List of PC Booter games
Encyclopedia
Many early IBM PC compatible
games between 1981 and 1988 were known as PC Booter
s. These games were distributed on 5.25" floppy disk
s that booted
directly, meaning once they were inserted in the drive and the computer was turned on, a custom operating system
on the diskette took over, and ran the program. This was commonly used as a form of copy protection until it became obsolete as games grew larger. Due to bit rot
, original working versions of these floppy disks are rare, and many have largely been abandoned
by their publishers, although working copies of some have been ported to DOS
and may be found on the internet.
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
games between 1981 and 1988 were known as PC Booter
PC booter
A PC booter, or booter, is a type of software for home computer era personal computers that was loaded and executed in the bootup of the computer, from a bootable floppy disk, rather than as a regular program; a booter thus bypassed any operating system that might be installed on the hard disk of...
s. These games were distributed on 5.25" floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s that booted
Booting
In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...
directly, meaning once they were inserted in the drive and the computer was turned on, a custom operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
on the diskette took over, and ran the program. This was commonly used as a form of copy protection until it became obsolete as games grew larger. Due to bit rot
Bit rot
Bit rot, also known as bit decay, data rot, or data decay, is a colloquial computing term used to describe either a gradual decay of storage media or the degradation of a software program over time. The latter use of the term implies that software can wear out or rust like a physical tool...
, original working versions of these floppy disks are rare, and many have largely been abandoned
Abandonware
Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons...
by their publishers, although working copies of some have been ported to DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and may be found on the internet.
| Title | Released | Genre | Publisher/Developer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-K Trivia | 1984 | Strategy | IBM IBM International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas... |
| Ace of Aces | 1986 | Flight simulator | Accolade Inc. / Artech Digital Entertainment |
| Agent USA Agent USA Agent USA is a 1980s educational computer game designed to teach players about Washington, D.C., New York City, other populous cities, and the state capitals of the contiguous 48 states. The game was developed by Tom Snyder Productions and published by Scholastic... |
1984 | Adventure / Strategy | Scholastic Corporation / Tom Snyder Productions Soup2Nuts Soup2Nuts is an American animation studio founded by Tom Snyder, Loren Bouchard, Brendon Small, Jody Snider, and Amanda Normoyle. It is known for its animated comedy series... |
| Alley Cat | 1984 | Platform | IBM / Synapse Software Synapse Software Synapse Software Corporation was an American computer game development and publishing company active during the early-1980s. They developed primarily for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, and the Commodore 64 and IBM PCjr... |
| Alpine Encounter, The | 1985 | Adventure | Random House Random House Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,... |
| Amnesia | 1986 | Adventure | Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers... |
| Apple Panic Apple Panic Apple Panic is a 1981 platform game for the Apple II programmed by Ben Serki of Brøderbund Software. Apple Panic was inspired by Space Panic.-Description:... |
1982 | Platform / Adventure | Brøderbund Brøderbund Brøderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of computer games, educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools. It was best known as the original creator and publisher of the popular Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, but moved to San Rafael,... |
| Archon: The Light and the Dark | 1984 | Strategy | Electronic Arts / Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates was a computer game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s. It was founded in 1981 by Jon Freeman, his wife, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III... |
| Attack On Altair | 1983 | Action / Arcade | Windmill Software Windmill software Windmill Software is a Canadian software company. Windmill Software today publishes property management software and management information system software, but the company is more notable for its past role as a developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games... |
| Battlezone | 1983 | Action / Arcade | Atari Atari Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in... |
| BC's Quest for Tires | 1984 | Action | Sierra On-line / Sydney Development |
| Below the Root | 1984 | Adventure | Windham Classics Windham Classics Windham Classics Corporation was a subsidiary of Spinnaker Software. The corporation was founded in 1984 and went defunct circa 1985/86 or later. The headquarters were in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.- Adventure games :... / Dale Disharoon |
| Beneath Apple Manor Beneath Apple Manor Beneath Apple Manor is an early roguelike game released by Don Worth for microcomputers, which had a Lo-Res Apple release in 1978 and high-res multi-platform releases in 1982 and 1983 . The goal is to obtain a Golden Apple on the bottom floor of the dungeon... |
1983 | RPG | Quality Software Quality Software Quality Software is a defunct software design company that published games for Apple II and Atari 800 computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s... |
| Beyond Castle Wolfenstein Beyond Castle Wolfenstein Beyond Castle Wolfenstein is a 1984 computer game by Muse Software. It is the sequel to the innovative and successful Castle Wolfenstein, a prototypical stealth game... |
