The Top 100 MS DOS Games! How Many Did You Play?

Microsoft MS-DOS powered most IBM-PCs from from the early 80s right to the late 90s. For those of us who grew up as gamers with an IBM-PC in the household - we had a lot of games to play!

Gaming on the PC didn't really start picking up until the mid-to-late 80s; up until then, PC gaming was pretty minor - with most of the few games available being ports from other more popular home computer systems (like the Amiga). Still, by the early-to-mid 90s, MS-DOS was the prominent home computer platform - and became the lead (and exclusive) platform to many titles!

It was not always easy; experienced gamers remember the headaches such as creating boot disks and juggling drivers just to have enough memory to run a game. And yes, we occasionally looked over jealously at our console cousins who just had to pop a game in their console and hit the power button. But we persevered - and many, many gaming memories are permanently implanted in our brains.

In this video, we take a look at the Top 100 MS-DOS games - sorted by critic review score - as collected by gaming website Mobygames.

This list being ordered by a critic-based score will be bound to have some oddities a part of it. For example sports games tend to rate highly on critical scores lists; also there are some notable omissions that I feel should have been there (Dune 2? Master of Magic? Come on....)

This list also heavily skews to releases from the mid-to-late 90s. This sort of makes sense as PC developers were getting better every year (and the 80s titles were probably better known on other more popular home computers); also, there weren't as many gaming review outlets around at the time, probably leading to fewer critic scores and omission on this list.

Still, it's an interesting list regardless - and if you're an MS-DOS gamer, you're bound to find quite a few that you probably remember and loved...

100 - Silent Service II
099 - NBA Live 95
098 - Kings Quest VI: Heir Today Gone Tomorrow
097 - Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon
096 - Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Circle of Blood
095 - Heroes of Might and Magic II - The Succession Wars
094 - Toonstruck
093 - Theme Park
092 - Ecstatica
091 - Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers
090 - Descent II
089 - Lands of Lore - The Throne of Chaos
088 - The Legend of Kyrandia Book 2: The Hand of Fate
087 - Lands of Lore: Guardian of Destiny
086 - PGA Tour Golf
085 - On The Ball World Cup Edition
084 - Wing Commander
083 - F-16 Combat Pilot
082 - Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe
081 - Indycar Racing
080 - Mortal Kombat II
079 - Epic Pinball
078 - NHL 95
077 - NASCAR Racing
076 - Their Finest Hour: Battle of Britain
075 - NHL '97
074 - The Settlers/Serf City: Life is Feudal
073 - Fantasy General
072 - Little Big Adventure/Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure
071 - M1 Tank Platoon
070 - Aces of the Pacific
069 - Links: The Challenge of Golf
068 - Starflight
067 - Descent
066 - Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra
065 - Sid Meier's Pirates
064 - On The Ball
063 - Jazz Jackrabbit
062 - Archimedian Dynasty
061 - Fallout
060 - NHL Hockey
059 - Wing Commander II - Vengeance of the Kilrathi
058 - Transport Tycoon
057 - Panzer General
056 - Sam & Max Hit the Road
055 - Syndicate
054 - Doom II: Hell on Earth
053 - Abe's Oddworld Oddysee
052 - Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero
051 - Jagged Alliance
050 - Lemmings 2: The Tribes
049 - Battle Isle 2
048 - SimEarth: The Living Planet
047 - Command & Conquer
046 - Jane's Combat Simulations: AH-64D Longbow
045 - Microsoft Flight Simulator 4.0
044 - Apache Longbow
043 - Mechwarrior 2 - 31st Centrury Combat
042 - Magic Carpet 2 - The Netherworlds
041 - Falcon 3.0
040 - Wolfenstein 3D
039 - Ultima V - Warriors of Destiny
038 - Star Wars Dark Forces
037 - Little Big Adventure 2: Twinsun's Odyssey
036 - Dungeon Keeper
035 - Beast Within, The - A Gabriel Knight Mystery
034 - Star Wars: X-Wing
033 - Wing Commander IV The Price of Freedom
032 - NBA Live 97
031 - X-Com UFO Defense
030 - Alien Carnage/Halloween Harry
029 - MDK
028 - Quake
027 - The Secret of Monkey Island
026 - Tomb Raider
025 - System Shock
024 - Links LS: Legends in Sports - 1997 Edition
023 - Sid Meier's Civilization
022 - Star Wars: TIE Fighter
021 - EF 2000
020 - Strike Commander
019 - Warcraft II - Tides of Darkness
018 - Out of this World
017 - Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon
016 - Grand Prix II
015 - Doom
014 - Duke Nukem 3D
013 - Wing Commander III- Heart of the Tiger
012 - Magic Carpet
011 - Ultima VI: The False Prophet
010 - FIFA Soccer '96
009 - Star Wars: TIE Fighter - Collector's CD ROM
008 - SimCity 2000
007 - Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
006 - Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
005 - Ultima Underworld II: The Labyrinth of Worlds
004 - Links 386 Pro
003 - Command and Conquer: Red Alert
002 - Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
001 - Day of the Tentacle