This Month's Most Viewed Games Tagged 'DOS, classic' on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg en-us Rage through 32 single player levels and 6 deathmatch levels of sheer terror and fully immersive sound and lighting. Arm yourself against the cannibalistic Ogre, fiendish Vore and indestructible Schambler using letal nails, fierce Thunderbolts and abominable Rocket and Grenade Launchers.

]]> 26 Nov 2006 04:48:39 Turn-based strategy game that seamlessly combines two different elements- tactical squad battles and resource management.

]]> 22 Nov 2006 04:38:58 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale series is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure throughout the lands. Combat is turn based and players can choose the actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:

"Do you believe in legends? Legend states that, 'Unimaginable power is bestowed upon the one who reforges the Destiny Wand...' Regardless of whether or not you hold faith in the stuff of legend, you must defeat Lagoth Zanta, regain the seven fragments, and reforge the Destiny Wand â€â€

]]> 10 May 2007 02:27:38 Frontier: Elite 2 is a computer game written by David Braben and published by Gametek in 1993. It is the first sequel to Ian Bell and David Braben's earlier game Elite, and is available for Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and PC computers.

Frontier (or FE2 as it is commonly referred to) retains the same principle component of Elite—namely completely open-ended gameplay—and adds to this realistic physics and an accurately modelled galaxy. There is no plot within Frontier, nor are there pre-scripted missions (as there are in its sequel, First Encounters); instead players explore space while trading legally or illegally, carrying out missions for the military, ferrying passengers from system to system, engaging in piracy or any combination of the above. As a consequence, Frontier cannot be completed or "won"—instead, players themselves decide what to aspire to and set out to achieve it.

The game has since been released as shareware and is available as a free download, although being a DOS game, users of Windows 2000 and Windows XP may initially have difficulty getting it to run. Using emulation such as DosBox will get the official shareware version of the game to run on modern operating systems including Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux.

In Frontier, the player assumes the role of one of Commander Jameson's grandchildren, having inherited from Commander Jameson one hundred credits and an Eagle Long Range Fighter. By the game’s standards, this is incredibly modest, and is used as a spur to encourage players to earn money by whatever means they feel is appropriate.

As with Elite, much of Frontier is concerned with trading: players can buy and sell much—from food and computer parts to guns and slaves—with the intent of making the most profit from each trading run. Thus, learning to compare prices in various systems is essential for profitability, and calculating overheads for each trip (such as fuel, missiles, and hull repair) are essential skills. It often becomes apparent that a particular trading route is profitable, such as the Barnard’s Star-Sol route. It is worth noting that some items (particularly narcotics, nerve gas, weaponry and slaves) are illegal in most systems and attempting to trade these in a system in which they are illegal will result in being fined by the police, which can often escalate into violence. It is often worth the risk, however, as illegal goods generally have a very high price on the black market.

Frontier substitutes Elite’s arcade flying style for one based rigidly on Newtonian physics: momentum must first be neutralised to bring the player's craft to a stop, and turning 180° has no effect on the direction of travel until previous momentum has been counteracted. The craft’s control is largely left to the player, but often day-to-day tasks—such as navigating from a hyperspace exit-point to a desired planet or space-station and docking—can be handed over to a ship's autopilot.

]]> 03 Mar 2007 12:22:46 First Encounters is the sequel to Frontier (1993), which itself was a sequel to the seminal 1984 game Elite. The game was created by David Braben’s company, Frontier Developments. Many fans of the game refer to it by the shortened title of FFE.

Like Frontier, First Encounters features realistic Newtonian physics and the ability to land on planets. It has graphics that are an improvement over Frontier (the main difference being Gouraud shading) and, as well as employing the same open-ended gameplay of its predecessors, it also features a storyline concerning an alien race called the Thargoids.

Like the other two Elite games, it has been re-released as shareware and can be freely downloaded from the Elite Club site.

Being a DOS game, First Encounters has difficulty running with Windows XP or Windows 2000 machines, although the official site does offer solutions to get the game running. A recreated game engine called JJFFE allows playing the game on Linux, Windows and DOS.