1984 | Stealth game | Muse Software Muse Software Muse Software was a software and computer game publisher and developer for the first generation of home computers. They first published for the Apple II, and later expanded to the Commodore 64, Atari, and the IBM PC.... |
| Big Top Big Top (video game) Big Top is a 1983 computer game for the IBM PC family of computers, created by Michael Abrash and published by Funtastic.-Gameplay:Big Top is a standard ladder platform game similar in design to Lode Runner. It was created specifically for the PC.... |
1983 | Platform | Funtastic Funtastic Funtastic was a small software design company that operated in the early 1980s. Funtastic produced and published games mainly for the Apple II and IBM PC platforms. It operated from the Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania home of founder Dan Illowsky who collaborated with programmer Michael Abrash... / Michael Abrash Michael Abrash Michael Abrash is a technical writer specializing in optimization and 80x86 assembly language programming, a reputation cemented by his 1990 book Zen of Assembly Language Volume 1: Knowledge. The original 8086 processor, the focus of the book, was several generations behind the state of the art by... |
| Black Cauldron, The | 1986 | Adventure | Sierra On-line |
| Borrowed Time Borrowed Time (video game) Borrowed Time is a point-and-click adventure game. The storyline is about a detective, who tries to rescue his kidnapped wife. The game was developed by Interplay and published by Activision in the year 1985.- Reception :... |
1985 | Adventure | Activision Activision Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles... / Interplay Productions |
| Boulder Dash Boulder Dash Boulder Dash, originally released in 1984 for Atari 8-bit computers, is a series of computer games released for the Apple II, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and ColecoVision home computers, and later ported to the NES, BBC Micro and Acorn Electron, PC, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and many other platforms... |
1984 | Action / Arcade | First Star Software First Star Software First Star Software, Inc. is a computer game development, publishing and licensing company, founded by Richard Spitalny and Fernando Herrera in 1982. It is best known for its classic Boulder Dash franchise and Spy vs. Spy titles, originally written for 8-bit home computers like the Apple II, Atari... |
| Boulderdash II: Rockford's Revenge | 1985 | Action / Arcade | First Star Software |
| Bruce Lee | 1984 | Platform | Datasoft Datasoft Datasoft, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher founded in 1980 by Pat Ketchum. Based out of Chatsworth, California, Datasoft ported games from arcade systems to personal computers and acquired licenses for games from famous movies and TV shows.... |
| Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom | 1984 | Action / Arcade | Sega Sega , usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world... |
| BurgerTime Burgertime is a 1982 arcade game created by Data East for its DECO Cassette System. The game's original title, Hamburger, was changed to BurgerTime before its introduction to the US. The player is chef Peter Pepper, who must walk over hamburger ingredients located across a maze of platforms while avoiding... |
1982 | Platform | Mattel Electronics / Data East Data East also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy... |
| Centipede Centipede (video game) Centipede is a vertically-oriented shoot 'em up arcade game produced by Atari, Inc. in 1980. The game was designed by Ed Logg along with Dona Bailey, one of the few female game programmers in the industry at this time. It was also the first arcade coin-operated game to have a significant female... |
1983 | Arcade | Atarisoft Atarisoft Atarisoft was a brand name used by Atari, Inc in 1983 and 1984 to market video games they published for home systems made by their competitors. Each platform had a specific color attributed by Atarisoft for its game packages... |
| Championship Lode Runner Championship Lode Runner is the champion's version of Lode Runner and its sequel. The game may also be found on a pirate NES cartridge under the names Super Load Runner or Load Runner 2. This game shares the same status with the Ultima and Wizardry games which had sizeable spin-offs in Japan that were mostly unknown in... |
1984 | Platform | Brøderbund Software |
| Chess88 | 1984 | Board Game | Unknown |
| Climber 5 | 1987 | Platform | COMPUTE! Publications |
| Commando | 1987 | Run and Gun | Quicksilver Quicksilver Software Quicksilver Software, Inc. was founded in 1984 by three Intellivision programmers from Mattel Electronics. Two of the three, William Fisher and Stephen Roney, currently work there... / Data East |
| Conflict in Vietnam | 1986 | Simulation | MicroProse MicroProse MicroProse was a video game publisher and developer, founded by Wild Bill Stealey and Sid Meier in 1982 as Microprose Software. In 1993, the company became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte and has remained a subsidiary or brand name under several other corporations since... |
| Congo Bongo Congo Bongo Congo Bongo is an isometric platform arcade game released by Sega in 1983. Strong evidence from analysis of the game's ROM claim that Ikegami Tsushinki also did development work on Congo Bongo. The game has come to be seen as Sega's answer to the highly successful Donkey Kong game that was... |
1984 | Isometric Platformer | Sega |
| Conquest | 1983 | Platform | Windmill Software |
| Cosmic Crusader Cosmic Crusader Cosmic Crusader is a 1982 computer game for the IBM PC family of computers, created by Michael Abrash and published by Funtastic.... |
1982 | Fixed Shooter | Michael Abrash / Funtastic |
| Crossfire | 1981 | Action | Jay Sullivan / Sierra On-Line |
| Crusade in Europe | 1985 | Simulation | MicroProse |
| Crypto Cube | 1983 | Puzzle | DesignWare |
