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Ghandi
Title: Alexz Aficionado
Joined: May 21 2008
Posts: 2889
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http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/225317/the-10-greatest-ms-dos-games-of-all-time/
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The following was reprinted with permission from PC World. For more of PC World's gaming coverage, be sure to check out their gaming hub.
When it debuted in 1981, MS-DOS probably didn't seem like a promising platform for gaming. But from roughly 1981 to 1997, publishers released thousands of games in every genre for the PC and its text-based OS.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of MS-DOS, I've selected what I consider to be the ten greatest games ever to grace Microsoft's first operating system. These games were innovative and influential while being, of course, fun to play over and over.
If you missed the DOS era, or if this list makes you nostalgic, don't weep. You can legally purchase and download many of these games online. Typically such games come with DOS emulator software called DOSBox so that you can run them on a modern Windows (or even Macintosh) operating system. In some instances the games are free, in which case you'll have to download and set up DOSBox yourself.
10. Day of the Tentacle (1993)
Publisher: LucasArts
In Day of the Tentacle, you play as a trio of bizarre teenagers who, through exploration and puzzle-solving, try to prevent an evil purple tentacle from taking over the world.
LucasArts packed this rich, interactive cartoon adventure with so much humor and vivid, twisted artwork that many critics consider Tentacle the finest example of the graphical adventure genre ever to grace a PC. Fir its time, it was an astounding tour-de-force of techno-artistic wizardry.
9. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996)
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Imagine an alternate world in which Albert Einstein traveled back in time to kill Hitler, removing the Nazi threat from World War II. But as a result of Einstein's meddling, the Soviet Union stepped into Germany's shoes, forcing the Allies into action to combat the threat of Soviet domination of Europe. Sound bad? Relax--that's just the premise of Command & Conquer: Red Alert.
Fans of Red Alert praise the title for its intricately balanced and varied military units, its masterful handling of interface, graphics, and storyline, and its addictive online multiplayer experience.
8. Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (1992)
Publisher: Origin Systems
Unlike any first-person role-playing game before it, Ultima Underworld engaged players in real-time combat and exploration. Players could freely move in any direction (even looking up or down) while navigating the Stygian Abyss in an attempt to rescue a baron's kidnapped daughter.
Ultima Underworld's pseudo-3D world had depth, variety, and charm at a time when most MS-DOS games were flat and static.
7. Blood (1997)
Publisher: GT Interactive
Blood is an almost criminally overlooked title in the MS-DOS gaming pantheon. Using the same Build game engine as Duke Nukem 3D, Blood, despite its old-school technological base, eclipsed rival Quake in character, design, and gameplay.
The plot, pitting one man against a crazed cult and their evil god, is forgettable; but in control and design, the game feels flawless. Its detailed graphics form a cohesive, horrifying whole, and its vocal and sound effects stand alone in the DOS era. Better yet, Blood has the most creative and varied level design of any DOS first-person shooter, bar none.
6. Ultima VI: The False Prophet (1990)
Publisher: Origin Systems
Ultima VI, a colorful role-playing game from the mind of Richard Garriott, invited PC gamers to explore the immense virtual world Britannia while seeking to liberate the shrines of Virtue from invading gargoyles. In this world, animals roam the wilderness, rivers flow to the ocean, and, in the game's many cities, each computer-controlled character pursues a daily schedule (even when off-screen). Most amazingly, players could take, use, or move nearly every object visible in Ultima VI--a mind-bendingly realistic experience in 1990.
Ultima VI is notable for being the first game in the Ultima series developed specifically for the MS-DOS platform. It used breathtaking 256-color VGA graphics and an atmospheric, MIDI-based soundtrack at a time when few DOS games had those features.
5. SimCity (1989)
Publisher: Brøderbund Software
SimCity made waves as a versatile "software toy" with no preordained goal or purpose other than to encourage players to create and experiment. You build your own city and manage it to greatness. You can play the game as long as you want, as many times as you want, and it never gets old because you create a uniquely evolving design as you go along.
Though SimCity originated on the Amiga platform, the title quickly immigrated to MS-DOS and became a vital part of the IBM PC's gaming DNA. SimCity influenced many game designers (including one Sid Meier, whose greatest creation we'll catch up with later), and spawned a series of highly regarded Sim follow-ups, including SimCity 2000 and The Sims.
4. X-Com: UFO Defense (1994)
Publisher: MicroProse Software
It's difficult to convey the quality of X-Com to anyone who hasn't played it, yet many fans call it the best PC game of all time. Fan devotion to this game, which pits the player against an invading alien force, comes partly from the deep attachment X-Com players develop to the soldiers they custom-build. And you can play the game over and over without getting bored, thanks to the randomly generated maps and the seemingly endless combinations of equipment and technology.
