Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: GN Team - Published: 1 May 2025, 7:50 pm
Tecmo Super Bowl, released for the NES in 1991, is widely regarded as one of the greatest American football video games ever made for an 8-bit console. Developed by Tecmo, the same Japanese company behind hits like Ninja Gaiden and Mighty Bomb Jack, the game represented a massive leap forward in the design and ambition of sports games at the time.
Tecmo had already made an impression with the original Tecmo Bowl, but Tecmo Super Bowl elevated the concept dramatically. It was the first football video game to secure both the official NFL license and the NFLPA license, allowing it to feature real teams and real players from the 1991 season. This level of authenticity was groundbreaking and significantly increased the immersion for fans of the sport.
Read More
Author: GN Team - Published: 30 April 2025, 4:19 pm
Magic Carpet 2: The Netherworlds, developed by Bullfrog Productions, is the direct sequel to the groundbreaking Magic Carpet. The game was published by Electronic Arts in 1996, two years after the predecessor. Designed by a team led by Peter Molyneux, the game uses an enhanced version of the proprietary 3D engine that had already impressed players with the first game, offering significantly better visuals and technical complexity.
Compared to its predecessor, Magic Carpet 2 introduces a number of important changes. While the original game had a relatively open structure with sandbox-style missions, the sequel features a more structured campaign divided into progressive levels with clear objectives and a stronger narrative. This shift was intended to provide more focus to players, addressing some of the complaints about the lack of direction in the first game.
Read More
Author: GN Team - Published: 28 April 2025, 10:13 pm
Centauri Alliance is an RPG developed by Michael Cranford and released in 1990 for the Commodore 64 and Apple II. It is a science fiction role-playing game that carries the unmistakable influence of Cranford's earlier work on the celebrated The Bard's Tale series. However, instead of revisiting fantasy settings, Centauri Alliance boldly ventured into the realm of space exploration, offering a fresh take on party-based RPG mechanics.
Michael Cranford, who had been instrumental in designing The Bard’s Tale, applied much of the same structure to Centauri Alliance: players create a team of characters with different skills, explore labyrinthine environments, engage in turn-based combat, and gradually improve their party through experience. Yet despite these familiar foundations, Centauri Alliance distinguished itself in several important ways.
Read More
Author: GN Team - Published: 28 April 2025, 9:56 pm
Chrono Trigger, released in 1995 for the SNES, is often regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. Developed by Square (now Square Enix), the game was the result of a dream collaboration (the "dream team") which included key figures like Yoshinori Kitase, Takashi Tokita, Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator of Final Fantasy), Yuji Horii (creator of Dragon Quest), and Akira Toriyama (famous for his work on Dragon Ball), who managed the character design. Yoshinori Kitase had previously directed Final Fantasy III, and this is very evident in the game.
Read More
Author: GN Team - Published: 25 April 2025, 11:08 pm
NHL Hockey, also known as EA Hockey in Europe, was released in 1991 for the SEGA Mega Drive and marked the beginning of the EA NHL series. It would become one of the most iconic sports game franchises of all time. Developed and published by Electronic Arts, the game is often credited with revolutionizing the presentation of hockey in video games, blending arcade speed with simulation depth in a way that made it both accessible and addictive.
At the time of its release, hockey games on computers and consoles were generally slow, clunky, and often lacked the excitement of the real sport. Titles like Wayne Gretzky Hockey on MS-DOS offered decent strategic depth but suffered from stiff controls and limited animations. On the Amiga, games like Face-Off were no better. Titles like Ice Hockey for the NES or Hit the Ice for the SNES leaned heavily into arcade comedy and lacked realism.
Read More
Author: GN Team - Published: 25 April 2025, 8:42 pm
Superbike 2000 is a racing sim developed by the Italian studio Milestone and published by Electronic Arts in 2000 for Windows and PlayStation. It is the second entry in the officially licensed series based on the Superbike World Championship. Following the well-received Superbike World Championship released in 1999, Milestone aimed to push realism further while maintaining accessibility and building on the advantages of the official license, which included real riders, bikes, and tracks from the 1999 season.
What sets Superbike 2000 apart is its deep commitment to simulation. Each motorcycle is modeled with unique handling and performance characteristics based on technical data from the manufacturers. The circuits are faithfully recreated, not just in layout but also in elevation changes, curbing, and visual detail. The graphics engine was significantly improved from the previous entry, delivering smoother performance and more detailed polygonal models, as well as a better lighting system for the time.
Read More