Retro Gaming

Some BBSes (Bulletin Boards) are members of Game networks that allow gamers from all over to join in and play in leagues, and also there are BBSes that are members of massive file distribution networks which have terabytes of files to share. Want to know how to get in on the action? Just watch this video!

Whilst I’m at it, here are some personal recommendations of some great BBSes to try out, including my own one!:

The Quantum Wormhole bbs.erb.pw
The Bottomless Abyss bbs.bottomlessabyss.net (port 2023)
Al’s Geek Lab BBS bbs.alsgeeklab.com (port 2323)
20 For Beers 20forbeers.com (port 1337)
The Underground theunderground.us (port 10023)
The Agency BBS agency.bbs.nz
Absinthe BBS absinthebbs.net (port 1940)
Wizards Rainbow wizardsrainbow.com (host to Black Country Rock games)
The Vault BBS thevaultbbs.ddns.net (port 2323)

Hi all,

Due to popular demand, I was asked if I could keep the ‘Top 10’ DOS Games series going. The idea was to do the top 10 games of the first decade of the PC (’81-’91). I finished them off a few weeks ago. I’m pressing the pause button on any more for now to concentrate on other videos, however I thought it would be nice to make a summary video. So for your viewing pleasure, here’s an overview of the best games from that first decade. It also diarises how the PC platform grew up over the years, which was really interesting to see it begin to become the dominant force from shaky beginnings.

Check it out!

It’s the last in this 10-part series documenting the best in the top ten games of the first decade of the PC’s Games. We end here on 1991. Some absolute bangers of games here, made it far too difficult to do a top 10 (or even a top 20 tbh), so you may see that I have been ‘creative’ with some of the allocation of games to a position 😉

Watch with me as I review them all and tell you why they are awesome! 1990 was a year of two halves to me. 256 Colour VGA was in, EGA, CGA and MDA felt like a thing of the past, almost overnight. FM Synth in Adlib was the norm and slicker gameplay, with the introduction of many 3D games was welcoming in the new decade. Games like Monkey Island and Golden Axe set this year apart though!

Whether it was because there was more money being ploughed into the games industry by 1989, the advancements in tech, or the fact that the PC was taking over from its contemporary competitors, the depth to the games in this year were much more than the shoot-em-ups, platformers and little adventure games of ’81-’88. Games in this year include Death Trak Quest For Glory Indianapolis 500 Leisure Suit Larry 3, Pipedream, Prince of Persia, Simcity and more! I hope you enjoy my videos! If you want to help keeping me going, please subscribe to my channel, and if you feel that my content is good, I’d really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee or something on Patreon (www.patreon.com/alsgeeklab) or ko-fi (www.ko-fi.com/alsgeeklab)

I reviewed approximately 82 games for this year. The vast majority were worthy of keeping in the ‘play that again’ pile. It made for an almost impossible task of selecting just 10 #games that I’d consider the cream of the crop, so don’t hurt me too much if you don’t agree with the list! I hope you enjoy my videos! If you want to help keeping me going, please subscribe to my channel, and if you feel that my content is good, I’d really appreciate it if you could buy me a coffee or something on Patreon (www.patreon.com/alsgeeklab).

Wow! The #DOS games of #1987 really turned a corner! Digitized sound, colourful graphics, gameplay keeping up with the other contemporary machines of the time. This was the year when people started to notice that the boring beige box in the corner could actually be a serious games contender. From 1987 there was no stopping it! Games like Sid Meier’s #Pirates!, Defender of the crown, #Thexder, #Arkanoid and the #LucasArts premiere, Maniac Mansion showed off what the PC could do. Have a look at this trip down memory lane and see the top ten DOS games of 1987!

Continuing on our epic journey of the top ten games of the first decade of PC games, here’s the sixth installment. 1986!

Although there were many more titles to choose from this year compared with the last 5 years, the gaming potential of many other platforms (including consoles) that were introduced around this time, made the IBM PC and compatibles seem outdated. CGA and it’s 4 colours were still being used, despite the more ‘palateable’ EGA 16 colour display being widely available.

1985 was a lot harder than 1981-1984 to review. Many great titles came out in this year. The attack of the PC clones ensured that affordable computers were around to say, and that gaming was definitely on its way. Here’s my top 10 DOS games of 1985. Do you agree?

Games just kept getting better on the IBM PC. By 1984, some top arcade classics get porting treatment as well as some novel firsts. Some really substantial long-playing games feature too. NB, Although Kings Quest was released in 1984, I’m including it in 1985, as the full EGA and MS-DOS version was released around then.

BBS File Distribution Networks & Games Servers

The Top 10 PC games in summary (1981-1991)

IBM PC: The first games ’81-’81 Part 11: (1991)

IBM PC: The first games ’81-’91 Part 10 (1990)

IBM PC: The first games ’81-’91 Part 9 (1989)

IBM PC: The first games ’81-’91 Part 8 (1988)

IBM PC – The first games ’81-’91: Part 7 (1987)

IBM PC – The first games ’81-’91: Part 6 (1986)

IBM PC – The first games’81-’91: Part 5 (1985)

IBM PC – The first games ’81-’91: Part 4 (1984)