"Abandonware Heaven" or "Share In My Nostalgia!" or "Remember Jazz Jackrabbit?"

[Seil]

Abandonia! (http://www.abandonia.com/en)

Netstorm (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/216/NetStorm+-+Islands+at+War.html)
This is an RTS game focused around elements - you can be a culture of Wind, or Fire or Water or Earth, I think. You can also sacrifice enemy priests. Seriously. You select them, then you select your sacrificial altar, then you... you can guess what happens. Great game.

Blood Omen (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/371/Blood+Omen+-+Legacy+Of+Kain.html)
The precursor of the Soul Reaver games. The first game in the Legacy of Kain series. Vae Victus!

Jazz Jackrabbit (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/294/Jazz+Jackrabbit+2.html)
You're Jazz, a jackrabbit. And you shoot stuff. Pretty big at a summer computer camp I went to in the day.

Alone In The Dark (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/91/Alone+in+the+Dark.html)
Never really interested in the series, but a well known one, so here you go.

Blood (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/103/Blood.html)
My brother was big on it - it's an early FPS where voodoo dolls are weapons.

Alien Rampage (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/852/Alien+Rampage.html)
Just a great side-scroller I loved growing up.

Return To Zork (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/403/Return+To+Zork.html)
It's Zork. The best in the series, if you ask me.

Dalek Attack (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/1017/Dalek+Attack.html)
Never really interested in the series, but a well known property, so here you go.

Descent (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/266/Descent.html)
It's Descent. You're in a spaceship. This beats the crap out of Starfox any day.

System Shock (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/24684/System+Shock.html)
It's System Shock. What more do you want?

Golden Axe (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/7/Golden+Axe.html)
Multiplayer side-scroller heaven.

Castlevania (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/398/Castlevania.html)
Castlevania. Yeah, never heard of this one. Threw it in because that Mirai punk likes it or whateves.

Doom II (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/6/Doom+II+-+Hell+on+Earth.html)
Can't find Doom I, never heard of Doom II. But it's Doom!

Prince Of Persia (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/10/Prince+of+Persia.html)
The beginning.

Murder Death Kill (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/346/MDK+-+Murder+Death+Kill.html)
Better known as MDK, I think. This was a fave when I was growing up.

Montezuma's Revenge (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/456/Montezuma%27s+Return.html)
Another fave, this was awesome. I think it was just FPS puzzle solving, but it was awesome.

Nightmare Creatures (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/26808/Nightmare+Creatures.html)
Found this on a PCGamer demo disc. Loved it.

Quest For Glory (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/979/Quest+for+Glory+-+So+you+want+to+be+a+Hero.html)
Fuck yes.

Turok (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/658/Turok+-+Dinosaur+Hunter.html)
Those of you who've never shot dinosaurs as an Indian? You're the people that are missing out.

Monty Python's Flying Circus (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/249/Monty+Pythons+Flying+Circus.html)
It's Monty Python. In video game form.

Mortal Kombat II (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/316/Mortal+Kombat+II.html)
Mortal Kombat is pretty self explanatory, right?

Street Fighter II (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/244/Street+Fighter+II.html)
Right?

The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/228/Hitchhikers+Guide+to+the+Galaxy%2C+The.html)
Now in text form! ...Wait.

Dune (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/46/Dune.html)
Dune! Play as Sting!

So I was looking for a Netstorm demo to tide my RTS cravings for a while, when I stumbled across this site. Now, it looks pretty spiffy - doesn't have Duke Nukem, I don't think, but it's pretty full up.

Shiney said I could link it, and I say you should all go download Netstorm, so... there's that.

What do you guys think? Find anything you like? Dredge up any old memories?

[ZAKtheGeek]

That's not Jazz Jackrabbit, it's Jazz Jackrabbit 2. >:^(

[Loyal]

SimCity 2000 (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/82/SimCity+2000.html) is there. I really don't see what else you could need.

[Mike McC]

I'd say several of those titles are of a... dubious nature as to whether or not it's actually legal to download them.

