Retro games, abandonware, freeware and classic games for PC and Mac
Author: Maddie - Published: 25 July 2025, 9:03 pm
Disney's Toy Story is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Traveller's Tales and released in 1995 for SNES and Genesis. The game is based on Pixar's groundbreaking animated film. This adaptation represents an example of how movie tie-in games could successfully translate cinematic storytelling into interactive gameplay, drawing inspiration from established platformers like Earthworm Jim while creating its own distinct identity within the crowded 16-bit landscape.
The game follows the film's narrative structure closely, allowing players to experience key moments from both Woody's and Buzz Lightyear's perspectives across multiple gameplay styles. Rather than creating a generic run-and-jump platformer, Traveller's Tales crafted varied gameplay mechanics that reflect each character's unique abilities and personality. Woody levels emphasize his cowboy heritage with lasso-swinging mechanics reminiscent of Bionic Commando, requiring players to master rope physics and timing to navigate vertical challenges and reach distant platforms.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 25 July 2025, 1:24 pm
Super Street Fighter II is a fighting game developed by Capcom, originally released in arcades in 1993 and ported to SNES in 1994. This expanded version of the legendary fighting game series represents the definitive edition of the Street Fighter II formula, introducing four new world warriors and numerous refinements that elevated the franchise to new heights.
The most significant addition to Super Street Fighter II is its roster expansion, which welcomes four distinct new fighters that significantly diversify the combat experience. Cammy brings British special forces precision with her lightning-fast spinning attacks and aerial mobility that rivals those of more acrobatic characters in the King of Fighters series. Dee Jay represents Jamaica with his rhythmic fighting style, combining kickboxing techniques and an infectious personality that makes him instantly memorable. T. Hawk soars in from Mexico as a powerful grappler whose command throws and aerial attacks provide an alternative to Zangief's ground-based wrestling approach. Fei Long channels Bruce Lee's philosophy through his rapid-fire punches and flame-enhanced special moves, offering players a rush-down character that demands aggressive timing and spacing.
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Author: Maddie - Published: 22 July 2025, 5:26 pm
Bruce Lee is a platform beat-em-up developed for Atari 8-bit and published in 1984 by Datasoft. The game created by Ron Fortier (with graphics by Kelly Day) became one of the most memorable and innovative action games of the mid-80s. Its popularity arrived when it was converted for Commodore 64, and given the success, versions for Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, PC Booter, Apple II, and many others also followed.
In the game, you play as the legendary martial arts master as he makes his way through a mysterious fortress full of deadly traps and relentless enemies. Unlike Karateka or Kung-Fu: The Way of the Exploding Fist, Bruce Lee is a platform game. You must explore different screens and solve puzzles. Even its approach to enemy AI and level design is quite unique. Instead of presenting enemies in predetermined positions, like most platformers of the era, Bruce Lee introduces two adversaries - the Green Yamo and the Black Ninja - who appear randomly throughout the fortress and actively hunt you down.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 20 July 2025, 7:15 pm
Soldier Blade is a vertical shoot 'em up developed by Hudson Soft and published in 1992 for PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. This title represents one of the pinnacles of the genre on NEC's console, offering a pure arcade shooting experience that fits into the tradition of classics like R-Type, Gradius, and Thunder Force III.
The player takes control of a futuristic fighter that resembles '90s jet fighter concepts, navigating through a series of "Operations" that, despite their sophisticated name evoking espionage missions, simply consist of systematically annihilating everything moving on screen. The military nomenclature adds a touch of class to what is essentially a festival of pure destruction, where the objective is to line up your ship with overwhelming forces of enemy fighters, turrets, mech units, battleships, and floating fortresses of every kind.
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Author: GN Team - Published: 20 July 2025, 2:39 pm
Dylan Dog: La Regina delle Tenebre (The Queen of Darkness) is a platform adventure developed by Simulmondo and published in 1992 for PC and Amiga. It's the first chapter of a series of games inspired by the famous Italian comic book from Bonelli Editore. The game was designed by Ivan Venturi with creative supervision by Francesco Carlà, in an ambitious attempt to transform the noir atmospheres of Tiziano Sclavi's character into a video game experience.
Simulmondo faced a complex challenge: how to digitally recreate the charm that drove Italian readers to regularly purchase issues of the Nightmare Investigator, which was extremely popular in Italy in the 90s? The solution adopted was intelligent and respectful of the original material. Rather than adapting the comic book stories—an operation that would be almost impossible anyway—the developers created original plots inspired by the characters and stories from the comic, changing and reinventing them. The Queen of Darkness in the game, for example, is not the student that someone might remember from the comic book issue, but a sexy and provocative demon.
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Author: Maddie - Published: 18 July 2025, 7:39 pm
King's Quest is an adventure game developed by Sierra On-Line and released in 1984, initially for IBM PC compatibles. It was also ported to Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, and other platforms. It was also ported to MS-DOS (the 1984 version was a PC Booter disk). The game was designed by Roberta Williams, who would become known as the "Queen of Adventure Games" for her pioneering work in establishing the graphical adventure genre.
Williams created something truly revolutionary with King's Quest. In an era dominated by text adventures like Zork: The Great Underground Empire and simple arcade games with blocky graphics, Sierra delivered a full-color fantasy world where players could actually move their character around detailed environments. Using the company's new Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) engine, the game featured extended CGA graphics (the game was built for the PCjr, which had a custom, 320x200 16-color graphics not available on standard CGA), PC speaker music, and a simple text parser that allowed interactions with the game world.
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