| Alien Force Robert Epps, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Freeware (always) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Alien Force is a space shooter for Windows 3.0, and one of the first Windows games I ever played. Gameplay takes place in a 10×10 grid, and each level pits your ship against 10 alien ships. Both you and each alien ship can only have one shot on the screen at a time, so a missed shot can leave you defenseless. At first the game is slow and the aliens are dumb, and they don't even shoot in Level 1. By Level 2 some of them start shooting back, and by Level 8 some of them can take two hits. Each kill is worth 100 points, and the level bonus is 500 times the level number. Your score ticks down 10 points at a time when you take too long to complete a level. To customize the level of challenge, you can start at any level you like. Alien Force v1.0 Freeware (16k)
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| Arctic Adventure Apogee Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The sequel to Pharaoh's Tomb, this Nevada Smith adventure takes place 6 months later. This time you're searching for Viking treasure in the arctic. Gameplay is virtually identical to Pharaoh's Tomb. There are 20 levels in each episode, but you have some flexibility in which order you complete the levels because this game adds a map screen. There are 4 episodes in this game, with only the first episode playable in the shareware version. Complete version history:Arctic Adventure v2.0 Shareware Episode (129k)Arctic Adventure v1.0 Shareware Episode (73k) NOTE: Apogee no longer takes orders for the full version of this game, and it is not in their downloads section. It couldn't hurt to politely ask them if they could make the game available for sale again, or make the registered version freeware. Sign our petition to Apogee
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| Banyon Wars Soleau Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Banyon Wars is a game of global domination, like Risk. Instead of a world map, battle takes place among 35 cities divided between 8 islands of varying size. Occupying an entire island gives you bonus armies based on the size of the island. Random flooding, seismic activity and revolution can destroy armies, and distribution centers, which are randomly distributed across the map, occasionally double the number of troops residing in them. The game features CGA graphics and pits you against 2 computer opponents. There are 7 difficulty levels and a random difficulty level, and you can set the maximum number of armies that each city can have at the beginning of the game. The shareware version isn't limited in any way compared to the full version. Banyon Wars v2.0 Shareware (99k) I have found no ordering information for this game, and it is not listed on Soleau Software's website.
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| Battle for Atlantis Soleau Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Battle for Atlantis is a game of global domination, like Risk. Based on Banyon Wars, this game adds EGA graphics and has four factions. Battle takes place among 43 cities divided between 8 islands of varying size, which collectively make up the atoll of Atlantis. Occupying an entire island gives you bonus armies based on the size of the island. Random flooding, seismic activity and revolution can destroy armies, and distribution centers, which are randomly distributed across the map, occasionally double the number of troops residing in them. The game pits you against 3 computer opponents, and has 7 difficulty levels and a random difficulty level, and you can set the maximum number of armies that each city can have at the beginning of the game. The registered version loads and exits faster. Battle for Atlantis v2.2 Shareware (138k) I have found no ordering information for this game, and it is not listed on Soleau Software's website.
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| Chopper Commando Mark Currie, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: 9 | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An old favorite of mine. This simple chopper game has a number of missions, sarcastic dialog, and beautiful 4-color graphics. Man that takes me back. Using your helicopter's bullets, missiles, bombs and nukes, destroy other helicopters, transport planes, missiles, some weird looking tanks, and any buildings that you're not fond of. Even when you're walking around outside of your chopper you can still throw grenades. The documentation with v2.0 mentioned that for $5, the author would send you the source code for v2.5 which added new missions to a new "Very Hard" category, but was never distributed compiled and was not to be mass distributed or uploaded to BBS. He was kind enough to send me a compiled copy that includes the source code, and this may be the only site that has it. Complete version history:Chopper Commando v2.56 and source code in Borland Turbo Pascal 5 (154k)Chopper Commando v2.0 (61k) Chopper Commando v1.0 (Still searching) Author Mark Currie has generously released this game as freeware.
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| Cipher Arcanum Computing, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cipher is a cryptogram game. A quotation is encrypted by switching all instances of each letter to another letter. These look hard, but I have learned to really enjoy them. The most frequent letter in any phrase is often the letter E, and single letter words must be A or I. Two letter words often end with T, and by looking for three letter words that start with the same letter that could be "the", and four letter words that begin and end with the same letter that could be "that", you slowly fill the other words with letters until you can guess what the words might be. Cipher fills in every instance of a letter when you guess what it is, can show you every other instance of that letter in the phrase, and can offer hints like giving a list of letter frequency, remove your incorrect guesses, or tell you the correct answer for whatever letter you want to know. Scoring is based on things like completion time and incorrect guesses. The registered version comes with 200 quotes. Complete version history:
Arcanum Computing still sells the registered version of this game for $15 on floppy disk only.
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| Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons Apogee Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: 8 | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In one of the most popular platform games of all time, you play Billy Blaze, the intrepid Commander Keen, who has built a space ship and flown to Mars to stop a Vorticon invasion. You get a gun and can find a pogo stick to help you make your way through levels with a number of different aliens, some of which are friendly. Suitable for all ages, this game has universal appeal. There are 3 episodes in this game, with only the first episode playable in the shareware version. Episode 1 - Marooned on Mars Complete version history:Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons v1.31 Shareware Episode (238k)Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons v1.3 Shareware Episode (156k) Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons v1.1 Shareware Episode (191k) Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons v1.0 Shareware Episode (Still searching) Apogee still sells the registered version of this game for $10 as a registered download, or with Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy for $20 on CD-ROM. id Software still sells the registered version of this game with Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy for $15 as a registered download only.