Remember, kiddies, Abandonware is just a term for people too impatient to wait for it to be freeware, and isn't an actual thing.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

That site is fail anyway. Can't play Sim City 2000

[Loyal]

That site is fail anyway. Can't play Sim City 2000You may wish to look into this. (http://www.myabandonware.com/howto/)

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I am throughly upset that I never heard of Jazz Jack Rabbit.

MY CHILD HOOD HAS BEEN WASTED ON SONIC AND POWER RANGERS!!!!! :argh:

This site was a great find Seil. Now to go and try to redeem myself.

[Osterbaum]

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid Sonic was still awesome. Now any of the games on Seil's list... I've never even heard of most of them.

[Meister]

That site is fail anyway.
is fail
Please don't do what you did there.

[Nikose Tyris]

I don't think this site has just abandonware. If Doom II is on Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/2300/ - And people are paying money for it, wouldn't this still be piracy?

[Dauntasa]

I'm pretty sure that they don't let you download ESA protected games. Also, yay, Ultimate Domain!

EDIT: Yup, Doom 2's download link is replaced with a "Buy it!" link.

[bluestarultor]

I'll just say that Abandonia is probably THE best site out there when it comes to legality and in fact has several exclusive agreements with companies to host their games.

Mike, I know your opinion on it, and you know mine, so let's just leave it at that. If the mods have a problem with this, they can close the thread and wipe out the links.


Edit:

Netstorm (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/216/NetStorm+-+Islands+at+War.html)
This is an RTS game focused around elements - you can be a culture of Wind, or Fire or Water or Earth, I think.

Wind, Thunder, Rain (water/ice), and Sun (which serves as nonelemental, not that elements actually factor past the flavor of generator you need).

Also, Netstorm HQ (http://www.netstormhq.com/news.php) also has this, along with servers now that the company's are gone, and an upgrade patch that ups the resolution and adds other cosmetic effects.



Edit again: Duke Nukem is not going to be on there, Seil. Abandonia has a pretty strict policy about not putting games up even for review anymore unless they're not being sold, so all the links to buy were from older policy or possibly those agreements. And Duke Nukem is still being sold. (http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html) ;)

[Mike McC]

Mike, I know your opinion on it, and you know mine, so let's just leave it at that.Then why say this at all?

Here is something I know for a fact was actually released as freeware: Tyrian (http://members.iinet.net.au/~vannevar/tyrian/downloads.html). You're welcome.

[Seil]

I think it's important to note that Abandonia has "Buy It" (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/266/Descent.html) buttons for some games instead of "Get It."

[bluestarultor]

To post some of my Legend favorites:

Superhero League of Hoboken. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/245/Superhero+League+of+Hoboken.html) A playful romp into dated political satire and pop culture that the young'uns wouldn't appreciate, but most forumites will delight in.

Companions of Xanth. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/449/Companions+of+Xanth.html) Based on Demons Don't Dream by Piers Anthony in the punny world of Xanth, a pretty solid adventure game with only one unfair puzzle. (Hint: it has to do with "for one to.")

Death Gate. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/525/Death+Gate.html) Based on The Death Gate Cycle by I can't ever seem to remember the two's names, a surprisingly intelligent and thoughtful game from the often-camp Legend which will leave you often frustrated, but ultimately satisfied as you use your meager resources in deceptively simple ways to finally solve the puzzles.

Shannara. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/25046/Shannara.html) The final one I've found from Legend (that is work safe and therefore postable). I haven't actually played it yet, because I went and got a copy from elsewhere for the voice, which was ripped from this version, and it keeps crashing for some reason (it somehow didn't occur to me until now to just download this one and combine the two). On the other hand, it looks gorgeous and if the others are any indication, it's a great game in its own right.

[Great Cartoonist]

I grew up on the shareware versions of Raptor: Call of the Shadows (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/15/Raptor+-+Call+of+the+Shadows.html), Stargunner (http://www.3drealms.com/stargunner/index.html), and Terminal Velocity (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/27/Terminal+Velocity.html). They were all pretty darned good games, I tell you that. (It should be noted that Stargunner is the only freeware one out of the three)

Also, I still have The Incredible Machine 2 (http://www.abandonia.com/games/395/download/IncredibleMachine2.htm). It's a very good puzzle game, and I enjoyed it a lot, whether it be doing the puzzles or making my own haphazard contraptions.

