Why Now Is the Perfect Moment for a Retro DOS Gaming Adventure - The Ultimate Guide

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• Most Gamers Missed Out on the DOS Era
• DOS Games Are Easy to Run on Anything
• DOS Games Are Sold Everywhere Now
• Retro Gaming Is More Popular Than Ever
• The Games Are Actually Worth Playing

If you missed out on the DOS era of gaming, there has never been a better time to dip your toes into the best of what the platform can offer. Retro gaming is in vogue once more, so why not get in on the fun with a gaming platform that doesn’t get enough love?

Most Gamers Missed Out on the DOS Era

Even while DOS represented the cutting edge of PC gaming, most people playing video games were getting their fix somewhere else. That’s because personal computers were incredibly expensive compared to a NES or Genesis console. No one was buying a DOS PC specifically to play games on it, or at least they wouldn’t admit to that! No, PCs were for doing homework and taxes, and the fact that you could load up some games too was just a nice little bonus.

The end result is that, even if you played video games back then, you probably missed out on the DOS catalog. Sure, heavy hitters like Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM got (lackluster) ports for consoles eventually, but most DOS games never made the leap.

DOS Games Are Easy to Run on Anything

While, technically, DOS software should run on modern Windows computers, the reality isn’t quite that simple. Yet, getting DOS games to run on whatever operating system you have has never been easier. This is thanks to robust DOS emulation software, most notably DOSBox but also PCem . I use DOSBox to play personal favorites like Master of Orion II, Jazz Jackrabbit, Epic Pinball, and Dungeon Keeper on my M1 Apple MacBook Air. It’s the perfect place to play DOS games since it’s a small, compact computer with a great screen and endless battery life. If you have a handheld gaming PC like the ROG Ally , it’s the perfect place to play, especially when you want to save on battery life!

Sydney Louw Butler / How-To Geek

Some games have also received fan-made ports that re-use the assets from the original game (which you must legally own) and update the game’s executables. For example, Devilution X for the original Diablo, Dungeon Keeper FX , Fallout 2-ce , and numerous “source ports” of DOOM.

DOS Games Are Sold Everywhere Now

Sadly, many classic DOS games now only live on as used copies with media that may or may not still work, or on abandonware websites which exist in a legal and moral grey area. The good news is that you can easily buy many of the best and most beloved DOS games today with no issue. Some games have received official ports, such as Diablo 2 Resurrected, and others are straight emulations sold on various platforms. For example, Commander Keen: Keen Dreams is available on the Nintendo Switch, among others.

If you’re on Windows or even Mac, then you can find re-releases of DOS games on Steam and, most notably, GOG (Good Old Games). GOG has a gargantuan collection of DOS games that usually only cost a buck or two, and have already been configured to run perfectly on modern systems. Where modern ports as I mentioned above exist, you can use the files from these modern copies with them as well. Which is how I got Diablo to run on my M1 MacBook.

Retro Gaming Is More Popular Than Ever

Retro gaming has been popular for as long as gaming history went back far enough to have a retro period, and that seems more true today than ever. I think one of the reasons is the proliferation of great retro gaming YouTube channels. backwards compatibility on modern consoles, great dedicated retro gaming hardware , and a bit of a cultural shift. As pointed out in this article from The Guardian , even the youngest current generation seem to be embracing retro gaming, which means this is the best time to advocate for the DOS section of retro gaming history to get some attention too.

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The Games Are Actually Worth Playing

The most important reason now (and any other time) is the best time to dive into DOS games, is that there are so many genuinely amazing titles to play. DOS games have a character all of their own. Although they may not always have the nicest graphics compared to the 8-bit and 16-bit consoles that were their contemporaries, there’s a level of depth and creativity here that’s worth experiencing. Once we hit the 32-bit DOS era, the graphics blow console games from that era away too.

Roleplaying and strategy games in particular have aged the best, and present the most compelling case for spending some money on these venerable titles, but don’t discount games like the Commander Keen series or classics like Alley Cat !

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