| Cutthroats | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom Infocom Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called Cornerstone.... |
| Cyborg | 1982 | Interactive Fiction | Sentient Software / Softsmith Software |
| Czorian Siege | 1983 | Arcade | Computer Applications Unlimited / Howard W. Sams |
| Deadline | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Decision in the Desert | 1985 | Simulation | MicroProse |
| Defender | 1980 | Scrolling shooter | Williams Electronics |
| Defender of the Crown Defender of the Crown Defender of the Crown is a strategy computer game designed by Kellyn Beck. It was Cinemaware's first game, and was originally released for the Commodore Amiga in 1986, setting a new standard for graphic quality in home computer games.... |
1987 | Strategy game | Master Designer Software / Mirrorsoft Mirrorsoft Mirrorsoft was a computer game software publisher in the United Kingdom, owned by Mirror Group Newspapers. It was founded as a publisher of educational software before moving into games. One offshoot of its printing roots was Fleet Street Publisher on several platforms... |
| Demon Attack Demon Attack Demon Attack is a video game published by Imagic for several home console systems, including the Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey², Atari 8-bit, Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, PC Booter, TRS-80 and TRS-80 Color Computer. There was also a port to the TI-99/4A titled Super Demon Attack... |
1982 | Fixed Shooter | Imagic Imagic Imagic was a short-lived American video game developer and publisher that developed games for the Atari 2600, Intellivision and other video game consoles in the early 1980s... |
| Demon's Forge | 1981 | Adventure | Saber Software |
| Destroyer | 1986 | Simulation | Epyx Epyx Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983... |
| Dig Dug Dig Dug is an arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan in 1982 for Namco Galaga hardware. It was later published outside of Japan by Atari. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also released as a video game on many consoles.-Objective:... |
1982 | Maze | Namco Namco is a Japanese corporation best known as a former video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies' game production assets were spun off into Namco Bandai Games on March 31, 2006. Namco Ltd. was re-established to continue domestic operation of... / Atari |
| Digger | 1983 | Arcade | Windmill Software |
| Donald Duck's Playground Donald Duck's Playground Donald Duck's Playground is a computer game for the Commodore 64, based on the Walt Disney cartoon and comic book character Donald Duck. It was also ported to the IBM PCjr, Apple II, Atari ST and Amiga... |
1988 | Educational | Sierra On-Line |
| Donkey Kong Donkey Kong is a fictional gorilla in the Donkey Kong and Mario series. He is roughly twice the size of a normal gorilla, weighing approximately 800 pounds. Donkey Kong first appeared in Nintendo's popular 1981 video game of the same name. Since then he has appeared in over 20 games in his own series, as well... |
1982 | Platform | Nintendo Nintendo is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel.... / Coleco Coleco Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and... |
| Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One | 1983 | Sports | Electronic Arts |
| Dunjonquest: Morloc's Tower | 1979 | Dungeon crawl | Epyx / Automated Simulations |
| Earthly Delights | 1983 | Adventure | Datamost Datamost Datamost was a software design company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and Atari platforms, with some for the IBM PC... |
| Eden Blues | 1987 | Adventure | ERE Informatique ERE Informatique ERE Informatique was one of the first French video game companies, founded in 1981 by Philippe Ulrich and Emmanuel Viau. The company hired freelance game programmers that received royalties for their creations. Initially, the company published titles for the Amstrad CPC, Spectrum and Oric home... |
| Enchanter | 1986 | Text adventure | Infocom |
| Evolution | 1982 | Action | Sydney Development Corp. |
| Exterminator, The | 1982 | Action | Nufekop / Bubble Bus Software |
| F-15 Strike Eagle | 1984 | Combat flight simulator | MicroProse |
| FaceMaker | 1982 | Educational | DesignWare / Spinnaker Software Corporation |
| Five-a-Side Indoor Soccer | 1986 | Sports | Mastertronic Group |
| Fleet Sweep | 1983 | Arcade | Mirror Images Software |
| Floppy Frenzy | 1982 | Arcade | Windmill Software |
| Forbidden Castle | 1985 | Adventure | Angelsoft / Mindscape Mindscape Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape... |
| Forbidden Quest | 1983 | Adventure | Pryority Software |
| Fourth Protocol, The | 1985 | Adventure | Electronic Pencil Company / Hutchinson Computer Publishing |
| Freddy Fish | 1983 | Arcade | Mirror Images Software |
| Freddy Hardest | 1988 | Platform | Dinamic Software Dinamic Software Dinamic Software was a Spanish videogames producer and publisher company. It was founded in 1983, and its activity ceased in 1992, comprising the Golden Era of Spanish Software. One year later, a part of its owners founded an independent company named Dinamic Multimedia... |
| FriendlyWare P.C. Arcade | 1983 | Action | FriendlySoft |
| FriendlyWare PC Introductory Set | 1983 | Action | FriendlySoft |
| Frogger Frogger Frogger is an arcade game introduced in 1981. It was developed by Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct frogs to their homes one by one. To do this, each frog must avoid cars while crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of... |
1983 | Arcade | Konami Konami is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games... / Sierra On-Line |
| Frogger II: Three Deep | 1984 | Action | Parker Brothers Parker Brothers Parker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe... / Sega |
| Full Count Baseball | 1984 | Sports | Lance Haffner Games |
| Galactic Gladiators | 1983 | Tactical Combat | Strategic Simulations |
