1981-1989

First Person Shooters:

| Crazy Shot | Dark Side | Day of The Viper | Deathtrack | Interphase | Sleeping Gods Lie | Space School Simulator: The Academy / Academy: Tau Ceti II | Voyager I: Sabotage of the Robot Ship

Third Person Shooters:

| Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom | Cabal | Cobra | Die Hard | Mach 3 | Mayday Squad | Midwinter | Narco Police | Off Shore Warrior | Operation Wolf | Phantasm | Skidoo | Sky Runner | Sol Negro | Space Harrier | Virus

Simulations:

| 3-Demon / Monster Maze | 688 Attack Sub | A-10 Tank Killer | Abrams Battle Tank | ACE 2 | Ace of Aces | ACE: Air Combat Emulator | After Burner | After Burner II | Apache Strike | ArcticFox | Battlehawks 1942 | Battlezone | Carrier Command | Dam Busters, The | Deep Space: Operation Copernicus | Destroyer | Dive Bomber | Echelon | Elite | Enterprise | F-15 Strike Eagle | F-15 Strike Eagle II | F-16 Combat Pilot | F-19 Stealth Fighter | Falcon | Falcon A.T. | Galactic Conqueror | Gunship | Harrier 7 / Operation Hormuz | Harrier Combat Simulator | Heavy Metal | Hellcat Ace | Hunt for Red October, The | Infiltrator | Infiltrator II | Jet | JetFighter: The Adventure | Jump Jet / Harrier Mission | Lock-On | M1 Tank Platoon | MechWarrior | Mousejet | PHM Pegasus | Prowler | Psi 5 Trading Co. | Quantoids of Nebulus IV | S.D.I. | Sherman M4 | Silent Service | Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict | Space Rogue | Space Station Oblivion / Driller | Spitfire Ace | Star Fleet I: The War Begins | Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander | Star Lord | Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator | Star Wars | Starglider | Starglider 2 | Steel Thunder | Strike Aces / Fighter Bomber | Strike Fleet | Strike Force Harrier | Super Huey II | Super Huey UH-IX | Tank: The M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank Simulation | Tau Ceti: The Last Star Colony | Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain | Their Finest Missions: Volume One | Thunder Blade | Thunderchopper | Tomahawk | Top Gun | Tracker | Train, The: Escape to Normandy | Triclops Invasion | USS Stinger | Voyager | War Eagles

ShootEm Up 2D/3D:

| 007: Licence to Kill | A-Team, The | Action Fighter | Airborne Ranger | Ajax | Anti-Ballistic-Missile | Astro Blaster | Astro-Dodge | Astrotit | Attack On Altair | Bedlam | Better Dead Than Alien! | Blasteroids | Buzzard Bait | Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future | Centipede | Commando | Contra / Gryzor | Cosmic Aliens | Cosmic Crusader | Cosmic Sheriff | Crossbow | Crossfire | Cyber ​​Cop | Czorian Siege | Defender | Demon Attack | Dream Warrior | Emergency Mission | Exterminator, The | Fire and Forget | Fire Power | Fire! | Fleet Sweep | Flightmare | Galaxian | Game Over II | Gravity Force | Guerilla War | Guerrero Solitario | Heavy Barrel | Hellraider | Hostage: Rescue Mission | If It Moves, Shoot It! / Phantom Fighter | Ikari Warriors | Intifada | Into the Eagle's Nest | Jackal | Juno First | Last Duel: Inter Planet War 2012 | Last Mission, The | Lost Tomb | Machacator | Master Miner | Menace | Mike Gunner | Mission | Moon Bugs | Moon Patrol | Mushroom Mania | Night Stalker | Offroad | Operacion Cyber | Pack Regalo Gun Stick | Paratrooper | Prohibition | Rambo III | Red Baron, The | Revenge of Defender / StarRay | River Raid | Robotron: 2084 | Rockets | Round 42 | Rush'n Attack / Green Beret | Saboteur II | Safari Guns / On Safari | Sarge | Savage | Sea Dragon | Side Arms Hyper Dyne | SideWinder | Silpheed | Sky Shark / Flying Shark | Solo | Sopwith | Space Adventure | Space Battles | Space Commanders | Space Commanders II | Space Miner | Space Strike | Spacewar | Speed Zone | Spy Hunter | Star Breaker | Star Dust | Star Empire | Star Fields | Stargate | Stargoose Warrior | Starmaxx | Starquake | Striker | Super Zaxxon | Superman: The Man of Steel | Toi Acid Game | Trantor the Last Stormtrooper | Trigger | Uridium | Veteran | Victory Road: Ikari Warriors Part II | West Phaser | Wings of Fury | Worm Burner | X-Fighter | Xenon | XO-Fighter | Zanac [K] | Zappa Roidz | Zaxxon | Zuran Defender


Precursors to FPS Games

First-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre which centers the gameplay around gun- and projectile weapon-based combat through the first person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. It is an immersive experience of controlling your movements in a virtual world and a few people unaccustomed to it can even suffer from motion-sickness. Personal computers are the preferred platform for FPS games as as they are most often controlled with a combination of a keyboard and mouse (considered superior to console game controllers). It is one of the most popular game types to play in multiplayer where players from around the world can battle each other over the internet. It is common to display the character's hands and weaponry in the main view, with a head up display showing health, ammunition and location details.

Maze War
Spasim
Battlezone (d/l)
Star Wars (d/l)

The first two FPS games were created back around 1974 when computers were huge expensive mainframes only available at universities and other large institutions. Maze War had players navigate through a simple maze of corridors rendered using fixed perspective. Multiplayer capabilities (with players attempting to shoot each other) were added later, and it was the first 3D game to feature an avatar and a map. A remake was done in 2009 by Cliff W. Johnson named Maze Wars SVG (d/l).
Spasim, shortform for space simulation, was played by up to 32 players on the PLATO network flying around in space and appearing to each other as wire-frame space ships. Their positions were updated about every second. Later 3D multiplayer games on the PLATO network included airace (wich evolved into airfight), and led to US Army's Panzer tank simulator which spawned Panther. airfight led up to Sublogic's Microsoft Flight Simulator, while Atari, Inc had a PLATO account and Panther is said to be the origin of Battlezone.
This (browser-playable version here) was a major 1980 arcade jaw-dropper, that effectively used a green and red overlay over a pretty smart vector showing monitor. Previous FPS games were not available to consumers until this arcade tank game. A version was released in 1983 for home computers, the first successful mass-market game featuring a first-person viewpoint and 3D graphics.
Star Wars (1988) was based on a popular 1983 arcade game which was a wirecast rail shooter (on a pre-set path) with obstacles and enemies hurtling towards you but limited movement left-right and up-down.

3-Demon (d/l) Driller (d/l) Arctic Fox (d/l)

Another early attempt at 3D was 3-Demon (1983), a wireframe 3D PacMan clone in a maze. Movement is staggered to one screen at a time.
Driller (1987) a.k.a. Space Station Oblivion, was the very first proper looking FPS with solid-colored walls. The game has you controlling a mining rig with a laser mostly solving puzzles with some shooting in a 3D environment. A free remake for Windows PC was done in 2007.
Arctic Fox (1987) was one of a series of sci-fi tank shooters similar to Battlezone but with additional strategic elements like shield and fuel and enemy targets like communications buildings.

Starglider (d/l)
The Colony (d/l)
Die Hard (d/l)
Wibarm (d/l)

Starglider (1986) was one of the first wireframe 3D action shooters. It introduces many new features to the space simulation genre. Two types of sights are available - fixed and floating. There are more than 16 types of Egron crafts to destroy, some of which are very reminiscent of Elite, as well as their groundbased counterparts, including tanks, missile launchers and those walker robots similar to the ones in Return of the Jedi. There were usually two or three bases where you could replenish your supply of missiles. For actual refueling, though, you have to use one of the game's innovative features: fly into between two fuelling towers to recharge your fuel cells. Yet another innovation is the missile firing sequence, where you effectively pilot your missile (not the ship) to home in on the target after firing it, via a missile-chase camera. You could also interrogate the computer when you were docked for useful information on the vehicles you encounter that may shed some light on how to destroy them. Its story was included in this Novella (d/l).
The Colony (1988) was another pioneering 3D action-adventure in black & white and the first flat-polygon (hidden surface) game. In it, you fix your crashed spaceship and find out what happened to a colony on a different planet. Full Demo (d/l).
Die Hard (1989) wasn't a FPS but a precursor of 3D TPS like Tomb Raider. Floppy Image ISO Demo (d/l) (thanks to Scaryfun).
Wibarm (1989) has several gameplay modes where you control a Thexder-like robot who can also transform into a tank or a flying spacecraft through side-scrolling levels but also when entering a building, the game transforms into one of the earlier examples of a 3D, third-person perspective shooter.
Abrams Battle Tank (d/l)
Their Finest Hour (d/l)
Tank (d/l)
A-10 Tank Killer (d/l)

Abrams Tank Battle (1988) is the first game Dynamix tried (and applied) its proprietary 3D engine, which later caused so much excitement when used in Betrayal at Krondor. It was one of the first 3D vehicle simulations though arcade-like more than a simulation.
Their Finest Hour: The Battle Of Britain (1989) is an early LucasArts historical air combat simulator where you can play as either the British or German planes. You can view from different team members such as the gunner or bomber as well as the pilot. It uses an earlier version of the X-Wing engine but uses bitmaps and sprites instead of being fully 3d. Floppy Image ISO Demo (d/l) (thanks to Egon68).
Tank: The M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank Simulation (1989) This 3D military tank simulation uses a modified Falcon AT engine. Control up to 16 tanks, head to head option, command the company, platoon, or individual tank parts, three theatres of war, 15 different missions, real-time gameplay and night mode thermal imaging. The ability to zoom all the way in (to 3D interface) and out (to strategic map) is innovative and well executed.
A-10 Tank Killer (1989) This early Dynamix/Sierra combat simulator has you fly an A-10 Thunderbolt II, which is also known as the "Warthog". Iit is used mainly to weaken enemy tanks, but also for destroying roads and bridges. You are armed with Avenger 30mm cannons which can fire around 70 times a second. Multiple camera angles are featured. An updated v1.5 was released in 1991 that features additional missions including a Desert Storm scenario, overall improved graphics and sounds. Full Demo v1.5 (d/l). Floppy Images ISO Demo (d/l)(thanks to Scaryfun). V1.5 included in Aces: Collection Series (1997) 2CD ISO Demo - 757MB (d/l)(thanks to Egon68).

Day Of The Viper (d/l)
Interphase (d/l)
Mechwarrior (d/l)
MidWinter (d/l)

Day Of The Viper (1989) A futuristic droid is sent to capture a space army base back from GAR, a computer sentient gone berzerk (not unlike System Shock's Shodan). Your task is to find floppy disks scattered around the base and reboot the system. Along the way, fight many enemy robots and find new components to upgrade Viper's system. The actual 3D screen only takes less than a quarter of your view (no doubt to save computer memory). The interface is somewhat intuitive, but the blend of action and adventure elements is well-implemented.
Interphase (1989) has a nice Neuromancer style cyberpunk virtual-reality cyberspace concept and theme of a powerful corporation. It primarily focuses on puzzle-solving using the interaction between a 3D cyberpunk environment and its conceptual relationship with a 2D zoomable blueprint in which a non-player character is indirectly guided through the floors of a high-security building. 3D objects in the environment represent real-world objects such as security doors and cameras and must be disabled by destroying them. The player must also deal with virtual defences, represented by enemy ships which pose a threat to the player's ability to jack in to the system, and which must be defeated.
Mechwarrior (1989) was the first video game to offer the player a chance to actually pilot a BattleMech from the view of a pilot and had simple vector based 3D graphics. Floppy Images and included in Battletech:Powerhits ISO Demo (d/l) (thanks to agumon) / another image ISO Demo (d/l) (upped by Scaryfun).
MidWinter (1989) was one of the first video games to use a sniper scope and was set on a huge 160,000-square-mile (410,000 km2) isle rendered with shaded 3D polygons, in a post apocalyptic nuclear winter. Floppy Image ISO Demo (d/l) (thanks to hfric & upped by Scaryfun).

History of FPS games - Wikipedia, Gamasutra 1, 2, 3.
Video of gameplay for FPS games by Balg()rG: 1974-1988, 1988-1992.



First Person Shooters

Crazy Shot Hitech Productions / Loriciel SA [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a rather simple shooting range game simulating what one might find in an amusement park. From the menu you can choose between six different shooting range events such as shooting at moving ducks or shooting at balloons. When you run out of time or bullets you are presented with a prize that corresponds to how well you did on the event, for example a key ring if your aim was really bad.
Screenshots
Full Demo 12kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Dark Side Major Developments / Incentive Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In Driller, the Ketars attempted to blow up the moon Mitral, but you stopped them. Now, they have Energy Collection Devices collectively known as EGOs, and hope to stock them up to use towards the Zephyr One device, and direct its energy at the planet Evath, resulting in a catastrophic radiation overload. Your mission is to beam onto their base on the moon Tricuspid, and destroy the EGOs. Destroying one will buy you more of your limited time. The problem is, many are connected to at least 2 others, and those can immediately regenerate, so you must tackle them in an order in which those with only 1 connection are attacked first. You are inside a space suit, propelled by a Jet Pack with limited fuel, and possess lasers and a shield. Shield energy is limited, but can be recharged through pentagons and rods. In a world viewed through the the Freescape 3D system, you roam the verdant planet of trees, buildings and underground tunnels. Gameplay has more action than its predecessor, Driller. The Freescape world has a third dimension - due to the jetpack you can leave the ground and look down on the view. You can also rotate the angle and make quick U-turns. You must leave the ground to shoot the active part of an ECD, but the jetpack uses energy at a faster rate, so use this feature sparingly. You must avoid Plexors, which weaken your shield, and deflector devices, which can beam you into prison.
Screenshots
Full Demo 105kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
 1  2 
Videos


Day of The Viper Accolade, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The Sun League has been trying to fight back against the corrupted and oppressive Gar computer for many years. Now they have attacked a defense base. The only hope is for a Viper V droid to be sent in under your control to reactivate the planet's defenses. To do this, you must find floppy disks that are everywhere in the station to reboot that evil computer. To complete this task, you must fight 33 types of little robots who attack you. The action is viewed in first-person 3D, with directional arrows on screen for movement and rotation. There are 25 levels, each of which is automatically mapped as you explore it. Use turbolifts to get to them. Each object is managed by the game, and a notepad feature is provided to allow you to keep track of vital information. Find new components to upgrade Viper's system. The actual 3D screen only takes less than a quarter of your view (no doubt to save computer memory). The interface is somewhat intuitive, but the blend of action and adventure elements is well-implemented.
Screenshots
Full Demo 187kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Deathtrack Dynamix Inc. / Activision Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 In the future, races are held across America where the drivers race for money, and their lives. You are the rookie. Welcome to Deathtrack. Starting off the game with a meager sum, you can choose from three cars (either speedy, plenty of firepower or heavily-armored) and begin practicing for your races against the other drivers. Your opponents have all been captured in 16-colour digital photo splendour. Featuring 3D polygonal cars racing against each other, they try their best to remove you from the race, permanently. Your winnings can be used to upgrade your car's armor, weapons and parts to make you car impervious to harm, a juggernaut of firepower, hurtling down the 10 available tracks.
Screenshots
Full Demo 467kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 415kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Interphase The Assembly Line / Image Works [top]

Release Date: 1989 Dreams are made by The Dreamtrack Corporation, a group of evil subliminal-messengers whose intention is to destroy the minds of the minority of people capable of interpreting other people's dreams and live them out through entertainment. That's the story in this distinctly Cyberpunk-inspired title, and you play Chad, the man who discovers this secret, and aims to put an end to it. Your task on each level is to clear a path for Kaf-E, your girlfriend, to be able to progress to the heart of the Dreamtrack HQ, getting past each of the myriad of security systems they have built up. A map must be used to navigate the route through the systems, with lots of information readily available. The basic gameplay sees you darting through 3D tunnels using the mouse, and is like a prototype Descent, with your ship kitted out with cannons and missiles, with each enemy better dealt with by one or the other. As well as ensuring your own survival, you must guide Kaf-E through the levels by blasting out the correct sections to clear a path for her. As she has no intelligence, and simply walks into walls, this element can be compared to Lemmings. It has a nice Neuromancer style cyberpunk virtual-reality cyberspace concept and theme of a powerful corporation. It primarily focuses on puzzle-solving using the interaction between a 3D cyberpunk environment and its conceptual relationship with a 2D zoomable blueprint in which a non-player character is indirectly guided through the floors of a high-security building. 3D objects in the environment represent real-world objects such as security doors and cameras and must be disabled by destroying them. The player must also deal with virtual defences, represented by enemy ships which pose a threat to the player's ability to jack in to the system, and which must be defeated.
Screenshots
Full Demo 170kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo + Scans 24MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Sleeping Gods Lie Oxford Digital Enterprises Ltd. / Empire Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 After the benevolent god N'Gir has given his blessings to the beautiful land of Tessera, he felt his work was pretty much done, and... fell asleep. Unfortunately, with no gods to watch over the world, an evil Archmage has gradually taken control over it, oppressing the population with his iron rule. The hero of this story lives in the town of Thurin, which is somewhat out of the Archmage's range of influence. However, when a gravely wounded kobold delivers a message to him and dies on the threshold of his house, the hero realizes that his long journey has begun - the journey to wake up the slumbering god. It combines elements of action and adventure-style gameplay. The entire game world is viewed from first person perspective, rendered in "fake" 3D. The player explores this world, finding items, solving occasional puzzles, and getting closer to the goal. Enemies will often attack the hero; the key to victory is usually the power of the weapon the hero wields. These can be melee weapons as well as long-ranged ones such as a slingshot. Combat is entirely action-oriented. The game has an internal clock, and the hero can get tired and will have to rest from time to time. At the time it was a technological breakthrough being one of the first games to use scaled graphics. Originally, it had a strange 360 degree wrap around view, but was changed to a more conventional perspective viewpoint because it was too weird.
Screenshots
Full Demo 610kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Reviews
Videos


Space School Simulator: The Academy / Academy: Tau Ceti II CRL Group PLC [top]

Release Date: 1987 Pete Cooke's follow-up to the previous space shooter-explorer, Tau Ceti, takes things away from that setting. Players take the role of a student at an academy for advanced piloting. There they need to solve 20 simulated missions on a wide range of planets. The self-contained missions mean that the game uses the Tau Ceti structure and theme, without the causality of previous decisions having an effect on later choices. This reduces the complexity of management. Although players can customize the ships, including giving them names of your choice, the game comes with supplied ones include a variety that should suit many different circumstances. Whichever vehicle is chosen, players will control it from a 1st person perspective and a series of controls. All ships skim over the surface of the planet and feature weapons. Most missions will involve destroying rogue robots enemies. Players will have to dock with buildings to refuel or move on to a different planet.
Screenshots
Full Demo 37kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Academy: Tau Ceti II - Floppy Image ISO Demo 61kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Space School Simulator: The Academy - Floppy Image ISO Demo 62kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Voyager I: Sabotage of the Robot Ship Microcomputer Games, Inc. / The Avalon Hill Game Company [top]

Release Date: 1982 This is a first-person action game that challenges the player to explore the levels of an alien spacecraft's maze. The environments consist of corridors and rooms done with 3D vector graphics. The protagonist has to evade killerrobots programmed to blast any intruders, hidden throughout the four levels and 144 locations of the spaceship. New floorplans are randomly generated in each game and there is no need to map out your movement as it is stored in your computer's memory for instant recall. There is more than one way to accomplish your mission, each of which requires you find the necessary objects and equipment on board and use them properly. You will actually see a realistic 3-D "eye-level" view throughout your exploration. Elevators allow you to move between the four levels of the ship. You move in real time, but move too quickly and you will tire requiring you to rest until your stamina points are restored. Once inside the Robot Ship you must secure a laser rifle in order to combat the enemy. Destroy all of the enemy robots (before they do the same to you) and victory is yours. Or you may choose to search out the power generators fueling the ship's operations. Upon your exploding of the final generator the Robot Ship will automatically be set on self-destruct. You will have just 60 seconds to escape in a shuttle craft or you too will be blown up.
Screenshots
Full Demo 6kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Third Person Shooters

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1984 Loosely based on the Buck Rogers comic strips, this is a fast-paced arcade racing game taking place on a futuristic racetrack. Guide your spaceship between pylons and shoot down other enemy racers. It's a forward-scrolling rail shooter where the user controls a spaceship in a behind-the-back third-person perspective. The game was notable for its fast pseudo-3D scaling and detailed sprites. The game would later go on to influence the 1985 Sega hit Space Harrier, which in turn influenced the 1993 Nintendo hit Star Fox. The PC version introduced a space station that you see on the horizon that draws nearer with each round - at least for the first five loops. Afterwards it turns into the same repetition of color swaps as the rest.
Infos
Full Demo 26kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Screenshots
Full Demo 26kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Booter Floppy Image ISO Demo 32kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Cabal Tad Corporation / Capcom U.S.A., Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Originating in the arcades, Cabal is a shooter where the protagonist runs back and forth along the bottom of the screen, ducking and dodging bullets and grenades from the enemy. The roll maneuver from the arcade was not implemented in the PC version. The player returns fire by moving a target around the screen which also moves the player character and may expose him to enemy fire. It was somewhat innovative in that it featured a 3D perspective in which the player character was situated in the foreground with an over-the-shoulder camera view, similar to modern third-person shooters. The player cannot move forward of his own volition; an area first needs to be cleared of enemies before the game automatically advances. The enemies throughout the five levels come thick and fast and there are many of them. They include normal foot soldiers, tanks, helicopters and end of level bosses such as submarines and war machines. Just about everything on the screen can be blown up or shot. There are bonus points to be picked up for destroying buildings and weapons to be picked up from the enemy, such as machine guns and shotguns. Two-player mode is available.
Screenshots
Full Demo 589kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo + cp-disabled disk (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 600kb
included in Arcade Hits - Floppy Images ISO Demo 589kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Cobra Loriciels [top]

Release Date: 1987 Cobra, the space pirate hero of Buichi Terasawa's comic and TV series, receives a message from Dominique. Dominique is held prisoner by the evil Salamandar, and Cobra, along with his cybernetic assistant Lady (or Harmanoid, as she's called in the game's French), must rescue her. You start the game, and enter an isometric arena. You control both Cobra and Lady, each equipped with a gun. Shoot at everything that moves, and try to find the exit of the multidirectionally scrolling arena. As a backup weapon, you have also a set of five grenades to throw at troublesome enemies. Being hit once or twice is no problem, for you have a rather well-stocked energy bar. Controlling two characters at once means that you may be separated while rounding a corner or another obstacle, but the obstacles can also be used to regroup into a tighter or wider formation, depending on your choice of tactics. This tie-in uses a high resolution, at the cost of colours, to animate the screen with a high detail. Sounds is quite minimal, with no in-game music and simple sound effects. All in all, the game plays like a slower, isometric Gauntlet without the powerups.
Videos
French Full Demo 224kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Die Hard Dynamix, Inc. / Activision, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This game is based on the movie Die Hard. It's an early third-person shooter and precursor to Tomb Raider which made that view popular years later. A group of terrorists have taken control of a high rise tower in an attempt to take $600 million. Your job is to rescue your wife who is trapped in the building and stop the terrorists. The game is played with a 3-D point of view allowing you to search the building for useful items and fight terrorists with a variety of weapons or by hand. Cut scenes keep you informed of the plot as it progresses.
Screenshots
Full Demo 515kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
 1  2 
Floppy Image ISO Demo 6MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Full Demo included in Die Hard Collection (plus C64, PC-Engine and NES emulated versions) 101MB (uploaded by The Collection Chamber)


Mach 3 Loriciels [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a classic 3D shooter with a typical Michel Winogradoff sampled title tune - very cool. It utilizes CGA 320x200 different video modes according to the levels (white, pink and blue in the first, green, yellow and red in the second). In the game, the player controls a spacecraft and shoots various enemy crafts while avoiding mines and obstacles. Mach 3 became somewhat famous for the sampled phrases spoken (through PC speaker) such as "Get ready", "Game over", and "Oh boy! ". The action is very smooth and fast, and overall it's a very polished CGA game that manages to overcome many hardware limitations. In the PC conversion the tune is played through the PC speaker, so the game should be played in real DOS mode.
Videos
Full Demo 185kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 170kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Mayday Squad Subway Software / Tynesoft Computer Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 The Lutonian Embassy has been taken over by the Red Legion terror organisation and the ambassador's daughter has been kidnapped. The player takes the role of a group of three special agents which have to save her within a time limit. The player has to choose between nine soldiers which are divided into three categories: leader (shooting), demolition (grenades) and communication (opening locks and picking up items). The soldiers within the same category also have different advantages and weaknesses. Also chosen before starting the mission is the difficulty level and hit points of the team members. During the game itself, one member is controlled by the player and the others by the AI. However, to perform special actions it is possible to instantly switch between them. This is needed because there are a lot of options how to proceed in the maze-like embassy, e.g. players may choose to open a lock or shoot it open. While a large portion of the game is dedicated to finding the way and searching for clues which hint to the daughter's location, there are also strong action elements: When meeting enemies and controlling the leader, the cursor has to be quickly moved over the opponents to shoot them before they can damage the team. Resources like ammo are limited.
Screenshots
Full Demo 91kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 77kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Midwinter Maelstrom Games / Microplay Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 Midwinter is set in a post-apocalyptic world, as the Earth entered a nuclear winter caused by the fall of a meteorite. The titular island has been formed in the Azores group of islands, caused by volcanic activity. The player initially controls Captain John Stark, the commander of local militia known as Free Villages Police Force (FVPF), who attempt to protect their home from the invasion of armed troops under the command of General Masters. As Stark, the player has to recruit civilians and members of FVPF in order to join forces and prevent Masters from reaching the base located in the south-eastern part of the island. Midwinter is a hybrid game that combines elements of strategy and action. The player selects and controls the 32 recruits as they attempt to protect the island within a limited amount of time. Two hours of game time are assigned to each recruit; afterwards, the strategy battle moves to the next turn. During their turns, the recruits fight enemy forces in action-oriented combat reminiscent of a first-person shooter. Specific and detailed injuries add a tactical edge to these battles. Enemy units are mostly composed of armed snow buggies, as well as supply vehicles. Eliminating a large amount of them or killing the commander of the unit usually successfully completes the mission. Terrain plays an important role in the game, as many snow-covered mountain areas are impassable, and the player must plan ahead how to advance. The player can use snow buggies, ski, and cable cars to access the goal. When recruiting characters, the player has to pay attention to their personal relationships. For example, Stark can recruit his girlfriend, but another character will refuse to join because he is in love with her and jealous of the Captain. It's one of the first video games to use a sniper scope and is set on a huge 160,000-square-mile (410,000 km2) isle rendered with shaded 3D polygons.

