Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: Tasha - Published: 12 February 2019, 2:23 am
Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes is the sequel to Commander Keen: Marooned on Mars. It was developed by id Software and published by Apogee in 1990 for DOS only.
Programmed, like the other games of the franchise, by John Carmack and John Romero, it is also part of the Commander Keen trilogy, later bundled as Commander Keen: Attack of the Vorticons. The game makes use of a scrolling engine created by John Carmack called "adaptive tile refresh," which allowed - for the first time - smooth scrolling on a PC.
Commander Keen is back and ready to protect Earth from the Vorticons after getting himself off Mars in the first game. The Vorticons are looming overhead in their massive ship, just waiting to destroy Earth’s biggest cities. It’s CK’s mission to get on board the ship and take out their weapons systems. CK has to navigate the different decks on the ship, avoid the enemies and obstacles between him, and save the world. Like in the first one, CK uses his trusty raygun and pogo stick. Though many enemies are quickly dispatched with your raygun, some are not so easy to kill and are best avoided rather than faced head-on. The levels contain collectible items that reward you with points that can be used to obtain extra lives. CK must also collect key cards and other useful things to help him complete the levels.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 9 February 2019, 4:25 pm
Gauntlet II is the sequel to the popular hack and slash fantasy arcade created by Atari Games. Released in 1986, one year after the original game, Gauntlet II was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Game Boy, and other platforms.
The Amiga version, programmed by Richard Costello (author of other ports such as Mortal Kombat II and Golden Axe), and released in 1989, is one of the best conversions.
Gauntlet is a game designed to be played in co-op, up to 4 players at the same time (the Amiga version supported four joysticks too). Each player can choose one of the classes: wizard, warrior (I would say barbarian), elf, and a sexy valkyrie. The only goal is surviving the hordes of monster.
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Author: Tasha - Published: 2 February 2019, 4:29 pm
Crystal Caves is a sci-fi themed side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Apogee Software in 1991 for DOS. It was later ported to Linux, Mac, and Windows in 2014. It consists of three separate episodes entitled "Troubles with Twibbles" (clearly inspired by Star Trek), Slugging it out, and Mylo Versus the Supernova.
Embark on a journey as the intrepid miner Mylo who is off on a mission to strike it rich in crystals. After landing on an alien planet allegedly rich in valuable crystals, Mylo finds that taking what he came for will be more complicated than he thought. He's got his work cut out for with various critters, enemies, and other dangers to watch out for. Mylo isn’t completely defenseless and can use a pistol to kill some enemies. He also can jump to help him dodge obstacles. Crystals aren’t the only treasures to be found, as the levels are littered with multiple items that can provide you with points or power-ups. The game has no precise linear play, and it doesn’t matter what order you complete the caves—giving you the freedom to enter and exit any cave you want to when you want to.
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Author: Tasha - Published: 20 January 2019, 10:19 pm
Shogi Master is the video game version of the Japanese Chess game Shogi, developed and published by Ishi Press International in 1991 for DOS only.
Shogi is also known as the Game of Generals and is a strategy board game pitting two opponents against one another. Unlike the original Chess, Shogi allows a capturing player to “free” a captured piece, thus returning it to the game board but switching it to their own side. Shogi uses more pieces than traditional Chess, moving up to 20 parts per player. The pieces are laid out on the board somewhat similar to Chess, but with three used rows rather than 2. Shogi features a set of rules for moving each piece and claiming victory. You’ll most likely need to get your bearings before you can take on the computer, but the game allows for using either English or Japanese text on the pieces. There was also a recording feature to revisit previous games and moves.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 19 January 2019, 3:17 am
Ishar 2: Messengers of Doom is the second chapter of the fantasy RPG saga created by French studio Silmarils. The game was released in 1993 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS.
Like the first Ishar: Legend of the Fortress, the gameplay is real-time, based on a first-person perspective that allows you to travel in and interact with a pseudo-3d world. Technically speaking, this makes the game similar to other dungeons crawlers like Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder, but the graphics and atmosphere are totally different. Mainly because the world is not just made of dungeons; for the majority of the time, you are outdoor, traveling through towns, forests, swamps, and mountains, a choice that made the game quite innovative at the time (and probably started a new genre, think about The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall and the other titles of the series for example).
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Author: GN Team - Published: 12 January 2019, 2:05 am
Arabian Nights is a platformer created exclusively for the Amiga by Krisalis Software and released in 1993.
Designed by Simeon Pashley (the same guy that programmed the Manchester United games as well as other soccer games), with Darren Hebden, this game is made of 10 levels with different styles, full of hazards, enemies, and puzzles. The animation is superb, both on the intro and the game itself. The cute Sinbad is animated at 50fps, with nice humorous touches. The programmers promised additional effects on accelerated Amigas (030+), but it's not clear if they are there or not.
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