| Galaxian Galaxian is an arcade game developed by Namco in 1979. It was published by Namco in Japan and was imported to North America by Midway in 1980. A fixed shooter-style game in which the player controls a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoots enemies descending in various directions, it was designed... |
1983 | Fixed Shooter | Namco, Atari |
| Game Over | 1987 | Run and Gun | Dinamic Software, Imagine Software Imagine Software Imagine Software was a British video games developer based in Liverpool which existed briefly in the early 1980s, initially producing software for the ZX Spectrum and VIC-20... |
| Game Over II Game Over II Game Over II is a side-scrolling video game developed and published by Dinamic Software in .Although originally conceived as an independent game under the title Phantis, it was launched in the United Kingdom as the sequel to Game Over... |
1987 | Shoot em' up | Dinamic Software |
| Gamma Force in Pit of a Thousand Screams | 1988 | Text Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions, Infocom |
| Ghostbusters | 1986 | Miscellaneous | Activision |
| Gremlins | 1984 | Fixed Shooter | Atari |
| Guerrilla War | 1987 | Run and Gun | SNK SNK SNK is a former name of SNK Playmore, a Japanese video game company . This may also refer to:* SNK European Democrats* SNK Union of Independents* Southeast Airlines ICAO code... , Data East |
| Hacker II: The Doomsday Papers | 1986 | Puzzle/Strategy | Activision |
| Hard Hat Mack Hard Hat Mack Hard Hat Mack is a 1983 Apple II game developed by Michael Abbot and Matthew Alexander. It was the first game published by Electronic Arts... |
1984 | Platform Game | Electronic Arts |
| Harrier Combat Simulator Harrier Combat Simulator Harrier Combat Simulator is a computer game developed by Mindscape for the Atari ST in 1987 along with the MS-DOS PC and the Commodore 64.-Plot:... |
1987 | Simulation | Mindscape |
| HellCat Ace | 1984 | First Person Shooter | MicroProse |
| High Stakes | 1986 | Card Game | Angelsoft, Mindscape |
| Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Hobbit, The The Hobbit (video game) The Hobbit is a computer game released in 1982 and based on the book The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was developed at Beam Software by Philip Mitchell and Veronika Megler and published by Melbourne House for most home computers available at the time, from more popular models such as the ZX... |
1983 | Text Adventure | Beam Software, Melbourne House Melbourne House Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was a video game development studio founded in 1980 and based in Melbourne, Australia. The studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Melbourne House... |
| Holy Grail, The | 1984 | Adventure | Hayden Software |
| I, Damiano: The Wizard of Partestrada | 1985 | Text Adventure | Imagic, Bantam Software |
| Ikari Warriors Ikari Warriors Ikari Warriors is a 1986 arcade game by SNK, published in the United States and Europe by Tradewest. Known simply as in Japan, this was SNK's first major breakthrough US release and became something of a classic. The game was released at the time when there were many Commando clones on the market... |
1987 | Run and Gun | SNK, Data East |
| Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road , is the sequel to Ikari Warriors.The objective is to defeat the enemy aliens using grenades and other weapons. The story directly picks up at the ending of Ikari Warriors. Congratuled by General Kawasaki for rescuing him, Paul and Vince return home to their native country in a plane arranged by... |
1988 | Run and Gun | SNK, Data East |
| Infidel | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| International Hockey | 1987 | Sports | Artworx Software, Superior Quality Software |
| J-Bird | 1983 | Puzzle | Orion Software |
| James Bond 007: Goldfinger James Bond 007: Goldfinger James Bond 007: Goldfinger is a 1986 text adventure video game developed by Anglesoft and published by Mindscape for the PC, Apple II and Mac. It was the follow-up to the 1985 game James Bond 007: A View to a Kill. It is based on the James Bond film series.... |
1986 | Text Adventure | Angelsoft, Mindscape |
| John Elway's Quarterback John Elway's Quarterback John Elway's Quarterback, also known as John Elway's Quarterback Challenge and John Elway's Team Quarterback, is a 1987 football video game.-Summary:... |
1988 | Sports | Leland Corporation Leland corporation The Leland Corporation was a manufacturer of several arcade video games in the 1980s and early 1990s. Notable among these were Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp in 1991, the long-anticipated follow up to the hugely successful Dragon's Lair from 1983 and Super Off Road, which spawned an expansion and two... , Melbourne House |
| Joust | 1983 | Platformer | Williams Electronics, Atari |
| Jumpman Jumpman Jumpman is a platform game written by Randy Glover and released by Epyx in 1983. Originally developed for the Atari 400/800, versions were also released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC.... |
1984 | Platformer/Puzzle | Epyx, IBM |
| Jungle Hunt Jungle Hunt Jungle Hunt is a one- or two-player side-scrolling arcade platform game produced by Taito in 1982.The player controls a jungle explorer who sports a pith helmet and a safari suit. The player must rescue his girl from a tribe of hungry cannibals... |
1983 | Action | Taito Taito Taito may mean:*Taito Corporation, a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware*Taito, Tokyo, a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan*Taito, also known as matai, paramount chiefs according to Fa'a Samoa... , Atari |
| Karnov Karnov is a 1987 platform arcade game developed and published by Data East. It is the debut of Data East's mascot of the same name. After Data East became defunct due to bankruptcy in 2003, Paon, a company comprised with former Data East staff, acquired the rights to Karnov, along with multiple other Data... |