See also: #Midwinter Remake (cancelled)

Screenshots
Full Demo 1MB (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Image ISO + Scans (provided by hfric & upped by Scaryfun) 708kB+65MB
Videos
included in Quest & Glory (1990) - Floppy Images ISO & scans 11MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Narco Police Iron Byte / Dinamic Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 In the 21st century, the world is virtually ruled by the drug barons. Your mission is to equip and position three squads of elite cops on the perimeter, and guide them through the enemy's network of tunnels. Once through you must level the factory with explosives. The loadout and starting positions are predefined, but you can change the loadout, choosing from two types of ammo, three types of rockets, explosives, first aid kits, transporters, and armor. The game plays like a strategic third person shooter. The feeling of movement in a corridor gave you a feeling of 3D before actual 3D third-person shooters came about. You control the commander of the current squad, and can switch between the three. Also, there are computer terminals scattered around that can turn off some of the automated defenses and cameras. Initially a floppy booter version, in 1990 a full color CGA version for DOS was released. In 2012, a fan remake was made for modern systems.
Screenshots
DOS Full Demo 300kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Videos
2012 Free Fan Remake 39MB (uploaded by Computer Emuzone)
Booter Floppy Image ISO Demo 430kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Off Shore Warrior Titus France SA / Titus Software Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1988 Society has become ultra-peaceful, but some retain a lust for violence and carnage. Off-shore racing fills that void perfectly in this behind-the-boat racer, which resembles Titus's earlier Fire & Forget. Four X1 boats armed with missiles tough it out over circuits set up in lakes and lined with rocks, desperately trying to avoid finishing last, as this will eliminate them from future competition. Contact with other boats can also be harmful, and will cost you time.
Videos
Full Demo 185kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots


Operation Wolf Taito Corporation / Taito America Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1989 You have been recruited for Operation Wolf, a desperate attempt to rescue prisoners from the enemy. Through a series of missions, you'll engage a variety of enemies, from soldiers to ninjas, patrol boats to helicopters, and more. Can you carry the day? It is essentially a bitmapped "rail-shooter", where you basically hold the gun and shoot just about everything that moves, while conserving your ammo and grenades. Shoot ammo/grenades and healing items on the screen to "pick them up". Your primary machine gun can kill everything if you hit it enough times, but you can also use the grenade launcher for really deadly targets like helicopters or armored cars. You can collect a machine gun which will allow you to shoot faster for a few seconds. You'll be pummelled by a LOT of enemies. Some will be shooting, others will be tossing grenades, knifes, and more. Some are armored and requires more than a few hits, others dodges. You can shoot grenades and knifes out of the air if you aim well enough. There are also civilians running around which can be shot, but it's not beneficial. Bosses appear at the end of some levels, and each has a specific weakness you need to exploit.
Screenshots
Full Demo 598kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 607kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Phantasm Exocet Software [top]

Release Date: 1988 Some people have very interesting dreams, and you are one of those people. Your subconscious has created a moon infested with evil beings, and a Pegasus ground-skimmer with which to destroy them. The chances are that you played Tau Ceti shortly before bedtime, as Phantasm has much in common with that game's action elements. Armed with lasers and homing missiles, you must take down the aliens before the shoot you. This is a 3D shooter in the style of Battlezone and Battle Command, but with more complexity (well you can fly at any rate). You rove about a quite a smooth and well rendered 3D environment, blasting anything that moves and presumably trying to destroy re-generators, which by some amazing fluke allow your enemies to regenerate if they die nearby to one of them. There are a large amount of sectors to explore.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 1.6MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Full Demo 43kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Skidoo Coktel Vision / Tomahawk [top]

Release Date: 1989 The game represents Ski-Doo, a 6-month length trek set in the snowy woods of North Eastern Canada. Riding snow scooters, participants try to survive in this white desert, hunting for the wild animals and finding warm places following the routes to the cities. Visiting 25 cities along the way, 10 contestants take part in a wild race on ice-circuit to win money. You are one such participant, and you should survive and come to the finish of the overall trek in the first place. This single-player game is shown in a 3rd-person view, while you are controlling your driver, riding a snow scooter, to accelerate/decelerate and turn left/right. As time goes, night will fall after the day and so on. At the same time food and heat levels will decrease, so you should always need to raise them up. The view will be switched to 1-st person, while you are hunting for animals to increase food level.
Screenshots
 1  2 
Full Demo 298kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 270kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Sky Runner Cascade Games, Ltd. / Spinnaker Software Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1987 You are descending in the skimmer on the hostile planet to eliminate Harvester. But you may do this only in a skybike, which should be dropped down from the skimmer. The gameplay is flown in third-person perspective, while you are controlling your vehicle (skimmer or skybike) always flying forward. Moving left or right allows you to avoid the obstacles such as trees, accelerating and decelerating changes the speed, and shooting keeps you alive. Harvester is a boss, which appears after certain number of enemies will be eliminated, and it should be destroyed. Upon defeating the harvester the game awards the player with money, and loops back to the moment of time, when player controlled the skimmer. Collision with any obstacle means game over. Hi-score table allows you to see the most successful Skyrunners.
Screenshots
Full Demo 22kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 392kb
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 25kb


Sol Negro Opera Soft S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1988 The game is an unofficial adaptation of the film Ladyhawke, although the man here turns into a fish. A millenarian spell, transmitted from parents to children, turned the muscular Bully into a fish and the indomitable Mónica into a hawk. Every full moon one of them suffers a transformation and the other recovers his normal form, which prevents them to be together. Only an extraordinary phenomenon can break the spell, something as extraordinary as a sun eclipse... the Black Sun. In order to break the spell, Bully must free Mónica (the hawk) of her cage for, turned he in fish, arrive on time together at the sacred submarine temple of the sun, a grotto located beyond the borders of the city submerged of Hidrionis, just at the moment in which the moon is embraced with the sun and a huge shade crosses the planet. The objective in the first stage is to rescue Mónica, turned a hawk, for which you will have to locate the key of the cage on which she is imprisoned and go to rescue her, you will count with the help of a jet pack and a M-92 rifle laser; once done, face together with her all the dangers until arriving at the magical palace. The second stage is developed at the heart of the ocean. Mónica must protect Bully in his form of fish and together with him arrive at the submarine grotto. Mónica counts with an aquatic propellent and a hydro leak pistol with which she will have to defended herself against the submarine enemies.
Screenshots
Full Demo 197kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Spanish Floppy Image ISO Demo 58kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Space Harrier AM R&D Dept. #2 / SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Run... fly... dodge those obstacles, but return fire on wave after wave of attacking aliens. Armed with a really big gun, you have to defend yourself against the alien hordes using your wits to navigate around the screen. But watch out for those end of level bosses! Originating in the arcades in 1985, Space Harrier is a third-person rail shooter with pseudo-3D graphics, set in the same world as Fantasy Zone. The lone titular hero fights aliens with a fireball-launching cannon, which can also be used to transform the hero into a flying rocket. The protagonist is constantly in motion, but the speed of his movement can be regulated by the player. The game's 18 stages take place on different regions of the planet, as you travel across grass, desert, and other terrain while avoiding (or shooting) obstacles such as trees, pillars, and rocks. In 2003 Space Harrier VGL, a free fan-made remake was released by Roderick "HotrodX" Rivero of the Sega Megadrive/Genesis version plus elements from the original arcade game.
Infos
 1  2 
Full Demo 224kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO + Scans 3MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Reviews
Space Harrier VGL - Free 2003 Fan-Made Remake 1.7MB (uploaded by Classic Retro Games)
Videos


Virus Superior Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Aliens have infested Earth, and are spreading a deadly virus throughout the planet. Needless to say, they must be stopped, and fast. The time pressure (your score upon completing a level is based on the uninfected percentage of the land) is only one difficult aspect of this shooter. Viewed in remote 3D with a patchwork-quilt type ground effect, with trees sticking out and full gravity. Controlling your spaceship involves balancing the direction and height as well as thrusting to the right speed. A scanner tells you where the aliens are. This game is the perfect answer to the question: what happens when you lock the designer of Elite series and future designer of Transport Tycoon in the same room? Virus is a furious and addictive action game that, like its designers, exudes creative gameplay unlike any other game you have seen. The premise is simple: pilot a polygonal spacecraft to destroy everything in sight. Levels get difficult quickly, but the robust graphics engine borrowed from Elite Plus makes up for everything. I recommend playing this game with a mouse, since its control method is excellent. Be warned, though: the game is very difficult. Don't expect to finish the game unless you are very confident of your reflexes. Also, check out the superior 1998 sequel V2000. A free fanmade remake titled Z-Virus was later made for Retro Remakes 2004 competition on Blitz3D by Stevie Goodwin.
Screenshots
Full Demo + EGA version ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 42+36kb
Videos
Z-Virus - 2004 Free Remake + mirror 2MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection / Official Site)
 1  2 
Infos
Z-Virus - 2004 Free Remake v2 2MB (uploaded by annoyment)


Simulations

3-Demon / Monster Maze PC Research Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 Commonly regarded as the very first progenitor of the 90s first-person shooters, this is a surreal, wireframe-3D Pac-Man clone in which you have to move through a maze, collect points and occasionally take items which will allow you to kill enemy monsters (ghosts) instead of them killing you. After having cleaned the level of a certain percentage of points, you have the option to move to another level immediately by pressing the down key, where the monsters are smarter and move faster.
Screenshots
Full Demo 23kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


688 Attack Sub Electronic Arts Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a classic modern submarine simulation which puts you in command of either the American Los Angeles or the Soviet Alfa class nuclear-powered submarines. Most of the systems you would expect such as sonar and periscope are featured and nicely presented in VGA. The game offers ten missions for both the Soviet and American side in a Cold War scenario, that grows progressively hotter. Nice to see that the two sides' submarines have their own graphic sets in the game, even with some pseudo-cyrillic labels on the Russian side. The game focuses on realism with several stations the player can use (sonar, weapons, navigation, helm, radio and periscope) but most duties can be delegated to crew members. The graphics are mostly close-up views of the control panels but in some occasions they feature digitized images of surface ships and crew. Overall, it's an interesting early subsim and certainly a classic in the genre - arguably the best subsim for PC until Dynamix' Aces of The Deep years later. Especially the modem-play option was outstanding for its time. Be sure to download the manual, although the game is well laid-out and can be controlled completly with the mouse.
Screenshots
Floppy Images ISO Demo 676kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


A-10 Tank Killer Dynamix, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This simulation puts you in the cockpit of the A-10 Thunderbolt II, which is also known as the "Warthog". As the game's name implies, it is used mainly to hunt enemy tanks, but also for destroying roads and bridges. You are armed with 30mm Avenger cannon which can fire around 70 times a second. Multiple camera angles are featured. Landing is automated and an accelerated time function is on offer. Characters have full AI to act without your involvement, and will communicate with you in-flight. Actions in one mission affect another - something you failed to destroy in one mission can attack you later. Version 1.5 re-released in 1991 added 7 new scenarios set during the Operation Desert Storm in Iraq and improved graphics and sounds.
Videos
 1  2 
Full Demo v1.0 & 1.5 1MB/2MB (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
 1  2 
Screenshots
Floppy Images ISO Demo 1.7MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Images ISO Demo v1.5 (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 1.5MB
included in Aces: Collection Series (1997) 2CD ISO Demo 757MB (uploaded by Egon68)
included in Aces: The Complete Collector's Edition (1995) - UK Clone ISO Demo v1.2 526MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Abrams Battle Tank Dynamix, Inc. / Electronic Arts, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Take the most powerful NATO tank, the M-1 Abrams, in 8 difficult missions against the Warsaw Pact forces. The four tank stations and the other aspects of the tank are quite nicely simulated, with different types of cannon rounds, coax machine guns, and all that. There's also the independent turret and track rotation commands. It's the first game Dynamix tried (and applied) on its proprietary 3D engine, which later caused so much excitement when used in Betrayal at Krondor. It was one of the first 3D vehicle simulations, though arcade-like more than a simulation.
Screenshots
Full Demo 395kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 1.6MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


ACE 2 Artronic Limited [top]

Release Date: 1987 A follow-up to ACE. Similar to its predecessor, ACE 2 is an oldie head-to-head air combat flight sim set in modern days of aviation. The game has a very strong arcade feel, as all the missions you fly are nondescript or generic. Your plane is also a generic, hypothetical modern fighter, and the goal is to fly different sorties to kill enemy aircraft. Very similar to ACE, except that you can now play a 2-player hotseat game, or solo competition against the computer, in split-screen mode.
Screenshots
Full Demo 32kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 33kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Ace of Aces Artech / Accolade, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a 1st person, 2D flight simulation. You're on board a British RAF Mosquito, maverick fighter bomber. Your mission ... stop enemy trains, intercept the terrible German V-1 buzz bombs, sink the German U-boats and down the Nazi bombers. It offers some neat features for its time like multiple cockpit views and fairly good use of bitmaps. However, it's more of an arcade game with flight-sim like missions.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 72kb
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo + Manual + Scans 2.58MB (uploaded by scaryfun)


ACE: Air Combat Emulator ComTec / UXB [top]

Release Date: 1986 A huge enemy fleet has invaded the southern shore of the U.S. Dozens of tanks and helicopter gun-ships are rolling over Tampa, Florida and through Atlanta, Georgia. Squadrons of enemy fighters are swarming through the air over South Carolina and are heading for Washington, D.C. For the first time in more than 100 years, a foreign power is invading our proud land! You are the only remaining fighter pilot, and you have the last three ACE Mark 2.1 Multi-Role All-Weather-All-Terain (AWAT) combat aircraft. Each is housed in one of our three remaining air bases. You must fly sorties from our bases, and attack and destroy the numerically superior enemy air and ground forces. Only then can you attempt to destroy their nearly invincible navy. Good Luck! The future of the free world hangs in the balance.
Screenshots
Full Demo 27kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Videos


After Burner SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 After Burner is an aircraft shooter. The goal is simple: use your F-14 Tomcat and shoot as many enemies as you can. This aircraft has two weapons: lock-on missiles and Vulcan cannons (basically machine guns). In some versions there is an option to let the cannons shoot automatically all the time. The game is viewed from behind the plane with you fighting wave after wave of enemy fighters. But at heart it offers the usual shooter mechanics, meaning you spend most of your time dodging and shooting. Sometimes you come across a friendly supply plane and if you dock with it you can replenish your missiles.
Videos
Full Demo 423kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
 1  2 


After Burner II SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Similar to its predecessor, the premise of After Burner II is to get on the F-14 Tomcat and fly mission after mission of shooting planes out of the sky. At your disposal is a vulcan cannon (basically a machine gun) and a limited number of missiles. In some versions of the game the guns fire automatically all the time. Sometimes you come across a friendly supply plane and if you dock with it you can replenish your missiles. The game is viewed from behind the plane with you fighting wave after wave of enemy fighters. But at heart it offers the usual shooter mechanics, meaning you spend most of your time dodging and shooting. You also can speed up and slow down to deal with enemies which appear behind you.
Infos
 1  2 
Full Demo 424kb (uploaded by mklgw1985)
Screenshots
Floppy Images ISO Demo 329kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos
 1  2 


Apache Strike Activision Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The year is 1997. You're piloting an AH-64 Apache helicopter through enemy city streets on search and destroy mission. Your target: the Strategic Defense Computer (SDC). You must weave your way in and out of skyscraper corridors. That's the easy part; but enemy helicopters and tanks dog your path -- you must destroy or be destroyed. If you root out the SDC in all three cities, you can save the world from complete nuclear destruction.
Screenshots
Full Demo 202kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


ArcticFox Dynamix, Inc. / Electronic Arts, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is one of a series of sci-fi tank shooters (followed by Stellar 7, Nova 9, and Spectre VR) similar to Battlezone but with additional strategic elements like shield and fuel and enemy targets like communications buildings. In 2005, aliens have taken over Antarctica. You are sent in to combat them with the new super tank, the Slye-Hicks MX-100, Codename: Arcticfox. Arcticfox is a futuristic-based 3D tank simulation game where your overall goal is to destroy the invading aliens' main fortress before Arcticfox is destroyed. Enemy targets come in all sorts of shapes and sizes: planes, tanks, recon sleds and other important targets such as communication towers, atmosphere converters, etc. Your state-of-the-art killing machine is equipped with a cannon, guided missiles and mines at your disposal in addition to radar and forward/aft view-screens to detect your enemy advances.
Screenshots
Full Demo 141kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Battlehawks 1942 Lucasfilm Games LLC [top]

Release Date: 1988 Fly as an American or Japanese pilot in one of 4 operations in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. They include The Battle of the Coral Sea, The Battle of Midway, The Battle of the Eastern Solomons, The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. This simulation can also qualify as educational software because the manual features tons of historical information. Twelve aircraft (including variants) and about 20 types of ships are represented. The player can fly authentic aircraft of the era - Wildcats, Dauntlesses and Avengers on the U.S. side and Zeros, Vals and Kates on the Japanese side. Realism settings such as invincibility, unlimited ammo and unlimited fuel, starting altitude and the caliber of the opposition pilots were present, so it's a very customizable game. Each mission starts with a briefing, giving the pilot a general outline of what was needed to do. It has a cockpit point-of-view, switchable with the keypad for a look around the aircraft. Instruments are few: airspeed, altimeter, bank and pitch, fuel, rate-of-climb, RPM, compass and indicators for fuel and engine/airframe damage. The cockpit also has levers for landing gear, speed brakes (if equipped) and flaps. The manual includes details Fighter Tactics instructions, such as deflection shooting or how to perform overhead approaches from the same or the opposite course. Mission types include escorting bombers as well as fighter interceptions, which were generally quite challenging and gave a great view of the diversity of the missions that were flown in the Pacific in 1942. Allied players flying Grumman F4F Wildcats will find themselves often vastly outnumbered in a desperate attempt to save their carriers from waves of Japanese Aichi D3A Val dive bombers. There are also dive-bombing and torpedo-bombing missions on both sides. The graphics throughout the game use a sprite-based (so-called) 3D engine, which is based on bitmaps which are rotated and scaled depending on the player's view. Muzzle flashes and tracers are present, the aircraft takes hits and catches fire, smokes or explodes with the pilot bailing out with a parachute. Enemy artificial intelligence (AI) also is of high quality. Enemy aircraft will twist, turn, jink and realistically evade enemy fire. The performance characteristics of the various aircraft are realistically modeled so that, for example, the more nimble Japanese Zeros are very good at outmaneuvering U.S. fighters such as the F4F Wildcat. Excellent pilots achieve promotions and several medals. It's the first of the Lucasfilm/Lawrence Holland WWII air combat trilogy.
Videos
Full Demo 371kb (uploaded by XTC Abandonware)
Screenshots
Full Demo 0.37MB (uploaded by Juego Viejo)
Infos
Manual 18MB (uploaded by DJ Old Games)
included in LucasArts Air Combat Classics - Floppy Images ISO Demo 3MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Image ISO Demo 751kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Battlezone Atari, Inc. / Atarisoft [top]

Release Date: 1983 This was a major 1980 arcade jaw-dropper, that effectively used a green and red overlay over a pretty smart vector showing monitor. Previous FPS games were not available to consumers until this arcade tank game. A version was released in 1983 for home computers, the first successful mass-market game featuring a first-person viewpoint and 3D graphics. Commonly considered the earliest progenitor of first-person shooters (FPS), this is a 3D tank game. It's based on a Bradley Trainer simulator which is considered the first VR training device used by the U.S. Army. Earth has been invaded, and you and your tank lead the defensive effort. You drive around the battlefield from a first-person view, targeting and firing at tanks, planes and UFOs. You have a radar to help you see where the enemies are in direction and distance. Objects can be used as strategic cover. Controls simulate the tracks of a tank realistically, so the direction and speed settings are varied - combining forward right and backward left movements (as you can on keyboard versions) sees you change direction more quickly. In 2008, a free remake by Stuart Goodwin was released with six levels of difficulty and additional controls for people with disabilities in the Helen and Douglas House hospices. Play modes: eyetracker - the gameplay is directed solely by an eyetracker; eyetracker + switch - the tank is directed by an eyetracker, firing by a switch; keyboard - conventional play using a conventional keyboard.
Infos
Browser-Playable Free Flash Game (uploaded by IGN)
Videos
Full Demo 47kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Booter Floppy Image ISO Demo 44kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
2008 Free Remake 1.2MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Carrier Command Realtime Games Software Ltd. / Rainbird Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 This was one of the first real-time strategy games. You control an advanced cybernetic aircraft carrier complete with fighters, amphibious assault vehicles, laser defenses and a fleet of decoy drones. Your mission is to build a series of resource, factory, and defensive bases spanning an island chain. The only problem? At the other end of the chain is an even more advanced carrier under control of a terrorist organization with the same mission. As you move around the islands you must decide what facilities to build and where they will best support your advance. Resource islands provide materials that factory islands can use to build weapons and vehicles to replace your combat losses but both will be quickly overrun if the enemy attacks them while you are not present. You also have to ensure that your stockpiles of equipment are stored safely until you can find time to launch a resupply drone to bring them to your carrier. From your carrier, you can take first person control of your attack aircraft and amphibious tanks and use them to assault enemy islands or even the enemy carrier itself if you're lucky enough to find it. The weapon payloads on your vehicles are completely configurable based on your needs. An island invasion may require launching a virus bomb that will take over the enemy command systems or just blasting the base with a wire guided surface to surface missile. Ultimately, you have to find and destroy the enemy carrier but, doing so will require a solid supply infrastructure and a strategy for depriving your opponent of his.
Screenshots
Full Demo + Manual 146kb+8MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 155kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (Teledisk) 248kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Dam Busters, The Sydney Development Corp. / Accolade Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1985 This is an early flight simulation, set in World War II. It focuses on Dam Busters who historically were used to heavily bombard strategic objectives, in this case dams. This task is not easy, as en route you will face heavy opposition forces. Fortunately, you won't be a sitting bomber in the air. Your aircraft is equipped with machine guns (left and right) with unlimited rounds of fire power, so fire at will as the enemy approaches. When the time comes, you will have to bomb the target manually. So, get ready to unload the cargo and give them hell.
Screenshots
Full Demo 30kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Deep Space: Operation Copernicus Sir-tech Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is an early space combat simulation from the makers of the Wizardry series. It is the year 2123. The genetically-programmed warriors of the Andromedan Hegemony are making the first moves to enforce their government's greatest desire: the takeover of the United Planets of Solaria's fantastically wealthy new mines in the Asteroid Belt. On Earth, capitol of the United Planets, military and political leaders are beginning frantic efforts to marshal human and material resources to fight off the alien onslaught. There is a knock at the front entrance to your dwelling. You open the door, only half-surprised to see that your visitor is a courier robot, painted in the distinctive blue-and-white uniform colors of the Solarian Armed Forces. It registers your palm-print on its signature pad, then passes you a sealed file container. You know without opening the file that it contains a draft notice and briefing materials. In a few hours you will be in the cockpit of a Katana single-seat interceptor, perhaps fighting for your life against the invading Andromedans. So the stage is set. As the pilot of a Katana war vessel, you will have your choice of four missions to test your skill and tactics flying - and fighting - amid the hurtling debris of the asteroid cluster known as the Trojan Group. Survival is up to you!
Screenshots
Full Demo 54kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Destroyer Epyx Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a 2D naval simulation. Players take the role of a captain controlling a United States Navy Destroyer class vessel. During World War II, the player has to command several Destroyer operations: Subhunter missions; Rescue missions; Blockade runnings; Bombardment missions; Scout operations; Convoy escort. One of the earliest naval simulations ever made, it's a graphically-intense portrayal of World War II destroyer operations. Judging that Epyx is best known for many addictive sports and action games, it shouldn't surprise anyone that Destroyer is heavily arcade flavored - so much so that fans of realistic sims will be very disappointed at the many unrealistic factors and historical inaccuracies in the game. What the game lacks in accuracy, though, it makes up for by sheer playability and great portrayal of battle action. There are 10 stations you can switch to, each with authentic-looking array of instruments. The missions (seven in all) are nicely designed in a sense that you'll need to learn only a few stations at a time. The first few missions require only 3-4 stations, while the very last (and toughest) requires proficiency with all the stations and the ability to quickly switch between them. You will need to use the sonar to seek enemy submarines, man the anti-aircraft guns to shoot down attacking fighters, and prioritize repairs on the damage control screen. The blend of quick reflexes and quick decision-making is very good, as well as graphics (for its time).
Screenshots
Full Demo 105kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (mfm) 1.1MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Dive Bomber Acme Animation Inc. / U.S. Gold Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In World War 2, the Bismarck battleship has been dominant thus far. Armed with torpedoes and a machine gun, can you destroy the Bismarck with a well-aimed torpedo and turn the tide of WW2 in the Allies' favour? Find out is this flight simulation and strategy game. How you complete the task is largely up to you. You will need to deal with the plane's instruments, to take off, and plan which areas of the sky you patrol in the search for the Bismarck. There are four distinct instrument panels to control engineer, navigator and gunner functions as well as the main flight controls. Statistics on how much of each enemy's fleet you destroy are kept.
Screenshots
Full Demo 239kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 345kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Echelon Access Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Echelon is a vector-based space combat simulator with wire-frame graphics. Fly around an alien planet, looking for clues to a "mysterious event" in the planet's past. The game has a feature that allows people to play without concerning themselves with battle, or turn off the "exploration" and concentrate solely on combat. It includes a lot of nifty gadgets you can use, including a teleporter for transporting stuff you collect back to your base, and RPV for exploring the planet's surface by remote control, and even a hyperdrive to hop around the planet. The aim is to gather enough information which will help you piece together six alien maps and decipher the alien code which holds the information about their base. The code reveals details about six manoeuvres that you must perform in a specific order to beat the game.
Videos
Full Demo 556kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Floppy Images ISO Demo 477kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Elite Realtime Games Software Ltd. / Firebird Licensees Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 Elite is a free-form space trading and combat simulation, commonly considered the progenitor of this sub-genre. It was one of the first home computer games to use wire-frame 3D graphics with hidden line removal. The player initially controls a character referred to as "Commander Jameson", starting at Lave Station with 100 credits and a lightly armed trading ship called Cobra Mark III. Most of the game consists of traveling to various star systems, trading with their inhabitants, gaining money and reputation. Money can also be gained by other means beside trading; these include undertaking military missions, bounty hunting, asteroid mining, and even piracy. As the player character earns money, he becomes able to upgrade his ships with enhancements such as better weapons, shields, increased cargo capacity, an automated docking system, etc. The game utilizes pseudo-3D wire-frame graphics; its world is viewed from a first-person perspective. It has no overarching story, though a race known as Thargoids play the role of antagonists: their ships will often attack the player-controlled ship, forcing the player to engage in space combat. Combat is action-oriented, taking place in the same environment as the exploration. The player must use various weapons the ship is equipped with, as well as manoeuvre the ship, trying to dodge enemy attacks. The player can also choose to attack neutral ships; doing so will decrease the protagonist's reputation, eventually attracting the attention of the galactic police. Elite is notable for its expansive game world, consisting of eight galaxies and 256 planets. The player is free to travel to any of these planets, provided his ship has enough fuel for the trip (the ship's fuel capacity is limited for a journey to the distance of seven light years). Two versions were supplied with the DOS release, Shaded and Line Drawn. Unless your machine is powerful (6MHz 80286 or greater) shaded version will not run very quickly and you should select the line drawn version. The package came with a novella about how your father sacrificed himself and saved you by dumping you in the lone escape pod in the ship, and how you managed to "acquire" this ship that you are driving at the beginning of the game. In 2000, the game was made freeware.