Completing the X-Com recipe took a few more ingredients: the building-management elements of SimCity, the technology development aspects of Civilization, and a slew of 1990s pop-culture UFO references (with a hint of Star Trek). The result is an irresistible cocktail of PC gaming goodness that many players say has yet to be surpassed.
3. Scorched Earth (1991)
Publisher: Wendell T. Hicken
Wendell Hicken's timeless 1991 artillery simulation is a milestone in MS-DOS history. This often overlooked title may not have sold millions of units, but thanks to shareware distribution, more people have played it than you might think.
With its numerous gameplay settings, variable computer AI, and an impressive array of entertaining power-ups, Scorched Earth possesses nearly infinite replay value. It's also one of the greatest party games ever devised: up to ten players, each piloting a tank, can take turns plotting the explosive demise of their closest friends at the hands of a Nuke, MIRV, or Death's Head over as many as 1000 rounds.
With Scorched Earth, Hicken didn't invent the artillery game; he perfected it.
2. Sid Meier's Civilization (1991)
Publisher: MicroProse Software
Few games on any platform are as addictively fun and as endlessly replayable as Civilization, a turn-based historical strategy game that lets players guide the development of a civilization over the course of millennia. In creating Civilization, Sid Meier somehow distilled, condensed, and codified the rules of humanity's postagricultural development into a 3MB IBM PC computer game--and made it fun to play.
Though subsequently ported to other platforms, Civilization proudly originated in the MS-DOS realm (it was actually Sid Meier's third DOS-developed game). This classic defined the thinking person's computer game, setting a template that many future MS-DOS games closely followed.
1. Doom (1993)
Publisher: id Software
Doom was the first of a generation of fast-paced, smooth action titles that utilized new visual techniques to push PC hardware to its limits. With Doom, PC gamers fighting an invading horde of monsters from Hell could experience gameplay, graphics, and sound that easily topped what was available on the home game consoles of the day -- a then-uncommon achievement. Moreover, it introduced exciting network multiplayer options (coining the term deathmatch in the process) that are widely imitated to this day.
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I played A LOT of these games as a kid. This article includes download links and destinations to download Command & Conquer 2:Red Alert and Scorched Earth online for free.
Those are two games I played for hours among a few others on this list.
Anyway, discuss 
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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Not a bad list. Pretty good, in fact. But the lack of Sierra games is criminal.
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JoshWoodzy
Joined: May 22 2008
Location: Goshen, VA
Posts: 6544
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This list is bogus. I agree with Day of the Tentacle, Ultima Underworld, Doom and Civilization being on there but Blood? I loved Blood, but Top 10 ever? Fuck no. Also, the PC version of SimCity is boring as fuck.
Also, why not the first Command and Conquer? There are barely any major differences between it and Red Alert.
Ultima VI is also extremely tedious, especially the menus, when compared to the far superior Ultima VII.
BLARGH.
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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SimCity was the first real "casual" game that didn't come preloaded on your computer. Its lineage includes The Sims, and ripoffs like FarmVille. It is a hugely important game.
Blood is definitely questionable. Did we really need TWO FPS games on the list?
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Beach Bum
Joined: Dec 08 2010
Location: At the pants party.
Posts: 1777
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Hmm good to see the game that started me on PC gaming is on there. Love Civilization, I might have had no idea what I was doing playing it at age 5 or 6 but it was fun as hell. My Dad got a computer through his job and it was the only game we had for a while because we were pretty poor and he got it from a friend for free. I've really only played Doom and Sim City other than that on this list.
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JoshWoodzy
Joined: May 22 2008
Location: Goshen, VA
Posts: 6544
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| SimCity was the first real "casual" game that didn't come preloaded on your computer. Its lineage includes The Sims, and ripoffs like FarmVille. It is a hugely important game. |
I wasn't questioning it's importance, just saying that it was boring as all get out and probably shouldn't be in the Top 10. Top 20, sure.
We also didn't need two Ultima titles. Ultima Underworld is important in that it pioneered the First Person RPG in a more accessible "look up and down, jump, etc." kind of way. Ultima VI wasn't much different than the previous 4 games, except you could use a mouse this time.
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Greg the White
Joined: Apr 09 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 3112
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| Blood is definitely questionable. Did we really need TWO FPS games on the list? |
Blood is one of my favorite shooters, but it doesn't fit with the tone of "importance" as the rest of the games do. I agree with pretty much everything else on the list, but if there was a similar game I'd replace it with, I'd probably throw Duke 3D in there instead.