1989 | Platformer | Data East |
| Kindercomp | 1983 | Educational | Spinnaker Software Corporation |
| King's Quest: Quest for the Crown | 1984 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line |
| King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne is the second installment in the King's Quest series created by Sierra Entertainment... |
1985 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line |
| Kobyashi Naru | 1987 | Adventure | Mastertronic |
| Lane Mastodon vs. the Blubbermen | 1988 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions, Infocom |
| Last Mission, The The Last Mission (video game) The Last Mission is a computer game released in by the Spanish company Opera Soft, for the Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, and MSX. It was also ported to the IBM PC platform. It is a 2D flip-screen side-view game.- Plot :... |
1987 | Action | Opera Soft Opera Soft Opera Soft was one the most prolific Spanish computer game developers of the so-called Golden Era of Spanish Software of the 1980s. It released many games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and similar computers in the mid-1980s, but its games were not as popular on the PC... |
| Lock On | 1987 | First Person Shooter | Tatsumi Electronics, Data East |
| Lode Runner Lode Runner Lode Runner is a 1983 platform game, first published by Brøderbund. It is one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game's popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests... |
1983 | Platformer/Puzzle | Brøderbund, Ariolasoft Ariolasoft Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German computer game developer, publisher and distributor. It started as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records... |
| Marble Madness Marble Madness Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny, and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide an onscreen marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a... |
1986 | Platformer/Racing | Brøderbund, Ariolasoft |
| Master Miner Master Miner Master Miner is a 1983 computer game for the IBM PC family of computers, created by Dan Illowsky and published by Funtastic.... |
1983 | Arcade | Funtastic |
| Math Maze | 1983 | Racing | DesignWare |
| Metropolis | 1987 | Simulation | Arcadia Systems Arcadia Systems Arcadia Systems was a subsidiary of Mastertronic which developed arcade games during the mid-late 1980s. The systems were based on Commodore Amiga technology... , Melbourne House |
| MicroLeague Baseball MicroLeague Baseball Micro League Baseball was a 1984 baseball simulation video game. It was developed by Micro League Sports Association and published by Micro League Multimedia Inc. It was released on Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and PC.-Summary:... |
1984 | Sports | MicroLeague Sports Association, MicroLeague Multimedia |
| Microsoft Adventure | 1981 | Text Adventure | Microsoft Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions... , IBM |
| Microsoft Decathlon | 1982 | Sports | Microsoft, IBM |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0 | 1982 | Simulation | subLOGIC SubLOGIC The subLOGIC Corporation is an American software development company. It was formed by Bruce Artwick when he was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and later incorporated by Stu Moment.... , Microsoft |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0 | 1984 | Simulation | subLOGIC, Microsoft |
| Mindshadow | 1984 | Adventure | Interplay Entertainment, Activision |
| Mine Shaft | 1983 | Puzzle | Sierra On-Line, IBM |
| Miner 2049er Miner 2049er Miner 2049er is a video game created by Bill Hogue that was released in 1982 by Big Five Software. The game was licensed in conjunction with International Computer Group . At the time of its release, Miner 2049'er was notable for having ten different screens, which was a large number for a platform... |
1983 | Platformer/Puzzle | Big Five Software, Micro Fun |
| Montezuma's Revenge Montezuma's Revenge (video game) Montezuma's Revenge is a video game for Atari home computers, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, IBM PC, Sega Master System, and ZX Spectrum . It was created by Robert Jaeger and published in 1984 by Parker Brothers. The game's title references a colloquial American... |
1984 | Platformer | Parker Brothers, BCI Software |
| Moon Bugs | 1983 | Arcade | Windmill Software |
| Moon Patrol Moon Patrol is a classic arcade game by Irem that was first released in 1982. It was licensed to Williams for distribution in North America.The player controls a moon buggy, viewing it from the side, that travels over the moon's surface. While driving it, obstacles such as craters and mines must be avoided.... |
1983 | Scrolling Shooter | Irem, Atari |
| Mouser | 1983 | Platformer/Puzzle | Gebelli Software, IBM |
| Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man is an arcade video game produced by Midway as an unauthorized sequel to Pac-Man. It was released in North America in 1981 and became one of the most popular video games of all time, leading to its adoption by Pac-Man licensor Namco as an official title... |
1983 | Maze | General Computer Corporation, Midway Midway Games Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the... , Atari |
| Murder on the Zinderneuf Murder on the Zinderneuf Murder on the Zinderneuf is a computer game developed by Jon Freeman and Paul Reiche III and released by video game developer Free Fall Associates in 1983. It was developed for a number of popular home computer platforms, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Atari 400/800 and the PC as a... |
1984 | Adventure | Free Fall Associates, Electronic Arts |
| Narco Police | 1989 | Action/Shooter | Iron Byte, Dinamic Software |
| Night Mission Pinball | 1982 | Pinball | subLOGIC |