See also: #Elite Plus

Screenshots
Full Demo + Manual + Novella 97kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Infos
Freeware Game 49kb (uploaded by Ian Bell's Home Page)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 53kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Enterprise Industrial Concepts & Design / Melbourne House Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 A space simulation game similar to 'Elite' but rather budget. Having stolen a small space ship, we are to roam the galaxy by visiting planets, talking with aliens and trading minerals. Activities include steering the ship, managing the cargo, checking damage reports and communicating with space life forms via text parser.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 51kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


F-15 Strike Eagle MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1985 This first in the popular air combat series was designed by Sid Meier. The seven missions featured in this simulation of F-15 flight are all real-life missions the plane was originally used in. They take in the Middle East and Asia in the 1970s and early 1980s, and have air and ground targets to destroy. You have machine guns, guided missiles and bombs at your disposal. There is an arcade mode and 3 further difficulty levels. The game features 3 enemy aircraft and 3 types of enemy SAMs. It is one of the few games to support EGA's nearly-unknown 160x200x16 mode.
Screenshots
Full Demo 18kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basetta & uploaded by Scaryfun) 84kb


F-15 Strike Eagle II MPS Labs / MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The second in the series features campaigns in Lybia, the Persian Gulf, The Middle East and Vietnam, making for a total of 250,000 miles of potential action and danger. Primary and secondary aerial and ground-based targets must be destroyed on each of these. You are armed with a cannon, AMRAAM long-range air-to-air missile, Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile, and the Maverick air-to-ground missile. 11 camera angles including internal and external views of the plane exist. To help new players there is a training mode, with options to disable crashes and automate take-off and landing. Enemy AI is responsive, but a targeting computer helps you take them out before they can do it to you. The game incorporates two "Director's Modes" which cuts away from your cockpit to highlight special events occurring elsewhere in the game world, like enemy base launching fighters, SAM sites launching SAMs, and your missiles hitting the target.

See also: #Operation Desert Storm Scenario Disk

Screenshots
Full Demo 566kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Deluxe Edition - Full Demo (contains Operation Desert Storm Scenario Disk) 2MB (uploaded by old-games.com)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 335kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


F-16 Combat Pilot Digital Integration Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 True to the aircraft's flexibility, you pilot the F-16 in assignments as diverse as dogfights, bombing raids or reconnaissance missions. It is up to you to plan your flight route by setting waypoints on the tactical map prior to take-off; you can also (but need not) select the armament of your plane. When you have accumulated enough flight experience, you may command entire squadrons in the fictional Operation Conquest campaign, a simple simulation of an entire war theater that already hinted at what would later become DI’s Virtual Battlefield. It allows multiplayer duels via modem or serial link. It is considered as one of the first combat flight simulators to have a dynamic campaign environment. While the graphics, scenery and audio are quite sparse and basic, the instruments and flight dynamics of a F-16C Fighting Falcon are fully featured and modeled. Outstanding campaign and training mode first seen in this game would become DI's hallmark. As you progress through the game, you will be assigned to different squadrons, each based in a different location. You can pick what mission to fly from a number of available mission types: Scramble (dogfight), Hammerblow (ground attack on military targets), Deepstrike (ground attack on bridges, factories etc.), Tankbuster (anti-tank), and Watchtower (reconnaissance).
Infos
Full Demo 283kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo + Scans 26MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos


F-19 Stealth Fighter MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Rule the night! Take the pride of American Stealth technology and take on the best the Warsaw pact technology can offer! Dodge between radars, sneak under enemy fighters, and take out your primary objectives and secondary objectives with your limited weapons onboard, then make your way home. Can you survive all the way to general and win the Congressional Medal of Honor? This is based around Sid Meier's closest estimate of the stealth fighter based on the data available at the time. You get full 3D graphics, 3D enemies, random objectives and enemy dispositions (so each mission will be different), dynamic radar effectiveness that depends on your position and radar cross section, enemies that search you out if you do "tickle" their defenses, even civilian aircrafts in the air, and ability to play in cold war, moderate war, or all-out war, with very different rules of engagement.
Screenshots
included in Software Toolworks Game Pack 3 - Floppy Images ISO Demo (with Jack Nicklaus' Unlimited Golf and Course Design, Road & Track Presents Grand Prix Unlimited, Gin King/Cribbage King, Life & Death) 3MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Reviews
Floppy Image ISO Demo 504kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 526kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Full Demo 1.2MB (uploaded by Abandonia)
included in The Software Toolworks Game Pack 3 - Floppy Images ISO Demo 3MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Falcon Sphere, Inc. / Spectrum Holobyte, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 The long Falcon simulation legacy of hardcore simulations of the F-16 fighter plane begins here. The plane's electronic displays and radars are simulated fully, with 4 styles of HUD. Not only can your plane barrel-roll and scissor, the enemy planes can too, with Artificial Intelligence recreating the moves of a real pilot. You have the choice of flying one of 12 missions - with awards for flying missions at higher skill levels. It has different ground attack and air-to-air weapons, although these were also limited by several factors. For dogfighting, AIM-9J missiles were not as reliable as newer AIM-9L missiles - and were useless for head-on attack - but were typically the only missiles available. Because they were guided, AGM-65 missiles were easier to use than "iron dumb bombs" like the Mk 84, but ineffective against strengthened targets. An ECM pod provides defense against enemy missiles, but occupies an external hardpoint that could be used for additional weapons or fuel. The enemy occupied the western areas of the game's playable map - itself a large square divided into 9 smaller squares. Enemy targets were fixed sites on the ground. For defense, the unnamed enemy was limited to MiG-21 interceptors, and ground-launched missiles - either the SA-2, which was launched from identified and fixed sites on the ground, or SA-7 missiles, which could be fired from portable launchers, and could therefore appear anywhere. This was one of the earliest games to offer head-to-head play by linking two machines. It comes with a massive manual, detailing all those functions. Originally on MSX in 1984 and Mac in 1987, it used bitmapped 3D MiG-21s as adversaries, several years before Origin's Wing Commander used a similar graphics engine. It was ported for the PC, but no longer used bitmapped graphics; instead, the adversaries were displayed using primitive polygon graphics.
Screenshots
Full Demo 112kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Image ISO Demo v1.0 (VFD format) 720kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos
included in Falcon Collection - GOG ISO Demo v2.0.0.1 870MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (img + Kryoflux) 376kb+14.9MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Falcon A.T. Sphere, Inc. / Spectrum Holobyte, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 A vastly improved version of the widely popular game Falcon, with high-res EGA graphics, better mission planning, and a head to head mode. It was one of the first flight sims to use EGA graphics. In comparison to the older game, this version allows external viewing of the player aircraft, enables a "head-to-head" multiplayer mode, and includes the MiG-29 as an adversary.
Screenshots
Full Demo 316kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 333kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Floppy Images ISO Demo + Scans 3.7MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
included in Falcon Collection - GOG ISO Demo v2.0.0.1 870MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
included in Fly & Drive Spectacular - ISO Demo 7.2MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Galactic Conqueror Titus France SA / Titus Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 As rebel forces close in on the space station Gallion, you launch strikes against enemy-controlled planets in the most sophisticated techno-toy available to mankind, the space fighter Thunder Cloud II. The game is a blend of action sequences in an Afterburner-esque pseudo-3D view. These sequences vary between ground combat, aerial combat and space combat, with different motion physics and enemy craft. There is also a strategic battle choices on a galactic map invaded in real-time. The PC version uses speaker tweaks to recreate the game's tune on theoretically-inferior hardware.
Screenshots
Full Demo 206kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Gunship MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1986 Gunship depicts one of the Western world's finest attack helicopters: The AH-64A Apache. This simulation recreates the weapons, flight systems, and performance of the real machine. The player controls an arsenal that includes laser-guided Hellfire missiles, a 30mm cannon controlled by helmet gunsights, clusters of bombardment rockets--even air-to-air missiles for duels with enemy helicopters. The game starts with flight training at a base in the United States. Tutorials teach the player to handle the copter; once the controls and flying skills are mastered, there are escalating challenges and hundreds of missions in any one of four regions of the world, including Southeast Asia, Central America, the Middle East, and the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies in Western Europe.
Infos
Full Demo 323kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots
included in Hits for Six: Volume Three - ISO Demo 16MB (uploaded by Egon68)
Reviews
Floppy Images ISO Demo 219kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos


Harrier 7 / Operation Hormuz Tiger Developments Ltd. / Avantage Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 Straits of Hormuz. Persian Gulf. Enemy forces have captured seven key military bases, cutting off the major oil supplies of the free world. It's up to you to respond. You fly a McDonnell Douglas VTOL BA Harrier, and your mission is to destroy all seven bases without losing your carrier. Your opposition are MiG 21 Fighters. One if by land - Dive-bomb a rocket base. Dodge enemy guns and MiG 21 fighters as you swoop low over missile silos and barracks to unload your explosive cargo. Nothing like a quick, destructive bombing sortie before breakfast. Two if by sea - Rendezvous with your carrier in hostile waters. Hover, land for repairs, and resupply your four weapons systems and courage. Only six more bases to go. Your mother said there'd be days like this. Three is by furious air combat. Three is by furious air combat - Check your radar for enemy MiGs and engage. Drop flares to distract heat-seeking air-to-air missiles, then counter-attack with your own. Be sure to shoot down every low-flying Exocet- or your carrier is history.
Screenshots
Full Demo 70kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Harrier Combat Simulator Mirrorsoft Ltd. / Mindscape, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 A newer version of High Roller, you take control of a Harrier jet in this early flight sim. Includes many realistic options such as V/STOLs, VIFF, heat-seeking missiles, friend-or-foe radar, and Mach 1+ speeds. Pilot a Harrier over Grenada in '84, avoiding SAMs, enemy planes, and battalions of tanks. The game simply boasts better graphics but leaves all the problems intact from the previous game. The graphical environment is very restrictive (the "edge of the world" is incredibly close-just try to fly straight for 4-5 minutes or so), and the control mechanics are very clumsy, requiring you to memorize a lot of keystrokes. Aerodynamics laws are all but absent-and the relatively old age isn't even a good excuse given how reasonably realistic early sims like Falcon and F-15 Strike Eagle are.
Screenshots
Full Demo 271kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Heavy Metal Access Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This multi-genre military action game puts player in the seat of tactical commander of mechanized forces. Starting as Cadet, you'll raise your career from the rookie, when you should perform actions by yourself in different vehicles, to the ultimate elite, when you should act as a Tactical genius. There are three kinds of combat simulations: MBT (main battle tank M1A1 Abrams), where in first-person view you should sit in tank's cockpit, command your gunner and driver, and eliminate surrounding enemies; FAV (fast attack vehicle XR311), where in third-person view you should drive your vehicle in desert, shoot scattered obstacles and enemy helicopters, and avoid the bombs dropped from the skies; ADAT (air defense anti-tank M1132A), where in first-person view you should shoot air and ground enemies, surrounding your statical position. Performing useful actions in each mode, you'll gain points, and gathering 5,000 points in each mode will give you a seat of Tactical Commander. Here you'll be able to continue your actions on the field, or perform some tactical moves using the map, which is very similar to the territory, including and surrounding Western Germany.
Screenshots
Full Demo 252kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Full Demo 480kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Hellcat Ace MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 A classic 1st person flight simulation similar to Ace of Aces. In several missions you have to shoot down Japanese fighters and bombers. Through the front cockpit window you can see the sky and the ocean. Below the cockpit view is the instrument panel with engine power, altitude, fuel and your ammunition-counter. Through the rear window you can see the enemies on your tail. Sid Meier made the game to have better artificial intelligence than the rudimentary AI for fighter planes in early combat sims.
Screenshots
Full Demo 25kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Reviews
Floppy Image ISO Demo 24kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos


Hunt for Red October, The Oxford Digital Enterprises Ltd. / Argus Press Software Ltd. [top]

In this adaptation of Tom Clancy's popular novel, you play the part of Captain Marko Ramius attempting to defect to the US. Once into the Atlantic, you must rendezvous with the US Navy and fake the destruction of the Red October. Your crew is not aware of the defection -- but the Soviet Navy is, and will try to stop you at any cost.
Screenshots
Full Demo 165kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Floppy Image ISO Demo 99kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Infiltrator Chris Gray Enterprises Inc. / Mindscape, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a combination of first-person helicopter simulator and isometric third-person espionage action. You, as Johnny McGibbitts, ace pilot and neurosurgeon, were given a mission against the "Mad Leader". You have to fly in helicopter behind enemy lines and make a diversion there. You can fool the choppers into believing that you are a one of bad guys, and also you can show false documents to guards in enemy camp. If they aren't fooled then you can use spray of sleeping gas or even a grenade. There are many houses in the camp, which have many rooms containing useful items, but you won't be able to get them all because of the time limit for the operation.
Screenshots
Full Demo 95kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
 1  2 
Floppy Images ISO Demo 106kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Infiltrator II Chris Gray Enterprises Inc. / Mindscape, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Jimbo McGibbets is back in the sequel to the original. You play a soldier on a mission to infiltrate the enemy's compound and spy on them. The game is broken up in to two parts: Walking around in the enemy camp, or flying missions in your advanced attack helicopter. You can enter enemy huts in the compound and retrieve weapons and information. Use gas grenades on the guards to give yourself time to search rooms. Flying your attack chopper presents you with a view out the cockpit and control panel. You will be attacked by numerous airplanes and can attack ground defense systems too.
Screenshots
Full Demo 114kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo + No-Disk Crack by RhymeKidder 120kb (uploaded by Molitor)


Jet subLOGIC [top]

Release Date: 1985 Based on subLOGIC's classic Flight Simulator. Choose either an F-16 Fighting Falcon for land missions or an F-18 Hornet for missions starting at sea from an aircraft carrier. You can practice flying and aerobatics in "free flight" mode, dogfight against Soviet MiGs, launch strikes against land or sea based targets, watch a demo, or load a subLOGIC scenery disk. For either combat mode, you get to select which missiles and bombs your plane will have. Most of the indicators a real jet fighter would have are present: altimeter, heading, frame loading, gear status, brake status, fuel level, radar, attitude, and range. You can turn a few of these on and off. Controls consist of either the joystick or numeric keypad for steering and other keys to handle your optional indicators, landing gear, weapons, and even the eject button! Lastly, if you want a different perspective, you can get a view from the control tower instead of your cockpit.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 66kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


JetFighter: The Adventure Velocity Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Fly the F/A-18, F-16, and F-14 in a hypothetical invasion of the U.S. west coast by the Soviet Union. Missions range from combat air patrols to bombing runs to intercepting cruise missiles. Plus, carrier launches and landings are also possible. Graphics include a detailed model of San Francisco - the Golden Gate Bridge, Transamerica tower/pyramid, and more are all represented. This game is effectively an enhanced version of F/A-18 Interceptor from the Amiga (same setting, programmers etc) with extra missions and the addition of the F-14.
Screenshots
Full Demo 279kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 337kb (uploaded by Molitor)


Jump Jet / Harrier Mission Anco Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1987 Is anyone better placed to write a simulation of a Jump Jet than someone who flies them for a living? With any luck, no - Vaughan Dow is behind this attempt at an accurate recreation of his day job. You can take on one of four statuses, from Flight Lieutenant right up to Group Captain, with a practice mode also included. You must use guidance missiles and close-range guns, while paying attention to your fuel level, and the wind on higher difficulties.
Screenshots
 1  2 
Floppy Images ISO Demo 148kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Full Demo 160kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Lock-On Tatsumi Electronics Co., Ltd. / Data East USA, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 You are a fighter pilot going through wave after wave of enemies from a 1st Person Perspective. You control a gun-sight and you try to shoot as many planes and ground defences while you fly through the air. Your sights will automatically Lock-On to a target and you can fire a missile to hit them. It's one of the few Quicksilver arcade conversions that were not released on the console systems, making it one of the least known Data East games in existence. That is perhaps for the best, though, as the game is just an average arcade flight simulator without much to distinguish it from other shoot-em-ups. Shoot down waves after waves of enemies while evading their fire. Despite the game's pretense at being a flight "sim" by including authentic-looking gauges and radar, flight sim fans will frown on the game's total disregard of aerodynamics principles. Overall, a mindless first-person shooter that might be fun for a while.
Screenshots
Full Demo 716kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 296kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


M1 Tank Platoon MPS Labs / MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 A very encompassing game that allowed players to issue orders to Tanks, AA units, Aircraft, Artillery and Infantry in a campaign against Warsaw Pact units in Europe, while specifically controlling a platoon of 4 M1 tanks. The player could jump into the position of the driver, gunner or commander of any of the tanks to view the world from a 1st person perspective, or work from a tactical map to command all his forces. Characters in the M1 platoon actually increased in skill as they survived battles. Sometimes additional forces will be assigned to you, anything from infantry (Bradley IFVs and M-113 APCs) and missile carriers (ITV-improved TOW vehicle) to A-10 or helicopter support. Sometimes you may even see some M-60 tanks assigned to you! Artillery is also available on call depending on what's available (HE, smoke, etc.).
Screenshots
Full Demo 828kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 752kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


MechWarrior Dynamix, Inc. / Activision, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 You are the rightful heir to Ander's Moon, but someone has conspired to kill your father while framing you. You have a good idea as to who is involved; now you just need to prove it. But, to do that, you'll need some firepower on your side and you only have five years to gather it and collect your proof. MechWarrior is a real-time 3D giant robot combat simulation that incorporates some RPG elements, all set in the Battletech board strategy game universe. Starting with a beaten up light mech and a small wad of cash, players must slowly build up a stable of hired mech pilots and purchased mechs while following the clues that lead to the unraveling of the conspiracy. The known universe is composed of many planets, each controlled by one of five great houses. Players may travel to any of these planets and take out mercenary contracts from the ruling house to make some money. Between mercenary missions, players can visit local bars for gossip or check out news reports for information. They can also repair or refit mechs, as well as purchase new mechs or hire new pilots if available. Most planets have contract agents waiting to hand out mercenary contracts. These contracts range from simple garrison defenses to more complex multi-mission search and destroy patrols. Players can negotiate on the contract's payoff and percentage of salvage they get, as well as the up front payment before accepting a contract.
Screenshots
Full Demo 1014kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 1327kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Reviews
included in PowerHits: BattleTech - ISO Demo 212MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Mousejet Michael Widener / HyperGraphics [top]

Release Date: 1989 You are the pilot of MouseJet, the U.S. Air Force's deadliest fighter aircraft. Intelligence sources report a squadron of 16 enemy MIGs in your airspace. Don't worry about finding them... they'll find you. Do, however, be sure to shoot them down before they blow you out of the sky.
Videos
Shareware Level Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 65kb


PHM Pegasus Lucasfilm Games LLC / Electronic Arts, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a combination simulation and action game. You control a naval hydrofoil missile boat, and need to complete a variety of different missions. Some of the missions include destroying all enemy vessels in a given area, surveillance requiring you to identify the location of enemy ships (without sinking them!), or to escort a supply ship through hostile territory. As missions are successfully completed you earn points based on how successful the mission was, and with increasing points you can advance in rank, from deck mopper up to admiral. Your performance on one mission won't have an affect on future ones, and you can choose to play missions out of order as well. Several missions include other craft you can control to help out (both ships and helicopters). A time compression mode is included, which can be used to reduce the amount of time waiting to arrive at a destination, or even left on to make the action sequences more challenging.
Screenshots
Full Demo 134kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo + Scans 3.6MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Prowler Icon Design Ltd. / Mastertronic, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 Go deep into space, to Ursa Minor Delta-V, where the Peradusins are on the attack (companies were starting to run out of subtle ways to re-identify Russia; perhaps it's a good job they weren't 'the enemy' for much longer). Fortunately you have at your disposal a Northall Q15 helicopter-jet hybrid, with advanced weaponry, a zoomable radar and strong shields. Rescue on Fractalus is a good guide to what to expect - the action is first-person and depicted in 3D, with hovercrafts and aircraft among your potential targets. There are various game modes including air and ground combat of varying intensity levels, as well as 5 skill levels and full training modes, as well as ten set-piece scenarios.The tactical screen must be used to pick out troublesome sectors and launch advance attacks on them.
Screenshots
Full Demo 57kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 63kb


Psi 5 Trading Co. Accolade Inc. / Ziggurat [top]

Release Date: 1986 Psi-5 Trading company puts the player in command of a space freighter crewed by a host of quirky aliens. The player must pilot the ship through pirate-infested space and needs to decide whether to fight off or attempt to evade the space robbers. Time is short and commands must be timely and prudent as numerous emergencies crop up as the ship is attacked and systems fail or are destroyed. The player is challenged to get the precious cargo to its destination.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 91kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos


Quantoids of Nebulus IV Kludgeware [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a space shooter that sends you on the hunt for loathsome, space-faring business school graduates. The repellent MBAs have ruined the Earth's economies with their myopic quantitative concepts, and now they're rampaging through the galaxy spreading the plague to other planets! To save known space from the destructive practices of these foul Quantoids, you set off into the void with your twin cannons to pursue and exterminate. Representing the antithesis of business-school logic, your shipboard computer is (of course) guided by intuition and can be commanded to automatically seek out enemy vessels. As you close in for the kill, you can adjust your cruising speed to better home in on the hostile ships. These are crewed by graduates from different schools, in order of prestige (or obnoxiousness), so that your cash prizes keep growing... but each missed shot deducts 2% off your profits (represented by a Net Present Value). All of this is true for the shareware release; the game assures us that tailor-made versions can be ordered, with the text altered as you see fit, so that other groups can become the collective targets of your ire.
Screenshots
Full Demo 76kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


S.D.I. Master Designer Software Inc. / Cinemaware Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1987 This takes place in the year 2017 of an alternate timeline, in which the Soviet Union continued to exist and pose a threat to the countries of the free world. USA launched another Strategic Defense Initiative, its commander-in-chief being General Sloan McCormick. A Soviet extremist group consisting of KGB members has gained control of space launch facilities, and began firing nuclear missiles at America. McCormick must fulfill his duty, but his heart belongs to a woman who is on the opposing side. He controls a space-based fighter, trying to neutralize enemy missiles. Defense satellites must be repaired as well, and enemy bases infiltrated in order to rescue his beloved one and save his nation and the world.
Screenshots
Full Demo 149kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Sherman M4 Loriciels [top]

Release Date: 1989 Sherman M4 is a 3D tank simulator. It is set in World War II and includes 3 campaigns; Normandy, Ardennes and Desert. You have up to four M4s, two jeeps and artillery support to complete each mission. The Germans have four different kinds of tanks, bunkers etc. Objectives include destroying bridges, capturing towns, rescuing jeeps and destroying convoys. You can drive one tank at a time and give the others movement orders on a map. They will automatically attack enemies they encounter. The map is also used for moving jeeps and calling artillery strikes. Your tanks can be repaired, refueled and rearmed if you capture hangers in some missions. Before each mission you can alter several realism options as well as the enemy moral, experience and commander. It has fairly decent solid-filled 3D graphics.
Screenshots
Full Demo 233kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
French Floppy Images ISO Demo 2MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Images ISO Demo & scans 3MB (uploaded by Egon68)
Action Replay budget release - ISO Demo 11MB (uploaded by Egon68)


Silent Service MicroProse Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1985 You are now a member of the Silent Service, the US Navy Submarine command. For a long while after Pearl Harbor, you are the only forces capable of striking back at the Japanese in the Pacific. Take one of the "fleet boats" and go on extended patrols of up to 2 months from Hawaii, Australia, or New Zealand. Set your difficulty/realism level and time period (early means less tech for juicier targets, later means tougher escorts, more tech, lousier targets). Contend with factors like dud torpedoes, maximum depth, and more. You can choose among practice run against some old hulks, recreate historical convoy attacks, go on a single patrol, or go on your own campaign, which lets you go multiple patrols until you die, get promoted, or survive the war. How well will you do when matched against history?
Screenshots
Full Demo 62kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 54kbf (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict Dynamix, Inc. / Electronic Arts, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Pilot a starfighter on a variety of missions, from locating lost artifacts to destroying the enemy, in this early 1st-person space combat simulator. It marks one of the earliest and few collaborative efforts between Dynamix's two founding designers, Damon Slye and Jeff Tunnell - long before they became household names in the simulation and adventure genres respectively. Sequel to 1984's Skyfox that was unfortunately never released for the PC, Skyfox II is an excellent space combat shooter, with many different missions and detailed bitmap graphics that was advanced for its time. The gameplay is fast, fun, and surprisingly varied. You will pilot a starfighter on a variety of missions, from locating lost artifacts to destroying the enemy. The enemy ships - Xenomorph fighters in particular - are a far cry from dummy ships of most early shooters: they will dodge your fire, gang up on you, and are deadly accurate with their attack. True to Damon Slye's reputation, it also features some simulation and strategy elements - you can plan your attack, set a course on the overview map, and use autopilot mode. You also have to refuel once in a while, and this naturally puts you in a vulnerable position as enemy ships are always around. Overall, it's a highly entertaining shooter that is much more than a simple arcade-style shoot-em-up. Perfect for fans of space simulations who want some arcade fun, and arcade fans who want something a bit more complex than Space Invaders.
Screenshots
Full Demo 178kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Space Rogue ORIGIN Systems, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The Princess Blue was a trading vessel. While cruising through space, it happened upon a derelict ship floating in space. Only one crew member was allowed to investigate the abandoned ship. Suddenly, Manchi raiders appeared on the viewscreen. The Manchi managed to ambush and destroy the Princess Blue. The only surviving crew member from the Princess Blue swears revenge and is determined to do everything in his power to defeat the Manchi. This is a hybrid game that combines space flight and combat simulation with trading and RPG elements such as interaction with characters and a quest-based structure with a main plot line. Space flight takes place in two different modes: Cruise Flight, which is ideal for travelling quickly, and Newtonian Flight, which works best for combat and precision flying. There are also three different camera views for the 3D exploration and combat. Each planetary system has a variety of destinations and obstacles to travel through via a top-down navigational map. Traveling to an outpost, a space station, or any other location with the star system can be done simply by selecting it and charting a course, or in real-time 3D flight mode. Interstellar travel between systems, is done by finding a Malir Gate and using it to reach hyperspace. While in hyperspace, the game becomes a simple 'tunnel' game where the player must manually control the ship not to hit any of the walls. Also hyperspace travel eats away at the ship, so the faster the player can get through them, the more armor the ship retains. While traveling in space the ship may get attacked, or the player may opt to assault any other ships first. It is also possible to buy and sell various goods, earning money and spending it on outfitting the ship with weapons and various upgrades, such as for example a device that allows it to move more stealthily through space and avoid detection by hostiles. The player character has a reputation rating with various factions such as the Imperium, the pirates, and others. This rating is affected by the player's actions towards them and can be raised or lowered by helping specific factions fight others. When docked at outposts or stations, the view shifts to top-down, and the player navigates the protagonist through the location in an adventure or RPG-like fashion, examining objects and talking to characters. Conversations may have multiple choices, and a few instances require the player to type in keywords, though for the most parts responses are selected from a menu. The game has a main plot line that requires finding, talking, and performing tasks for characters, as well as sub-quests that may result in various rewards such as money or ship upgrades.
Screenshots
Full Demo 283kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Videos


