MS-DOS is a notoriously hard system to come back to. Even DosBox, the famous DOS emulator for modern computers, requires fiddling with .INI files just to set up the program. To run a game, then, players have to launch the executable file through the terminal. It’s no surprise, then, if so many MS-DOS games have been long forgotten.
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MS-DOS has been used byWindows operating systemssince 1981 and fizzled out in the late ’90s. The end of DOS came right as video games started becoming complex and expensive things. A unique blend of low budgets and widely available personal computers made this a great time to be independent developers, just not as much as the rise of indies of the 2010s.
7Jazz Jackrabbit
Jazz Jackrabbitis a long-abandoned series of DOS platformers. While not as famous as id Software’sCommander Keen, the green rabbit with the Rambo-red bandana was one of themost appreciated platformerstars of his generation.Jazz Jackrabbitwas created by the improbable match ofGears of War’s Cliff Bleszinski and Arjan Brussee, who went on to found Guerrilla Games.
The firstJazz Jackrabbitcame out in 1994, making it one of the last games (and the only one in the series) to be released on MS-DOS. It quickly became popular among gaming enthusiasts of the day, but its short shelf life made sure that all but his biggest fans would soon forget about Jazz.
6SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colony
Perhaps the weirdest installment in theSimseries,SimAnt: The Electronic Ant Colonyis a surprisingly complex game aboutmanaging a group of ants. Not unlike other games in the series,SimAntis as much of a simulation as it is a strategy game. In it, the player controls one ant at a time and can give a few instructions to their fellow ants.
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The simulation ofSimAntis put to the forefront by two unique mechanics: natural hazards and limited control. Hazards are things like human footsteps, spider attacks, bug spray, and so on. As for control, the player instructs the colony by moving a single, enlightened ant at a time. Ants obviously can’t talk, so the player has to communicate with the colony using pheromones.
5Magic Carpet
Magic Carpetis a unique mix of flying sims, shooters, and strategy games. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where wizard wars have destroyed the land and filled it with dangerous creatures. After his master’s death, a young magician must explore this land and find a way to return it to the natural order.
Most ofMagic Carpetis spent flying on the titular carpet, firing what looks and sounds like a machine gun in the direction of giant monsters and regular bats alike. The player’s objective in each level is to build a castle out of mana and then fill it with even more energy. The castle serves as an HQ but must be defended from enemy wizards until it is fully loaded on mana.
4Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri
Looking Glass isn’t justThief,Ultima Underworld,andSystem Shock. In 1996, when the studio was already established as an immersive sim factory, they released the tactical shooterTerra Nova: Strike Force Centauri. What’s even more surprising is how much of a hidden gem it really is.
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Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauriis a tactical first-person shooter taking place entirely inside a mech. While definitely inspired bymech games likeMechWarrior,Strike Force Centaurifocuses on living out large battles over dueling with other pilots. Critics of the time loved the game’s advanced AI, while only modern audiences seem to appreciate the cheesy FMV cutscenes that come with every mission.
3Star Wars: TIE Fighter
For the longest time, 1994’sStar Wars: TIE Fighterwas considered one of the best PC games ever made. It was PC Gamer’s favorite game ever and IGN’s 3rd best computer game. Stories like this remind us of how much gaming has changed, for aspace flight simto enter the 2000s gaming mainstream, right next toBattlefieldandCivilization 4.
Star Wars: TIE Fightertries really hard to separate itself from the sterile image of classic flying sims, wielding theStar Warsbrand and covering every mission briefing with mysterious story tidbits. It even has an entire space station to explore in a point-and-click fashion.
2Master Of Orion
Master of Orionis not a truly forgotten title, but it might be one of the most important in the MS-DOS ecosystem. On top of being a fairly imaginative and innovative strategy game, it is also where the term 4X originates from. The acronym, which stands for eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate, was first postulated during a game review from Computer Gaming World.
Being a 4X game,Master of Orionis naturally similar to early entries in the genre like theCivilizationseries. Unlike most other titles, though,Master of Orionreally looks likeCivilization. This starts with the different cultures the player can direct (which here are sci-fi races) and goes all the way to the triumvirate of diplomacy, technology, and conquest.
1Descent
Descentis an old-school 3D shooter from a time when no one really knew what 3D games were supposed to be.Descenttakes place entirely in space, where up and down aren’t quite as rigorous as on earth. This gives the player afull six degrees of movement: up and down, left and right, forward and backward.
Descentmight play like a space flight sim, but the level structure and a focus on combat mark a fundamental shift from the genre. Released in 1996,Descenttakes lots of care to adapt innovative FPS tropes like hiding colored keycards through the level or adding bonus objectives in the form of hostages.
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