls.
* Make your way into the palace and seek an audience with the governor.
* Real time 3D cinematics highlight the story that evolve at the pace of your play.
* Sword fight, jump across dizzying chasms, and swing across ropes!
* Delve into deep caverns, dwarven ruins, mysterious catacombs, and even into another dimension. The entire world is open for you to explore. If you get stuck in one area, you can leave and tackle another.
* Interact with dozens of characters and hear every line of dialogue.
* Involved puzzles, with multiple objects and deep combinations will test your wits.
* The heart of your search is Stros M'Kai, an island of unparalled scope and detail. Explore the harbour town and unlock the secrets of its landscape.
[Box blurb]
labelimagesubject
permalink