Space Station Oblivion / Driller Incentive Software Ltd. / Epyx, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 A 3D strategy / action game featuring scaling and rotating polygon graphics. You're the sole voyager happening upon an abandoned space station that's ready to explode from the pressure of dangerous vapors building up inside. For each sector, you must locate the build-up area, then drill to release the pressure. There are 2 different vehicles you can drive in, and a plethora of switches to push, lifts to activate, and other vehicles to dock with. Features 18 different areas to explore, each with its own unique laws of physics and logic, and a number of secret rooms and hidden levels to discover. It was the first game to use the Freescape engine, which allowed the production of full three-dimensional environments using filled polygons in which the player could move around freely. It also gave the player the ability to look up and down, as well as rotate left and right, something which was rare amongst 3D games of the time. The same engine was used for its sequel, Dark Side.
Screenshots
Driller Full Demo 125kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Space Station Oblivion - Full Demo 97kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Included in Virtual Worlds: The 3D Game Collection (1991) (3x 720kB) Floppy Image (uploaded by Molitor) plus Castle Master, Castle Master 2, Total Eclipse
Floppy Image ISO Demo 55kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
EU / Kixx release - Floppy Image ISO Demo 55kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Spitfire Ace MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 This was one of the first video games designed and programmed by Sid Meier and was ported to DOS by R. Donald Awalt. The game puts the player in the pilot's seat during World War II. The player defends London during The Blitz while flying the Supermarine Spitfire. The game offers 15 different scenarios that include France, Malta and D-Day.
Screenshots
Full Demo 26kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 21kb


Star Fleet I: The War Begins Cygnus [top]

Release Date: 1985 The player is a cadet fresh out of Starfleet Academy and has been assigned to command the United Galactic Alliance Starship (U.G.A.S.) Republic, a training ship in the Antares III region. The United Galactic Alliance is currently at war with Krellan and Zaldron empires and it is the player's mission to protect the region. The graphics of the PC version of game are represented by American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) character codes. Everything from the starship, the mainframe, to torpedoes are all in ASCII. For the newly graduated cadet, missions (as explained in the mission briefing) usually consist of destroying a small number of enemy ships under a specified amount of time e.g. You must eliminate at least 24 enemy warships within 30 days. Higher ranks will demand more kills with less time requirements. When the target is reached, the player may enter a starbase and prompt to end the mission or continue and destroy more ships to reap a higher mission rating, until the mission time runs out. After successfully completing a mission, the mission success is rated: number of enemies destroyed, captured, starbases rescued, etc. The player will then then be considered for commendation for a medal or even a promotion. The U.G.A.S. - The entirety of the game is represented by a sci-fi representation of the starship's computer display. The main screen consists of commands, the star chart, the tactical display (which consists of among others a local map of the ships position as well as any entities in the area), and shield control. Other sections/information of the starship maybe accessed through the appropriate buttons on the bottom screen. Navigation may be conducted automatically or manually. Standard navigation via the navigation computer is conducted by accessing the main computer and setting out a course. Higher levels may result in random events during navigation (such as ion storms, running into asteroids, or even enemy ships). Each map is randomly generated and also uncharted. Each quadrant is represented by numbers, where each number refers to: stars, starbases and number of enemy ships. The starship is also equipped with long ranged sensors to view adjacent quadrants an well as short ranged sensors to view the current surroundings. For even further exploration, the starship also has probes to scan far-away quadrants. Entities in a combat situation may consist of the following: the player's starship., enemy Krellan warship (max 5 per quadrant), enemy cloaked Zaldron warships (usually one per quadrant), and an allied starbase. Combat initiates when the player's starship enters a hostile quadrant (portrayed by a red number on the main map), usually patrolled by a minimum of 1 Krellan warship. Red Alert is automatically set (unless configured otherwise) resulting the rising of shields and direct attack by enemy warships. Enemy warships are either Krellan starships or the Zaldron cloaked warships, both capable of phaser weaponry. The Krellans use multiple ships to overpower the player, while the Zaldron use hit and run tactics while remaining cloaked (invisible on the both map screens). Combat commences by eliminating all hostiles in the present quadrant (destroying them) or by capturing those ships (and optionally delivering them to a starbase). The ship's main weapons arsenal consists of a phasers, torpedoes, and mines. Torpedoes are reserved for direct destruction of enemy vessels. Phasers are usually reserved for the intent of disabling an enemy vessel for capturing purposes. Mines are used to damage enemy warships that may prove too maneuverable for phasers and torpedoes to hit.In some cases, a friendly starbase may come under attack while the player is patrolling the region. The player may opt to rescue the starbase before it is destroyed. Capturing enemy vessels may only be conducted when the enemy warship is disabled (by phasers or other means). Space marines then must board the adjacent disabled warship and automatic combat occurs between the space marines and the enemy crew. If successful, the enemy ship will be captured as well as some power reserves and enemy prisoners. Be warned that enemy prisoners or enemy spies may board the player's ship and damage the ships systems (indicated by an intruder alert). The enemy ship(s) may then be towed to be transported to a starbase.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 160kb
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 109kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Star Fleet II: Krellan Commander Interstel Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1989 Sequel to Star Fleet I: The Battle Begins, this time you have been accepted as an Altern (UGA equivalent for Cadet) in the Krellan Empire. Build a successful military career as Krellan commander completing all missions given to you by the Krellan Fleet HQ against the United Galactic Alliance (UGA) and climb the military ladder to finally reach the rank of Admiral. This is a 2D starship simulation and strategy game using ASCII graphics which involves intergalactic reconnaissance, starship battles, diplomatic tactics, and planetary invasion, comprised in specific tasks given to you for each mission. Unlike Star Fleet I: The Battle Begins, the time flow of this game is not turn-based, the universe "moves" when your ship moves, while on other occasions, it is real-time. Playing consists of issuing commands for your starship, may it be for navigational or combat orders among others. Issuing commands is done by pressing a specific letter on the various display screens which issue a certain command. The purpose of the game is to successfully complete an assigned mission, while doing so you may also further increase the “ratings” of your missions by carrying out independent reconnaissance, battles and other “mini missions” identifiable within the game. Gameplay elements of the game may be identified as the following: Space: The Final Frontier - Each mission is designated in a random area of space within the borders UGA territory. This regional space is approximately 35 light years wide and 15 light years deep [note: light years is a measurement of distance, not time], or known as “sectors” in Star Fleet 1. Within this regional space, there are solar systems with planets, black holes, ion storms in addition to friendly and enemy ships and establishments. Planets within a solar system may be orbited by your ship. A landing party may also be sent down for a survey or establish a base to further supply routes. If a planet contains intellectual life forms, diplomacy may be carried out (if the civilization fulfills certain requirements) to bring them under the Empire, or simply send in shock troops to capture slaves...before or after you bombard them. Intergalactice Combat - Combat comes into 2 different forms: the first is combat between ships and starbases, the second is planetary invasions. Starship battles occur when an enemy ship (or starbase) is detectable in normal space or in orbit. When combat issues (or while in orbit), the gameplay changes from turned-based to real-time. Ships may then commence with firing torpedoes and phasors. If a ship’s shield is down, the opposing ship may send in a boarding party to commence a hit-and-run tactic, capture the ship, or slaughter the lot. Capturing ships will enable you to detain prisoners, including the captured ship itself (if delivered to a Krellan Starfort), significantly increasing your mission ratings. Planetary invasions consist of bombarding the planet with phasors and torpedoes (optional) to weaken its defenses and later sending in legions down to the planet to capture it. Planetary invasions may only be conducted in planets with intelligent life forms. Another option is to totally obliterate the planet, using obliterator pods...turning the planet into a dust of asteroids.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 667kb
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 579kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Star Lord Softbook [top]

Release Date: 1987 This puts you in command of a space shuttle, which is brimful with all sorts of lasers and other space weaponry. Your goal is to destroy all the enemies that roam about, while trying to survive. You command the ship from inside the cockpit and you have a number of enemies to destroy assigned to you each level, and a shields indicators, a number of missiles and a speed boosting meter, which is great when you're under attack and want to get some distance from your followers. The game is thus a fun one, truly remarkable in that it is very lively and direct. It controls easily via mouse and keyboard, but if you have a gamepad or joystick, it truly gets much easier to steer, controls and play.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 61kb
Videos


Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator Sega Electronics Inc. / SEGA Enterprises Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is an arcade action game where you take control of the Starship Enterprise. Your mission is to save the Federation from NOMAD! Before you get a chance at destroying NOMAD, you'll have to battle your way through ten levels (each consisting of multiple rounds). In each round you may encounter Klingon fighters, deadly anti-matter saucers, asteroid fields, and deadly meteors, all of which are capable of depleting the Enterprises energy. The game ends when your energy supply has completely run out. To fight these dangers, the Enterprise is equipped with an unlimited supply of phasers and a limited supply of photon torpedoes. Each round also contains one or more starbases; if you dock at a starbase, some of your supplies (such as energy and torpedoes) will be replenished. The game is played from two points of view; the top of the screen contains a third person view of the Enterprise (along with the ships gauges), and on the bottom of the screen is a first person point of view.
Screenshots
Full Demo 18kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Star Wars Atari Games Corporation / Brøderbund Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a first-person rail shooter based around the final scenes of the original Star Wars film. It first appeared for arcade coin-operated machines in 1983 and was subsequently converted to other gaming platforms. You take on the role of Luke Skywalker, aiming to destroy the Death Star. In the first phase you have to pass swarms of TIE Fighters, including dogfighting the one piloted by Darth Vader himself. In the second phase the station's surface is protected by laser towers, third involves attacking its weakest spot - the unprotected exhaust port - with proton torpedos. Your X-Wing starts with six shields, but more can be awarded for good performance. Complete the game and it loops back around at ever-increasing difficulty. The game uses vector graphics, which allow lots of action at high speed on comparatively slow systems.

See also: #Star Wars Remake

Screenshots
Full Demo 43kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 68kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos
No-disk crack (provided by basetta & uploaded by Scaryfun) 38kb


Starglider Argonaut Software Ltd. / Rainbird Software [top]

Release Date: 1986 This was one of the first wireframe 3D action shooters. It introduces many new features to the space simulation genre. Two types of sights are available - fixed and floating. The Planet Novenia has been attacked by the Egrons, who snuck in by disguising their craft as the protected Starglider species, which Novenia's automated defenses were programmed not to shoot. Your task is to fight them off using only an obsolete Airborne Ground Attack Vehicle. This was designed as the ultimate combat machine, with sophisticated hardware up to Draziw Yarg's high standards. It has a fully-rechargeable shield, plasma drive unit, an inbuilt scanner and 10,000-sector map, a top speed of 2550 Urads and two homing missiles. The game is viewed from within AGAV's cockpit, with control over speed, weapon targeting and firing. There are several control options to decide exactly how the craft works, with fixed or floating sighting, and the option of automatic centering, allowing you to balance the game between easy sighting and advanced shooting ranges. Repair depots must be visited frequently, as they can refill the weapon bays as well as repairing the ship. Crucially, the Egron Stargliders need 3 missiles to shoot down, so at least 1 visit to a depot is required to complete this job, at which point you move up to the next, harder, level. There are more than 16 types of Egron crafts to destroy, some of which are very reminiscent of Elite, as well as their groundbased counterparts, including tanks, missile launchers and those walker robots similar to the ones in Return of the Jedi. There were usually two or three bases where you could replenish your supply of missiles. For actual refueling, though, you have to use one of the game's innovative features: fly into between two fuelling towers to recharge your fuel cells. Yet another innovation is the missile firing sequence, where you effectively pilot your missile (not the ship) to home in on the target after firing it, via a missile-chase camera. You could also interrogate the computer when you were docked for useful information on the vehicles you encounter that may shed some light on how to destroy them. Its story was included in an included Novella story.
Screenshots
Full Demo 48kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Review/Video
Manual/Novella 8.6MB (uploaded by Bombjack)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 44kb


Starglider 2 Argonaut Software Ltd. / Microplay Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 More space combat and strategy in this sequel, which challenges you to collect the elements to form a bomb to destroy a resistance force, before delivering them through heavy fighting. Each planet has its own characteristics, with differing inhabitants and features. As well as flying through space, you must dart through tunnels under the planets, which restrict your movement range but are where most of the weapons are. As you go along you'll have to obtain objects from people, and trade them so as to be able to complete your main objectives. It features open, continuous gameplay without levels or loading screens after the game has started, despite taking place across an entire planetary system. The player can fly through space, enter a planet's atmosphere, explore the surface, and penetrate subterranean tunnels in one seamless movement. The biggest advance from the original Starglider was seen as the polygon graphics, which are solid shaded 3D on 16-bit systems, and contain considerable detail.
Screenshots
Full Demo 134kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (Kryoflux format) 11MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Reviews
Floppy Image ISO Demo 2.1MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos


Steel Thunder Accolade Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This offers multiple theaters in which to do battle ranging from Cuba to Europe. While actually in the tank, the player can easily move from the position of Commander to Gunner or Driver, offering a significant degree of realism, but still keeping the action moving. You can simply stay in the Commander's seat, and give commands to the Driver and Gunner and just watch the action as it plays out, although only from the internal views. As play progresses, the player also increases his rank. The initial mission set-up screen offers the player multiple tanks ranging from the Bradley to the M1A1. In addition to this, the player can also choose specific crew members and see their respective "grade" regarding their performance characteristics.
Screenshots
Full Demo 274kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 158kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Strike Aces / Fighter Bomber Vektor Grafix Ltd / Activision (UK) Limited, Accolade Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a flight simulator designed to give players a feel for the quick decision-making process that real pilots need to fly. It takes place at the Strategic Air Command Bombing and Navigation Competition, a real-life event that occurs every year at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota. The best aircrews from around the world and some of the best aircraft come to participate in a series of three missions that are constantly monitored, with points awarded to aircrews in various categories. In the end, the aircrew that has gained the post points receives the Curtis E. LeMay trophy. In this game, you are the pilot of one of these aircrews with a choice of flying one of six aircraft, and your missions will pit you against any of seven additional enemy aircraft (although you will not get to fly them). To practice flying, you can do a Free Flight; when you're ready to compete, you will get to complete a series of 16 missions. You can also design your own missions, if you like.

See also: #Fighter Bomber: Advanced Mission Disc

Screenshots
Strike Aces - Full Demo 0.7MB (uploaded by Lucas' Abandonware)
Reviews
Fighter Bomber - Full Demo 0.34MB (uploaded by Juego Viejo)
Videos
Fighter Bomber - Floppy Images ISO Demo 657kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Strike Fleet Lucasfilm Games LLC / Electronic Arts, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is the unofficial sequel to PHM Pegasus which was developed by Lucasfilm Games in 1987. But instead of simulating hydrofoils you can now command a complete fleet of war ships into several missions. These missions are related to political events that were of interest when the first version of the game was released in 1987. As captain of the fleet you can switch between different ships of your fleet and even command helicopters to support your mission.
Screenshots
Full Demo 131kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 124kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Strike Force Harrier Mirrorsoft Ltd. / Domark Software [top]

Release Date: 1988 A decent flight sim featuring the Harrier jet, released at the time when the fighter was hailed as hero of the just-over Falklands war. It simulates the world's only vertical take-off and landing aircraft quite competently, although it doesn’t have extensive campaign/career mode to keep armchair pilots happy for long. The game is played in low-res mode similar to Mirrorsoft's other sims, so the graphics are a bit drab... although they are adequate. The Harrier’s unique characteristics are faithfully reproduced in the game. For instance, if you get in a heavy dogfight you can suddenly shift the direction of the engines enabling you to flip behind an enemy and get him firmly in your sights. The display is split in two: first-person view from the cockpit, and the control panel. There's also a HUD that gives you status information and other niceties that modern fighters are equipped with. The animation is fast, but a little jerky. The objective is quite simplistic, and more fitting in an arcade game: fight both air and ground enemies on your way to destroying their headquarters. One interesting feature is that you can set up ground support by defending your bases along the way. These provide the only means to rearm and refuel your fighter, so they must be protected at all costs. Overall, it's a fun "light" sim that is too simple for veteran pilots, but more sophisticated for joystick jockeys. Worth a look, although the replayability is quite low.
Videos
Full Demo 420kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots


Super Huey II Cosmi Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a 2D helicopter simulation with different missions, including: Combat missions, POW rescue missions, Gulf of terror, Arctic rescue missions, Oil blaze, Bermuda triangle. The game does not focus on realism, but offers arcade gameplay. The sequel to COSMI's helicopter sim Super Huey is based on exactly the same engine, although it offers more varied and interesting missions. Instead of pure-vanilla explore, rescue and combat missions in the first game. Still, despite intriguing names, they are basically variation of the age-old escort-rescue-combat missions found in numerous other sims. The lack of career mode or even simple scoring makes it a very short beer-and-pretzel sim that beginners might enjoy, but that experts will ignore. Somehow COSMI decided to remove the excellent flight instructions mission from the game, so those who are new to the series should first play Super Huey before tackling this one. But then again, there are dozens of better sims on the market.
Screenshots
Full Demo 22kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 23kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Super Huey UH-IX Cosmi Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a helicopter simulation game. You are the pilot of the experimental helicopter UH-1XA and you need to test it out in several game modes. In the flight school mode, you can learn how to fly. The computer will guide you through takeoff, flight, and landing. In reality mode, you will need to fly a mission to locate and bomb an enemy base and return home safely. The last mode is arcade mode where you have an unlimited amount of ammo to try and shoot down as many enemy aircraft as possible. The game is played from a first person view of the cockpit which is complete with radar and various instruments to help you fly.
Screenshots
Full Demo 16kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Tank: The M1A1 Abrams Battle Tank Simulation Sphere, Inc. / Spectrum Holobyte, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 A 3D military tank simulation which looks like it uses a modified Falcon AT engine. Control up to 16 tanks, head to head option, command the company, platoon, or individual tank parts, three theatres of war, 15 different missions, real-time gameplay and night mode thermal imaging. The ability to zoom all the way in (to 3D interface) and out (to strategic map) is innovative and well executed. It's similar to Microprose's best-selling M-1 Tank Platoon in its realistic modeling of modern tanks, intuitive interface, and integration of strategic elements with first-person action. Although it is a simulation of the M1A1 Abrams like Damon Slye's excellent Abrams Battle Tank, it places much more emphasis on strategy and larger unit operations than on graphical realism. Despite the fact that there are only 5 missions, each one is replete with vast terrain, many enemy tanks to destroy, and wargames-like options such as recon and air support. Training mission eases player into the game's interface, and strategic options add a fun dimension to what could have been an average 3D tank simulation. Terrain slopes, however, still present logistical problems as with many tank sims of that time, but Tank has enough to satisfy both the hardcore sim fan and wargamer interested in hands-on experience inside a tank.
Screenshots
Full Demo 426kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Browser-Playable DOSBox Full Demo (uploaded by Play DOS Games Online)
Floppy Images ISO Demo (VFD format) 391kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Tau Ceti: The Last Star Colony ComTec / CRL Group [top]

Release Date: 1987 A space simulation with elements from a number of other genres mixed in. Your mission is to destroy a robot army that has taken over a planet. Gameplay includes arcade sequences, where you fly your ship around and shoot the enemy robots; strategy elements, as you attempt to navigate and locate parts to repair the defense system; and even text-adventure elements, in the form of giving commands to your ship's computer.
Screenshots
Full Demo 33kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 9.4kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain Lucasfilm Games LLC [top]

Release Date: 1989 The second of Lucasfilm Games' air combat simulations and follow-up to Battlehawks 1942, Their Finest Hour recreates the Battle of Britain during WWII in the summer of 1940. Players can fly both for the German Luftwaffe and the British Royal Air Force. On the British side, two planes are available: the Spitfire and the Hurricane. For the Germans, there is the fighter Bf 109, the heavy fighter/fighter bomber Bf 110, the infamous Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber, and the three light/medium bombers Do 17, He 111 and Ju 88. Next to training missions for every plane, there are several historical combat missions to be flown. In accordance with history, most RAF missions consist of defense assignments - intercepting and destroying German bombers. Most Luftwaffe missions are attack runs - either flying the bomber escort or the bombers themselves. In the heavier planes, not only can the pilot of the plane be controlled, but also the gunner(s), and, in the bombers, the bombardier. The special Campaign Mode allows one to actually change the historical outcome of the Battle of Britain. On a strategic map, planes must be organized into groups and assigned to missions, one of which must be flown. The outcome of that mission affects those of all others and also the status of the overall campaign. The British side wins by simply surviving for a certain time or by destroying enough German aircraft. The German side wins by destroying enough RAF fighters, either in the air or on the ground. Also included in the game is a mission builder for designing custom missions, and a film playback option for reviewing recorded flight footage. It uses an earlier version of the X-Wing engine but uses bitmaps and sprites instead of being fully 3D.

See also: #Their Finest Missions: Volume One

Screenshots
Full Demo + Their Finest Missions Volume 1 781kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo + Scans 5.3MB (uploaded by Egon68)
included in LucasArts Air Combat Classics - Floppy Images ISO Demo 3MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 5.1MB


Their Finest Missions: Volume One Lucasfilm Games LLC / U.S. Gold Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a mission pack for Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain. Includes 23 new missions, and one experienced pilot for each of the planes in the game.
Screenshots
Full Demo included with Their Finest Hour 781kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
included in LucasArts Air Combat Classics - Floppy Images ISO Demo 3MB (uploaded by scaryfun)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (ima) 720kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Thunder Blade SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Aboard the lethal Gunship Gladiator helicopter, it is your job to ensure that a coup fails to install a dictator as leader. The game features 12 levels split into three distinct styles. First of all you'll be flying over a city in your helicopter, shooting out tanks by ducking low enough to target them, but also climbing to avoid the skyscrapers in the area. The third section is viewed similarly, but sees you attempting to wipe out the planes mounted on an aircraft carrier. The second section is viewed behind your helicopter in full 3D, and adds helicopters and planes to be shot, with dodging their bullets as you duck down to shoot the tanks being the main challenge. Your chopper is equipped with rapid-fire 30mm automatic gun and unlimited Straight Line air-to-ground missiles. As you pilot your helicopter through the four levels of play, shooting everything and anything in sight, you must avoid or annihilate onslaught after onslaught of hostile enemies. You will dip down into war-torn city canyons and destroy enemy patrollers. You'll fly over an invading warship - heavily equipped with gun emplacements - and take them out. You'll maneuver through hidden canyons, giant skyscrapers, virgin forests, and craggy desert ranges while downing screaming jets, tanks, cruisers, and fighter planes. At the end of the game you must destroy enemy headquarters, which is a monolithic, off-site refinery in the middle of the ocean.
Screenshots
Full Demo 284kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo + Scans 21MB (uploaded by Egon68)
Browser-Playable Free Pico-8 version (uploaded by Pico-8)


Thunderchopper subLOGIC [top]

Release Date: 1989 This puts you in a Hughes 530 MG Defender helicopter, and offers several modes of play. First is training, intended to simulate the movement and physics of the real chopper. Next are rescue and combat missions, which test your perception, precision, and reflexes. For further challenges, there are finally sea rescue and armed escort missions. Each mode has three levels of difficulty. You have a limited selection of guns and missiles for combat, and an onboard computer guides you through missions. If you get bored with the game scenery, you can load scenery disks from subLOGIC's Flight Simulator series.
Screenshots
Full Demo 139kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
subLOGIC and Mallard scenery pack 3.06MB (uploaded by old-games.com)


Tomahawk Digital Integration Ltd. / Datasoft Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Flight simulation specialists Digital Integration turned their attention to helicopter flight in this recreation of the AH-64 Apache. All the controls are realistically simulated, so the airspeed is dependent on the height of the vehicle, and you can move horizontally using the rudder option as well as rolling left and right. If using a Sinclair joystick interface you can use both ports to have all these controls accessible on dual joysticks, just like the real thing. Either way, a full instrument panel allows monitoring of these. You are armed with cannons, rockets and anti-tank missiles, each of which has its target set up independently, but only one can be loaded at once. Flight options include day/night, clear/cloudy and air turbulence on/off, allowing beginners and experts to find a suitable setting. Scenery includes trees, mountains and pylons, while enemy targets include helicopters, turrets and tanks.
Screenshots
Full Demo 40kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Top Gun Ocean Software Ltd. / Thunder Mountain [top]

Release Date: 1987 The Tom Cruise film featured an F-14 Tomcat plane, and this licensed game recreates this. Viewed from the cockpit in full 3D, the game is a straight head-to-head duel, against another player or the computer. You are armed with missiles (while put you in control of a small target zone, which must remain over your opponent for 3 seconds), flares and cannons (which overheat when overused)- use these more wisely than your opponent. Pay attention to speed and altitude too. The computer has 3 planes to throw at you, of which the last is the toughest, while each player in a 2-player game also has 3 'lives'.
Screenshots
Full Demo 54kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (Kryoflux) 3.5MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Tracker Mindware Limited / Firebird Licensees Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a mouse-controlled vector-graphics 3D strategy game depicting an ultra-violent TV show of the future. As a contestant, the player's mission is to be the first to ever complete it successfully. The task involves commanding a fleet of Skimmers charged with destroying various groups of combat vehicles, including Cycloids, Scouts and Defenders. Short and long-range scanners are available to aid in this. The game takes place in a maze world containing a number of distinct sectors, each of which has its own type of enemy present. The Communication Centre powers the Cycloids, and are protected by the Defenders. Once these are taken out, the Centerpoint Sector must be destroyed to complete the level. Move in a wireframe 3D environment that is much smoother than Mindscape's The Colony, which was released almost concurrently. The game is played in real-time, with an excellent map that you can zoom in or out to view the action. Yet another innovation allows you to switch into any one of your ship at any time, whereupon you will be viewing the action from inside the ship, looking at the 3D wireframe world mentioned earlier. This mode is clearly meant for hands-on target practice, although those who are reflexes-impaired can stay at the bird's-eye-view level, giving move and combat orders to various ships from the strategic planning standpoint.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 85kb
Floppy Image ISO Demo 85kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Train, The: Escape to Normandy Artech Digital Entertainments Inc. / Accolade Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In the months before France is liberated by the Allies in World War 2, Germany tries to take Paris' collection of classic paintings. As Resistance member Pierre LeFeu, helped by wounded former engineer Le Duc, must prevent this happening, but taking the paintings by train to Normandy and Allied control. Once in control of the train, you must set the throttle level, ensure that there is enough coal in the furnace, control the speed, and ensure that steam is released when necessary. Use the provided map, and the communications network once released, to plan the strategic side of your mission. Each station has coal and water supplies which may be needed to keep the train running. You must raid railway stations in order to get track switches into the right position. Both this and the initial capture of the train involve aiming at the enemy, current indicated point, and ducking before their bullets can hit you. Taking control of bridges is similar - you control a cannon and must take aim.
Screenshots
Full Demo 151kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Triclops Invasion Geodesic Publications [top]

Release Date: 1986 This is an early 3D space combat game that was originally developed for the QNX operating system. The solar system has bee invaded by the Triclops who parachute their giant walkers down to Earth. The only way to destroy a walker is to shoot off one of its three legs but as it has a cannon turret on its top the game's documentation suggests that destroying that first could be a good strategy. Once all five walkers and their satellite the game is won, if the Triclops destroy all three of the player's ships the Earth is lost. The game also allows the player to record demo versions of the way they played the game and to turn off the enemy walkers so that they can just fly over the landscape. With v1.6, the game was made freeware.
Screenshots
Full Demo 71kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Amiga Video