I can't believe I completely missed out on Tyrian back then though.

[Drownball-Champ]

Man, I remember having a demo disc (pretty sure it was a demo disc) that had a few good games on it. One of them was the original Jazz Jackrabbit, but all it had was Normal difficulty available and I think only like half the stages. And then it had this awesome robot fighting game called One Must Fall. The robots in that game looked cool, wish I could find that again. Have no clue what happened to that disc although it probably wouldn't run on Vista anyway.

[synkr0nized]

Doom II (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/6/Doom+II+-+Hell+on+Earth.html)
Can't find Doom I, never heard of Doom II. But it's Doom!

You've... never heard of Doom II: Hell on Earth?! What the Christ?


Descent is also amazing. I often want to play it after listening to "Tight Rope" by Lacuna Coil.

[Sky Warrior Bob]

Golden Axe (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/7/Golden+Axe.html)? Really?

That game gets re-released almost every year. Oh sure, it isn't the C64 or Amiga version, but that's not saying anything.

Abandonware is close to legal as ROMs are. Yeah, Abanonia is trying to pick titles that nobody will make a fuss about, but legally they don't have a foot to stand on. I don't think anyone getting stuff from them is any risk, but I think its only a matter of time before the site gets legally drop kicked.

SWB

[Specterbane]

Holy-Crap-Decent! I haven't played that game in years, I think I even still have the software cd's from the anthology pack thing...man do I feel old now.

[bluestarultor]

Golden Axe (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/7/Golden+Axe.html)? Really?

That game gets re-released almost every year. Oh sure, it isn't the C64 or Amiga version, but that's not saying anything.

Abandonware is close to legal as ROMs are. Yeah, Abanonia is trying to pick titles that nobody will make a fuss about, but legally they don't have a foot to stand on. I don't think anyone getting stuff from them is any risk, but I think its only a matter of time before the site gets legally drop kicked.

SWB

Well, while someone could, there's really no reason to. At worst, they're not hurting anyone due to their policies and at best, they're actually increasing their sales, not just via visibility from the reviews, but by actually linking to the company websites for games that are still sold. If there's a problem with them hosting Golden Axe there, all SEGA has to do is write in a short note and they'll remove the download, no questions asked.

Granted, SEGA might have just dropped the ball on it. While Abandonia does have exclusive rights to host some of their games, I don't know if they have it for Golden Axe specifically. On the other hand, I'd be surprised if Abandonia somehow let it slip, given their policies dictate that the parent company has to no longer be supporting it or making money from it, which, in the case of Golden Axe, they are.


FakeEdit: A search of Abandonia's database brings up this: http://www.abandonia.com/en/oldwarez/0/SEGA/0/title

Basically, while I might believe they could drop the ball on one title, I highly doubt they'd do so for three pages' worth of games without a good reason.

[Seil]

Anyone remember this game? (http://download.cnet.com/The-House-of-the-Dead-demo/3000-7440_4-10020414.html)

[Mike McC]

FakeEdit: A search of Abandonia's database brings up this: http://www.abandonia.com/en/oldwarez/0/SEGA/0/title

Basically, while I might believe they could drop the ball on one title, I highly doubt they'd do so for three pages' worth of games without a good reason.Might be their policy to have stuff up until a company calls them on it, and then they take it down.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if that was their mode of operation.

[bluestarultor]

Might be their policy to have stuff up until a company calls them on it, and then they take it down.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if that was their mode of operation.

Or if you'd listened to anything I've said or done three seconds of research, you'd know that isn't their policy. ;)

[Mike McC]

Or if you'd listened to anything I've said or done three seconds of research, you'd know that isn't their policy. ;)

There's a difference between saying you have a policy and actually following it.

A little smokescreen to obfuscate things just enough for a little wiggle room when needed.

