DOS - 1990
In 1990, Accolade, Inc., Hit Squad, The publishes Test Drive III: The Passion on DOS. This racing / driving and simulation game is now abandonware and is set in a vehicle simulator, automobile and street racing themes.
DOS - 1989
Test Drive II Scenery Disk: California Challenge
is a video game published in 1989 on DOS by Accolade, Inc.. It was also released on Mac, Amiga, Apple IIgs and Atari ST.
Test Drive II Scenery Disk: California Challenge is an addon for The Duel: Test Drive II, you will need the original game to play.
DOS - 1993
Third part of Magnetic Fields' great arcade-style racing game series - the only one converted to the PC.
And what a great conversion it is. Really refreshing! Although the last part of the series is the worst in my opinion. The most obvious new feature of the game is a track generation system called RECS. Never liked that one a lot, but it's very easy to create different tracks with it. Obviously the developers were very enthusiastic about it, as they said in the manual: "The most startling addition, however, is the stunning RECS system, which will give you access to a practically infinite number of different tracks. [...] It's straightforward, easy and instant-and like all the features of the earlier Lotus games, it's so good that other software houses will be featuring it in their games in about six months time." Hehe, I don't recall any game that used the system later on ;) Lotus III doesn't work on my PII, but runs fine on my old 486SX, so you may need to tweak fast machines a bit to play this one (see FAQ for more details).
DOS - 1988
This is actually a game I played the original of on the Amiga when Palace Software were churning out similar titles and, not meaning to offend any PC fans, the Amiga version is a lot better than the one here. That said though, its still a fan little game to anyone who is a fan of the wooly-pants slash-em up genre and has a few elements in it that have never really been repeated in games since.
You can decapitate your opponent with a single blow. That's right kiddies, pressing back and fire on that joy stick launches your wooly-panted, mulleted barbarian into a death blow spinning chop with Conan-esque style. If the attack lands clean, the head of you opponent will bounce away for a little goblin to kick around while dragging away the body.
Just for this alone the game is worth a try although I wouldn't go expecting A-grade beat 'em up action, although it is fun to sit down with a friend and try to see who can decapitate first. A five minute amusement. Though if you're looking for a similar game with better AI and strategy (blood too) I'd recommend Moonstone for both single and multiplayer.
WINDOWS 3.X - 1995
This Means War! is a rarely known beer-and-pretzel isometric strategy game from MicroProse, released in 1996 for Windows 3.1.
With a focus on light-hearted action and a sense of humor, the game plays like a distant cousin of New World Computing's classic Nuclear War, but many design flaws and AI quirks unfortunately makes it much less fun than that classic. Despite the "light" feel, This Means War!is actually more complex than most others in the real-time strategy genre. For one thing, you have many resources to worry about: farms, housing, oil wells, mines, and steel mills must be built just to produce the resources to drive your war machine. Also, similar to Panzer General, units earn experience in combat and advance in rank. The higher the rank, the more effective they become. By forming teams of units under the command of a ranking officer, you can improve the abilities of all members of that team. There are also formation commands (e.g. wedge) that you can use to outflank the enemies and minimize losses. These combat features, along with good sound effects and graphics, have the potential to provide an addictive experience.....Unfortunately, the game has many bugs, quirks, and interface annoyances that get in the way of enjoyment. Most notable is the ambiguous functionality of the right mouse button. By right clicking on a building or unit, you'll pop up a properties menu. By holding down the right mouse button and dragging, you can scroll the map. The problem is that in most scenarios, virtually every square of terrain has either a structure or a unit on it. You'll therefore find yourself continually popping up the properties menu when what you wanted to do was scroll the map. This is extremely annoying, and is emblematic of generally poor interface design. Among other offenses: units move over a grid of squares, but the squares are not shown on the map. Another: once a unit is on its way, it won't respond to new orders until after it reaches the center of the square it is currently headed towards. If it is a slow moving unit, reaching this next "turning point" can take some time, and you have no choice but to wait. Despite innovations such as RPG-style experience, and a unique sense of humor (some video cut-scenes are quite funny), This Means War! is bogged down with too many quirks, bugs, and clunky interface for anyone to really get into. It is a much deeper strategy game than both C&C or Warcraft II, but is not one-tenth as fun. If you're looking for an interim adrenaline rush while you wait for the next C&C to come out, you'll probably find This Means War! excruciatingly slow. Recommended only to the very patient strategy gamers who are looking for a humorous game that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Here is the video game “Metalizer”! Released in 1998 on DOS, it's still available and playable with some tinkering. It's a strategy game, set in a battlemech, real-time and sci-fi / futuristic themes and it was released on Windows as well.