First Encounters plays much like its immediate predecessor Frontier: the game is a combination of trading, fighting and a variety of other activitiesâ€â€

]]> 03 Mar 2007 01:23:22 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure through Skara Brae. Combat is turn based and players can choos ethe actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:

"Long ago, when magic still prevailed, the evil wizard Mangar the Dark threatened a small but harmonious country town called Skara Brae. Evil creatures oozed into Skara Brae and joined his shadow domain. Mangar froze the surrounding lands with a spell of Eternal Winter, totally isolating Skara Brae from any possible help. Then, one night the town militiamen all disappeared. The future of Skara Brae hung in the balance. And who was left to resist? Only a handful of unproven young Warriors, junior Magic Users, a couple of Bards barely old enough to drink, and some out of work Rogues. You are there. You are the leader of this ragtag group of freedom fighters. Luckily you have a Bard with you to sing your glories, if you survive. For this is the stuff of legends. And so the story begins..."

]]> 10 May 2007 02:08:39 The third game in Quest for Glory series is set in the Africa-like world of Tarna, where you travel with your new liontaur friends you have met in the second game. Shortly after your arrival, you learn about the conflict between the liontaurs and the neighbor Simbani village, populated by the leopardmen. It is now time for our hero to become a skillful diplomat and to prevent an upcoming war between the two nations.

The gameplay system of "Wages of War" is the same as in the two previous games. The game plays like an adventure, with puzzles to solve and characters to talk to, with the additional of RPG elements: combat (action-based) and character development. You can play as either a fighter, a thief, a mage, or a paladin, and raise your skills directly after battles or by performing various actions. Graphics and interface underwent a major change. This is the first 256-color Quest for Glory game, and the first one to utilize the new, icon-based interface.

(from the Moby Games QFG3 page)

]]> 05 Dec 2006 11:32:14 Balance of Power allows you to take on the role of either the President of the United States or the General Secretary of the Soviet Union with the goal of increasing your nation's prestige without going to war.

The interface is a simple map of the world showing the current level of influence the USSR and the US has on each nation. Turns are based around crises which much be resolved through diplomacy. This in turn affects the status of nations and the global threat level. If the threat level [DEFCON] gets too high, the game ends.

Developer: Chris Crawford
Released: 1985

]]> 24 Jan 2007 10:40:56 Developed by Interplay Productions and distributed by Electronic Arts, The Bard's Tale series is considered by many to be one of the pillar classics of computer fantasy role playing games.

The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate allows players to create characters, form parties and adventure across different dimensions to defeat a mad god. Combat is turn based and players can choose the actions of every member of the party.

From the box text:
"Skara Brae is in ruins. Roscoe's Energy Emporium stands vacant. The Equipment Shoppe went under so quickly Garth was crushed. Your Bard hasn't stopped whimpering since he realized all the taverns were closed.... Someoneâ€â€

]]> 10 May 2007 02:37:21 Mortal Kombat was the first entry in the famous Mortal Kombat fighting game series by Midway, released in arcades in 1992. It was later picked up by Acclaim Games for the home version, then later returned to Midway. It centers on the first Mortal Kombat tournament and the ultimate defeat of the evil Shang Tsung by the monk Liu Kang.

Versions of the original Mortal Kombat game appeared on several different formats, most notably the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Nintendo's SNES. When the first game in the series was released for the SNES in North America, Nintendo of America had a strict "Family Friendly" policy towards the content of the games released on their systems which required the removal of graphic violence, religious imagery and themes, mentions of death, sexual themes, and other sensitive subjects. Hence, the first Mortal Kombat game on the SNES had the blood recolored gray in an attempt to pass it off as sweat, and the various Fatality moves were graphically changed to be less gruesome. The SNES version was graphically superior to the Mega Drive/Genesis port, but all violence was censored.