[bluestarultor]

There's a difference between saying you have a policy and actually following it.

A little smokescreen to obfuscate things just enough for a little wiggle room when needed.

Oh thee of little faith. :J


Not that it's going to convince you, but having followed them for several years and eventually become a member, I can say they check out, or else I wouldn't have joined and volunteered to become site staff. They have the best policies, and best adherence to those policies, that I've come across, and they're incredibly dedicated and proactive.

[synkr0nized]

Please, let's not turn this into yet another thread where you champion Abandonia, Blues, and others fight you about it.

It's potentially rather shaky ground, but it's not ours to stand on. This thread is fine for now linking to their pages and leaving it in their hands to correctly handle purchase or download links. Moving on.

[bluestarultor]

Back on topic, some of my favored RPGs:

Anvil of Dawn. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/304/Anvil+of+Dawn.html) An interesting dungeon-crawler wherein it doesn't really matter which hero you pick because you can rearrange their stats and none of them gets any real perks outside of their individual stories, which actually make the game worth replaying. No voice in this, but having gotten a language pack, it's... really nothing special. Actually kind of annoying. You're better off without it. Neato features include choosing your own starting attack spell (hint, the water one is the cheapest to cast (even cheaper than the zero-damage wind spell) and has a chance of freezing the opponent), the ability to learn every spell in the game regardless, and the fact that the spells of the land actually feel like the spells of the land, because you're not the only one tossing them around. Also, a sword is the most you'll probably ever need for weaponry, so just use the crap out of that and level it up.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/195/Elder+Scrolls+-+Arena%2C+The.html) Released as freeware by Bethesda (the link goes to Abandonia Reloaded, which in turn links to the official Bethesda site), this game is quite simply effing HUGE. It's got pretty much all the basics of the rest of the series and is well worth a look.

or...

TES: Daggerfall. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/27432/Elder+Scrolls+-+Daggerfall%2C+The.html) This one was just released as freeware by Bethesda and is apparently quite good and even bigger, although I haven't played with it yet due to issues with needing to upgrade to DOSBox 7.3 (7.4 is out now, actually).

and I wouldn't forgive myself if I forgot...

Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos. (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/466/Lands+of+Lore+-+The+Throne+of+Chaos.html) Basically, this is what introduced me to dungeon crawlers and is the standard to which I hold the genre. This is apparently the CD version, featuring Patrick Stewart as King Richard of Gladstone. The voice acting is superb, the game is great, and it offers four heroes to choose from (Conrad is easy mode, Kieran is hard, but potentially the most powerful).

Edit: On reflection, I think that this is actually the floppy version, but I have the CD version in my own library. Either way, it's still a great game.

[Ecks]

YE GODS, BLOOD OMEN!

That game, is what got me hooked on the Legacy of Kain series. Sadly, I never finished it (I got stuck trying to figure out where to go after finding Vorador and having that lovely conversation with him) before getting frustrated due to said issue and trading off the game. That said, I have played and finished Blood Omen 2 and Defiance. Wish I'd played the Soul Reaver games so I could get a better handle on Raziel (though Defiance gave enough of his backstory that I could understand the character).

Sadly, I have not the patience to grab something to emulate DOS JUST for Blood Omen.
I'd have better luck finding a used copy of the game and appropriating my sister's unused PSX.

[Seil]

You don't have to download a DOS emulator or anything for any of the games. The only ones I've really had trouble with a Return To Zork, and Blood Omen.

The Blood Omen fix is just to press the windows key on your keyboard after it freezes in the beginning. Then you should be good to go.

[bluestarultor]

Either that, or DOSBox is all over the place now. 3D Realms actually packages it with their older games to make sure you can play them when you download a demo or buy the full version.

Even if you don't remember command line from way back when, there's built-in help. It's really a great program and I wish I knew half of what it probably took to make it.


Edit: Speaking of 3D Realms, I highly recommend Hocus Pocus. (http://www.3drealms.com/hocus/) I loved it to death as a kid and when I found it on their site, I bought the crap out of it. Shareware version is free.