USS Stinger Novotrade Software Kft. / Keypunch Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 A 3-D combat submarine simulator. The object of the game is to seek out enemy convoys and sink the supply ships and their escorts with your torpedoes and missiles. Navigation between convoys, ports and environmental hazards, as well as the need to watch your fuel and air supply, add an element of difficulty to the game.
Videos
Full Demo 85kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots


Voyager Ocean Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The Voyager II space probe found us some impressive images of outer space. However, it was later found by the people of Roxiz, who locate Earth and decide to invade it, by establishing bases on each of Saturn's 10 moons. As former POW Luke Snayles, you must destroy each of these fleets of 80 aliens, before they can be dispatched. Voyager is viewed from on board the craft, and is a first person shoot 'em up using polygon graphics. You start with a laser and a few bombs, but can collect extra weaponry and the ability to fly through the mothership. Not all enemies can be killed simply by shooting them, so there is a tactical element to the slaughter.
Screenshots
Full Demo + MP3 Soundtrack 105kb+3.98MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


War Eagles Cosmi Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1989 The last in a short-lived line of low-budget flight sims from COSMI, this is a decent action-oriented sim set in World War 1. You can choose to play as either a British, or a German pilot. On the British side, you have a choice of 5 missions: patrol, escort, balloon busting, one-against-many dogfight (aptly named "The Hornet's Nest"), and single combat. There are also 5 missions on the German side that are basically mirror image of the British missions (e.g. balloon defense instead of balloon busting, and so on). In the balloon mission, you try to shoot down or defend a large floating Zeppelin. Hornet's Nest is likely to be very challenging for a beginner, although ace pilots may quickly take advantage of the game's nonexistent WW1 fighter flight dynamics to dispose of enemy planes.
Screenshots
Full Demo 142kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
1993 Floppy Image ISO Demo v1.10 258kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


ShootEm Up 2D/3D

007: Licence to Kill Quixel / Domark Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 A "James Bond" action/arcade game based on the movie with the same name. Your aim is to avenge the death of Felix Leiter, who was killed by the drug baron Sanchez. Technically the game consists of several different vertical scrolling action sequences. In each stage you must fly, drive or walk through a preset terrain. While doing that, you have to shoot enemies, avoid their shots and collect items (mainly ammunition). Some levels rely more on shooting, while others test your reflexes.
Screenshots
Full Demo 225kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
CGA+EGA Floppy Images ISO Demo 149kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
No-disk crack (provided by basetta & uploaded by Scaryfun) 74kb


A-Team, The Zafiro [top]

Release Date: 1989 Your assignment consists in guiding The A-Team, from the popular 80's television series, through two dangerous missions in a scrolling shooting gallery. On the first operation you will have to travel to the Morania desert in order to reduce a dangerous group of Arab terrorists who have met in an abandoned town. On the second one, you will have to destroy a military base located in Tirania, where an invasion of the neighboring countries is being prepared. In order to carry out so difficult missions you count with a modern N-16 A2 rifle gunner with telescope sight, 2 shippers of 50 bullets each one and 2 long-reach pumps, although in the course of the combat you will be able to acquire more ammunition. Sometimes you will see dynamite charges deposited in the ground; an accurate firing on them will end with every object or person on the screen. Also you will be able to shoot to boats, which will provide you an extra dose of energy.
Screenshots
Spanish Full Demo 52kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Action Fighter SEGA Enterprises Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a top down vertically scrolling shooter, in which you start off as a motorbike. You are quite vulnerable to attack at first, but power ups come in the form of a Sega van which you have to dock with. The first time you dock you get double fire, the second time gives you a rocket, the third gives a rear force field and the fourth invulnerablility. By destroying cars and bikes that appear on your way, you can collect A-F letters. Collecting A through to D allows you change into a sportscar which is less vulnerable to attack, but not as nimble. Collect all the letters in order to be able to transform into a high tech plane. This is the final stage of one of the five missions. Only the high tech plane can guide you to your destination in which your main target is hiding. There is also time limit in which you have to complete the mission. It is advisable to transform into the high tech plane as fast as it is possible. Picking up flags gives you bonus points with 10,000 points gaining you an extra life.
Screenshots
Full Demo 73kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 120kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Airborne Ranger MicroProse Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In this action/simulation game, the player takes the role of an U.S. Army airborne ranger. These Airborne rangers are dropped behind enemy lines by parachute to perform all kinds of dangerous missions. Gameplay consists of 3 phases: Reading the mission briefing and outfitting 3 supply pods with machine gun ammo, time bombs, first-aid kits, grenades & LAW rockets depending on this briefing; Flying over the mission map in a V-22 Osprey plane to drop your 3 supply pods and parachuting out of the plane yourself; Performing the actual missions and reaching the pick-up point before time runs out. There are 12 different missions which include capturing an enemy officer, blowing up an ammunition depot, photographing an experimental aircraft and liberating P.O.W.'s. Missions take place in either an arctic, desert or temperate setting. Using the mission map the player must decide the route towards the mission objective. This might require them to crawl through trenches, run around minefields or take out enemy soldiers and bunkers. It was one of the first games with some missions that required a stealthy approach (staying undetected until a certain time, taking out a guard and stealing an enemy uniform etc.). It can be played in practice or veteran mode. In practice mode, gameplay is limited to a single mission, while in veteran mode, a series of missions or an entire campaign is played in order to earn medals & promotions. All missions can be played on several difficulty levels.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 269kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 285kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Full Demo with DOSBox + Emulated Amiga and C64 versions 27MB (uploaded by The Collection Chamber)


Ajax Konami Industry Co. Ltd., Banana Development, Inc. / Konami, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 In this arcade shoot'em up your mission is to infiltrate the alien fortress during 6 levels, and to destroy the fortress and the alien. Sitting in Ajax H.Q., you must pilot the remote controlled drone ship to do this. The drone represents jet fighter (behind view) and helicopter gunship (top-down view). It may be moved on the screen, fire air-to-air and air-to-ground guns and pow bomb. Limitless hordes of mechanoid invaders, whose sole intent is the total domination of the Earth, will try to stop you. Exit from each level is guarded by the powerful boss, who you should eliminate. DOS version of the game differs from C64/CPC/ZX version by the number and location of enemies, map of areas, order of the stages, and ability to use different controls to shoot air and ground targets. It was written completely in 8086 assembly language. A custom multitasking kernel was developed for the game, to provide for simultaneous animation, music, collision detection and scoring on the single tasking MS-DOS operating system, quite advanced for the time on the IBM PC platform. To support flicker free scrolling, double buffering was used. The music routines supported 4 note polyphony on suitable sound hardware, as well as sound effects related to the game play.
Screenshots
Full Demo 769kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Videos


Anti-Ballistic-Missile Ed Davis [top]

Release Date: 1982 This is a Missile Command variant. The object of the game is to protect six cities along the IBM east coast. The enemy has 12 missiles it will fire which need to be destroyed before they reach the cities. The player controls a cursor indicating where to fire anti-ballistic missiles. If the missile detonates within range of an enemy missile, the enemy missile is destroyed. If all of the cities are destroyed, the player loses the game; if any cities survive, the player wins (better scores are earned for more remaining cities). Several skill levels are available which control the speed of the enemy missiles and the accuracy required for destroying missiles.
Screenshots
Full Demo (provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 84kb


Astro Blaster Rolf Franzon [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is an unofficial remake of the eponymous game from arcade machines, released in 1981. Astro Blaster is a vertical shoot 'em up with a fixed screen, that is very close to Space Invaders, but the clone can be called only with a stretch, since there are enough distinctive features. Opponents are diverse and come in waves, but they have a clear battle formation, they conduct intense fire and, coming to the bottom edge of the screen, appear in a mirror image from above. Their destruction is the main and only task, which is complicated by two factors: fuel of course, and it must be replenished with rare bonuses (a kind of timer analog), and the laser can overheat from overly intense shooting and for some time to fail. But there is also a life-saving function: as an alternative weapon there is a slowing down of time, which can be used a limited number of times in one life, and the number of attempts can be increased after reaching a certain score for the killing of opponents. It is worth noting that the game is relatively complex, has a good graphics for its years (which can not be said about the soundtrack) and is quite rare.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 78kb
Videos


Astro-Dodge Digital Marketing Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1982 In this Asteroids clone, you get points by shooting enemy ships, and asteroids which gradually break down into smaller and smaller pieces. Your controls are rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise, thrusting, firing, and hyperspace. As you progress, the levels will get more and more difficult as you move into areas with more and more asteroids.
Screenshots
Full Demo 9kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 9kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Astrotit Rudeware [top]

Release Date: 1987 Setting the scene for a shoot-'em-up game is always a stiff proposition and never anywhere more so than here: due to hitherto unknown properties of hamster urine leeching into the water supply, humanity is rendered telepathic and besieged by enormous symbols of repressed desire and Freudian hang-ups. Proving once again that nothing is less sexy than a sexuality-themed video game, this crude premise is intended to explain why you, the player, are in charge of eliminating an army of "Bouncing Birth-Control Pills", "Bibles (Straight from the South)", "AIDS Virii" (a cutting-edge inclusion at the game's release), and, yes, the eponymous lactating "Astro Tits", with the assistance of a (chew on this, Zombie Nation) ghoulishly disembodied phallus. (Yes, by shooting wriggling spermatozoa (with eyes!) into them.) All in front of stunning 4-colour CGA renditions of Moon Patrol-style sci-fi lunar landscapes.
Screenshots
Freeware Game 39kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Attack On Altair Windmill Software [top]

Release Date: 1983 Probably the rarest game from Windmill Software, maker of Digger, this is a shooter game that is entirely text-based. It's a side scrolling shooter which uses ASCII characters to create 16 color "graphics". It's a bit similar to IBM Attack, another very old shooter-except here the objective is the much more mundane kill-aliens-to-save-the-galaxy affair. Action takes place on the surface of planet Altair, but without any real graphics it's just too difficult making out the targets.
Screenshots
Full Demo 23kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Bedlam Beam Software Pty., Ltd. / GO! [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a vertically scrolling space shoot'em-up. Space fighter shoots patterns of swirling aliens and stationary cannons, collects extras and fights boss ships – Bedlam is ordinary shoot’em-up material, stretched out over 16 short levels and spiced up with your standard two-player option. While ZX Spectrum and C64 see a genuine space shooter with full-screen backgrounds and level variations, DOS was a bare-bone versions stripped down to Galaga level. It has 4-color CGA palette and is generally soundless.
Screenshots
Full Demo 52kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Better Dead Than Alien! Electra [top]

Release Date: 1988 Brad Zoom takes on the Brain Eaters from the Purple Planet, in this homage to vintage action games, primarily Galaxians. There are 75 levels, accessed via passcodes. You control a spaceship at the bottom of the screen facing upwards, firing at arrangements of aliens. You can move up and down as well as left and right as you shoot them. At set intervals an alien will emerge from the main pack and sweep down towards you. Other levels feature Asteroids which split when shot, or a single ‘boss’ alien. Aliens with green eyeballs release power-ups, such as improved weapons, shields and bombs. You have a single life with which to survive the carnage. You get points for surviving as well as scoring, so slow but cautious play is more rewarding.
Screenshots
Full Demo 199kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Blasteroids Atari Games Corporation / Image Works [top]

Release Date: 1989 As the name suggests, this arcade conversion updates the basic Asteroids gameplay. That means to say that the main gameplay consists of flying through single-screen wrap-around levels shooting at rocks, which split into smaller rocks when hit, eventually becoming small enough to disappear. In this case the Asteroids are protecting Mukor, an evil being who is poisoning planets under the Colonising Corp's control. Each level is split into either 9 or 16 sub-levels, which are chosen through a square in which any remaining level which is adjacent to the last level completed can be selected. There are 3 different ships (Speeder, Fighter and Warrior), which can be switched between at any time. Power-ups (including improved weapons, shield recharges and a faster thrust) can be collected by flying into them.
Screenshots
Full Demo 229kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 2MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Buzzard Bait Sirius Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is a single screen shoot'em up where you have to protect the humans from predatory buzzards. At the beginning of each round, three pair of buzzards each go into their nests to make sweet love. As soon as they reappear from the nest an egg also emerges, which quickly hatches. After the egg has hatched the parent buzzards swoop down to pick up humans to feed to their young. The player must protect the humans by shooting the buzzards. When the buzzards manages to pick up a human and feed it to their baby, it will also leave the nest and join the hunt. Sometimes a penguin fly across the screen, first at the top of the screen then the bottom. To avoid the low flying penguin, the player can jump across it which is tricky because then he can crash into a buzzard. After each round, there is a bonus round where the player can score an extra life. The player must move through a screen filled with penguins while collecting all three parts of the ship to gain an extra life. The penguins are harmless but bumping into them makes the player bounce around like a pinball. At the same time the player must avoid explosive mines which are left by a space ship that randomly appears.
Screenshots
Full Demo 14kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future Box Office Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a 2D space shooter based on the '87 TV series Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future. This computer game of the same name sends you into the year 2147. Earth is a wasteland, and the evil Lord Dread rules with an iron hand. Only a small group of high-tech soldiers under the command of the charismatic Captain Power battles the nemesis and his band of Bio Dread henchmen. None of this matters in the game though. Instead, you launch into two space shooter sequences. Part one, the training mission, has you destroy three Dread drones in a cockpit-view shooting range. Part 2, the Attack on Volcania, is a 2D sidescroller in which you eliminate approaching enemy spaceships. If enough hostiles have died, you get to bomb the enemy lair. The ship-shooting / hideout-bombing sequences are repeated until the fortresses shields are finally down.
Screenshots
Full Demo 169kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Centipede Atari, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 The player is trapped in the Enchanted Forest in this port of the popular 1981 arcade shooter. This was one of Atari's biggest hits; it was popular with women, mainly due to the pastel color scheme. Additionally, the creator of the game was also a woman, Dona Bailey. Armed with only a magic wand to ward off the forest's insect denizens, all of which apparently are attacking in the player in continuous waves. The player must use the magic wand to shoot sparks at approaching insects to score points by pressing the controller button. Holding down the controller button will set the wand to rapid fire shots. If the player is bitten by an insect, the player will be temporarily paralyzed and lose one of the three starting magic wands. All enemy insects have a distinctive sound before attacking, which may help the player identify which insect is attacking. Enemies and objects in the game are as the following: The Centipede will attack in 12 waves. In the first wave, the Centipede will have a head attached to 11 body segments. In the second wave, the Centipede will have a head attached to 10 body segments, in addition to a detached head. The third wave will have the Centipede with an attached head, 9 body segments, plus two detached heads. These body segments will transform into heads and continue to do so until Wave 12. In the last wave, the Centipede will have 12 detached heads, independently attacking the player. Centipede heads are worth more points than body segments. Attacks from the Centipede will come from the top of the screen, moving downward. If a spark hits any part of the Centipede, that particular body segment will transform into a mushroom, while the body segment behind it will become the new Centipede head. When the Centipede is destroyed, it will briefly disappear and re-appear from the top of the screen again. The Spider will attempt to distract the player from attacking the Centipede. It will destroy any mushroom it touches. Spiders will score more points if it is hit in closer distances. The Flea will appear if the player has destroyed most of the existing mushrooms. It will drop down creating a new batch of mushrooms where it falls. The Flea will disappear after two hits. After the first hit, the Flea will drop down much faster. The Scorpion will appear in the third wave. It moves slowly but will pick up speed, moving faster. While doing so, it will poison any mushroom it touches. Mushrooms fill the Enchanted Forest and may act as obstacles or cover for the player, with added effects to enemy insects. It takes four shots to completly destroy a mushroom. There are two types of mushrooms: Magic Mushrooms and Poisonous mushrooms. Magic mushrooms are the default mushrooms in the game and are also the result of the player destroying an insect or Centipede body segment. Poisonous Mushrooms are the result of the Scorpion touching a mushroom. Poisonous Mushrooms will prompt the Centipede near it to move straight towards the player through any mushroom. Losing a wand will restore any partially damaged mushroom. The game offers four difficulty levels: Novice, Standard, Advanced, and Expert. Game Variations are as the following: One Player; Two Player Alternating - Two players will take turns when the active player is bitten; Dual Player Competition - Two players will appear on the screen at the same time. Scoring is separate. Shots fired from one player will paralyze the other player; Team Play - Two players will appear on the screen at the same time. Scoring is combined. Shots fired from one player will not paralyze the other player. The player will win a bonus magic wand for every 12,000 points to a maximum of six wands. The game will end when all wands are lost.
Infos
2010 Browser-Playable Arcade Version (uploaded by My IGN)
Screenshots
Full Demo 6kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
40th Anniversary Browser-Playable Enhanced Version (uploaded by Atari)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 6kb
1998 Free Shockwave Game 176kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Commando Capcom Co., Ltd. / Data East USA, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1986 Several levels await your super-tough Commando in this vertical scrolling game, a port of the popular 1985 arcade game. Armed with only a standard rifle and a few grenades you must take on hordes of Nazis. Some are wandering around in the open, while others have picked out hiding places, which you must approach from certain angles. Trees, rivers and bridges create a varied combat-like terrain and must be incorporated into your thinking. Extra grenades can be collected, and will definitely be required, as they allow you to kill from distance and thus avoid some enemy shots. Its influence can be seen in various later games in the shooter game genre. In 1998, Commando Enhanced, a fan-made remake was released. While most gameplay elements resemble the original game, there are additions such as new enemy types, the ability to pick and use grenades, body armor and other items, and the ability to call in airstrikes.
Screenshots
Full Demo 77kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 39kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Enhanced - Screenshots
Browser-Playable Emulated Arcade Game (uploaded by Internet Arcade)
Commando Enhanced - Free Game 598kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Contra / Gryzor Banana Productions / Konami, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In the year 2631, a small meteorite has fallen into the Galuga archipelago, located 20km northeast off the coast of New Zealand. Two years later, a terrorist group known as Red Falcon has seized the island in preparation for an alien invasion. The earth's marines sent two members of their elite Contra unit, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, to neutralize the terrorists. As either Bill (player 1) or Lance (player 2), the player must get to the end of each stage, shooting everything in sight, while avoiding enemy fire themselves. The player can upgrade their standard-issue rifle into one of four different weapons, including the powerful spread shot. It has innovative pseudo-3D stages along with other platform stages and endless ammunition in a very tough alien invasion fighting game. The game is based on an arcade game and became even more popular when it was ported to NES in 1988. Its two-player simultaneous gameplay was an uncommon feature in video games at the time. A 3-level fan remake with 16-bit graphics was titled Contra: Locked 'N Loaded.

See also: Konami Collector's Series: Castlevania & Contra

Infos
Contra 20th Anniversary Edition - Browser-Playable Free Flash Game (uploaded by Newgrounds)
Screenshots
Full Demo 121kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Contra: Locked 'N Loaded Free Game 34MB (uploaded by Damon Caskey, Bloodbane)
Gryzor - Floppy Image ISO Demo 89kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Floppy Images ISO Demo (pdi) 8MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Cosmic Aliens Steve Strowbridge [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a Space Invader like game created on a college classroom computer in QBASIC 3.0 to see if the author could do it. It was distributed on bulletin boards of the time in a shareware model where a few levels are available to be played for free and if someone purchases a registration code, it will unlock the full game.
Videos
Browser-Playable/Downloadable Shareware Level Demo v1.9.7 64kb (uploaded by DOS Game Zone)


Cosmic Crusader Funtastic, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1982 Cosmic Crusader is to Galaxian as Space Strike (by the same programmer) was to Space Invaders. An alien space fleet has discovered the location of Earth, and - being an alien space fleet - immediately sets out on the attack. The only thing standing between the enemy and total Terran termination is you - the player, with your puny gunship that's stuck to the bottom of the screen and can only move left and right. Each stage pits you against a contingent of alien ships hovering menacingly above you. Occasionally, an enemy will break formation and go out on a sortie, diving towards you while shooting - only to re-emerge at the top of the screen. The different ship types have different offensive maneuvers. Shooting them in the midst of a dive scores more points than picking them off in formation; some will bring their buddies along and go out in triads, which net you a special bonus if destroyed in the right order. Another bonus is awarded for eliminating the command ship that comes along once per level, shoots at you and runs off. You can temporarily protect yourself by activating your shields (at the cost of your ability to fire) - knock down the occasional floating disc to get an extra one. You start with three ships, and gain a new one for every 2000 points scored. 9 difficulty levels are available.
Screenshots
Full Demo 19kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 17kb


Cosmic Sheriff Dinamic Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a shoot 'em up game and you control Peter Jones, the Cosmic Sheriff who has to take out the rebels on a remote moon and shut down the pumps. In the year 2023 the element cobalt has become an element of great strategic importance for the human race. The last deposit in the galaxy is on IO, the third moon of Jupiter. An extraction plant has been installed but has been sabotaged by rebels. The rebels placed pumps that will explode if their request is not agreed upon. Orbital station TERRA-1 sends Peter Jones, the Cosmic Sheriff - controlled by the player - who is the best laser sniper of the galaxy. His mission is to deactivate the pumps and to end the saboteurs. The station has three zones: Zone 1 -The warehouses; Zone 2 - Computer and control Systems; Zone 3 - The surface. Zone 1 consists of three levels and contains two pumps, zone 2 consist of 5 different levels and it is necessary to deactivate four pumps. Zone 3 consists of 9 levels and has 6 pumps that must be deactivated. The pumps are always hidden behind doors, and Peter needs find and deactivate them before time runs out. Locked doors can be opened by firing on them and contain a digital indicator on which you can read how many times you need to fire. Beware, the base station is filled with all sorts of enemies. Aliens, called Maiketrons and the cause panic, invaders that carry laser guns. Androids, called Teeas. Tanks that equipped with revolving turrets. Mercenary soldiers from the planet Zorak called Lagartrones. They fight for the rebels.
Screenshots
Full Demo 42kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
The 16-Bit Power Pocket Collection - Floppy Image ISO + Scans 5MB (uploaded by scaryfun)


Crossbow Exidy Inc. / Absolute Entertainment Inc. [top]

In Crossbow, first in arcades in 1983 (the first game to feature fully digitized sounds), you and several friends are trying to cross many treacherous landscapes in order to retrieve stolen treasures from the castle of the Evil Master. All of the members of your party are unarmed, however you carry a crossbow. Using this, you need to shoot any obstacles or hostile enemies that may get in the way of your friends as they cross the screen. You see the landscape from a first person point of view, and one by one each member of the party will walk from the left to right on the screen. There are many different landscapes that need to be crossed, each with its own variety of dangers. There are deserts with scorpions, ice caverns, jungles with hostile monkeys, a lava spewing volcano, and even the heavily guarded castle. The game starts with two friends in your party, with additional friends joining after clearing certain parts of the game. The game ends when everyone in your party has been killed.
Screenshots
Full Demo 194kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Crossfire Jay Sullivan / Sierra On-Line, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1982 In this adaptation of the arcade game Targ, your job is to defend your city from marauding alien beasts. You can simultaneously maneuver your craft and shoot in four directions while patrolling the regular grid of streets - the enemy has surrounded your city block, and attacks are coming in from all sides as the aliens swarm in with all guns blazing. To survive, you'll have to blast your way out by darting in and out of the line of fire and taking down the assailants with your own volleys: once they're all eliminated, you go forth to the next level, to face yet another wave. Ammunition is limited, and from time to time you'll have to restock by picking up a fresh supply. Every level contains four bonus crystals: as time goes by, they emerge one-by-one to be picked up, and each is worth twice as much as the last. The game starts you off with three ships, though you get a fresh one for every 5000 points you score. Gridfire is a remake by Foppygames, written for the Retro Remakes competition 2006.
Screenshots
 1  2 
Full Demo 6kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Gridfire - 2006 Fan Remake 1.42MB (uploaded by Free Game Archive)
Videos
PCJr cartridge ISO Demo (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 5kb


Cyber ​​Cop Pedersen Systems [top]

Release Date: 1988 The Rebellion’s Over! Your Mission: Terminate the Rebels of Hollerith. Your Role: You are the latest in Cyborg Technology. You are... a Cyber Cop & The Rebels are Ready for You. A feature of the protagonist is the ability to transform from a more or less anthropomorphic creature into various combat vehicles: “Cyber ​​Copter”, “Cyber ​​Tank” and “Cyber ​​Sub”, activated in the air, land and underwater “realms”, respectively. The hero has only two lives, and the energy remaining within each of them and steadily decreasing with any injury is visualized by a scale in the lower right part of the screen - to the left is a counter of points scored for the destruction of “rebels” (points are awarded in 10 , 20 or more for each enemy hit, depending on its type). Our robot can shoot and move exclusively diagonally. The goal of the game is to shoot as many enemies as possible and at the same time manage to survive as long as possible. Features: Fast Action Arcade Adventure; Full Spectrum Colour Animation; 3-D Spritable Characters; Life-like Battle Environments; Plays in 3 domains: Atmospheric, Geosphere and Aquatic; Realistic Sound Effects; Quick Manual Response; Choice of Play Longevity VS Higher Point Scores.
Screenshots
Full Demo 69kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Czorian Siege Computer Applications Unlimited / Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is an arcade action game similar to Space Invaders. You control a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and need to defend yourself from the waves of attacking enemies. Each time you clear the screen of all enemies, you move on to the next, more difficult round. Each round also has a time limit; if the time limit expires but you still haven't destroyed all of the enemies, you will move on to the next round anyway. There are eight different types of enemy ships that will appear, plus on many of the screens there is a shield which you will need to shoot through before you can hit the various ships. You begin the game with four lives, and additional lives can be earned for every 5,000 points. The game ends when you have lost all of your lives. The game was one of the earliest on PC to feature digitized speech.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 37kb
Videos


Defender Williams Electronics Inc. / Atarisoft [top]

Release Date: 1983 Along with Space Invaders and Asteroids before it, Defender was one of the most important early shoot 'em ups (and the first to use scrolling shooting) gaining popularity in arcades for its speedy and difficult side-scrolling shooting. It puts players in charge of a ship sent to protect mankind from wave after wave of attacking alien forces. Armed with smart bombs and the ability to use hyperspace to move quickly around the planet, the player ship must fight against Bombers, Pods, Swarmers, Baiters, and Landers - that can capture the humanoids and transform them into deadly and relentless Mutants. Fail to save the humanoids from freefall or Mutant transformation, and the planet is destroyed.
Screenshots
Full Demo 17kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
 1  2 
Floppy Image ISO Demo 18kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos
Browser-Playable Free Arcade Version (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 15kb


Demon Attack Imagic [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is an arcade action game with gameplay similar to Space Invaders. You control a laser canon at the bottom of the screen, and need to destroy wave after wave of brightly colored demons. The demons bounce around the screen in bizarre patterns, and try to destroy your canon with bombs or lasers. When you shoot a demon, it will be replaced with another or will split into two smaller demons depending on which wave you are playing. When the required number of demons for the current round is finally destroyed, you can move on to the next, more difficult round. In 1982 Atari sued Imagic due to Demon Attack's similarity to Phoenix. An enhanced fan-made remake was done in 2005 by Lysozyme and a more similar to original version one in 2006 by Harold Thijssen.
Screenshots
Full Demo 12kb (uploaded by XTC Abandonware)
Videos
 1  2 
PCJr cartridge ISO Demo (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 11kb
Infos
2006 Free Fan-Made Remake by Harold Thijssen 6.86MB (uploaded by Demo News)
2005 Free Fan-Made Remake by Lysozyme 7MB (uploaded by Caiman)


