Summer of 1996. My friend across the street bought this Apogee collections at some dollar store of a buck. Had a bunch of games on it: Raptor, Cosmo, Monster Mash, Hocus Pocus etc. Anyways, nostalgia got the better of me and after a quick google search I found this website. It's got a bunch of freeware/demo dos games (Sim city 2000, WCII, the afore mentioned apogee titles, and my favorite, putt-putt goes to the moon) and it brought back so many memories. Anyways, gaf, while classic console gaming is in vogue with PSN/XBL/VC it sometimes it feels that classic pc gaming from similar eras is forgotten, despite GOG/Steam. So yea, lets discuss early-mid 90s pc gaming.
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Apogee Games and other classic Dos games
- Thread starter Bubbins
- Start date
Wyndstryker
Member
Descent, the one DOS game that will forever ring with me.
Then when I found the level editor as well as playing it online on Kali, I became forever hooked on online gaming.
As for another DOS game I've been trying to get working again, Albion. A 2d RPG which was pretty unique for it's time, need to find it in them abandonware sites and get it to run. Never finished it...
Then when I found the level editor as well as playing it online on Kali, I became forever hooked on online gaming.
As for another DOS game I've been trying to get working again, Albion. A 2d RPG which was pretty unique for it's time, need to find it in them abandonware sites and get it to run. Never finished it...
Poimandres
Member
Some of these games like Raptor are actually available on Steam.
I had many great times playing these games on my dads old 386 and his lightning fast 486 when it came out.
Games like Gods, Jill of the Jungle, Jetpack and Dark Legions (from Silicon Knights I later discovered) were a huge part of my childhood.
I had many great times playing these games on my dads old 386 and his lightning fast 486 when it came out.
Games like Gods, Jill of the Jungle, Jetpack and Dark Legions (from Silicon Knights I later discovered) were a huge part of my childhood.
WrenchNinja
Member
Secret Agent and Crystal Caves were my jam.
I never could find a full version of Zone66. At one point I found an improved shareware/demo that had TWO whole levels.
*sniff* I wasn't prepared for the glory.I never could find a full version of Zone66. At one point I found an improved shareware/demo that had TWO whole levels.
Keen IV is the best Keen game... Well, maybe VI.
GOG.com is your friend.
http://www.gog.com/catalogue?search=Apogee
http://www.gog.com/catalogue?search=3D+Realms
http://www.gog.com/catalogue?search=Apogee
http://www.gog.com/catalogue?search=3D+Realms
is Keen 4 the one that came with the Gravis Gamepad? if so I agree
I am not sure what the breakdown of publishing vs developing is for the products but i played a lot of apogee shareware games. Shareware gave a huge value back then I have never thought of it until now but my library on the 486 was probably close in size to my steam library if I add up all the 80 billion games cds.
Poimandres
Member
Hell yeah Keen 4 was the best without a doubt!
Also, a reminder of the awesome Terminal Velocity:
DJSharpeCheddar
Banned
I still play this, among many others. This thread is already nostalgia apocalypse for me.
TheCongressman1
Member
The best.
Criminal Upper
Banned
Apogee and Shareware is the mother fucking shit. I loved PC gaming back then before it got super elite and pretentious.
Gareth Bale
Member
Loved Hocus Pocus. I would move and my brother would shoot.
Eh, it runs at like 20 fps, though. It was completely lacking the fluidity of Mario Kart.
In fact, even as a child, I was acutely aware of framerate differences before I even understood what a framerate was. When I picked up Wacky Wheels for my PC it was immediately apparent that it ran nowhere NEAR as smooth as Super Mario Kart.
Same kind of holds true for most of those older DOS games. They typically operated at very low framerates while consoles were delivering full 60 fps platformers left and right with loads of parallax. I still loved that era of PC games, though. So many great memories.
vagabondarts
Member
I sat out the SNES and Genesis war and played on my PC instead.
All of these games were just amazing.
My first PC Platformer wasn't an Apogee game (although I ended up playing most of those), it was a game called Captain Comic.
I remember going to a computer show when Wolfenstein 3D had just been released to bulletin boards... All the manufacturers and vendors were playing Wolfenstein at their tables instead of being focused on selling.
I also remember when doom first came out..
ah man... there's too many memories to continue.. Shareware titles changed everything for me.
90's PC is the best.
All of these games were just amazing.
My first PC Platformer wasn't an Apogee game (although I ended up playing most of those), it was a game called Captain Comic.
I remember going to a computer show when Wolfenstein 3D had just been released to bulletin boards... All the manufacturers and vendors were playing Wolfenstein at their tables instead of being focused on selling.
I also remember when doom first came out..
ah man... there's too many memories to continue.. Shareware titles changed everything for me.
90's PC is the best.
Aaaa, nostalgia bomb. 90% of the PC games I played back then were edutainment titles like this at a day care. I don't think I ever beat it (they only had two computers, so you had to take turns) I'm more familiar with Sierra and The Learning Company though.
...
...Really? There are plenty of modern PC games out right now that can be run on extremely low-spec, non-gaming machines.
Baraka in the White House
2-Terms of Kombat
Oh man I played the shit out of Raptor. There was another game similar to it that was called Galaxia or something like that. Very addictive gameplay.
For those of you who aren't aware: GoG seem to have settled into a pattern of releasing one Apogee title per week (on Tuesdays) at the moment. We've had Secret Agent, Hocus Pocus and Realms of Chaos thus far.
Gog's release schedule seems never particularly set in stone, but it seems clear that at the moment they're working through a collection that they have rights to, so if you're after an Apogee title, probably worth keeping an eye on the site.