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 So here's to you Mrs. Robinson. People love you more- oh, nevermind. |
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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Honestly, I would like to see Commander Keen on this list.
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Methid Man
Title: Spawn of Billy Mays
Joined: Nov 23 2010
Location: Hackensack, NJ
Posts: 544
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I downloaded the Command and Conquer games straight from the main website, but I can't get it to work for some reason...
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Probable Muppet
Joined: Aug 05 2008
Location: CA
Posts: 867
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X-Com was creepy as hell when I was a kid, I loved that game. I used to go over to a friends house and play it for hours because I was stuck with a Mac at home. The only games I had access to at home was Warcraft II, the Marathon series, the Myth series and tons of floppy discs full of freeware games, some of them good, most of them crap.
I did play the hell out of Warcraft II and Marathon though. Also spent countless hours in Logo and Hypercard lol.
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Pandajuice
Title: The Power of Grayskull
Joined: Oct 30 2008
Location: US and UK
Posts: 2649
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Yeah the fact that King's Quest isn't on this list completely invalidates it for me.
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Murdar Machene
New Member
Title: bimmy
Joined: Nov 06 2005
Location: the black warriors turf
Posts: 3207
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X-Com: Enemy Unknown, #1 spot, every time, all the time, no debate ever, forever. Dumb list.
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GPFontaine
Joined: Dec 06 2007
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 11244
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No Warcraft II, Lemmings, Worms, or Wing Commander.
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Etch
Title: Intermittent Scribbler
Joined: Mar 15 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 588
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| GPFontaine wrote: |
| "No Warcraft II, Lemmings, Worms, or Wing Commander." |
This. One thousand times, this. I hate RTS games so I didn't play much Warcraft II, but I spent so much time playing Wing Commander and Lemmings it's crazy.
And what about Microsoft Flight Simulator or The Oregon Trail?
I am happy that they included Scorched Earth, though.
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It is a waste of politeness to be courteous to the devil ~ William L. Garrison
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Murdar Machene
New Member
Title: bimmy
Joined: Nov 06 2005
Location: the black warriors turf
Posts: 3207
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Pug
Joined: Nov 30 2011
Posts: 2
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That's a decent list, might be a few things I'd change, but there's so many good PC games from that period, it would be hard to choose. I'd probably add Master of Orion though, that shit was bananas when it first came out.
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Haddox
Flying Hellfish
Title: Pirate
Joined: May 11 2006
Location: The High Seas
Posts: 174
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This list needs Myst. Myst was so fucking good. I wish they'd put Myst on DS, Wii, Move, and Kinect, so that new generations could experience its awesomeness.
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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| Haddox wrote: |
| This list needs Myst. Myst was so fucking good. I wish they'd put Myst on DS, Wii, Move, and Kinect, so that new generations could experience its awesomeness. |
Myst wasn't a DOS game, it's on the DS, and it's a terrible game.
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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| Haddox wrote: |
| This list needs Myst. Myst was so fucking good. I wish they'd put Myst on DS, Wii, Move, and Kinect, so that new generations could experience its awesomeness. |
Myst sucks.
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Milhouse
Joined: Dec 19 2008
Location: Charlottesville, VA
Posts: 485
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No Monkey Island, no dice.
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Tomdincan
Title: Test Icicle
Joined: Oct 02 2010
Location: Temple Shalina
Posts: 450
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Where's Hello Kitty Island Adventure?
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I'm not a psychopath. I'm a high-functioning sociopath. |
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Murdar Machene
New Member
Title: bimmy
Joined: Nov 06 2005
Location: the black warriors turf
Posts: 3207
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He gets good points for having Blood, though. Blood was one of my favorite games ever, still is.
Guess what, though?
QUAKE IS A DOS GAME. Yep, that's right, Quake had a pure dos mode. So he's dumb for not having Quake 
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UsaSatsui
Title: The White Rabbit
Joined: May 25 2008
Location: Hiding
Posts: 7565
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| Tomdincan wrote: |
| Where's Hello Kitty Island Adventure? |
It's only for Mac
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Syd Lexia
Site Admin
Title: Pop Culture Junkie
Joined: Jul 30 2005
Location: Wakefield, MA
Posts: 24886
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Some of the Macventure games should be on the list.
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Cameron
Title: :O � O:
Joined: Feb 01 2008
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 4637
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| Syd Lexia wrote: |
| All of the Macventure games should be on the list. |
Fixed.
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