The game was a response by Midway to Capcom's successful Street Fighter II, which spawned a number of fighting games. However, it used a distinctly different fighting system from the Street Fighter formula, which was used in all subsequent sequels until Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The controls consisted of five buttons arranged in an "X" pattern: a high punch, a high kick, a low punch, a low kick, and a block button, as well as an eight-way joystick. If the two fighters were standing next to each other, hitting any of the attack buttons would result in a modified strike: a low punch turned into a throw, a high punch turned into a heavy elbow, headbutt, or backhand, and either kick turned into a knee strike. Crouching and hitting either punch resulted in an uppercut, which was the most damaging attack of the game. Jump kicking and crouch-kicking were executed in a similar fashion to Street Fighter, although leg sweeps and roundhouse kicks were performed by holding away while pressing the appropriate kick button.

The blocking in Mortal Kombat I by itself greatly changed the flow of fighting in comparison to contemporary games which used Street Fighter conventions. Characters do not block while retreating or crouching, but only block when the block button is pushed. Even then, characters take (reduced) damage from any hit while blocking. However, successfully blocking moves is simple – a crouching block can successfully defend against all moves, even aerial attacks such as jumpkicks – and blocking characters give very little ground when struck rather than sliding backwards. This style of blocking rewarded dodging to avoid damage but also made counterattacks much easier after a successful block, and the ultimate result was an environment which rewards a more furtive playing style than contemporary games.

Another of the game's innovations was the Fatality, a special finishing move executed against a beaten opponent to kill them in a gruesome fashion. For example, one character (Sub-Zero) would grasp a defeated opponent by the head, then rip out the head and spine while the body crumpled to the ground in a pool of blood.

Finally, Mortal Kombat also changed the way special moves were performed. Street Fighter (and many other fighting games) performed most special moves in fractions of circles (usually full, half or one-quarter) on the joystick followed by a button press (such as a quarter-circle forward, plus punch). Mortal Kombat was the first to introduce moves that did not require a button press (such as tap back, tap back, then forward), and only a few of the special moves required circular joystick movement.

]]> 02 Mar 2007 07:14:32 Elite is a seminal space trading computer game, originally published by Acornsoft in 1984 for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron computers. The game's title derives from one of the player's goals of raising their combat rating to the exalted heights of 'Elite'. It was written and developed by David Braben and Ian Bell, who had met while they were both undergraduates at Jesus College, Cambridge. Non-Acorn versions of the game were published by Firebird.

Elite was one of the first home computer games to utilise wireframe 3D graphics. Another novelty was the inclusion of The Dark Wheel, a novella by Robert Holdstock which influenced new players with insight into the moral and legal codes which they might aspire to. It elevated the technically complicated software beyond the pigeon-hole of "game".

Elite's open ended game model, advanced game engine and revolutionary 3D graphics ensured that it was ported to virtually every contemporary home computer system, and earned it a place as a classic and a genre maker in gaming history. Even now, over 20 years after it was published, Elite is frequently used as a yardstick by which any new space trading game is measured. It has often been said that "Elite has been imitated but never bettered". While this is perhaps somewhat hyperbolic, it is certainly true to say that Elite was a hugely influential game, serving as a model for more recent games such as EVE Online, Wing Commander: Privateer and the X series of space trading games.

The Elite universe contains eight galaxies, each galaxy containing 256 planets to explore. Due to the limited capabilities of 8-bit computers, these worlds are procedurally generated: A single seed number run through a fixed algorithm the appropriate number of times and creates a sequence of numbers determining each planet's complete composition (position in the galaxy, prices of commodities, and even name and local details — text strings are chosen numerically from a lookup table and assembled to produce unique descriptions for each planet). This means that no extra memory is needed to store the characteristics of each planet, yet each is unique and has fixed properties. Each galaxy is also procedurally generated from the first.

The player, initially Commander Jameson, starts at Lave Station with 100 Credits and a lightly armed trading ship, a Cobra Mark III. Most of the ships that the player encounters are similarly named after snakes, or other reptiles. Credits can be accumulated through a number of means. These include piracy, trade, military missions, bounty hunting and the mining of asteroids. The money generated by these enterprises allows the player to upgrade their ship with such enhancements as better weapons, shields, increased cargo capacity, an automated docking system, and more.