| Night Stalker Night Stalker (video game) - Gameplay :The player controls a man trapped in a hedgerow maze with no exits and many threats, some natural such as bats and spiders, others artificial in nature and much more deadly. The player starts out in a bunker in the middle of the map equipped with a handgun loaded with six bullets... |
1983 | Maze | Mattel Electronics |
| Oil's Well Oil's Well Oil's Well is a computer game distributed by Sierra On-Line in 1983, and again in 1990. The game was programmed by Thomas J. Mitchell and Bill Sargent. Bill Sargent went on to work on such projects as The Sims, and SimCity 2000.... |
1984 | Maze | Sierra On-Line |
| Pac-Man Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution in the United States by Midway, first released in Japan on May 22, 1980. Immensely popular from its original release to the present day, Pac-Man is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games,... |
1983 | Maze | Namco, Atari |
| Paratrooper Paratrooper (video game) Paratrooper is a 1982 computer game, written by Greg Kuperberg and published by Orion Software.Paratrooper is one of the three games written by Greg Kuperberg when the IBM-PC was still very new, but unlike the other two, J-Bird and PC-Man, which were recreations of well-known coin-op games, this... |
1982 | Shooter | Greg Kuperberg Greg Kuperberg Greg Kuperberg is an American mathematician of Polish birth known for his contributions to geometric topology, quantum algebra, and combinatorics. Kuperberg is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Davis.... , Orion Software |
| PC Pool | 1983 | Sports | Hesware HESware HESware was an American home computer software and hardware developer/publisher during the 1980s, who concentrated on the Commodore 64 and the Atari 8-bit.-History:... , IBM |
| PC Pool Challenges | 1984 | Sports | Hesware, IBM |
| PC-Man | 1982 | Maze | Orion Software |
| Pinball Construction Set Pinball Construction Set Pinball Construction Set is a computer game by Bill Budge published by Electronic Arts. It was released for the Apple II and Atari 800 in 1983 and was later ported to other platforms, such as the Commodore 64 and DOS .-Description:... |
1985 | Pinball | Electronic Arts |
| Pitfall II: Lost Caverns Pitfall II: Lost Caverns Pitfall II: Lost Caverns is a platforming video game originally released for the Atari 2600 video game console in 1984. It is the sequel to the popular Pitfall!. Both games were designed and written by David Crane and published by Activision... |
1984 | Platformer | Activision |
| Pitstop II Pitstop II -Summary:This video game allows players to race head-to-head on a split screen. It is a sequel to the 1983 Pitstop and was available on many popular platforms of the era.... |
1984 | Racing | Synergistic Software Synergistic Software Northwest Synergistic Software is a contract software developer and a former video game developer. Founded in 1978 under the name Synergistic Software, the company published some of the earliest available games and applications for the Apple II family of computers... , Epyx |
| Planetfall Planetfall Planetfall is a science fiction interactive fiction computer game written by Steve Meretzky, and the eighth title published by Infocom in 1983. Like most Infocom games, thanks to the portable Z-machine, it was released for several platforms simultaneously. The original release included versions... |
1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Portal Portal (interactive novel) Portal is a mix between a computer novel and an interactive game. It was published for the Amiga in 1986 by Activision, written by Rob Swigart, produced by Brad Fregger and programmed by Nexa Corporation. Versions for the Macintosh, Commodore 64, Apple II, and the IBM PC were later released... |
1986 | RPG | Nexa Corporation, Activision |
| Prowler | 1987 | Simulation | Icon Design Ltd., Mastertronic |
| Rasterscan Rasterscan Rasterscan is a computer game published in 1987 by Mastertronic for several 8-bit formats. It was written by Binary Design Ltd based in Parsonage Gardens, Manchester with the C64 version programmed by Phillip Allsopp .-Plot:... |
1987 | Puzzle | Binary Design, Mastertronic |
| Rescue at Rigel Rescue at Rigel Rescue at Rigel is a 1980 science fiction computer role-playing game written and published by Automated Simulations , and later branded as part of the Starquest series. The game was released for the Apple II, DOS, as a PC Booter, TRS-80, VIC-20, and Atari 8-bit... |
1980 | RPG | Epyx |
| River Raid River Raid River Raid is a scrolling shooter videogame and was released in 1982 by Activision for the Atari 2600, and later the Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, C64, ColecoVision, IBM PCjr, Intellivision, ZX Spectrum, and MSX... |
1984 | Scrolling Shooter | Activision |
| Robotron: 2084 Robotron: 2084 Robotron: 2084 is an arcade video game developed by Vid Kidz and released by Williams Electronics in 1982. It is a shooting game that features two-dimensional graphics. The game is set in the year 2084, in a fictional world where robots have turned against humans... |
1983 | Fixed Shooter | Williams Electronic Games, Atari |
| Rollo And The Brush Bros Rollo And The Brush Bros Rollo And The Brush Bros was originally created by Windmill software in 1984 and released as a copy-protected, bootable 5.25" floppy disk for the IBM PC/XT... |
1983 | Puzzle | Windmill Software |
| Satan | 1990 | Platformer | Dinamic Software |
| ScubaVenture | 1983 | Arcade | Gebelli Software, IBM |
| Seastalker Seastalker Seastalker is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Stu Galley and Jim Lawrence and published by Infocom in 1984. Like most of Infocom's works, it was released simultaneously for several popular computer platforms of the time, such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, and IBM PC. The game was... |
1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Serpentine Serpentine (video game) Serpentine is a 1982 action computer game developed by David Snider and published by Brøderbund.-Description:The player controls a multi-segmented blue 'good' serpent in a maze with the objective of eating all computer-controlled 'evil' serpents... |