Dream Warrior Tarann Ltd. / Keypunch Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 In the future, the world is controlled by corporations rather than governments, and wars are fought in a dream world rather than in reality. The corporations can control dream demons to defeat their foes, but resistance fighters still defy them. The player is one of these resistance fighters hoping to rescue some friends from the control of Ocular, the mightiest of all dream demons. Gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of Xenophobe, with the player moving through side-scrolling, space-station-like environments shooting at an endless onslaught of strange creatures. By making good use of power-ups and gaining access to new levels, the player can eventually find Ocular, which can only be defeated if all six of its eyes are shot closed.
Screenshots
 1  2 
Full Demo 82kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 320kb (uploaded by Abandonsocios)


Emergency Mission Richard Brown [top]

Release Date: 1986 Not your everyday genre-crossover: this game fuses an arcade space shooter with a... medical simulation. You command a patrolling space vessel, defending your planet from a devastating attack of biological warfare. But destroying the plague-bearing enemy ships won't be enough; you'll also have to stop the epidemic by testing experimental medicine on patients. The game starts as a pseudo-3D shoot-'em-up, with the objective of destroying the hostile forces before your ship runs out of fuel. Enemy vessels continuously drop "bio-bombs", so a quick victory will mean a longer life for your patients, but don't shoot down friendly medical ships, as they carry vital supplies of serum which you'll be needing soon. If you can wipe out the enemy fleet, you get to play doctor - time ticks away, and you must use the surviving serum to find a cure for the plague. There are three drugs you can mix: inject the dying patients with different combinations, observe the resulting blood tests, and try to refine your formula accordingly. If the blood cell count reaches a million, you'll have the cure... better get to it before all your patients kick the bucket.
Screenshots
Full Demo 11kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Exterminator, The Windmill Software [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is essentially a clone of the arcade game Centipede. A centipede forms from the top of the screen and gradually moves down it, changing direction when striking the many barriers it hits. If it reaches the bottom of the screen, it wins. You control a small droid, which can move up the screen shooting out the centipede, cutting it shorter each time). You can also shoot the barriers, which take multiple hits to remove - the less barriers there are, the longer it will take for the centipede to reach the bottom. Occasionally a phoenix will appear, either moving horizontally towards the bottom of the screen, or vertically down from the top, to shoot for a points bonus or avoid. You have three lives, but on losing one you gain points for any remaining pieces of centipede. The high score is updated constantly once you pass it, and (unusually for the time) an attract mode demos the game.
Screenshots
Full Demo 18kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Fire and Forget Titus France SA [top]

Release Date: 1988 Restore peace on earth and collect a high score while doing so in the first one of the Fire and Forget games by Titus. It's a fun Mad Max-style apocalyptic racing game. You have an infinite amount of lives, but when your car runs out of fuel it's game over. So be sure to pick up those power-ups. Net the highest score by blasting enemies and avoiding obstacles on the road. There are many imaginative enemies, including helicopters, and the courses are very challenging. You can choose from six courses around the world within each level of difficulty, although eventually you would have to finish them all to enter the Best Scores table. Nice background graphics (e.g. mountains in Canada, skyscrapers in Italy) and smooth animations add to the fun, while plentiful power-ups and tough bosses round off this pleasant action game.
Screenshots
Full Demo 75kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Fire Power Silent Software / MicroIllusions [top]

Release Date: 1988 A top-down view of two tanks battling it out trying to blast their way into each other's fortress. It's a fun "capture the flag" variant that requires careful planning as well as high dexterity. Instead of your legs, you control a tank, looking at the action from a top-down perspective. Starting from your own garage, you must blast your way to capture your opponent's flag which is hidden in his territory. Guns, helicopters, and infantry ("squish!") add an extra layer of complexity to the traditional capture-the-flag game. One of the game's best features is the ability to play head-to-head against a human player in split-screen mode, null modem, or even modem. The modem mode wasn't implemented very well, perhaps due to technical limitations (although Dani Bunten's Modem Wars implemented it almost perfectly), but the game is still a lot of fun in 2-player splitscreen mode. Overall, despite a glitchy modem play, it's a nice little gem that is great for a few minutes of tank-blasting joy. The game is now freeware, courtesy of Silent Software (now Prolific Publishing).
Screenshots
Full Demo 338kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 330kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Fire! New-Deal Productions S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1989 The player mans an advanced helicopter and tries to solve some of humanity's problems by shooting at them. The game consists of five thematically unrelated levels which consist of two stages each, e.g. in one mission the player has to destroy drug plants in South America and another one requires to deal with terrorists at sea. Regarding gameplay, this is a traditional, horizontally scrolling shooter: the player moves from left to right while shooting everything which moves. Shields and fuel are limited and if one reaches zero, the one and only life is lost. However, they can be refilled with power ups which are left behind from killed enemies. The standard gun can be either aimed straight or slightly downwards, but by picking up the correct power ups the weapon system can be upgraded.
Screenshots
Full Demo 352kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Fleet Sweep Mirror Images Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is a space shoot'em-up. There are eight different aliens, each with a different attack pattern. When you clear the screen you move to the next zone, 10 zones is called a fleet. After each fleet the game gets more difficult. In the first zones you face four of the same aliens, then alien types are combined. Starting from zone 30, the attack patterns are repeated only faster and with five aliens. You can start the game at four difficulty settings. Beginner - Start at zone 0 with 0 points. Novice - Start at zone 10 with 2000 points. Advanced - Start at zone 20 with 4000 points. Expert - Start at zone 30 with 6000 points. As an extra gameplay element, you have a limited amount of fuel, if it runs out you die. The fuel is slightly refilled every time you shoot an alien. There are also bonus ships that sometimes appear at the top of the screen which (if shot properly) will drop a fuel ball. Catch it to refill the fuel bar. You also have torpedoes to kill all onscreen aliens, useful to skip the more difficult zones.
Screenshots
Full Demo 35kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 29kb


Flightmare Peter Adams [top]

Release Date: 1984 Fight off a band of vandals and punks with your airplane before they reach your city. One of the earliest shareware games, you pilot a prop plane. Although the game was made long before the advent of 3D graphics, it represents 3D dimension in an ingenious way: by letting you manipulate the plane in both the horizontal and vertical viewpoints. Although this makes it harder for an enemy to hit you because he must be lined up with you in both views, it also makes it harder for YOU to hit your enemies. Lining up both the side view and the top view to connect a shot is a challenging requirement that seems almost impossible to do until you get a lot of practice. Similar to Sopwith, the game is more sophisticated than it appears. You must refuel from time to time with a blimp, watch your ammo, and finish the level before time limit runs out.
Screenshots
Full Demo 15kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
 1  2 
Full Demo 14kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Galaxian Namco Limited / Atarisoft [top]

Release Date: 1983 Galaxian is a shoot 'em up in which the player is at the bottom of the screen, with an arrangement of aliens at the top. It's a port of the popular 1979 arcade game which was designed as a competitor to Space Invaders. A later sequel, Galaga, also proved very popular. The player moves left and right to aim at an alien, then shoots a bullet up the screen, and the alien it hits is killed. The aliens are classed as Drones, Emissaries, Hornets and Commanders, with those higher up the screen scoring more points when destroyed. At set intervals an enemy will move down the screen towards you, escorting a bomber, which is a moment of high danger. Clear a wave and another is generated. In 2007, Galaxian 2007, a free fan-made remake 2 with modern graphics and effects was released.
Infos
Browser-Playable Emulated Arcade Game (uploaded by Game Oldies)
Screenshots
Full Demo 11kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 12kb
Galaxian 2007 - Free Game 1.8MB (uploaded by Caiman)


Game Over II Dinamic Software [top]

Release Date: 1987 The Serena Commander have the mission to rescue his companion of expedition captured in Moon 4 of System Sotpok, better known like the world Phantis, an unusual place inhabited by a hostile fauna and exuberant flora. This is an horizontal shooter (R-Type like), combined with platform arcade levels (Turrican like). You have 24 different enemies to beat throughout 4 phases and 6 levels. This program has two parts and in order to play the second, it's necessary to discover the access code, which is granted when finishing the first.
Screenshots
Full Demo 121kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 59kb
included in Game Over + Phantis - Spanish Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 97kb


Gravity Force Kingsoft GmbH [top]

Release Date: 1989 This cave-flyer is a game of dexterity. Your task is to pilot a small spaceship through a series of mazes and collect various cargo containers on your way. Your spaceship obeys the laws of gravity. You have to use a single thruster to avoid collision with walls or the ground. Various types of enemies will try to hinder your cargo salvage missions. The single player part of the game consists of a total of 49 mazes. After each five successfully finished levels you will receive a password that allows you to choose the corresponding level as your starting point in the main menu. The ten highest scores achieved will be permanently saved on disk. There are three other game modes available: Race, Two Pilot Race and Dogfight. In Race mode you can choose one of 10 available tracks and try to achieve the best times. You'll have to avoid obstacles similar to the ones found in the single player mission mode, and a crash means that the race is over. If you succeed in achieving a track record it will be saved permanently also. Two Pilot Race offers three different tracks. The screen is splitted into two parts. Your only task is to reach the finish line before your opponent. If you crash you'll be respawned at the starting point. Dogfight offers two tracks where you can fight against another player. The creator, Stephan Wenzler, released an updated version as freeware in 1999 that runs on modern systems.
Videos
Freeware Remake v1.02 2MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Screenshots


Guerilla War SNK Corporation / Data East USA, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 A tropical island (specified as Cuba in the Japanese original) is being oppressed by a dictator, but fortunately one or two brave US soldiers (Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Fidel Castro in the Japanese version) are on hand to restore justice. March through the rivers, swamps and forests to overthrow the dictator (specified as Batista in Japan) in this evolution of the Commando style. The game scrolls vertically, as you move up the screen shooting enemies, finding good strategic firing points and collecting powerups. As the enemy soldiers come towards you in groups, some care is required when picking them off, either using your gun or the grenades. There are also hostages carried by some soldiers, with points bonuses for not shooting these but shooting their captors. Each level ends with a boss.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 150kb
Infos
Full Demo 187kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Guerrero Solitario Infodisc [top]

Release Date: 1989 This simple action game made in Spain is inspired, to a great extent, by Robotron: 2084, the Williams Electronics classic. The title screen shows the soldiers of Napoleon’s army, but this drawing seems to have no real relationship with the gameplay. The task at each level, limited by a single screen, is to collect six strange reddish objects resembling a rocket (usually there are seven of them in the location); immediately after this, the transition to the next stage. The case is complicated by the presence of several enemies (red men, at the time of launch, hiding behind oblique wooden crosses, which should be immediately, as they appear, pay attention; we play for the greenish individual), as well as obstacles - trees, pieces of brick walls and harmless guns; Especially unpleasant is that the sprites of opponents can turn their backs, which makes them difficult to distinguish from the above-mentioned plants. The protagonist has several "lives" at his disposal, a rather large number of 20 pieces, but in no way replenishable and the number of balls ammunition given to the whole game, with an accurate hit, instantly killing adversaries, as well as five special bonuses (also available exclusively in this quantity), allowing to teleport to another area of ​​the screen when activated (this is useful in case of a sudden collision with the enemy - but for obvious reasons it is always a bit risky). Just in case, we note that opponents do not have the ability to attack the hero from a distance and are not able to move simultaneously (if one takes a step, but all others freeze), however, they move very quickly, and sometimes even cleverly coordinate their actions with each other seeking to drive us into a trap; the slightest physical contact with them leads to death. To achieve success, it is highly desirable to quickly evaluate the “architecture” of the level - each of them, by the way, is always “generated” randomly - and try to correctly use its elements for their own purposes (for example, try to hide behind static objects). The only available graphics mode is CGA, and there are no backdrops for the stages at all - instead of them black screens. Characters and objects are traced to the limit minimalist, but such a visual decision is perceived quite adequately and does not interfere in any way from enjoying the objectively fascinating gameplay.
Videos
Full Demo 437kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Screenshots


Heavy Barrel Data East Corporation / Data East USA, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a shooter with a top-down view similar to Commando and Ikari Warriors initially an arcade game in 1987. Terrorists have seized the underground control complex of a nuclear missile site. It is up to the player to infiltrate the installation and eliminate the leader of the terrorist army before they can launch the missiles. To stop the terrorists you will need the powerful weapon Heavy Barrel. The problem is that the weapon still is in the installation. Before the fortress fell the weapon was taken apart and locked in six different storage lockers. To defeat the terrorists you must collect all keys and reassemble the weapon. The game supports co-op for two players. In 2021, a Steam arcade quality version was released.
Screenshots
Full Demo 201kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
ISO Demo 1.2MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Infos
ISO Demo + Scans 2MB (uploaded by Egon68)
2021 Steam Screenshots/Video


Hellraider Frames / Atari Corp. (UK) Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 You are a commander of HMS Raider, on a daring privateer raid into the extremities of the planet Hell. Your mission is to collect diamonds from this hellish planet. Fly around, collect diamonds and shoot all incoming enemies. Only your HMS Raider can collect diamonds. There are four fighters inside your Raider, called Orbitals. You can use them to survey the area and destroy enemies while your mothership keeps collecting diamonds automatically or by another player. If orbital is used, camera follows it, so stay close to Raider if another player is controlling it. It is hard to collect diamonds if can't see them or yourself).
Screenshots
Full Demo 127kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Hostage: Rescue Mission Infogrames Europe SA / Mindscape Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Terrorists have overrun an embassy and hold the people inside as hostages. You control six counter-terrorists whose mission is to eliminate the terrorists. In the first part of the game, you have to bring three men into position so they can snipe the building. The second part involves entering the building with the other three men to kill the terrorists and rescue the hostages. Depending on how well you positioned your snipers, you can use them to assist you on that mission.
Screenshots
Full Demo 473kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 427kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


If It Moves, Shoot It! / Phantom Fighter Emerald Software Ltd. / Martech Games Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 It is up to you to combat the Korts and free the lost settlers in this classic-style top-down shooter. Newer and more advanced weapons are available the more waves of aliens you destroy. The graphics in general are very well drawn, especially the detailed level backgrounds. And remember the advice of your forefathers: If it moves, shoot it!
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 810kb
Videos
Phantom Fighter - Full Demo 560kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Phantom Fighter - Screenshots


Ikari Warriors SNK Corporation / Data East Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a vertically scrolling action game where one or two players fight their way through a variety of terrain, such as jungles, rivers, and ruins. Along the way different weapons can be found, including machine guns, grenades, and rocket launchers. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market. What distinguished it, were rotary joysticks and a two-player mode.
Screenshots
Full Demo 209kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 650kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Videos


Intifada Mike Medved [top]

Release Date: 1989 The game takes place during the First Intifada, and casts the player as an Israeli soldier who has to stop violent Palestinian protests, while following the current government's policy and avoiding unnecessary casualties. In order to stop the protesters the player is able to make use of various methods and weapons - a club to commit arrests, tear gas, rubber bullets, plastic bullets and live fire. Before each patrol, the open-fire policy defined by the defense minister is displayed. The policy determines which methods may be used to stop different kinds of protesters (for example - the player may be able to use more lethal fire, such as plastic bullets, to stop protesters who fire molotov cocktails). At the end of each patrol, if the player survives yet fails to follow the instructions and causes too many casualties, or fails to stop a sufficient amount of protesters, the public support will drop and the minister may be replaced, changing the open-fire policy for the next patrol.
Screenshots
Full Demo 59kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Hebrew Full Demo + English Full Demo 56+36kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Into the Eagle's Nest Pandora / Mindscape Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This combines the Gauntlet style with the World War 2 setting, and specifically the Eagle's Nest building which is being used by a commander as his HQ. Three Allied soldiers have been captured, and you must infiltrate the facilities, rescue your brave comrades, destroy the building, and salvage as much of the stolen art treasures as possible. There are eight levels to explore, each with a specific mission objective. Some of the paintings are loose, others are in crates which must first be shot. Explosives must be collected, not shot. With limited ammunition, guards everywhere, keys at a premium, and lots of strategic hiding points, an all-guns-blazing approach is less successful than a planned, measured one. In 2003, a free fan-made remake was released by Mersey Remakes.
Screenshots
Full Demo 70kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Free Fan-Remake 10MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Jackal Konami Industry Co. Ltd. / Konami Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 The enemy army has captured too many of your forces. Being held in P.O.W. camps, these soldiers are effectively out of the war... unless some kind of rescue operation can be mounted. Heavy Forces are too slow and visible to be of any use, but perhaps something smaller and lighter may make it in where larger forces would fail. A small jeep, maybe two, crewed by about 4 people.... minimal enough not to represent too much of a loss and yet suitable enough to aid in rescue. But of course, if these brave men want to succeed AND come back alive; they'll need to fight like animals... they'll need to fight like jackals. This is an overhead view jeep game for up to 2 players that was originally in arcades in 1986. The controller moves in four directions, button A fires your grenades (upgradeable to bazooka) and button B your machine gun which ALWAYS fires to the top of the screen. Your mission is to locate facilities where soldiers are being held prisoner, rescue as many as possible, and escort them to a safe landing zone where they will be air transported away. After that, you'll need to fight a boss battle against the enemy to progress.
Screenshots
Full Demo 118kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Floppy Images ISO Demo (pdi) 8MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos


Juno First Konami Industry Co. Ltd. / Datasoft Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 This game is a 2D shooter that was first in arcades in 1983. You have to destroy the enemy's Magnet Power Station with your gun. There are only a few moments before the atomic turbine missile encounters the enemy. As a pilot of a space fighter you have to shoot your way through waves of aliens. You can escape the danger by using warps and special objects - to be collected en route. The aliens will mutate into more dangerous forms the longer they live so don't let the aliens survive. It presents a set number of enemies per level, but they do not make a gallery formation like Galaga or Space Invaders. Instead, the player's ship can move forward and backward (in addition to left and right) to hunt enemies in an orientation that is vertical, but has some horizon-oriented tilt. This style of gameplay would be re-used in a later Konami shooter, Axelay. The player destroys waves of enemies to finish levels. Starting formations vary from stage to stage. In addition, the player can pick up a humanoid, upon which the screen will have a red tint. While this happens, every enemy the player shoots will earn the player 200 more points than the previous enemy destroyed. The original score for shooting an enemy while in humanoid mode depends on the stage.
Screenshots
Full Demo 1.36MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Last Duel: Inter Planet War 2012 Capcom Co., Ltd. / U.S. Gold Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This follows the story of two planets that are in war with each other. On the planet Bacula, the Galden Tribe has overthrown the government and seized power over the whole world. Now they want more – by invading the peaceful planet of Mu and kidnapped Queen Sheets. The Mu-ans decided to take action. They asked their best scientists to come up with a weapon that will defeat the Galdens. After many long months, they were able to develop a vehicle of immense firepower, capable of leaping into the air to avoid ground hazards. In addition to that, it can transform into an airborne vessel whose purpose is to eliminate any kind of enemy in the sky. Players have to guide their vehicle through six difficult levels - alternating between ground vehicle and fighter plane – while destroying every Galden that gets in their way. While progressing, holes in the ground need to be avoided, as players lose one of their ships should they happen to fall through one. Shooting power pods scattered around the level allows the player to increase their firepower. However, they lose that firepower if one of their ships is destroyed.
Screenshots
Full Demo 211kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
 1  2 


Last Mission, The Opera Soft S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a side-view arcade game without scrolling (viewpoint moves from screen to screen) with map of big dimensions. The game takes its inspiration from games such as Underwurlde and Starquake. You control a tank-like robot which can be divided in two: you rotate caterpillar and head-canyon, and the head part can fly off on its own. However,the head can only survive separately for a short amount of time, and your restart position is dictated by the location of the body, even if the head has moved forward through further screens. Therefore, the difficulty of the game was in making it possible to advance with the assembled robot's two parts.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 30kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 29kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Lost Tomb Stern Electronics Inc. / Datasoft Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1985 This conversion of a 1982 arcade game takes the player into the depths of an ancient pyramid, though its location is uncertain (the box covers of the home versions place it in Egypt, but in-game it is said to be deep in the Amazon). To escape, you will need to make your way from chamber to chamber - uncovering treasures, avoiding traps, and facing a variety of enemies from scorpions and spiders to mummies and gigantic bats. Like every self-respecting explorer and treasure-hunter, you've armed yourself with a gun and a whip: the whip clears away everything in your immediate vicinity - enemies, traps and even walls. Your gun can be infinitely reloaded, but whips are limited (though you can restock along the way). The pyramid itself dislikes your presence: if you loiter too long, or step onto a trap, the earth will shake and the walls will shoot. Alongside the treasure chambers, each level of the pyramid has a stairway which takes you deeper down, with two different exits; fortunately, you're equipped with a map to help you plan your route. Beware the special throne rooms, rarely encountered and chock-full of traps.
Screenshots
Full Demo 16kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 550kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Machacator Carlos Fierro [top]

Release Date: 1989 A simple virtual shooting gallery from the era of the “golden age” of Spanish gaming. Only CGA graphics are supported here (albeit in a fairly clear and eye-pleasing red-green palette), the sound effects are reduced to the beeps of the PC Speaker, but control is implemented exclusively from the keyboard - both using the arrows and using the purely Spanish set of keys O, P, Q and A. The last circumstance somewhat complicates the actual gameplay: without a mouse, moving the cursor for dynamic shooting is not very convenient - however, it’s quite possible to get used to it, and in reality everything here turns out to be quite simple and even primitive. We simply go through three local levels, one after another, made in the surroundings of the jungle, trying to get there (by pointing the cursor and pressing the "spacebar") in the evil bandits appearing from behind fences and thickets before they begin to actively and successfully shoot at us. At the bottom left is a scale of the invisible protagonist’s vital energy, steadily decreasing as enemy bullets and grenades reach their target, and in a similar place on the right is a counter for the points we gain. For "ordinary" opponents you are awarded one hundred points, for more complex ones (for example, those who do not stand still, but move around the screen) - two hundred, but for the successful completion of all three levels you can get a whole thousand. At the same time, the game does not have any global goal, other than simply gaining points, and, in fact, there are no settings: when starting, you can only select one of three speeds according to the power of your PC, and also, if you wish, admire the current record table or write one down on disk. The levels differ little from each other: on the first of them, an equally evil and hostile snake can only appear in a random order - in addition to the usual bandits; on the second and third, enemies are able to launch grenades at us, causing much more damage than ordinary bullets; Well, the very last stage occasionally also pleases with a plane with machine guns that appears out of nowhere (fortunately, it also dies from a single well-aimed hit). In this case, the transition to the next screen occurs automatically after a certain period of time (not displayed anywhere), and after the third level we again find ourselves on the very first one, and with health restored to maximum - and so on ad infinitum, i.e. until the death of the protagonist (with the possible inclusion of his name in the list of record shooters).
Screenshots
Full Demo 25kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Master Miner Funtastic Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 It's the 22nd century, and mankind's greed finds new outlets throughout the Solar system; you, a gem prospector, have set off for the asteroid belt to harvest precious stones. However, an ideological dispute is getting in the way: the Commie Claim Jumpers - a contrary bunch of space pirates - seem to be contesting your mining rights, and voicing their protest by shooting at you and stealing your gems. This stands a good chance of ruining your day, but you're packing some firepower yourself - your ship's frontal gun, with its limited (but recharging) ammo. Your job is to roam the asteroid field, pick up gems and deposit them at your base for safekeeping. The Marxist marauders come in a variety of vehicles: the Gem Protector and the Seek & Destroy, which fire at you; the faster Kamikaze, which tries to ram you; and the Gem Thief, which lives up to its name by snatching your valued bounty and retreating to its own base. If it's destroyed in mid-thieving, it drops its cargo for you to recover. Five skill levels are available. For more mayhem there's the simultaneous two-player mode, where two miners battle each other as well as the pirates.
Videos
Full Demo 15kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Menace DMA Design Limited / Psygnosis Limited [top]

Release Date: 1989 Six ruthless dictators have collaborated to create the planet Draconia, which contains some of the most gruesome and harmful life-forms imaginable, all indulging in some rather unsavoury actions. Thus, you must go in your spaceship to destroy them all. The game is a side-scrolling R-Type-influenced shoot 'em up consisting of six visually-diverse levels. Waves of enemies come towards you to be shot, and reveal tokens, which when shot at will cycle through several available weapons. These include lasers, cannons, improved ship power and a shield.
Screenshots
Full Demo 297kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 261kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Mike Gunner Dinamic Software [top]

Release Date: 1988 You are Mike Gunner, the most effective detective in the country, who has been hired to end with all the criminals of Robbland city, perhaps the most dangerous city on Earth. You must have very warm nerves, very cold head and especially the most prepared to pull the trigger. This is a shooting-gallery Operation Wolf-style game, requiring the Gun Stick accessory. The player will have to adjust the contrast and brightness of your screen, in order to gain optimum performance. Thorough the game you will find people who you shouldn't shoot at: for example kids or policemen, all of them easily identifiable. But be careful, others will appear disguised as peaceful musicians, and in the least expected moment they will show they are not so friendly.
Screenshots
included in Pack Regalo: Gun Stick - Floppy Image ISO Demo 1.09MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Mission Loriciels [top]

Release Date: 1987 In this isometric action game you are an agent in combining suit with laser helmet, descended to a factory to find and kill another agent Halox, who stole the formula for the bomb MEGATRON and who wanted to sell it to enemies. You should explore 80 rooms, walking from one room to another. Each room has one entrance and one exit, and it is filled with mechanical enemies and different useful mechanisms such as elevators, teleports, directional platforms, etc. You should move in four directions to avoid the enemies, or you may shoot them to break them for some period of time. One of 5 kinds of combining suits and helmets are available in certain rooms to increase your health energy, which may be decreased by collision with enemies. The highest score will be saved.
Screenshots
English Full Demo + French Full Demo made to work in Windows 66kb+1.8MB (uploaded by Abandonware France)
Videos


Moon Bugs Windmill Software [top]

Release Date: 1983 Defend Earth against insect invaders! The gameplay is a mix between Galaxian and Defender. The alien bugs will attack you and swoop down and steal the uranium drums at the bottom of the screen. As they fly away with the drum, you have to shoot them before they reach the top of the screen to retrieve it. During the game, the space station on the left will load in all uranium drums and then make a connection to the satellite dish on the right, thus ending the level. At the end of each level you get 200 bonus points for each refueled uranium drum and -200 points penalty for each stolen drum. Occasionally a UFO will fly from left to right at the top of the screen. The blue box will display bonus points or the word "combat", indicating what you'll get if you shoot the UFO. Combat means you'll play a combat round where you have to shoot a horizontally moving alien as many times as possible. With each hit, you'll get 350 points and the alien will change direction and gain speed.
Screenshots
Full Demo 22kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Moon Patrol Irem Corp. / Williams Electronics Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is a port of the popular 1982 arcade game. It was the first arcade game to allow gameplay continuation with score retention by inserting another coin. Thus, for the first time, one's high score wasn't solely a matter of how far a player could get on a single coin, but rather a function of how many quarters they wanted to sink into the machine. Furthermore, the game is credited with introducing parallax background scrolling to video games to imply depth. The moon is under attack from a horde of aliens, and you must stop them in your armed buggy. Drive along the surface shooting the aliens and avoiding their bullets. The surface is not flat, there are craters and rocks to avoid contact with, and landmines on the surface which you can avoid by jumping. Your shots simultaneously come out the front of the buggy at enemies in its path and out the top of the buggy to shoot flying saucers. You must speed up or slow down depending on how much space you need to clear obstacles (the buggy will only go a maximum half the constantly scrolling screen) or in order to aim at saucers above or to evade their shots. Flying saucers create new craters when they crash. The 25 restart points are letter-coded.

