| Arcade Volleyball Compute! Publishing, 1988 | |||||
| User rating: 5 | DOS Public domain | Screenshot | |||
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This weird version of volleyball is one of the first DOS games that I ever played. Arcade Volleyball uses a horizontal or side-view, and the ball can be bounced off of the walls and ceiling without penalty. Each side has only one player, who is shaped like a globe with legs, who may touch the ball three times before getting the ball over the net. The three touch rule resets if the ball bounces back onto your side, even without being touched by the opponent. Scoring follows the old rules, where points can only be scored by the serving team and the winning score is 15, though you must win by 2 or more. The computer is challenging at first, but is easily beatable once you learn how. The game is good fun if you have a human opponent, and the ball is quite entertaining for cats. The game's source code was published as a type-in program in the June 1988 edition of Compute!'s Gazette (Issue 60, Vol. 6, No. 6). Complete version history:
Author Rhett Anderson has generously released this game to the public domain.
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| Capture the Flag Carr Software, 1992 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||
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A simulation of the traditional capture the flag game. Each side hides a flag inside their territory and tries to capture the other team's flag. A global map of the playing field shows all of your territory and any enemy territory that your players can see. The game zooms in on each of your players as you move them. Different types of terrain can slow characters down or reduce their visibility, such as rivers, trees, rocks, fences and fields. Characters have different attributes that determine how far they can run and see, and how well they can evade capture. The game is turn based, and a player's attributes determine whether an enemy player is captured when approached while in their territory. Captured players must sit out for a few turns. There are 200 scenarios, 40 maps, and 10 Capture the Flag variants in the full version. Capture the Flag v3.2 Shareware Episode (394k) Carr Software still sells the registered version of this game for $19.95 by download.
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| Catch, If You Can! Colin Buckley, 1992 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (full version) | Screenshot | |||
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This game is about as simple as it gets: you're an outfielder and you have to catch fly balls by moving left or right. Features voice and VGA graphics. There's not a lot to do in this game, but sometimes that's good when you just want to relieve your boredom for a few minutes. The registered version eliminates two delay screens.
I have found no ordering information for this game.
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| Epic Baseball Epic MegaGames, 1993 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | No screenshot yet | |||
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Not a baseball game, but a baseball simulation. You are the manager in a "fantasy league," responsible for choosing players and handling the management of a virtual baseball team. Epic Baseball v1.1 Shareware Episode (615k) I have found no ordering information for this game, and it is not listed at www.epicclassics.com.
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| Football TSoft, 1991 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Shareware (full version) | Screenshot | |||
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In this very simple football game for Windows, you're the coach (or quarterback) of a football team, calling the plays and watching what happens. There are no graphics for the players, but it's not really necessary because the game tells you what happened. You can choose from a number of running and passing plays, and you can stop the clock with a Timeout when you need one. There are 28 NFL teams to choose from, which are listed only by nickname, not city, for trademark reasons. The league is called the CFL, which probably stands for Computer Football League, not the Canadian Football League. The game only takes a few minutes to play, and you get detailed statistics at the end of the game. You can play against a human opponent or the computer. Football v1.1 Shareware (115k) I have found no ordering information for this game.
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| Fuzzy's World of Miniature Space Golf Pixel Painters, 1995 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Shareware (partial game) | Screenshot | |||
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Fuzzy's is a miniature golf game with beautiful graphics, a lively soundtrack, and whimsically creative holes. Many holes are broken into two or three stages. Instead of trying to see how low a score you can achieve, your goal is to actually complete the course! The scoring system is cumulative: each hole has a par, which is the number of strokes you get to complete the hole, and any remaining strokes are carried over to the next hole. It's fair to reward the player for being under par, but one problem with this approach is that it penalizes bad play on any hole. If you have a bad start, you may not be able to recover. When you run out of strokes, the game ends. You can't save your game, and there are no level codes. It's quite possible to carry 10 extra strokes throughout the first 9 holes, so the par in later holes starts to becomes unreasonable. For instance, Hole 14 is a two-stage par 5 but, with conservative play, the minimum number of strokes required to complete the hole is 7, and it's unreasonable to expect anyone to complete the hole in less than 8 to 10 strokes. The shareware version is a sample of the holes in the registered version (1=1, 2=5, 3=9, 4=11, 5=14, 6=15), but that doesn't leave time to carry enough bonus strokes into the back nine. Having played hundreds of rounds, I am confident that, with perfect play, it's impossible to get past Hole 6 in the shareware version. There are 18 holes in this game, with an unknown number playable in the shareware version. Fuzzy's World of Miniature Space Golf v1.00s Shareware (2030k) I have found no ordering information for this game.
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| SkiFree Microsoft, 1991 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | Win16 Freeware (always) | Screenshot | |||
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In 1991, Chris Pirih made a little skiing game for Windows and distributed it as freeware, thus the name SkiFree. His employer, Microsoft, liked it so much that they acquired the copyright and added it to the Microsoft Entertainment Pack. Chris Pirih retained the right to create and publish new versions and, one way or another, a copy of this simple little game made its way onto computers around the world. There are three modes of play: Slalom, Free-style, and Tree Slalom, or you can just ski wherever you want. Slalom is a 540m race to the finish line, and you have to ski around the flags. Tree Slalom is 1040m version of Slalom, but with lots of trees to avoid. Free-style is an untimed 1040m course that requires you to get style points for hitting jumps and doing aerial tricks. The skier can be controlled with the keyboard or mouse, and can spin horizontally with the left and right arrow keys, or head over heels with the up and down arrow keys or the left mouse button. Style points are lost for crashing. The game is remembered for its many Easter eggs and extras, such as dogs, snowboarders and other skiers on the hill, walking trees, and an Abominable Snow Monster. SkiFree v1.0 Freeware (30k) SkiFree v1.04, a Win32 port of the game, is available as a free download at the Official SkiFree Home Page.
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| Three Point Basketball MVP Software, 1993 | |||||
| User rating: No rating | DOS Freeware (former shareware) | No screenshot yet | |||
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A humorous little game based on the three point shooting contest at the annual NBA All-Star Game. You use the mouse to control the power and angle of your shot as you shoot five balls from five positions before the time runs out. Five difficulty levels let you select how precise your shot needs to be, and the target can be moving or fixed. There is a practice mode and a tournament mode that up to four humans can play against the computer. A fun little diversion. Three Point Basketball Freeware (2718k)
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