1982 | Action | Brøderbund |
| Seven Cities of Gold, The | 1987 | Adventure | Ozark Softscape Ozark Softscape Ozark Softscape was a computer game programming team consisting initially of Dan Bunten, Bill Bunten, Jim Rushing, and Alan Watson.-History:The company was based out of Little Rock, Arkansas and had profound success with a few of their early titles... , Electronic Arts |
| Shamus | 1984 | Action | William Mataga, Synapse Software |
| Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow | 1985 | Adventure | Imagic, Bantam Software |
| Sid Meier's Pirates! Sid Meier's Pirates! Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier and published and developed by MicroProse in 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were flight simulators... |
1987 | Action/Adventure | MicroProse |
| Sidewinder Sidewinder (Mastertronic video game) Sidewinder is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up video game made by Arcadia Systems in 1988.... |
1988 | Shoot em' up | Synergistic Software, Arcadia Systems |
| Sierra Championship Boxing Sierra Championship Boxing Sierra Championship Boxing is a boxing video game developed by Evryware and published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. Versions were released for Apple II, Commodore 64, DOS, and Macintosh.-Summary:... |
1985 | Sports | Evryware Evryware Evryware Inc. is a computer game development company based in Olympia, Washington, USA. It was founded in California in 1980 by two engineers, Dave Murry and Joe Gargiulo. Dave's siblings, Barry Murry and Dee Dee Murry, joined a few years later to round out the company. Evryware was active through... , Sierra On-Line |
| Silent Service Silent Service (video game) Silent Service is a 1985 submarine simulator computer game. It was designed by Sid Meier and published by MicroProse for various 8-bit home computers, and in 1987 for 16-bit systems like the Commodore Amiga... |
1986 | Submarine simulator | MicroProse |
| Slugger, The | 1988 | Sports | Ocean Software Ocean Software The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s... , Mastertronic |
| Snack Attack II | 1982 | Maze | Funtastic |
| Solo Flight | 1983 | Simulation | MicroProse |
| Solomon's Key Solomon's Key right|thumb|Arcade version of Solomon's Key is a puzzle game developed by Tecmo in 1986 for arcade release on custom hardware based on the Z80 chipset... |
1988 | Puzzle | Tecmo, U.S. Gold U.S. Gold U.S. Gold was a British video game publisher and developer from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing numerous titles on a variety of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms.-History:... |
| Sorcerer | 1984 | Text adventure | Infocom |
| Space Strike Space Strike Space Strike is a 1982 computer game for the IBM PC family of computers, created by Michael Abrash and published by Datamost. Space Strike is essentially a clone of the popular Space Invaders video game of the late 1970s.... |
1982 | Arcade | Michael Abrash, Datamost |
| Spiderbot | 1988 | Platformer | Addictive Games Addictive Games Addictive Games was a UK video game publisher in the 1980s and early 1990s. It is best known for the Football Manager series of games created by company founder Kevin Toms... , Epyx |
| Spitfire Ace Spitfire Ace Spitfire Ace is a flying combat video game for several 1980s home computer systems. It was one of the first video games designed and programmed by noted game industry figure Sid Meier. It was developed for Atari 400/800 , Commodore 64 and DOS . The Atari version was written by Meier and the game... |
1984 | Flying Shooter | MicroProse |
| Spy Hunter Spy Hunter Spy Hunter is a 1983 arcade game developed and released by Bally Midway. It has also been ported to various home computers and video game systems.... |
1984 | Vehicular combat | Midway, Sega |
| Starcross | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Stargate Stargate (video game) Stargate is an arcade game released in 1981 by Williams Electronics. Created by Eugene Jarvis, it is a sequel to the 1980 game Defender, and was the first of only three productions from Vid Kidz, an independent development house formed by Jarvis and Larry DeMar... |
1983 | Scrolling shooter | Williams Electronic Games, Atari |
| Storm | 1987 | Puzzle | Mastertronic |
| Strategy Games | 1983 | Strategy | IBM |
| Styx | 1983 | Puzzle | Windmill Software |
| Sub Mission | 1987 | Shooter | Tom Snyder Productions, Mindscape |
| Summer Games II Summer Games II Summer Games II is a sports video game developed by Epyx and released by U.S. Gold based on sports featured in the Summer Olympic Games. Released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, it was also eventually ported to the Apple II, IBM PC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and the Amiga... |
1986 | Sports | Epyx |
| Super Boulder Dash | 1986 | Arcade | First Star Software, Electronic Arts |
| Super Football Sunday | 1985 | Sports | Quest Inc., Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations... |
| Super Zaxxon | 1984 | Shoot em' up | Sega |
| Suspect | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Suspended Suspended Suspended: A Cryogenic Nightmare is an interactive fiction computer game written by Michael Berlyn and published by Infocom in 1983. Like most Infocom titles, it was available on most popular personal computers of the day, such as the Apple II, PC, Atari ST and Commodore 64... |
1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Tag Team Wrestling Tag Team Wrestling Tag Team Wrestling, known in Japan as , is a arcade video game published by Data East and developed by Technōs Japan.-Gameplay:In the game, two professional wrestling tag-teams, the Strong Bads and the Ricky Fighters, battle against each other in tag-team action, or a single player competes in a... |
1985 | Sports | Data East |