See also: #Moon Patrol (remake), #Moon Patrol: New Path

Screenshots
Full Demo 24kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 57kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Mushroom Mania Arcadia Software / Britannia Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a shoot 'em up that clones the Centipede game style. The player must shoot at a giant centipede that moves down the playing field and can win additional points for shooting the mushrooms. The player must have care with the spiders, and with an indestructible enemy, the "hungry Pacperson".
Screenshots
Full Demo 21kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Night Stalker Mattel Electronics [top]

Release Date: 1983 Robots, bats, and spiders chase you around a maze in Night Stalker, which boasts similar gameplay, if some what slower, to the arcade smash Berzerk. Players must pick up a gun that is randomly placed in the maze. The gun provides the player with a certain number of shots. Once depleted, the gun is again placed in a random part of the maze.
Videos
Full Demo 12kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Screenshots


Offroad Montsoft [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is an arcade action game in the style of Moon Patrol. You drive a four-wheel-drive truck across a one-dimensional desert. You can accelerate, decelerate, fire missiles and jump with your truck. On some levels you can also shoot bombs at enemies in the sky. The game has 8 levels, you complete a level by surviving long enough. Each level has its own set of obstacles and dangers. Level one has rocks and motorcycles that drive slower than you, so they're easy to shoot. Level two is the same, except with red cars that can drive faster than you, so you need to slow down and then jump over them. Other enemies include bouncing squares (level 3), fighter jets that drop bombs (level 4), carpet bombing green planes (level 5), helicopters and landmines (level 6), giant squirrel heads (level 7) and finally mini triangular space ships and a giant diamond-shaped head.
Screenshots
Full Demo 12kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Operacion Cyber Ediciones Manali, S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a side-scrolling run and gun game. In the game the player takes the role of a hero that must stop the evil robots that are trying to take the control of the central CPU of the planet. The game has three sectors with a lot of enemies. At the end, the player has to fight against a giant cyborg. To destroy the all the robots and save the planet the player has 6 lives and a limited time.
Screenshots
Full Demo 49kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Pack Regalo Gun Stick Dinamic Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 Thie game collection was released exclusively in Spain and consists of three virtual galleries intended for the, little-known outside the country, input device - Gunstick light gun (which worked with Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and IBM PC). On a single diskette you have 3 games: Solo, Mike Gunner and Target Plus. Solo You're Carlitos, the usual school boy who still has to hear the recommendations of his mother. Everything was going fine until someday you left your home and found a deserted street, but almost instantly you heard the sound of a grenade exploding, and some bad guys with a shotgun. You think of it as a nightmare, but then a bullet almost hits you. Just then you find a pistol in your bag, if these dudes are real, why shouldn't it be real too? There is an option to play as 2 players cooperative mode. Mike Gunner You are Mike Gunner, the most effective detective in the country, who has been hired to end with all the criminals of Robbland city, perhaps the most dangerous city on Earth. You must have very warm nerves, very cold head and especially the most prepared to pull the trigger. It's a shooting-gallery Operation Wolf-style game. Thorough the game you will find people who shouldn't shot at: for example kids or policemen, all of them easily identifiable. But be careful, others will appear disguised as peaceful musicians, and in the least expected moment they will show they are not so friendly. Target Plus This game consists of two parts which can be played independently, all being related to aim shooting. The second part does include a 1 or 2 players mode. In the first part you will have to shoot at plates flying in the air, accounting for a total of 12, if you hit at least 6 then you will pass to the next round of this first part. You have 3 shots for every two plates, so you have to be effective on a regular basis. Once you have passed this round, you will have to aim at a total of 7 targets, your goal is to hit at least 3 of them, here you only have one shot available for each objective. If you are lucky enough, the stage will be restarted with increased difficulty. In the second part of the game your objective will be to protect a juicy cooked chicken to be mercilessly attacked by spiders or voracious wasps that emerge from everywhere. Your mission would be to shot at them before they can absorb its substance till just leaving the bones. But it will not be easy, as time goes on insects will be more numerous, so if you find it pertinent, you can request the help from a second player. Do not let them spoil your dish...
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo + DOSBox 1.09MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Paratrooper Orion Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1982 This is a single screen arcade action game, based on Apple II's Sabotage, where the player controls a stationary machine gun turret trying to shoot down all incoming enemies. The turret has unlimited ammo but a limited angle of fire (up to 90 degrees left and right). At first, helicopters start appearing from both sides of the screen's upper part. Paratroopers are jumping down from those helicopters; if four or more of them touch the ground, they will form a human ladder, climb up to the turret, and destroy it. To avoid that, the player has to shoot either the paratroopers themselves or their parachutes - for different effects but the same results. After the player has withstood several waves of helicopters, bomber planes start appearing. These planes shoot bombs directly at the turret, which do not miss and destroy it right away. To counter that, the player can either eliminate the plane before it has the chance to drop the bomb, or destroy the bomb itself in mid-air. Shooting bombs scores the most points (50). Surviving this stage effectively puts the game on an indefinite loop, with more helicopter and bomber plane stages alternating with increased difficulty. There are no continues and the player has to start over if the turret was destroyed.
Screenshots
Full Demo 7kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Foppygames 2010 Remake (uploaded by Classic Retro Games)
Sukender 2015 Remake 12MB (uploaded by Official Site)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 8kb
contained in Master Blaster (1987) (Keypunch) - Floppy Image ISO (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 79kb


Prohibition Infogrames Multimedia SA [top]

Release Date: 1987 This is a shoot'em up taking place in New York in 1930. The town is overrun by gangsters and you're hired by the police to rid the town of them. The gameplay is simple: you're facing a row of buildings, a gangster pops up and you have to shoot him before the on-screen timer goes empty and he shoots you first. You can hide until the timer restarts but this is limited too. At the end of each stage is a bonus round where you have to shoot gangsters in a room, with no more ability to hide and a faster timer. As you progress through each stage, the game will become faster, and enemies will become harder to find and to hit. Of course, your goal is to reach the end of the game with the highest possible score.
Screenshots
Full Demo with DOSBox 1MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 83kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Rambo III Ocean Software Ltd. / Taito America Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1989 Rambo's mission is set deep in Afghanistan, in the days when the Soviets occupied it, and America was putting this right (we won't mention who they enlisted to do so). Colonel Trautman has been kidnapped by the Soviets, and you've gone in there to rescuing him. Doing so is a three-part operation approximately following the plot of the film. In the first part, you explore the building Trautman could be in, through a top-down view of the building. It is heavily protected by infra-red security beams, which when activated unleadsh the enemies. The locations of the beams are only apparent if you collect the special goggles. Other hazards include mines, trapdoors and booby-trapped doors, but there are enhanced weapons to collect. Section two is identical to the first, except that it is located outside, the enemy are onto you from the start, and there are no traps. The final section changes to an Operation Wolf-style shoot 'em up, with a horde of tanks, foot soldiers and helicopters to face. Your gun can jam, which adds to the challenge of finally getting out alive.
Screenshots
Full Demo 474kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 493kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Red Baron, The BMB Compuscience [top]

Release Date: 1986 This is a single player game in which the player flies a bi-plane in a fixed side-scrolling environment. The game is entirely keyboard controlled and has two game modes: Single player - here the player files back and forth destroying ground targets; Player vs computer - In which there are both ground targets and enemy aircraft to contend with. Points are scored for enemy targets destroyed and points are lost for shooting friendly targets. The game is very similar, nearly identical, to BMB Compuscience's other title Sopwith, however Red Baron does not have hazards such as flocks of birds or oxen in the scenery.
Screenshots
Full Demo 31kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Revenge of Defender / StarRay Hidden Treasures / Epyx, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 You are called on to protect seven planets in the Scarcanian System from yet another alien invasion. With their peaceful planets and blue binary sun, the people of this system are your allies and suppliers of vital resources to your world. It puts you at the helm of StarRay, a ship capable of firing lasers and vaporizers. It is outfitted with shields and can fly up, down, right and left. As you patrol each planet (the playfield scrolls horizontally in both directions), blasting or exploding everything in sight, aliens will try to destroy your ship and each of the 10 resource installations on that planet. Planets include mountainous Gorbaxa, the jungle world of Sirion, frozen Sharlon, and technological Boldava, a world filled with power plants. When you get shot by or collide with an alien, you will lose shield strength. If you manage to destroy a certain number of waves of aliens on a planet, you will advance to the next level. Landers, Blue Hunters and Air Buses are present on every world while dragonflies, hives, wasps, pterodactyls, silicon worms, bloodsucking plants, killer bees and other enemies begin appearing as you progress from world to world. A radar scan is available for use in watching incoming attackers. Certain enemies when shot will release a letter icon that can be picked up for points, power or weaponry: A provides you with a temporary burst of speed; B is equal to 1,000 bonus points; C gives you continuous fire for 100 shots; I makes you temporarily invincible; P improves your laser for a short time; T gives your laser temporary rapid-fire capabilities; and V gives you a momentary boost of speed. A round ends when your shields have been eliminated (you only get one ship) or when all 10 resource installations on a single planet have been invaded or destroyed. When an alien does take over an installation, go ahead and destroy that installation because it will then become an enemy weapons base.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 428kb
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 497kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
included in Hits for Six: Volume Three - ISO Demo 16MB (uploaded by Egon68)


River Raid Activision, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 This is a vertically scrolling action game and port of the popular Atari 2600 which sold a million cartridges in 1982. It was desgined by Carol Shaw, the world's first female professional video game designer. You fly a jet up a river in an attempt to destroy bridges which are vital to the enemy. The river is heavily guarded, however, with balloons, ships, choppers, and enemy aircraft trying to stop you. Along the way you will need to fly over fuel stations to refuel your jet and keep flying. The plane is armed with a cannon with unlimited ammo. It can be used to destroy the enemy vehicles and bridges, but a careless player can accidentally destroy a fuel station. Colliding with the riverbanks or with the enemy aircraft destroys your plane and makes you lose a life. Unlike later scrolling shooters, there is little or no enemy fire in River Raid. Also, the player's jet cannot maneuver up and down the screen, only left and right. It can, however, accelerate and decelerate.
Screenshots
Full Demo 17kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Tiny River Raid - Free Fan-made Remake 21kb (uploaded by Classic Retro Games)
Retro River Raid - 2004 Free 3D Remake 6.9MB (uploaded by GameJolt)
PCJr cartridge ISO Demo (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 9kb


Robotron: 2084 Vid Kidz / Atarisoft [top]

Release Date: 1983 You are a mutant human, who by some freak of nature has the ability to shoot energy pulses from his body in eight different directions. Your job is simple: save humanity from their own creation - the ROBOTRONS! The gameplay is pretty unique for the time. The arcade game popularized the twin joystick control scheme, one that had previously been used in Taito's Space Dungeon. You can move and fire in any of eight directions. You get thrown in a room with various evil baddies strewn about, you've got to kill all the robots while at the same time finding some way to grab humans and avoid death. This is one of the better Atarisoft conversions; everything is very faithful to the original, single joystick control is very good.
Infos
Full Demo 18kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 19kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Reviews
Mechatron 2154 - 2007 Free Fan-Made Remake 3.6MB (uploaded by Classic Retro Games)


Rockets WelCom Systems [top]

Release Date: 1986 This is a single-player, space based, shooter that is entirely keyboard controlled. The game starts by drawing a star-field on screen and populating it with a planet and asteroids. The planet is an obstacle that a spaceship cannot fly over but the asteroids are effectively just scenery. It then positions the player's ship and an enemy ship on screen and the object is to destroy as many enemy ships as possible before all ships are exhausted. As the player progresses the enemy ships become faster at tracking and firing. The game features destructible scenery, when a ship explodes near a planet, or asteroid, a chunk of that object is destroyed. It also has a speed up / slow down feature that allows it to be played on different systems.
Screenshots
Full Demo 36kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
contained in Master Blaster (1987) (Keypunch) - Floppy Image ISO (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 79kb


Round 42 Elven Software Company [top]

Release Date: 1986 A traditional space shooter involving 42 rounds of battle against invading alien ships (hence the name). Each round of aliens has different movement and firing patterns. Against such odds, you are provided with two weapons: An auto-fire cannon, and a single-fire targeting laser. Extra ships and shots for the targeting laser are earned one per successful completion of a round (the auto-fire cannon has unlimited ammo).
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 25kb
Videos
contained in Master Blaster (1987) (Keypunch) - Floppy Image ISO (provided by basetta & upped by Scaryfun) 79kb


Rush'n Attack / Green Beret Konami Industry Co. Ltd. / Konami Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Depending on which title you use, and how you interpret it, this game is about a guy who a) rushes in before attacking b) attacks Russians (this was the mid-80s, when the US helped Bin Laden do the same), or c) wears a rather goofy hat. One way or another, this arcade game arms you with a knife and sends you on a kamikaze mission against hordes of enemy fighters. There are four distinct sections of gameplay, taking in a Missile Base, a Harbour, a Bridge, and an enemy Prison Camp. Extra weapons with limited ammunition can be collected along the way, which will make the task a lot easier. The level is divided into 3 horizontal levels, which can be moved between either by jumping or using ladders, and this gives a chance to avoid the more threatening mobs of enemy fighters. A free fan-made remake of the Commodore 64 version was made by TDB Soft.
Screenshots
EGA/CGA Full Demo 141kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Green Beret - Fan-Made Free Remake 338kb (uploaded by Classic Retro Games)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (psi) 102kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Saboteur II Durell Software Ltd. / Keypunch Software Inc., SimFabric [top]


Release Date: 1987 The ninja hero of the original Saboteur game has been killed, and his sister Nina is out to avenge this injustice. She has an array of kung-fu moves on offer, and must put them to use through 700 screens of action. The game design is very similar to the original, right down to the unusual background graphical style. The sections of the game are on multiple levels, separated mainly by ladders, and with lots of weapons and ammunition to pick up along the way. To beat the game you'll have to collect tapes and collect a 14-part computer code. In Aug/2019, Saboteur II: Avenging Angel, a remastered version was released with: Original mission from 1987 in five versions ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MS DOS, Special Retro VGA; New levels; New enemies; New story where you'll be able to know more about sister of Saboteur and her dark and secret mission; New soundtrack and music; Over 10 hours of gameplay; 5 retro consoles graphic modes; Retro special effects; Retro original music, graphics; 8 language versions; 21 special achievements; Secrets and easter eggs to reveal; Retro DLC - Scanlines, CRT moire, original title and menu, original title music - ZX Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC, 5 retro graphic modes: ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MS DOS, Special Retro VGA.
Screenshots
Full Demo 29kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Remastered Screenshots/Videos


Safari Guns / On Safari New-Deal Productions S.A. / Infogrames Europe SA [top]

Release Date: 1989 You are on safari to make a photo report to save the local animal world from extinction. How the game works is simple. Animals will move into the screen and, after some time, leave the screen. Meanwhile you must photograph them. Besides the animals, there also poachers, which have to be shot with your real weapon. Kill them fast, or they will kill you. If you kill an animal, then you get some penalty points. The game itself offers different locations, from the desert to the jungle and a variety of different animals, like zebras, elephants, and others.
Screenshots
Full Demo 467kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 415kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Sarge Bally Sente Inc. / Capcom U.S.A., Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a top-down shooter where the goal is to stop the invading terrorists by controlling a tank and a helicopter. All enemy forces must be destroyed in each level. Two-player mode facilitates gameplay by adding two more units on the battlefield. It's a fun game from the masters of arcade, Capcom, and is a decent conversion of the Bally arcade game of the same name that was semi-popular in the 1980s. The goal is straightforward: destroy all enemy forces in each level. You control a tank and a helicopter, both of which must work in tandem to succeed. Timing of shots is critical, as the tank has a certain level of inertia when moving, and you must shoot where the enemy tank will be when the shot lands, not where he presently is. Needless to say, two-player mode is a lot more fun because you have the help of two more units on the battlefield. As you progress through each level, you will be promoted from Private when your scores are high enough, and awarded new units to command. There's not much more to say about Sarge: it's a fun beer-and-pretzel game that is great for whiling away some time when you are waiting for the next breakthrough in action gaming. Anyone looking for a more complex tank game should try Fire Power instead.
Screenshots
Full Demo 79kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
included in Arcade Blockbusters! - Floppy Image ISO Demo 4.53MB (uploaded by scaryfun)


Savage Probe Software Ltd. / Microplay Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 Savage contains three different parts, each with its own style. You can play all three, but to get more than one life on levels 2 or 3, you must first input the code earned on completing the previous level. You play Savage, a muscular warrior who was imprisoned in a castle. When he broke free, he found out that his imprisonment had been a trick with the sole purpose of imprisoning his love, the maiden. You have to progress through the 3 parts of the game to rescue her. The first is a simple horizontal-scrolling shooter, in which you use the trajectory of your shots to kill enemies and collect the treasures and improved weapons they drop when killed. The second is a 1st person perspective 3D shooter resembling Space Harrier, with skulls to shoot and monoliths to avoid. In the third you play Savage's Eagle form, flying through platform-style levels avoiding timing-based hazards and shooting anyone who gets in your way. In this section bubbles can be shot to release power-ups.
Screenshots
Full Demo 266kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 162kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Sea Dragon Adventure International [top]

Release Date: 1983 This is an arcade style side scrolling shooter in the style of Scramble. The player pilots a submarine through treacherous underwater caves in an attempt to destroy a heavily guarded reactor. Mines, gun turrets, and a variety of enemies provide obstacles to this goal. The submarine is armed with missiles, torpedoes, and a 'Big Kill' weapon (this affects everything onscreen) to help the player in their mission. The air supply is limited, so when possible the player must surface to replenish their air supply.
Screenshots
Full Demo 32kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Side Arms Hyper Dyne Capcom Co., Ltd. / Capcom U.S.A., Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 Originating in the arcades, Side Arms is a horizontally scrolling shoot 'em up in which you control Lieutenant Henry (a second player can control Sergeant Sanders in some versions), armed with crude weaponry and protective jump-suits. They must save the earth from the mercenary invaders of Bozon. You must first reach Bozon’s territories, then wipe out its forces hidden in caverns and lurking in underground seas, before destroying the main invasion ship. Lots of extra weapons can be picked up, often with similar tokens to those in 1943 and some other Capcom titles. Most weapons can be shot either to the left or the right, giving you more range to launch attacks.
Screenshots
Full Demo 50kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
included in Arcade Hits - Floppy Images ISO Demo 588kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Floppy Image ISO Demo 48kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


SideWinder Synergistic Software, Inc. / Arcadia Systems, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This vertically scrolling shoot 'em up varies from the standard for this style of game, as it also features a degree of horizontal scrolling. The screen area moves across as you reach the edge of the screen and reveals a whole new range of enemies. These include lots of static turrets as well as cannon-fodder waves of enemies. There are 6 levels and each level starts and ends with you travelling through a tunnel, and emerging on the other side faced with a new graphical setting, be it industrial, space or woodland. After clearing the last level the tunnel leads back to the first level, so there is no real ending to the game. There are no end bosses, instead each level ends with a more difficult part with a large ground structure and increased enemies and turrets. There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from, and a 2 player mode.
Screenshots
Full Demo 168kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 158kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Silpheed Game Arts Co., Ltd. / Sierra On-Line, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Designed by Thexder designers S. Uesaka and H. Godai, the player pilots a spaceship through levels of increasing difficulty, in a pseudo-3D vertically scrolling field, shooting everything in his path. New weapons will become available as he gathers points, and power-ups are sprinkled throughout the levels. It has 20 action-packed levels that feature diverse backgrounds, enemies, and very cool power-ups you can keep from level to level to prepare for the ultimate showdown with Xacalite, the evil warlord. The game was notable for its use of pre-rendered 3D polygonal graphics played as a full motion video background to simulate real-time computer graphics and a tilted third-person perspective. The game is one of the first-ever that used music as a selling point. It came bundled free with the CMS Game Blaster sound card. There was a later version (3.2) released that specifically supported the IBM PS/1 Audio Card, and is the only DOS version of the game to have support for sampled sound effects and speech. The card supports 3-voice Tandy sound style music, but can work with another music device like the Roland MT-32 with the PS/1 Audio Card being used for sound effects and speech.
Screenshots
Floppy Images ISO Demo 697kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
Infos
 1  2 
Full Demo 668kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Full Demo 667kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
No-docs crack (provided by basetta & uploaded by Scaryfun) 88kb
DOS OEM v3.2 for PS/1 - Full Demo 1MB (uploaded by myloch)


Sky Shark / Flying Shark Toaplan Co., Ltd. / Taito America Corporation [top]


Release Date: 1989 This is a top-down shooter similar to Raiden. You start off with four lives and three bombs. With that (you can get more lives at certain point intervals, and more bombs can be found), you, the "Sky Shark" of your squadron, blast through five levels of enemy-infested battlefields with as many as six gun upgrades (Aside from the bombs and the gun upgrade, there are no other weapons to be found at all). Includes three difficulty levels and two-player support. In Aug/2023, a quality port of the 1987 arcade version was released on Windows. The enhanced edition includes online leaderboards, a beginner mode, CRT filters, and much more. Despite its simplicity, Flying Shark requires strategy and guts thanks to an innovative feature: OFF-SCREEN ACTION! By flying left and right, you can expand your field of vision beyond the screen borders and reveal hidden threats. Quality of life improvements - Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame. Quick Save using F1-F10, Reload with Shift+ F1-F10. Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays. Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork. Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action. Experience the game in Mirror Mode. Capture sharable replays to immortalize your interstellar victories (or funny moments). Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates. Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure. Pixel perfect or full-screen scaling in windowed or full-screen mode. Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments. Steam Achievements. Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input. Hone your skills in the ultra-customizable practice mode.
Screenshots
Full Demo 517kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 494kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
2023 Screenshots/Videos


Solo Opera Soft S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1989 You're Carlitos, the usual school boy who still has to hear the recommendations of his mother. Everything was going fine until someday you left your home and found a deserted street, but almost instantly you heard the sound of a grenade exploding, and some bad guys with a shotgun. You think of it as a nightmare, but then a bullet almost hits you. Just then you find a pistol in your bag, if these dudes are real, why shouldn't it be real too? Solo is another of the Opera games designed to be used with the Gun Stick, quite similar on its development to Opera's Trigger. Also, in spite of this game's solitary name, there will be the option to play a 2 players cooperative mode.
Screenshots
included in Pack Regalo: Gun Stick - Floppy Image ISO Demo 1.09MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo + DOSBox Version 27kb/1.1MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Sopwith BMB Compuscience [top]

Release Date: 1984 Sopwith is a side scrolling shoot 'em up game where the player flies a sopwith biplane, trying to shoot down enemy planes and destroy all enemy buildings. It can be played in single player or in skirmishes against the AI. You attempt to bomb enemy buildings while avoiding fire from enemy planes and various other obstacles. It was created to demonstrate the "Imaginet" proprietary networking system. David L. Clark, employed as a programmer at BMB, developed it as a multiplayer game. The multiplayer function will not operate without the Imaginet hardware and drivers. However, single player functionality was also included, with the player flying alone or against computer-controlled planes. Because of this, the game was widely distributed, even though the Imaginet system itself was not hugely successful. It features four-color CGA graphics. Sound is provided by the PC speaker in the form of music and sound effects. The C and x86 assembly source code was released in 2000, at first under a non-commercial use license, but later under the GNU GPL at the request of fans. The player begins at their base (typically a hangar and a runway). From here, they must launch their plane and attack targets. This stage can be a hindrance to inexperienced players, as sufficient speed is needed to get the plane into the air. Insufficient speed will cause the plane to stall and crash.
Screenshots
Free Game 29kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Different versions + Mods (uploaded by Sopwith.org)
 1  2 
Sopwith clone by Steve Bennett - Free Game ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 181kb


Space Adventure FireBall Software Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 A top down exploration shoot-em-up game where the player has to collect 4 crystals from a hostile alien craft to their scout ship in order to destroy the alien vessel. Keys are required to get to the crystals, and there are a lot of enemy androids roaming the alien ship, each of which must be destroyed before the next room becomes accessible. The original version of the game was by Andrew and Roger Thomas for the BBC Micro and it was ported to DOS by Robert Schmidt.
Screenshots
Full Demo 112kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Space Battles Keypunch Software Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 This contains four different games on one disk: Space War - a 1985 shareware variant of Spacewar!, one of the very first computer games ever created in 1962. Moon Lander - Out on a LEM is a 1984 BASIC-programmed Lunar Lander-type game. The goal is to land on the white goal pad without crashing into moon's jagged surface. The cursor keys are used to operate the left, right and vertical thrusters to land the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) as gently as possible. A thruster is turned off by pressing the same key a second time. The fuel supply also needs to be watched. If there is fuel left, the on-board computer will attempt to return the LEM to Earth. Meteor Shower: In this game numerous meteors are falling. Your goal is to guide your character and collect as many of the pieces of the scene as you can. When a meteor falls it will remove any pieces of the scene that happen to be in its way causing you to lose points. If you collect a piece before it's destroyed by a meteor you gain points. If you are hit by a falling meteor then you lose a life. The goal is to earn as many points as possible. One to four players can compete for the highest score. Space Zombies: In this game your goal is to earn as many points as possible by collecting dots on the screen. Four opponents bounce and wander around the screen; if you get caught a life is lost, and the game ends when all players have lost all their lives. One to four players take turns playing the game and compete for the highest score.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 111kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Space Commanders Columbia Data Products [top]

Release Date: 1983 This Space Invaders clone has you defend earth from endless waves of attacking aliens. Shoot the UFO for extra points. It supports the use of a color or black and white monitor. If you choose the black and white option and are running the game on a true CGA card, the game will use the tweaked red-cyan-white-black palette. This palette appears as black and white on a color or black and white composite monitor, but as color on a color RGB monitor. The rest only uses the white color though, and will appear as black and white on any type of monitor. This game's publisher was a computer manufacturer that introduced the first ever "IBM PC compatible" computer (in June 1982). To attract buyers, CDP began offering a package of popular software titles bundled for free with its PCs. Space Commanders was part of the "Columbia Super Pack" of free bundled software.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 12kb
Videos


Space Commanders II ajf [top]

Release Date: 1985 The arcade game is back. Destroy those aliens before they destroy you. With three lives, you must fight back at the aliens with your space ship as they come closer and closer. Can you wipe them out before they wipe you out? A screen full of aliens coming closer and closer is not the easiest situation to be in. As the aliens get closer, their speed will increase, making it very difficult to stop them. Good hunting.
Screenshots
Free Game ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 5kb
Videos


Space Miner Resolution Software [top]

