Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: Adam - Published: 29 March 2025, 7:34 pm
F1 Racing Simulation by Ubi Soft was an attempt to deliver one of the most realistic and immersive Formula 1 racing experiences of its time. Released in 1997 for PC, the game was developed by Ubi Soft’s French division and sought to rival the likes of Grand Prix II by MicroProse and Formula 1 by Bizarre Creations. Featuring officially licensed 1996 season tracks (but not teams or drivers), F1 Racing Simulation was a visually stunning and technically advanced game.
F1 Racing Simulation set a new standard for realism in PC racing games. With high-resolution textures, detailed car models, and advanced lighting effects, it provided a visually rich experience that few competitors could match at the time. The game also featured impressive weather effects, with dynamic rain and wet track conditions significantly impacting handling. Unlike earlier F1 sims, which often felt sterile, this game delivered an immersive atmosphere through realistic track environments and dynamic camera angles.
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Author: Adam - Published: 28 March 2025, 7:06 pm
Released in 1991 by Core Design, Thunderhawk is a combat flight simulator that blends fast-paced action with light strategic elements. At a time when flight simulators on the Amiga leaned heavily towards realism, Thunderhawk stood out for offering an accessible and cinematic experience that prioritized thrilling missions over deep simulation mechanics.
Visually, Thunderhawk is an impressive achievement for the Amiga. Using fast polygonal 3D graphics, it delivers smooth, detailed landscapes and enemy units without sacrificing performance. Unlike the sluggish frame rates in more complex flight simulators like Falcon or F-19 Stealth Fighter, Thunderhawk keeps gameplay fluid and engaging. Explosions, missile trails, and dynamic camera angles add a sense of spectacle rarely seen in the genre at the time.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 28 March 2025, 1:11 pm
Out Run is an arcade racing game created by Sega in 1986. It is one of the best-selling video games of all time. In 1987, it was ported to the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. The Amiga and Atari ST followed in 1988, while the PC MS-DOS version was released in 1989. The Genesis version arrived late, in 1991.
OutRun is one of SEGA’s most legendary arcade racing games. Designed by Yu Suzuki and developed by SEGA AM2, it redefined the driving game genre with its exhilarating sense of speed, non-linear track design, and vibrant graphics. Unlike traditional circuit-based racers, OutRun is more about the joy of driving—blasting down open roads in a red Ferrari Testarossa, weaving through traffic, and enjoying a scenic, high-speed cruise while listening to an unforgettable soundtrack. The arcade version was a technical marvel, but its many home ports varied significantly in quality, leading to endless debates about which version best captured the arcade experience.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 28 March 2025, 12:55 pm
Historyline: 1914-1918, also known as The Great War: 1914 - 1918, is a turn-based strategy game developed by Blue Byte Studio. It was released in 1992 for DOS and Amiga.
Historyline: 1914-1918 is a turn-based strategy game developed by Blue Byte, the same studio behind the Battle Isle series. The game can be seen as a historical adaptation of Battle Isle, taking the core mechanics of that sci-fi wargame and applying them to the grim reality of World War I. Some people also compared it with the Gameboy title Advance Wars. While it never reached the same fame as these futuristic counterparts, Historyline remains a compelling and well-crafted tactical experience that stands out for its historical depth and strategic gameplay.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 28 March 2025, 12:13 pm
Switchblade is a side-scrolling action-platformer released in 1989 by Gremlin Graphics and designed by Simon Phipps.
It was developed for the Atari ST before being ported to other platforms, including the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and even later to consoles like the Sega Mega Drive in some regions. Combining exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving, the game stood out as an atmospheric and challenging game that pushed the capabilities of the hardware it was developed for.
The game is set in the dystopian world of Thraxx, where the sacred Fireblade has been shattered by the evil Havoc, allowing darkness to spread across the land. Players take control of *Hiro*, the last surviving *Blade Knight*, on a mission to recover the lost fragments of the Fireblade and defeat Havoc. Unlike many platformers of the time, Switchblade emphasizes non-linear exploration, requiring players to carefully traverse the underground labyrinth of interconnected rooms while searching for weapons, upgrades, and hidden paths.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 27 March 2025, 8:14 pm
Wings is a World War I flight simulation game developed by Cinemaware for the Amiga and published in 1990.
Wings is a unique hybrid of flight simulation, arcade-style dogfighting, and narrative-driven gameplay set during World War I. At a time when flight simulators tended to focus on realism and complex mechanics, Wings took a different approach by blending accessible aerial combat with an engaging war story, making it one of the most immersive and beloved Amiga games of its era.
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