I have been going through old boxes of retro gaming gear over the last few weeks and today I came across a set of 3 1/2 inch floppy disks that I knew existed, but was had been unable find.

In 1992, Steve and I shed our beloved Atari 1040ST for a PC. We did this for a couple of reasons. First, it was becoming very difficult to find Atari ST games in the USA (even in the import shops) and second, school was starting to demand the use of a DOS-based PC.  Over the first few years of PC ownership we purchased a number of classic DOS arcade games that eventually helped use forget about the great times we had on the Atari ST.

This is a photo of the small supply of DOS games titles that I was able to uncover in tonight’s excavation:

(click to enlarge)

1. Wolfenstein 3D. This is the game that really first allowed me to forget about the Atari ST and focus on PC gaming.  It was released in May of 1992. This original set of floppies consists of only two disks.

2. Raptor. This was a top-down Raiden style shooter that kicked major ass.  This is released in 1994 by Apogee.  Raptor came on three floppy disks.

3. Alien Carnage.  The original shareware version of this game was called Halloween Harry. It was changed to Alien Carnage when it was released in 1993, This game consists of two floppy disks.

4. Tristan Pinball. This was originally released for the Apple Mac in 1991, but was quickly ported to the PC. It was the first really good PC pinball simulation we had. It is notable for NOT scrolling and trying to keep all of the game-play on a single screen. I remember playing this baby A LOT.  Tristan Pinball came on a single floppy disk.

5. Super Space Invaders.  This was released in 1992 for the DOS PC. It was a fun game and is notable because it really was one of the first “retro-remakes” released into the PC market.  Super Space Invaders consisted of two floppy disks.

6. Overkill. Epic Megagames and Apogee were two of the only good friends to PC DOS arcade game players in the early 90’s. This game, released in 1992, was another great vertical scrolling shooter. It came on a single floppy disk.

7. Invasion of the Mutant Bats of Doom.  Released in 1994, this was the first game on the PC that reminded me of Galaga! It came on a single floppy disk.

8. Phantasie I, Phantasie III, and Questron II. This was a Value-Works re-release of three classic SSI DOS games. I don’t remember ever being able to ge these to work, but all three were classics on the Atari ST  when we played them. Phantasie I (1985), Phantasie III (1987) , Questron II (1988)

9. Zone 66.  Released in 1993, Zone 66 was an ambitions 360 degree, overhead combat / flight game. I remember that the sound would not work with our Soundblaster Pro and that pissed me off enough to never play much of it. It looks awesome though.

10. Microsoft Arcade.  This was actually released for Windows 3.0 and Mac in 1993. It is notable because it was one of the first classic arcade game compilations for the PC. At this time, Windows was nothing more than an elaborate DOS shell that really just got in the way of games. This set of arcade games was a nice way to show off the power of Windows for games before Direct-X was invented. This single disk contained versions of Asteroids, Tempest, Battlezone, Centipede and Missile Command.

From this “find”, there is a HUGE box of CD roms staring at me also.  I will go through these to find some retro classics for next time.