However it was at this time, about 1991 or 1992 that I found games online. These were shareware games, the company released one entire ' episode' for free and if you liked it you would purchase, usually, 2 more episodes to continue all the fun. It was a wonderful system! I got the opportunity to try out so many games and it was this time that fueled my addiction to PC gaming.
Over the years the quality of the sounds and graphics has improved exponentially but there is something compelling about some of those old games. Recently I took a look at the demo for Return to Castle Wolfenstein. While playing it I was confronted with memories of playing the original Wolfenstein. I first got hold of the shareware version in 1992, I believe, then there were as many as 5 more episodes to purchase! A total of 6 episodes for this marvelous game - I had to have it!
This so-called first person shooter blew me away and it was in 3D too boot! It was incredible, at least for its time. The fact is it wasn't really 3D it was more like 1 ½ D but it looked amazing to someone who had played many side-scrollers and text games.
With this well of warm memories I began searching the net for copies of some of the other games that initiated me into this hobby. Be certain that I stayed away from so-called Warez sites that are illegal. No I was looking to see if I could find the original shareware versions of some of these games. Man, did I luck out!
I stumbled across a site called the Underdogs http://www.theunderdogs.org . This site is dedicated to keeping alive the memories of those games that otherwise would die and be forgotten. These games are no longer " owned" by anyone and would otherwise simply disappear, if not for the Underdogs!
The vast array of games, often full games, that are available for download is astonishing. I was in gaming nirvana. Games that I had played so many years ago, games that I had lost over the years were here. Games that I had never played were here also. Let's be clear that they don't yet have every game that was available, some are still owned by someone while others are just not available for various legal reasons. You can search for games as far back as 1979! I was truly interested in going back only as far as 1990. Publisher names such as SoftDisk, Apogee and Epic Megagames were among some of favorites at the time. They still exist within the confines of the Underdogs. Game titles such as Dangerous Dave, Bioware and Palace of Deceit: Dragon's Plight live on at the underdogs.
Go To Page: 1 2