Travel between planets is constrained to those within range of the ship's limited fuel capacity (7 light years); fuel can be replenished after docking with a space-station in orbit around a planet - a challenging task without a docking computer, as it requires matching the ship's rotation to that of the station. Players can upgrade their equipment with a fuel scoop, which allows raw fuel to be skimmed from the surface of stars - a dangerous and difficult activity - as well as collecting free-floating cargo canisters and escape capsules liberated after the destruction of other ships.

]]> 03 Mar 2007 12:00:49 Troll's Tale is an adventure game created by Al Lowe (Leisure Suit Larry, The Black Cauldron). An evil troll has hidden the treasures of the Dwarf King, and it is up to you to get them back!

Each screen featured a graphic and a menu of decisions. If you find the treasure, but the troll is on the screen at the same time, you would not be able to pick up the treasure.

]]> 19 Mar 2007 02:19:17 Before Arch Rivals, arcade "basketball" games were simple "aim the ball" novelty devices. By letting each Player control multiple teammates, both directly and indirectly, Arch Rivals allowed Players to employ real basketball strategies and plays.

However, the game might best be remembered for the fact that characters could punch each other in the face, "pants" each other and even tackle opposing players...

Designed by Rampage designers Brian Colin & Jeff Nauman for Bally Midway shortly before a corporate buyout by competitor Williams Electronics, it is said that the success of Arch Rivals single-handedly paid for the 8 million dollar purchase!

]]> 29 Jun 2007 02:23:10 Jack in the Dark was released by Infogrames in between the first and the second Alone in the Dark games. It is substantially smaller in scale and length, and served as teaser for the upcoming sequel.

The game stars Grace Saunders, the kidnapped girl in the main story, who gets locked in a toy store on Halloween. The goal of the short game is to solve the mystery of the toy store and escape. Utilising the same engine as the Alone in the Dark games, Jack in the Dark plays pretty much the same, though Grace has only Search and Close as her available actions. The puzzles are interesting and varied, and the creepy story unfolds via various means such as a book that explains the past of a certain ghostly character.

]]> 11 Mar 2007 05:44:19 Alone in the Dark 2 is the 1994 sequel to 1992's survival horror video game Alone in the Dark created by Infogrames. The game is the second installment in the series.

It is Christmas 1924. Edward Carnby, a "Supernatural Private Eye," and Ted Striker are investigating the kidnapping of young Grace Saunders. The trail of clues leads to an old mansion named "Hell's Kitchen"--the home of an infamous gangster boss and his gang. Edward decides to pick up the trail when he learns of Ted's disappearance in the mansion. Unfortunately, Edward soon finds out that Ted has been murdered. Carnby eventually finds out that the mobsters are but the corporal forms of the spirits of pirates that plundered the sea years ago. Fighting his way into the house and ultimately onboard a pirate ship hidden in cliff on which Jack's house is built, Edward must rescue little Grace, and find out why the pirates have taken an interest in her.

Alone in the Dark 2 introduced the concept of playing as more than one character within the same game. Although much of the game is spend playing as Carnby, the player will occasionally take control of Grace Saunders. Grace, a child, cannot fight and is instantly captured if the gangsters spot her, so instead she must sneak around and defeat the gangsters by turning common household objects into booby traps. Unlike the original game, the player cannot choose between two different characters at the start. It's Carnby or bust.

]]> 11 Mar 2007 06:00:37 Alone in the Dark 3 is the third installment of the Alone in the Dark survival horror video game series created by Infogrames (now Atari).

After Edward's success in his previous two investigations a journalist has nicknamed him the "Supernatural Private Eye." This time, he is called to investigate the disappearance of a film crew at a two-bit ghost town known by the name of Slaughter Gulch located in the Mojave Desert in California. Among the disappeared crew is the heroine of the story, Emily Hartwood. Edward soon discovers that a curse has gripped the town, and an evil cowboy from the Badlands named Jed Stone is the villain who is responsible for the crew's disappearance. Lurking around town are many trigger-happy sharpshooters, deranged prospectors, and bloodthirsty lost souls whom Edward must ward off with both his strength and his wit.

