14 MS-DOS Games That Shaped Us Into The Weirdos We Are

By:
14 MS-DOS Games That Shaped Us Into The Weirdos We Are

Starting MS-DOS…

If that line means anything to you, you were probably a nerdy kid like we were. Instead of playing outside or even with a proper video game console, you were restarting your computer with an MS-DOS command prompt to play computer games. Few have stayed in our conscious memory (...we were seriously racking our brains to think of the first entry…) but they’ve certainly stayed in our hearts. Or at least hours of playing have been retained in our muscle memory. And in the age of reboots and sequels, we can’t help but wonder where our new Jazz Jackrabbit game could be. 

Luckily plenty of MS-DOS emulators exist to allow us to still play, and games like Prince of Persia continue to impress our matured brains and sensibilities. But mostly, it’s the beauty of nostalgia that makes these games beloved. So without further ado, here are our most beloved games from our childhood that we hope to give you a spike of serotonin just thinking about them.

The Secret Island of Dr. Quandary

SECRET ISLAND OF DR. QUANDARY This puzzle game has haunted us since we first played it. The player gets turned into a creepy doll and has to solve their way into escape. CRACKED

Wolfenstein 3D

WOLFENSTEIN 3D In this game, you had to escape from Castle Wolfenstein by shooting Nazis. It taught us it was okay to punch Nazis. CRACKED

SimCity

SIMCITY R R R y R PD R R R R SimCity would be the first building block of our Sims addiction and helped us realize how stressful city management must be. CRACKED

Pipe Mania

PIPE MANIA Maybe it was Mario or maybe it was Slime Time Live, but in the 90s, we were obsessed with pipes. There were several versions of addictive pipe puzzle games. CRACKED

Need for Speed

NEED FOR SPEED Did we learn how to drive because of this game? Absolutely not. Did we learn how to crash? Yes, with pleasure. CRACKED

Prince of Persia

PRINCE OF PERSIA Was this game extremely problematic? Yes. Was it extremely advanced in the fluidity of the character's motion, even in 1989 and being 8-Bit? Also yes. CRACKED

Monster Bash

MONSTER BASH RIP 1801 1923 Johnny, armed with a slingshot and rocks, took on zombies in a graveyard. It was an appropriate yet fun game for us kids with macabre sensibilities. CRACKED

The Secret of Monkey Island

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND None shall pass! S Walk to The 1990 game was created by LucasFilm games. A young man tries to be a pirate in this adventure game, preparing us for Pirates of the Caribbean. CRACKED

Jazz Jackrabbit

JAZZ JACKRABBIT The tortoise and the hare was never as fun as than when Jazz Jackrabbit had to battle Devan Shell. CRACKED

Hocus Pocus

HOCUS POCUS Before Harry Potter, our favorite wizard-in-training ran around a castle, shooting demons and collecting jewels. CRACKED

Doom

DOOM This first-person shooter helped us learn to be afraid of gun violence. Even though the corpses and blood splashes were pixelated, it was too scary for our young eyes. CRACKED

Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure

COSMO'S COSMIC ADVENTURE Help the little alien boy find his parents. We loved the whimsy and fun characters. CRACKED

Commander Keen

COMMANDER KEEN Eight-year-old genius Billy Blaze defends the galaxy with his pogo stick. It was a great, whimsical side-scroller. CRACKED

Crystal Caves

CRYSTAL CAVES MINE Play as a greedy treasure hunter stealing resources from creatures' home planet. So basically, an introduction to colonialism. CRACKED
Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

MUST READ

Forgot Password?