Abandonware DOS title

Best abandonware games by genre

Having a chart for the best PC games, both Windows and DOS games, ever published in the (remote) past is a must for every abandonware site. The logical next step was a chart for every video game genre: action, adventure, puzzle, racing, RPG, shooter, simulation, sports, strategy and vehicle simulation (this last one is there because I hate to mix management games with flight sims).

Here are the top 10 games for every genre available on Abandonware DOS, according to user's votes.


# action year rating
01 Street Fighter 2 1992 4.32/5
02 Volfied 1991 4.31/5
03 Mortal Kombat 1993 4.30/5
04 Alley Cat 1984 4.29/5
05 Lode Runner 1983 4.28/5
06 Super Street Fighter 2 1996 4.28/5
07 Rick Dangerous 1989 4.27/5
08 Pinball Fantasies 1994 4.25/5
09 Gods 1991 4.24/5
10 Hocus Pocus 1994 4.23/5
# action-adventure year rating
01 Impossible Mission 2 1988 4.24/5
02 Flashback: The Quest for Identity 1993 4.23/5
03 Thief: The Dark Project 1998 4.22/5
04 Driller 1987 4.21/5
05 Outcast 1999 4.21/5
06 Dizzy: Prince of the Yolkfolk 1993 4.21/5
07 Spider-Man 2: The Game 2004 4.21/5
08 Little Big Adventure 1994 4.19/5
09 X-Men 2: The Fall of the Mutants 1991 4.19/5
10 Jurassic Park 1993 4.19/5
# adventure year rating
01 The Secret of Monkey Island 1990 4.32/5
02 Leisure Suit Larry 1: In the Land of the Lounge Lizards 1987 4.28/5
03 Space Quest 1: The Sarien Encounter 1986 4.28/5
04 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge 1991 4.28/5
05 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars 2009 4.25/5
06 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 1992 4.25/5
07 King's Quest 1: Quest for the Crown 1984 4.24/5
08 Loom 1990 4.24/5
09 Hero's Quest: So you want to be a hero 1989 4.24/5
10 Police Quest: Open Season 1993 4.23/5
# application year rating
01 Turbo Assembler (TASM) 1989 4.39/5
02 Borland DBase 5 1994 4.35/5
03 QBASIC 1991 4.28/5
04 NeoPaint 3.2 1996 4.28/5
05 Virtual Reality Studio 2.0 1992 4.26/5
06 Norton Commander 5.5 1998 4.21/5
07 VisiCalc 1.0 1979 4.20/5
08 Deluxe Paint 2 1988 4.19/5
09 Norton Editor 2 1990 4.18/5
10 Wordstar 4 1986 4.18/5
# puzzle year rating
01 Tetris Classic 1992 4.31/5
02 Chip's Challenge 1991 4.27/5
03 Pipe Dream 1989 4.27/5
04 Night Shift 1990 4.24/5
05 Lemmings 2: The Tribes 1993 4.24/5
06 Tetris 2.0 1990 4.23/5
07 The Incredible Machine 1993 4.22/5
08 The Incredible Machine 2 1994 4.21/5
09 Rodent's Revenge 1991 4.21/5
10 Puzznic 1990 4.20/5
# racing year rating
01 Micro Machines 1994 4.28/5
02 Wipeout 1995 4.27/5
03 Grand Prix 2 1995 4.25/5
04 Interstate '76 1997 4.25/5
05 Carmageddon 1997 4.25/5
06 The Duel: Test Drive 2 1989 4.24/5
07 Lamborghini: American Challenge 1992 4.24/5
08 Cisco Heat 1991 4.24/5
09 Road Rash 1996 4.23/5
10 Screamer 1995 4.23/5
# RPG year rating
01 Ultima 7 Part 1: The Black Gate 1992 4.31/5
02 Eye of the Beholder 2: The Legend of Darkmoon 1991 4.25/5
03 Eye of the Beholder 1991 4.25/5
04 Wizardry 7: Crusaders of the Dark Savant 1992 4.24/5
05 Dungeon Hack 1993 4.24/5
06 Ultima 6: The False Prophet 1990 4.23/5
07 The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall 1996 4.23/5
08 Albion 1995 4.23/5
09 Knights of Legend 1989 4.22/5
10 Ultima 3: Exodus 1985 4.21/5
# shooter year rating
01 Operation Wolf 1989 4.28/5
02 Doom 2: Hell on Earth 1994 4.25/5
03 Quake 1996 4.24/5
04 Virtua Cop 2 1997 4.24/5
05 Alien Breed: Tower Assault 1994 4.24/5
06 Battlezone 1983 4.24/5
07 Heretic 1994 4.23/5
08 Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf 1994 4.23/5
09 Doom 1993 4.22/5
10 Super 3-D Noah's Ark 1995 4.22/5
# simulation year rating
01 Transport Tycoon Deluxe 1995 4.29/5
02 Capitalism 2 2001 4.23/5
03 Caesar 3 1998 4.23/5
04 SimCity 2000 1993 4.22/5
05 The Oregon Trail 1990 4.22/5
06 Patrician 1992 4.22/5
07 Pharaoh 1999 4.21/5
08 Caesar 2 1995 4.21/5
09 Free Enterprise 1996 4.21/5
10 SimEarth 1990 4.20/5
# sports year rating
01 Football Manager 3 1993 4.28/5
02 Joe Montana Football 1990 4.25/5
03 Panza Kick Boxing 1991 4.24/5
04 Skate or Die 1988 4.24/5
05 Virtual Pool 1995 4.23/5
06 Brutal Sports Football 1993 4.23/5
07 World Class Leader Board 1988 4.22/5
08 Championship Manager 1992 4.20/5
09 Speedball 1988 4.20/5
10 Sharkey's 3D Pool 1990 4.20/5
# strategy year rating
01 X-COM: Ufo Defense 1994 4.31/5
02 Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares 1996 4.29/5
03 Age of Empires 2: The Age of Kings 1999 4.25/5
04 Jagged Alliance 2 1999 4.24/5
05 Jagged Alliance 1994 4.24/5
06 Civilization 1991 4.23/5
07 North and South 1990 4.23/5
08 Empire Earth 2001 4.23/5
09 Populous 2: Trials of the Olympian Gods 1993 4.23/5
10 Space Hulk 1993 4.23/5
# vehicle simulation year rating
01 Stunt Island 1992 4.27/5
02 Chuck Yeager's Air Combat 1991 4.27/5
03 Strike Commander 1993 4.27/5
04 Aces Over Europe 1993 4.27/5
05 Jetfighter 2: Advanced Tactical Fighter 1990 4.27/5
06 Das Boot: German U-Boat Simulation 1990 4.27/5
07 ATAC: The Secret War Against Drugs 1992 4.27/5
08 Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe 1991 4.26/5
09 EF 2000 1995 4.26/5
10 Tornado 1993 4.26/5
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