| Tapper Tapper Tapper, also known as Root Beer Tapper, is a 1983 arcade game released by Bally Midway. The goal of the game is to serve beer and collect empty mugs and tips.-Overview:... |
1983 | Action | Marvin Glass and Associates Marvin Glass and Associates Marvin Glass and Associates was a toy design and engineering firm based out of Chicago, Illinois. While not a household name, Marvin Glass and his employees created some of the most successful toys and games of the 20th century. Marvin Glass and Associates is the source of many of the most... , Midway |
| Tass Times in Tonetown Tass Times in Tonetown Tass Times in Tonetown is a 1986 adventure-themed computer game by Activision for multiple computer platforms. It was written by veteran Infocom designer Michael Berlyn and his long-time collaborator Muffy McClung Berlyn, and programmed by Bill Heineman of Interplay Productions, in cooperation with... |
1986 | Adventure | Brainwave Creations Brainwave Creations Brainwave Creations was a small game programming company started by Michael Berlyn, formerly of Infocom. The company was founded in the mid-1980s, and is probably best-known for co-creating Tass Times in Tonetown along with Interplay's Bill Heineman.... , Interplay Productions, Activision |
| Timothy Leary's Mind Mirror | 1986 | Interactive Fiction | Futique, Electronic Arts |
| Touchdown Football | 1984 | Sports | Imagic, IBM |
| Tracer Sanction, The | 1984 | Adventure | Interplay Productions, Activision |
| Trilogy | 1987 | Adventure | Mastertronic |
| Trivia 101 | 1984 | Educational | Digital Learning Systems, IBM |
| Troll's Tale | 1984 | Adventure | Sierra On-Line |
| TV and Cinema 101: Trivia from Talkies to Trekkies | 1984 | Game Show | Digital Learning Systems, IBM |
| Ulysses and the Golden Fleece Ulysses and the Golden Fleece Ulysses and the Golden Fleece is a graphic adventure game released in 1981. It was created by Bob Davis and Ken Williams. With a graphic at the top of the game screen, the player navigates the game via a two-word command parser.... |
1982 | Hi-Res Adventure | Sierra On-Line |
| Voodoo Island | 1985 | Text adventure | Angelsoft, Mindscape |
| Warrior of Ras: Volume I - Dunzhin | 1982 | RPG | Intelligent Statements Inc., Computer Applications Unlimited |
| Will Harvey's Music Construction Set | 1984 | Educational | Electronic Arts |
| Winter Games Winter Games Winter Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx , based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games.... |
1986 | Sports | Epyx |
| Witness, The | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Wizard and the Princess Wizard and the Princess Wizard and the Princess, also known as Adventure in Serenia, is a 1980 computer game by On-Line Systems for the Apple II and Apple II Plus. It is the second title released in On-Line Systems' "Hi-Res Adventure" series after Mystery House... |
1982 | Adventure | On-Line Systems |
| Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord | 1984 | RPG | Sir-Tech Sir-Tech Sir-Tech Software, Inc. was a United States-based video game developer and publisher founded by Robert Woodhead and Norman Sirotek. While the original company closed its doors in 2001, its Canadian counterpart Sir-Tech Canada continued to operate up until late 2003.Sir-Tech is best known for the... |
| Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds | 1985 | RPG | Sir-Tech |
| Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn | 1986 | RPG | Sir-Tech |
| Wizardry IV: The Return of Werdna | 1987 | RPG | Sir-Tech |
| Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom | 1988 | RPG | Sir-Tech |
| Wizball Wizball Wizball is a computer game written by Jon Hare and Chris Yates and released in 1987 for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Versions for the Amiga, Atari ST and PC were also released... |
1987 | Shoot 'em up | Sensible Software Sensible Software Sensible Software was a software house active during the 1980s and 90s, from the United Kingdom.The company was well-known for the very small sprites used for the player characters in many of their games, including Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder and Sensible Golf.- Early history :Sensible Software... , Ocean Software |
| Word Spinner | 1984 | Educational | The Learning Company The Learning Company The Learning Company is an American educational software company, founded in 1980. It produced a grade-based system similar to Knowledge Adventure's JumpStart series. The products for preschoolers through second graders feature Reader Rabbit, and software for more advanced students features The... |
| World Games | 1986 | Sports | K-Byte, Epyx |
| World Karate Championship | 1986 | Fighting | Epyx / System 3 System 3 (software company) System 3 Software Ltd is a British video game developer and publisher.Founded in 1983 by Mark Cale, the company has been responsible for many critically acclaimed videogame experiences, most notably The Last Ninja series, Myth: History in the Making, Impossible Mission, Constructor, Street Wars,... |
| World's Greatest Baseball Game, The | 1985 | Sports | Quest Inc., Epyx |
| Zaxxon Zaxxon Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game developed and released by Sega. Some sources claim that Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki also worked on the development of Zaxxon... |
1984 | Arcade | Sega |
| Zork: The Great Underground Empire | 1982 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz | 1983 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| Zork III: The Dungeon Master | 1984 | Interactive fiction | Infocom |
| ZorkQuest: Assault on Egreth Castle | 1988 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions, Infocom |
| ZorkQuest: The Crystal of Doom | 1989 | Adventure | Tom Snyder Productions, Infocom |
| Zyll Zyll Zyll was a pioneering text-based game written for the IBM PC Jr. and released in 1984. It was written by Marshal Linder and Scott Edwards, two IBM employees, and marketed as an adventure game.-Gameplay:... |
1984 | RPG | IBM |