Release Date: 1983 Humanity's hunger for material resources has expanded beyond Earth's capacity to satisfy it, and you've been sent on a mining expedition to harvest ores in space. Your ship is equipped with a finite supply of fuel, a robot arm to collect materials, and twin missiles to fend off the hordes of slavering aliens which inconveniently occupy the area (and devour everything in their path, mining ships included). Floating lumps of fuel or missile modules can be collected to replenish your supplies. Your goal is to complete three mining runs with as much profit as you can - the mothership will be waiting to pick you up at the end of each run; if a ship is destroyed before being picked up, all of its hard-earned bounty will be lost.
Screenshots
Full Demo 13kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Space Strike Datamost, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1982 This fixed-screen shooter is an original version of the Space Invaders style of game that built the computer game market. It’s a fierce, demanding, and highly exciting space battle - player against the aliens. It’s enjoyable on any level, by any age... and gets even more so as they become more expert and start racking up high scores. The player controls a small mobile firing platform that he moves side to side along the bottom of the screen. Waves of aliens attack from above, sweeping back and forth and slowly descending. Barriers provide cover for the player, but are degraded by weapons fire both from above and from below. The level is complete when all the aliens are destroyed, but ends if the player gets shot or if the aliens descend to the point that they collide with the player. This was the very first PC game Michael Abrash wrote.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 16kb
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basetta & uploaded by Scaryfun) 12kb


Spacewar Bill Seiler [top]

Release Date: 1985 This is a shareware variant of Spacewar!, one of the very first computer games ever created in 1962. Two spaceships, controlled either by human or by robot, battle it out in a fight to the death. The spaceships' weapons of attack are phasers for short range and photon torpedos for long range, both of which use up the energy bar; if this bar is drained, you can't attack. As defense there is the impulse engine to move, as well as a cloak and hyperspace to jump to a random location, all of which use energy also. To alter gameplay, when switching on gravity the ships gravitate towards the centre of the screen. Photon torpedos are affected by gravity in the same way as the ships. Also, you can add a planet in the centre of the screen, which your ship can crash through, draining your shield energy bar. When a ship's shield energy is all gone, one shot or planet collision will cause the ship to explode, making the surviving ship the winner of the game.
Screenshots
Full Demo 9kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Infos
Videos


Speed Zone PAL Developments / Mastertronic Ltd. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a vertically scrolling shoot'em up with a classic style. The player, who flies a latest-generation spacecraft, must destroy all the alien hordes who want to destroy the space federation. The spaceship has a shield with a limited amount of energy. This energy protects the ship from the alien craft's shots. When the energy shield has reached its limit, the player loses one of three lives.
Screenshots
Full Demo 11kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Spy Hunter Bally Midway Manufacturing Co., Inc. / SEGA Enterprises, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 Originating in the arcades, Spy Hunter is a driving action game played from an overhead point of view. It was meant to be a James Bond license but the publisher backed out due to the high fees. Your car is equipped with machine guns to help you get past the numerous enemies out on the road (be careful not to shoot any civilians, though!) Occasionally you will come across a weapons van, and if you drive into the back of the van your car becomes equipped with a second weapon (such as smoke screen, oil slick, or missiles). At several points the road splits and you can enter a boathouse which transforms your car into a boat temporarily. If you drive far enough the seasons change as well (watch out for icy conditions during winter!). The enemy cars will do anything to stop you, including running you off the road, firing guns from the back of a limo, or dropping bombs from a helicopter.
Screenshots
Full Demo 25kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 23kb


Star Breaker Frames / Arc [top]

Release Date: 1989 This futuristic shooter combines two distinct styles of gameplay into a multi-level romp through space. The colony planets of New Chicago have been overrun by gangs of Rrampon invaders, and a state-of-the-art space cruiser has been sent in to purge the infestation. It's up to the Star Breaker, and its android pilot, to destroy the enemy's airborne forces and dispatch the interlopers underground. The main section of each level takes place above the surface of one of the lifeless planets, and plays like a Defender-style shoot-'em-up. The Star Breaker can fly in four directions as it tracks down the Rrampon forces on its radar display - from mines and suicide droids to the dreaded Harvester command ships. The docking bays on the surface provide access to the underground bases. Here, control is transferred to the Light Trooper android, which heads down to the tunnels to hunt down the overlords and their Space Clams. The android can either fly through the rooms using its thrusters, or walk on the ground; computer terminals provide status reports, and can resupply the player with ammo, shields, thruster power and bombs. When the base is cleared, a self-destruct code can be activated, giving the player a few seconds to evacuate. The level is completed when every base has been destroyed, and all the command vessels have been shot down from the skies.
Screenshots
Full Demo 199kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Star Dust Topo Soft [top]

Release Date: 1988 The Blodroid Empire has launched a mass attack on Earth. Fortunately, its entire network of ships use shields powered remotely from a single generator located on their homeworld. As a feared pilot, you must fly your Astrohunter spaceship through hostile territory to destroy it. The journey is viewed from above. The threat is from nine increasingly-tough Supercruisers, which have the ability to launch spaceships, missiles and mines. These must all be avoided or shot out. In this part of the game, you have four lives, represented by shields which deplete as you take hits. The last Supercruiser contains the six all-important Generator panels. This final phase of the game takes place on foot, as you destroy them with projectiles. You must then return to your ship before everything explodes and takes you with it.
Screenshots
Full Demo 48kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 180kb (uploaded by Abandonsocios)


Star Empire First Row Software Publishing Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 The ultimate goal here is to build a great galactic empire protected by a huge frontier shield. Before this can be achieved however, players have to complete various missions, trade with starbases and fight off invading aliens. The ship is controlled from a top-down perspective, with four gauges indicating its energy level, temperature, radiation level and shield status. When the radiation level or temperature reach maximum, the ship is destroyed. The ship heats up when it's near a sun or firing weapons. The radiation level rises when radioactive pods are carried. When the ship is running out of fuel, it can be refueled by collecting ore from planets. Two direction finders at the bottom of the screen point towards the next starbase, mission objective or manually chosen target. At starbases, players can accept missions and trade minerals, ore or people. These three goods can be found on planets (in form of pods). In order to land on a planet, players must enter a warp hole. Once on the planet's surface, the game switches to first-person perspective and the player has to dodge or destroy rockets fired at the ship and follow the direction finders towards pods or the "exit". Starbases need to be supplied with materials to be able to produce "performance pods" and equipment for the ship. In order to reach other star systems, players have to fly through asteroid belts. Although some systems can only be reached with a special hyperspace pod. Many star systems are overrun by aliens and can only be reclaimed when all aliens are wiped out. There are also systems that are infected with the plaque and players must take care not to spread it to other systems. As the game progresses, more aliens, better equipment and new starbases appear. When all systems have been visited, players can buy starbases. When all systems are owned by the player, the game can be finished by constructing the frontier shield.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 66kb
Videos


Star Fields Infodisc [top]

Release Date: 1989 This was released as a supplement to Spanish magazine about PC-DOS. It's almost no different from the much more well-known Cybotron from same developer that was published before it. You could even say that it is its almost complete copy of the very simplistic gameplay. The player's fighter has an inexhaustible supply of ammunition, each of which is deadly for the enemy. Of course the enemy, too, can kill with a single blow, but for that he still needs to be close to your ship. Most levels also have a kind of a safe spot, which when standing in it and pressing the fire button, you can go through the entire level iby almost not moving. As a result, we have a simple shmup with the copied gameplay and three-color graphics. The only attraction today to it is for collectors of old video games.
Screenshots/Video
Full Demo 8kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Stargate Williams Electronic Games, Inc. / Atarisoft [top]

Release Date: 1983 Save the humanoids from the impending aliens in the sequel to Defender. The task is still rescuing humanoids before Landers can turn them into Mutants, while avoiding and shooting other foes, however you must now carry humanoids to safety through the Stargate of the title. Entering this Stargate not only warps you to the nearest humanoid in jeopardy, but can also warp you ahead (while on the first 15 levels) if you enter it with 4 or more humanoids, and give you extra lives if you warp with 10 humanoids, so there is a trade-off between guaranteeing the safety of existing humanoids, and trying to advance your position. There are more enemies on screen than ever before. The Inviso button makes you invisible to enemies, but also to yourself, so you will have to follow your bullets to work out where on the screen you are.
Infos
Full Demo 39kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots
Videos


Stargoose Warrior Logotron Ltd [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is a top-down space shooter in which you move through a semi-3D environment shooting rounds and missiles at your enemies. Occasionally, the player can enter a tunnel and collect upgrades (ammo, shield or fuel) by climbing the walls of the tunnel to run into powerups.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 83kb
Videos
CGA & EGA Full Demos 61kb/72kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (provided by basseta & upped by Scaryfun) 395kb


Starmaxx Heigen Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1983 In this side-scrolling shoot-'em-up the player assumes control of a speedy fighter ship, flying low over hostile territory. The region is teeming with assorted enemy craft that don't take too kindly to your presence - from stationary space mines and curiously-shaped homing devices to flying saucers with mounted guns - and your only defense against being blasted into oblivion is your trusty laser beam. The ship may be freely accelerated to high warp or slowed down to a full stop; scoring is awarded for progressing through the sectors and destroying enemy craft. The latter is especially important when it comes to the saucers, since letting them escape actually takes away points(!). There are no lives as such: the game progresses until you run out of fuel, but getting shot or crashing into anything (including the ground) will detract from your score and eat up gas. Every fifty sectors, a fresh supply of fuel can be picked up to replenish your tanks.
Screenshots
Full Demo 22kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Starquake ShareData Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 As BLOB, the Bio-Logically Operated Being, you are sent into an unstable planet and charged with the task of preventing it from exploding. This involves collecting various items (the exact combination is different every time you load the game) and taking them to the planet's core. The game is an arcade adventure viewed from the side, with 512 screens arranged in a 16x32 pattern. It was first released on ZX Spectrum in 1985. A teleport system exists, so once you find the codes you can get quick access to different parts of the game. The creatures to avoid are intelligent, getting tougher to predict as you get closer to the centre, but you are armed with a gun and can also try to avoid them. BLOB has a set of platforms which can be used to allow limited vertical movement, but these disappear after a few seconds each use.
Screenshots
Full Demo 50kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Floppy Image ISO Demo (ima) 180kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Striker Derek Williams [top]

Release Date: 1985 This is a fun freeware clone of the side-scrolling shooter Scramble. A lone chopper armed with machine guns and bombs must navigate through five missions in order to rescue people and destroy and alien missile factory. Striker is a side-scrolling shooter composed of five missions with different goals in each. The first mission will have you rescue your spies while the second will have to dropping off said spies. The third mission involves picking up cargo and the fourth stranded people. The final mission of the game is to attack the missile development factory and put an end to the alien threat. During your missions you will be attacked by targets on land such as guns and missile silos and target that fly in a preset pattern. You have unlimited amount of weaponry but will have to pick up fuel in later levels in order to avoid crashing. Fuel is picked up simply by destroying fuel tank on the tunnel base. In addition to fun gameplay, it allows you to choose from 4 difficulty levels and redefine every controlling key to suit your preference. You can also pause the game, toggle sound on and off, and play the game with a joystick.
Videos
Free Game 46kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Screenshots


Super Zaxxon SEGA Enterprises, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 This is an isometric view space shooter style game. You must first go over a base on an asteroid. Things located on this base include gun placements, fuel tanks, radar stations, missiles, and fighters. After you successfully navigate this base, you will go through a tunnel to tangle with enemy fighters, mine layers, and mines. You then will have to navigate through a series of barriers on another asteroid in order to take on the the enemy robot dragons. The game is very similar in appearance to Zaxxon. The differences are: Your fighter moves much faster. This makes going after ground targets a big challenge. The graphics are different. Although this is more of a viewing difference, it can still change one's perspective after having gotten used to the perspective. There is no more outer space battle. Instead, you must go through a narrow tunnel to get to area 3. Instead of 20 fighters, you now have to tangle with 25 fighters in area 2. A new enemy, the Mine Layer, is introduced. As the name implies, this ship lays mines in your path. You can destroy the mines but it takes a few hits. Instead of encountering one Zaxxon robot, you now have to deal with three Super Zaxxon, dragon looking robots. The placement of things (fuel tanks, gun implacements, etc.) in areas 1 and 3 is different than in Zaxxon. There are now indestructible, elevated guns in area 1. These guns sit on the right side and they are 2.5 units in altitude.
Screenshots
Full Demo 71kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 47kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Superman: The Man of Steel Tynesoft Computer Software [top]

Release Date: 1989 In this action game made under license from D.C. Comics, Inc. and First Star Software, Inc., you play as Superman on his mission to save kidnapped Lois Lane and all humankind from two super villains, Darkseid and Lex Luthor. The gameplay consists of different action-oriented sections including 3D flying, overhead vertical scrolling and side scrolling. Sections are linked by comic book graphics telling the story. Player controls the Superman on the game levels and use one of his four superpowers to defeat the opponents. Power energy is exhausted with its use and it should be regenerated. Collision with opponents may lead to life energy decrease. Top scores will be stored when game is over.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 174kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos
Full Demo 158kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)


Toi Acid Game Iber Soft [top]

Release Date: 1989 It begins while the protagonist, the Toi, is having a date in a discotheque with his girlfriend, Zoi. And then, there appears the usual crazy scientist, in this case called Dr Acid, who kidnaps the hero's girlfriend with the intention to provide diversion to his diabolic creations. The small and roundish friend cannot allow this, so he goes quickly to her rescue. In order to accomplish it, he will have to face four different levels in which all kind of tiny beasts will try to cut his way. Thus, on the first stage, the disco, he will have to avoid some crude dudes, siphons, drinks which fall from above, etc., whereas he desperately looks for the eight plates that will allow the access to the next levels, which are: the beach, the pirate ship, and finally, the Acid House.
Screenshots
Full Demo 172kb (uploaded by Computer Emuzone)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 118kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Trantor the Last Stormtrooper Probe Software Ltd. / Keypunch Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 In this game you play the role of a man who has been stranded on an alien planet after his space ship explodes and you must find pieces of it to rebuild it. The gameplay involves you jumping across platforms and shooting at droids and aliens but also ducking to avoid high flying robots. The game is played from a side scrolling perspective. The baddies come thick and fast and the only way to cope is to keep moving.
Screenshots
Full Demo 26kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Trigger Opera Soft S.A. [top]

Release Date: 1989 Crazy Park is a place not recommended for people who want to have a peaceful existence, because the murderers, thieves and other thugs converted it in their home. But of course, as in every other story where some bad guys take a place which doesn't belong to them, there will appear a guy ready to end with them. Trigger is a first-person view game where you have to make use of your Gun Stick accessory. The game has a side scroll by which you will see a multitude of enemies emerging. Some of them will shot at you, others will launch grenades, knives... there will even be exhibitionists. But don't go too fast, there will be other persons to which you should not shot at, otherwise points would be reduced from your marker. Also, there will also appear some objects that will recharge your ammunition.
Screenshots
Full Demo 32kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Full Demo + DOSBox with lightgun support 1.1MB (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)


Uridium Graftgold Ltd. / Mindscape, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 This is a 2D shmup with simulated 3D effects. Your home solar system of 15 planets has been attacked by a horde of Super Dreadnoughts, from a race who wish to harvest your universe's minerals for their own use. You must pilot your craft through some of the hardest levels ever created and shoot down all the enemy space craft and ground weapons, and avoid the many indestructible hazards. The innovation is that you do not simply travel in a single direction, but instead move from left to right or right to left depending on where the current targets are, in a manner more similar to Defender than most shoot 'em ups. A fan-made remake was released in 2003 by Minionsoft.
Screenshots
Full Demo 54kb (uploaded by mklgw1985)
Reviews
2003 Free Fan-Made Remake by Minionsoft 6.1MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)
Videos


Veteran Software Horizons / Infogrames Europe SA [top]

Release Date: 1988 The Operation Wolf arcade game was the obvious inspiration for this target shoot 'em up. As a lone soldier you must shoot your way through waves of soldiers, tanks and helicopters, armed with only bullets and grenades. You aim at these by controlling a crosshair with the mouse, using the left button to shoot bullets and the right button to fire grenades. You are limited for both of these, but more can be collected as they appear throughout the game by shooting them. Your strength is limited and deteriorates as you get hit - avoid letting it drop to zero.
Screenshots
Floppy Image ISO Demo 171kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Videos


Victory Road: Ikari Warriors Part II SNK Corporation / Data East USA, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 Heavy on the action, the first Ikari Warriors became a favorite both in the arcades and on home consoles. To fuel that frenzy, SNK and Tradewest teamed up again for a sequel, Victory Road, released later that same year. This time, the Ikari Warriors take on more cosmic foes, battling rock-headed beasts, one-eyed green men and other odd creatures. Gameplay remained exactly the same, but the power-ups had changed along with the enemies. Once again, Quicksilver stepped up to the task of porting the action to the PC, and managed to retain the intuitiveness of the control scheme, as well as enhance graphical detail even with the same 4-color palette.
Screenshots
Full Demo 330kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 328kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


West Phaser Loriciel SA [top]

Release Date: 1989 This game came as a pack-in title with Loriciel's light gun controller of the same name. Most light guns opted for a futuristic look and feel, but the West Phaser was inspired more by 19th century Colt revolvers, and aptly enough the bundled game was a Western-themed shooter - with similar mechanics to Operation Wolf, except for the stationary screens. Up to six players can pick their characters from a Who's Who of the American Old West: Doc Holliday, Calamity Jane, Will Bill Hickok, and every other big-name lawman and gunfighter in collective imagination. Outlaws like Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Belle Starr are sowing terror in the murky saloons and dusty streets, and it's your job to stop them if you're after that coveted Sheriff's badge... or the big fat rewards on their heads. Each location throws wave after wave of humorously-drawn attackers at you - bandits, cowboys, Indians, Mexicans, all thrown together into a big pile of cartoonish violence. A burning candle represents your life bar and there's plenty of enemies trying to snuff it out, so you'll have to be quick on the draw (but don't forget to protect the innocent). When the face of the bandit you're after starts blinking on the status bar, prepare for the showdown: nail them and the reward is yours. Apparently the light gun was not the biggest success, and less than three years later the game was re-released, this time with support for other input devices - and a new title, Steve McQueen: Westphaser, despite having exactly nothing to do with any of McQueen's characters.
Screenshots
Full Demo 853kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Wings of Fury Brøderbund Software, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1989 This is an action game with some minor simulation aspects, in which you are the pilot of an American F6F Hellcat plane. The setting of the game is the Pacific during World War II. It is your job to defeat the Japanese by destroying enemy bunkers, machine gun nests and barracks on a series of islands. Barracks and gun nests can be bombarded with regular bombs, while you'll have to use rockets to take out the concrete bunkers. After a successful bombing run, return to mow down the Japanese soldiers with your machine guns. You also have to sink Japanese battleships with torpedoes and engage in dogfights with enemy fighter planes. You start each mission by taking off from an aircraft carrier, which you'll have to protect from assaults by Japanese torpedo planes. Whenever you run out of fuel, bombs, rockets or machine gun ammo you can replenish those by returning to your carrier. Your carrier is also the place to repair damage to your plane. The EGA mode of the game features only 12 colors, and is also faster than the CGA mode. In 2003, a fan-made remake for Windows made by Byte The Bullet was released.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 361kb
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 357kb (uploaded by scaryfun)
2003 Fan-Made Remake - Free Game 2.7MB (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


Worm Burner Andrew Walsh / COMPUTE! Publications Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1987 An adaptation of Gridrunner, where the player is assigned to defend Earth from a herd of ravenous space worms, who have apparently developed a particular appetite for the planets of the Solar System. Action takes place along a grid; the player's ship is free to move about its bottom rows, though it can only fire upwards. Each attack wave brings more of the marauding creatures into the fray. The worms descend from the top in Centipede-like fashion, weaving and winding across the playfield. Knocking out a worm segment will only split the creature in two; the blasted segment will keep blocking traffic as it mutates. Eventually it will fall off the grid, destroying everything in its path. The defense grid is equipped with two automatic laser guns, which prowl the edges and attempt to zap the intruders, but they only make things worse - being caught in the crossfire is bad news for the player's ship.
Screenshots
Free Game 5kb (uploaded by Internet Archive Software Collection)


X-Fighter Wordworks Software [top]

Release Date: 1986 This is a simple top down, maze based arcade shoot-em up. Pilot your spacecraft through multiple levels of increasing difficulty for the glory of holding the highest score.
Videos
Full Demo 23kb (uploaded by Old-Games.ru)
Screenshots


Xenon Bitmap Brothers, The / Virgin Mastertronic International, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1988 In this game the player assumes the role of a space pilot named Darrian. One day, he receives a report from a nebula space station, from which he learns that nearby human colonies have been attacked by mysterious aliens known as Xenites. Darrian wastes no time, and sets off to protect the humans and stop the aliens. Xenon is an overhead shooter, in which the player controls a vehicle that is able to transform into a tank or a plane. The transformation can be usually performed by player at any time, to combat particular enemies; however, during some sequences the player is forced to use a specific type of vehicle. During the tank gameplay, the player controls the movement of the playfield (up or down) by simply moving the tank in the direction of choice. The game features a 3D playfield (some enemies, for example, will be mounted on hills of sort, where the tank can't shoot them). To combat these, the player needs to transform its tank into a plane. The game then switches to the more familiar gameplay style as seen in other vertically scrolling shooters. The plane has to transform back into a tank again to combat most ground units. Upgrades can be taken from destroyed enemies. The PC version of the game suffered from having no music, since neither the Adlib (late 1988) nor Sound Blaster (1989) cards had been released at the time the game was finished. And until the Sound Blaster came out a year later there was no way of getting decent sound effects on the PC other than through the speaker beeps. The "Sector One" voice playback that it did have had to occur when nothing else was moving onscreen since it took a lot of fiddling with the 1-bit speaker output and couldn't afford any more time spent elsewhere. It was also stuck with the standard 16-colour EGA palette, which is why the colours looked off. VGA had been released a year earlier, but only on the original IBM machines and clone cards weren't yet widely available.
Screenshots
Full Demo 129kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Reviews
Full Demo 128kb (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos
Floppy Images ISO Demo 149kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


XO-Fighter Heigen Corporation [top]

Release Date: 1982 A space shooter reminiscent of Computer Space: the player controls a starship and is free to move about a wrap-around playing field, using a physically realistic scheme of inertial thrust, while pursued by formations of enemy spacecraft. Thrust can be applied in any direction using the cursor keys, but ships may only fire to the left or right - the player is equipped with a long-range projectile, while the enemies sport short-range laser beams. When an enemy ship is destroyed, a new one takes its place; formations may break up, regroup and strengthen in numbers as the game progresses. Raising the skill level cranks up the game speed and provides for increasingly hectic action.
Screenshots
Full Demo ( provided by starlord & upped by Scaryfun) 23kb
Videos


Zanac [K] Compile / Pony Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1986 Millennia ago, a device known as The System was created by an ancient alien race. This device was told to contain ultimate knowledge and wisdom; however, only those aware of its secrets could hope to choose the right approach towards it. Should The System be accessed the wrong way, it would transfer itself into an instrument of immense destruction. Human beings took that risk, and were punished: The System activated its defense mechanism, and used its weapons against the human race. Years have passed, and the humans managed to learn the techniques contained within The System. Now only one task was left: to shut down The System itself. Zanac is a 2D vertically scrolling shooter. You are flying the fighter AFX-6502 Zanac, a space ship built by 256 Riot Fleet as man's last hope against total annihilation. On board are special weapons to help you blast your way through twelve screens of enemy creatures and destroy The System's home base. Zanac is divided into 12 "areas", which look like planets. The various locations range from deserts to jungles and from oceans to industrial zones. The game has many different types of enemies. Its artificial intelligence program can intensify the action based upon your level of skill. The better you are, the more powerful The System is. The behavior of the randomly approaching enemies is based on factors such as the position of your ship on the screen, the place you last died, etc. The shooting speed of regular enemies and bosses varies as well. At the end of each area (level) you'll have to fight the area boss. Area bosses are mainly presented large, screen-filling bunker bases consisting of gun turrets and a "core". You also have limited time for fighting against the area boss; running out of time could lead to failure in entering the next stage, and penalty of more and more enemies attacking.
Infos
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Full Demo 37kb (uploaded by Oldgamebox)
Videos


Zappa Roidz Ideas From the Deep / Softdisk Publishing [top]

Release Date: 1989 John Romero and Lane Roathe wrote this game shortly after accepting their job offers to work at Softdisk. They told the company that they were so good that they could bang out a game in Apple II and //gs formats in two weeks and have it ready by the time they started work at Softdisk (March 1989). Needless to say, they stayed up day and night and finished the game in time. Several months later, John Romero ported his Apple II version to DOS in EGA mode. You fly around in a space ship and you have to shoot all the asteroids and aliens you encounter. When you shoot a large asteroid it will break into smaller asteroids that you also have to shoot. On a map you can see where all the asteroids and aliens are. Your space ship can be destroyed by colliding with other objects. When you have lost all your space ships the game is over.
Screenshots
Full Demo 1MB (uploaded by MyAbandonware)
Videos


Zaxxon SEGA Enterprises Ltd. / SEGA Enterprises, Inc. [top]

Release Date: 1984 The Zaxxon defence system must be destroyed in this isometric-viewed shoot 'em up. This port of the popular 1982 arcade game has three stages, first taking you through Asteroid City, which is heavily protected by aircraft, guns and missiles. Many barriers are alarmed, leaving you with limited space to progress through, and fire must constantly be dodged. Fuel can be replenished, paradoxically, by blowing up fuel drums. Stage two is a space shoot out against hordes of enemy aircraft - those you failed to destroy in the first part of the task. Complete this and you reach the final battle with Zaxxon, the game looping with increased difficulty if you can survive the first time. There are three distinct skill levels, while controls involve using forward to dive and back to climb, in the manner of flight simulation. It was the first game to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game (AXXON from AXONometric projection). The type of axonometric projection is isometric projection: this effect simulated three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint. It was also one of the first video games to display shadows, to indicate the ship's altitude above the surface; the game also employed an altitude meter, allowing the player to control how high or low the ship is above the surface. It was also the first arcade game to be advertised on television, with a commercial produced by Paramount Pictures for $150,000. A fan-made remake by Garry Pankhurst was released in 2003.
Infos
Full Demo 10kb (uploaded by Abandonia)
Screenshots
2003 Fan-Made Remake (uploaded by Official Site)
Videos
Floppy Image ISO Demo 12kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


Zuran Defender Zee Programming [top]

Release Date: 1983 There's an all-out galactic war going on, and as such things usually go, you have the good guys and the bad guys: the Zuran were just minding their own business when the conquering Eclons decided to invade their galaxy. As a Zuran Defender, your mission is twofold - cleanse the stellar neighborhood of Eclon forces, while locating and recovering survivors from incapacitated friendly ships. The galaxy is made up of nine quadrants on a 3x3 grid, connected by portals (which seal up behind you as you warp through); you get a long-range scanner to find your bearings. Each quadrant is populated with obstructive asteroids, explosive mines and Eclon outposts, as well as damaged Zuran ships: you can beam survivors aboard if you park your ship nearby. You'll also encounter larger structures - Eclon stations to be obliterated, and Zuran stations that let you re-energize your tanks. Eclon fighters will occasionally warp in to menace you, which means you'll have to use your shields or face certain termination (the same fate awaits you if you run out of energy, which is depleted by doing pretty much anything). In tight spots you can rely on your hyperspace drive to get you out of trouble. Points are given for taking out enemy craft... but taken away if you accidentally blow up a friend.
Screenshots
Full Demo 52kb (uploaded by scaryfun)


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