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| Hugo's House of Horrors Gray Design Associates, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In Hugo's first adventure, he must rescue his girlfriend Penelope from a house she disappeared into while babysitting. The game is a graphical adventure, but commands must be typed. The arrow keys control Hugo's movement, while simple commands like "look at pumpkin" or "talk to butler" control the action. Points are awarded for completing objectives, and the game can be saved before difficult stages where Hugo can be killed, though a bug in v1.8 prevents games from being restored. The game isn't very long, but there is a series of questions that would be quite difficult to complete without the hint manual that came with the registered version. Still a fun little diversion, suitable for children of most ages. The registered version allows recording and playback of Hugo's actions. Complete version history:
Gray Design Associates still sells the DOS and Windows versions of the Hugo Trilogy collectively for $10 by download only.
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| Kingdom of Kroz II Apogee Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kingdom of Kroz II v2.0 Shareware Episode (109k) NOTE: Apogee no longer takes orders for the full version of this game, which they discontinued in early 1999, and it is not in their downloads section. It couldn't hurt to politely ask them if they could make the game available for sale again, or make the registered version freeware. Sign our petition to Apogee
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| Monuments of Mars Apogee Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based on the FAST engine, Monuments of Mars takes most of the best elements of Pharaoh's Tomb and adds new challenges. Astronauts have been disappearing in ruins on Mars, and your job is to discover the secrets and rescue the survivors. Gameplay is quite different from the Nevada Smith series because many areas only become accessible after tripping invisible switches, and there are movable blocks. Having a changeable environment is a great twist. Your character has infinite lives, which was really always the case in Apogee's FAST CGA games because of the save feature, but this is more convenient. Poor collision detection makes some of the later levels more frustrating than necessary. There are 20 levels in each volume, which must be played sequentially because there is no map screen. There are 4 volumes in this game, with only the first volume playable in the shareware version. Volume 1: First Contact Complete version history:Monuments of Mars v1.0 Shareware Episode (134k)NOTE: Apogee no longer takes orders for the full version of this game, and it is not in their downloads section. It couldn't hurt to politely ask them if they could make the game available for sale again, or make the registered version freeware.
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| Moraff's Entrap MoraffWare, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A turn-based strategy game where you attempt to reach the other end of the playing field while robots of progressively increasing intelligence home in on your position. You can move around in the eight compass directions, filling gaps to create new paths in the playing field, and putting holes in the playing field to block or entrap your enemies. A map allows you to see the entire level and the location of all of the enemies, which you can't otherwise do because screen only shows your immediate area and scrolls as you change position. There is only one episode in the shareware "Beginner's Version", but the registered "Advanced Version" has 10 difficulty levels. Moraff's Entrap v1.11 Shareware (104k) I have found no ordering information for this game, and it is not listed on Moraff's website.
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| Pharaoh's Tomb Apogee Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Screenshot | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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You are Nevada Smith, an archaeologist and adventurer who is exploring an Egyptian pyramid. You can jump and shoot arrows, and there is sometimes hidden treasure in some of the blocks if you hit them from below, like Super Mario. There is no sidescrolling, though. Each level consists of a single, appropriately named room, and there are 20 levels in each episode. There are 4 episodes in this game, with only the first episode playable in the shareware version. Episode 1 - Raiders of the Lost Tomb Pharaoh's Tomb v3.0 Shareware Episode (114k) NOTE: Apogee no longer takes orders for this game, which they discontinued on March 2, 2000, and it is not in their downloads section. It couldn't hurt to politely ask them if they could make the game available for sale again, or release the game as freeware. Sign our petition to Apogee
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| Rescue! Carr Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In one of the of the most ambitious ASCII-mode games ever, you pilot a hovercraft and go from island to island destroying missile launchers in order to save your abducted friends. There are various types of terrain to slow you down or block your path, while guided missiles try to destroy you. Firing and movement are independent, allowing you to fire in all eight directions as you move in any direction. Originally called Islands of Danger, in which all islands were random, it was later renamed Rescue!, and SoundBlaster effects, a learning mode, and four extra episodes with fixed placement were added. There are 8 episodes in this game, with only the first playable in the shareware version. Episode 1: Fixed placement Rescue at Islands of Danger
Carr Software still sells the registered version of this game with full versions of all of Carr's games for $29.95 on CD-ROM only.
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| Shooting Gallery Arcanum Computing, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A surprisingly well-rounded shooting simulation. Features traditional carnival "duck shoot" games, skeet shooting, target practice, and a western-style shootout mode. The graphics are quite nice, and there are SoundBlaster sound effects. The registered version includes a much larger sound effects library.
Arcanum Computing still sells the registered version of this game for $16 on floppy disk only.
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| SuperFly Arcanum Computing, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: 4 | DOS Shareware (full version) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Flies have invaded your house, and you must fight them off with only a fly swatter. Move the swatter around the screen with your mouse or joystick to hit the flies, which leave corpses which are impassable. If you get surrounded so that you can't move, you lose a swatter. The SuperFly appears when you have killed enough flies. Kill the SuperFly to advance to the next round.
Arcanum Computing still sells the registered version of this game for $15 on floppy disk only.
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| VGA Concentrate Alive Software, 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Originally known as VGA Concentration, this is the traditional memory concentration game we all played as kids. Difficulty can be adjusted to determine how many cards you have to match. Some of the sets are interesting, like the European flags set. The registered version comes with additional sets.
Alivesoft still sells the registered version of this game for $20 on floppy disk or CD-ROM, or $10 as a registered download.
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