ID, published by Apogee
Gog's release schedule seems never particularly set in stone, but it seems clear that at the moment they're working through a collection that they have rights to, so if you're after an Apogee title, probably worth keeping an eye on the site.
Y'know, now I'd quite like to see someone attempt to make a Retro Game Challenge - PC edition. RGC was great, and it'd be nice to see a game with that model based around the PC scene in the early nineties rather than the NES scene of the late eighties.
ID, published by Apogee
Apogee
Parallax, published by Interplay
Apogee, now released as freeware, apparently.
davonaytor
Member
This time period is my favourite of all gaming 
I was too young at the time to be able to afford my own computer, but I remember going to my Grandpa's house and playing Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Hocus Pocus, Monkey Island, Abe's Odyssey. So many great memories, we eventually got our own computer around when Half-Life came out, so that worked out pretty well.
I was too young at the time to be able to afford my own computer, but I remember going to my Grandpa's house and playing Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Hocus Pocus, Monkey Island, Abe's Odyssey. So many great memories, we eventually got our own computer around when Half-Life came out, so that worked out pretty well.
Those demo cds were AWESOME to get back in the days. So many compilations of various stuff; the best were those almost pirate compilation of Doom wads and utils. 650mb of new stuff to play with, back in the days, that was a huge amount of data.
Shareware compilations were great because each one contained tons of games you had never heard about; so trying them and discovering new stuff was awesome. This was before cd burners were really mainstream, 2X burners were expensive, the sotwares were primitive and medias was omg expensive; i remember cd-r costing 60-80$ A PIECE for quality media.
I miss those days.
Shareware compilations were great because each one contained tons of games you had never heard about; so trying them and discovering new stuff was awesome. This was before cd burners were really mainstream, 2X burners were expensive, the sotwares were primitive and medias was omg expensive; i remember cd-r costing 60-80$ A PIECE for quality media.
I miss those days.
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
The first Apogee game I played (well, unless you count Wolfenstein 3D and Spear of Destiny) was Alien Carnage... which was a legitimately good game. That basically introduced me to the whole idea of shareware, which, for an 8-year-old with no money, was a pretty amazing discovery.
D
Deleted member 126221
Unconfirmed Member
I still play Whacky Wheels regularly with my friend in splitscreen. Fuck Mario Kart.
Hell yeah Shareware collection disc. And for us, that stuff worked! I remember how psyched I was when our whole family got to pick out a game from the shareware collection to get the full version. I got a Capture the Flag game (shut up it was awesome), my brother got Raptor, and my sister got some Pirate game. Good times.
Dance Inferno
Unconfirmed Member
I still play Whacky Wheels regularly with my friend in splitscreen. Fuck Mario Kart.
epic brofist
Tathanen
Get Inside Her!
The best.
Holy SHIT I forgot this existed. I played this more than anything FUCK!
And lemme give a shout out for Jill of the Jungle.
ambientmystic
Member
There was one game that defined the Awesomeness of Apogee for me. It was one of their last games ever made as Apogee (in the mid to late 90s).
Star-fucking-gunner.
You can try it out right now. Legally, for free. It's been designated freeware for quite sometime now (2005) on the dev site and it's available to download. The soundtrack is especially awesome. The graphics still hold up to this day, the gameplay is fast and frantic, the weapons plenty and satisfying.
You just need DOSBox and with minimal tinkering to compensate for the game speed cycles, you're good to go.
Star-fucking-gunner.
You can try it out right now. Legally, for free. It's been designated freeware for quite sometime now (2005) on the dev site and it's available to download. The soundtrack is especially awesome. The graphics still hold up to this day, the gameplay is fast and frantic, the weapons plenty and satisfying.
You just need DOSBox and with minimal tinkering to compensate for the game speed cycles, you're good to go.
War has changed
this is incredible haha. I wonder how long it is until the ironic 90s pc game art style revival.
SolsticeZero
Banned
How has no one mentioned Blake Stone yet? I think I put more time into it than Wolf3D.
Came in here to see this. Leaving satisfied.
Also:
Dungeon Master II
Improved on the original so much. Probably my favorite DOS game. Epic music, too. The game looked much better than these screens. The ones above are from the pretty shitty Sega CD version.
Rogue Agent
Banned
Journey Project Turbo. It came with our Packard Bell 100mhZ powerhouse.
Great music.
Hey, this came with my Packard Bell PC from years back too! I think mine was called Journeyman Project. Wow, I didn't understand much of the game but I liked it.
Android18a
Member
My childhood PC gaming experience was defined by Apogee. Commander Keen, Secret Agent Sam, Monster Bash... all that stuff was epic. I loved it all. I'll always love me some Commander Keen.
ThreePiMatt
Member
As far as I'm concerned Super Mario World > Mario 3 > Commander Keen 4 > All other platformers. I'd even put the original Keen over most of those early console platforms.
I should also remind people that the Apogee name is back with the remake of Rise of the Triad that should release in a few months.
I should also remind people that the Apogee name is back with the remake of Rise of the Triad that should release in a few months.
SolsticeZero
Banned
Anyone remember the Catacombs games? They were horror FPS games in the style of Wolfenstein. Scared the shit out of me as a kid.
Well, now they're on sale at GOG for only $6!
Well, now they're on sale at GOG for only $6!
Wow, I was going to make this thread but decided to search first! I just found some floppys of old PC games, and Apogee dominated the stack (alongside Lucasart). Whacky Wheels, Blake Stone, Monster Bash!, Raptor, Halloween Harry, Hocus Pocus, etc. I found em all. Such a nostalgia overload.
I've been meaning to make dedicated Keen and Tyrian nostalgia threads for ages now, never have. Incredible games.
Minecraft already jumped on that bandwagon, I'd say.
Minecraft already jumped on that bandwagon, I'd say.