Although the primary enemies are still human-like characters with firearms, combat has been de-emphasized a bit and isn't quite as hard. Carnby is often presented with opportunities to flee from enemies or defeat them using non-combat means, and there is a greater emphasis on solving puzzles. Also, because enemies are armed with six-shooters rather than tommyguns, the player ends up being shot less frequently than in Alone in the Dark 2.

The main theme of this game is the Wild West, as Carnby is pitted against a town filled with "zombie cowboys" who attack him with six-shooters and lever-action rifles. More traditionally mindless, shambling zombies begin to appear about mid-way through the game. Towards the end of the game, the concept of radioactive mutation plays a significant role in the story, and the player ends up fighting a few monstrous creatures created from such radiation.

Alone in the Dark 3 features a greater variety of gameplay, including sequences in which you play as a mountain lion that Carnby has been transformed into.

]]> 11 Mar 2007 06:14:23 "You could play this game just for the amazing sound tracks, but the gameplay is also very catchy. Simply, you need to steer your space vehicle along the course, jumping and dodging blocks that will wipe you out when you're flying along at light-speed. Balancing acceleration and fuel usage becomes tricky when you've got a time limit to beat with hardly any fuel in the tank. Your reflexes and timing will be the difference between getting home safely and floating aimlessly through space."
-dosgamesarchive.com

This is truly an original. Very simple, very addictive.

]]> 19 Mar 2007 09:09:34 It's finally happened. Man dumped one too many barrels of toxic waste, and now the planet is an ecological wasteland. The population has been forced into space on enormous Conestoga-class interstellar transports while the search goes on for a new planet to call hme.

That's where you come in, with your simple task: fin humankind a new habitable world. It all happens in "Lightspeed", an interstellar simulation from MicroProse.

"Lightspeed"'s actio nrevolves around your Trailblazer-class scouting ship. No subcompact, this jewel sports a hull 3400 meters long and 2960 meters wide. You can even tailer its configuration to your needs, rearranging components to enhance your defenses, armament, or drive.

By:
MICROPROSE SOFTWARE
180 Lakefront Dr.
Hunt Valley, MD 21030
(800) 879-7529

Old address and telephone number.

]]> 08 Apr 2007 09:56:01 There's no room for error when traveling at the speed of light, racing through star systems in a desperate search for a new world to house Mankind. But There are plenty of opportunities for mistakes. Alien races of every conceivable size, shape, temperament and sophistication seek to aid, use, corrupt or destroy you - and you don't know which.

Sure, your starship is 15,000 feet long and armed with remote-controlled fightercraft, kamikaze fighters, a devastating plasma gun and high-tech probes, but will all that firepower be enough against The Stentor, ruthless time-traveling space pirates, or the colossal energy beings known as The ZOR?

Alien Combat and Role-Playing Adventure Imaginative graphics and sounds remind you constantly of the wonders; mysteries, dangers and rewards of the strange, sometimes hostile, solar systems you travel among.

Perhaps diplomacy is the answer. The Cicisbeo are vain and arrogant - perhaps that ego can be worked to your advantage. The Broodmasters are sinister, manipulative and seek universal domination, but are they a little too eager?

Perhaps something can be gained from shrewd trading. But that will be tough against the. ever-seeking, ever-hungry Collectors, keepers of the Museum of Time; not to mention the supra-intelligent Jot, who control the minds of everyone nearby.

Whatever choices you make, make them quickly. You're moving at Hyperspeed - second thoughts could be fatal. Intricate role-playing opportunities with dozens of bizarre aliens, each responding according to their customs, hidden agendas and intergalactic relationships.

Four star clusters to explore, each with different alien races and unique challenges, each more difficult than the last.

---

Hyperspeed is a kind of an upgraded sequel to Lightspeed.
Released in 1991. Adding two new star clusters.

Source: Hyperspeed Base

]]> 08 Apr 2007 10:09:56

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