With the shutdown of the Wii U/3DS E-shops, and the brief respite offered to the PS3 Store, the issue surrounding archiving video games remains as prominent as ever. Pirating old ROMs isn't ideal, yet it seems to be the only way to play some classics. Luckily, there are some that are technically legal to download for free. Abandonware are products that are forgotten by their parent company, belong to defunct companies, or were openly available as shareware to begin with.
It’s technical because these games stop being abandonware when their viable companies remember them (e.g. Windjammers, Breaker’s Revenge) or are on the warpath against emulation in general (Nintendo). But some sites like MyAbandonware.com work with this by linking to the official stores once they're remembered. For the rest who remain stuck in legal limbo, these are the best abandonware games out there.
9 Snatcher
Hideo Kojima’s cult classic visual novel Snatcher has had an odd afterlife. Despite it receiving multiple references in the Metal Gear games, the game never saw an official re-release after the PS1 era. It was considered abandonware even before Kojima’s rough departure from Konami. The game did turn up on the Turbografx-16 Mini, albeit without an English translation.
The game's only English release was on the Sega CD. So, it would’ve been ideal for the Sega Genesis Mini 2, except it couldn’t be added because it was already licensed for the aforementioned Turbografx-16 Mini. So, if players want to see how Junker agent Gillian Seed and his robot buddy Metal Gear unravel the mystery behind the identity-stealing cyborg Snatchers, Sega CD emulation does what the Turbografx-16 Mini doesn't.
8 Prince Of Persia
Obviously, this isn’t referring to the classic PS2 trilogy. Those games can still be found for reasonable prices digitally and physically, and are a godsend for fans waiting for the POP: Sands of Time remake. This is Jordan Mechner’s original cinematic platformer, where its smooth, rotoscoped animations wowed developers so much it got ported to nearly every games-playing machine in the 1990s.
As such, there are plenty of versions of the game to play with. MyAbandonware doesn’t feature the Nintendo ports, or Nintendo games in general to avoid getting shut down. However, it does have all the Sega ports, alongside the Mac, Amiga, Atari ST, and the original Apple II game among others. They’re all quite solid releases, with the Mac and DOS versions standing out as the best of the bunch on offer.
7 Sid Meier’s Civilization 1 & 2
Weirdly, some classics can end up as abandonware while the more obscure games get a proper price tag. The first two Civilization games are available freely via their Windows 3.X ports, with the original Civ having Amiga, Mac, Atari ST, and an in-browser option. Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon (original and deluxe), SimGolf and Gettysburg are also free to get.
But the lesser-known Covert Action and Colonization got spots on GOG.com and Steam. Still, considering the free options received much more acclaim, especially Civ II which improved on the original game by leaps and bounds with its addictive gameplay. Its expansion, Conflicts in Civilization, is also available to download too.
6 Lemmings
As Prince of Persia showed, even the most ubiquitous games can end up left outside like the digital equivalent of an old sofa. Created by the same people behind Grand Theft Auto (yes, really), Lemmings was a puzzle game where the player had to guide enough little blue shirt-clad creatures from the start to the exit without dying. The game was so popular it got ported to over 30 systems.
But now the series has all but disappeared from view, as it's currently being sat on after long since leaving DMA Design/Rockstar North’s view. Thankfully, MyAbandonware has the whole series for players to download, including its sequel, Oh No! More Lemmings and Xmas/Holiday Lemmings expansions, 3D adaptations, and platformer spin-off The Adventures of Lomax.
5 Oregon Trail Deluxe
Originally made as a text adventure in 1971, the Oregon Trail video game caught on as both a solid management game and for its memes. Playing it seriously could take the player’s family from Missouri to Oregon safely, but otherwise it involved shooting a whole forest’s worth of animals for a few pounds of meat, then dying of dysentery and putting “peperony and chease” on the tombstone.
MyAbandonware features multiple games in the series up to 2001’s The Oregon Trail: 5th Edition. Yet the most popular entry there is the 1992 Oregon Trail Deluxe for DOS. It’s lush with color, with improved, high-res graphics. The game also has more gameplay options to toggle with, like extra professions for characters, and refined shooting sections. The Apple II classic is also available, as are the clunky sequel, and FMV-filled 3rd and 5th editions, but Deluxe offers the most fun with the fewest frills.
4 Need For Speed 2: SE
But why drive a wagon when players can race cars instead? There are plenty of abandonware racers out there, like Sega Rally Championship, Road Rash, and the first Need for Speed. In fact, most of the Need for Speed games can be found online as abandonware. The first two Hot Pursuit and Underground games, High Stakes, Most Wanted, Carbon, and Porsche Unleashed are all on MyAbandonware and other ROM archive sites.
Granted, this is largely via their less-than-stellar PC ports. However, Need for Speed II: SE’s PC release was actually quite good, bringing over the game's extra cars and track with spruced-up graphics (for 1997). The controls have aged well too, fulfilling the titular requirement for acceleration at 60FPS. Still, if the vanilla edition is still a little aged, there is a patch online that updates the graphics further and adds widescreen support too.
3 The House Of The Dead 1 & 2
For all the leaps and bounds technology has made in the past few decades, they’ve sadly seen some genres fall by the wayside. There have been attempts to keep the light gun game genre going, though modern controls just don’t have the same appeal as firing a gun at the screen. But until people can think of a way to make one that works with modern TVs, these shooting games are likely to be left behind in the arcades.
However, if players can finagle a control scheme that fits them right, they can dabble in the PC ports of Sega’s classic zombie shoot ‘em up. The first House of the Dead has the most toggleable options, while the sequel has more varied gameplay. If players can’t get a good shooting arrangement going, Typing of the Dead replaces House of the Dead 2's guns with keyboards, and blasting bullets with typing quickly and accurately.
2 Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams
As precarious as the PS3 store's fate is, it still offers a straightforward way to play the original Silent Hill. Its sequels are a different story. The PS3/360 HD Collection ended up being a mess, and while the PC ports are considered abandonware, they're quite fiddly to get working. When it came to Silent Hill 2, it was up to the fans to fix the game up for a modern release, and so they did.
Dubbed the Enhanced Edition, their work fixes the game’s graphics, adds widescreen support, and a way to get around the DRM on the vanilla ROMs online. It’s based on the Restless Dreams/Director’s Cut edition, which also features “Born from a Wish”, a sidestory where fans can play as Maria that didn't appear in the HD Collection. As such, it's the best way to play the original Silent Hill 2 until Bloober Team's remake arrives.
1 The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Another reason games fall off the face of the earth is due to their licensing. The HD edition of Capcom’s Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure game got delisted because Bandai-Namco now own the game-making rights to the series. Likewise, everything from X-Men: Children of the Atom to Marvel Vs Capcom 2 are unlikely to get official re-releases in the near future due to how badly Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite flopped.
Still, there is hope for other properties, like The Simpsons: Hit & Run. There are rumors that a potential remake is on the way, but as Simpsons producer Matt Selman said, “it’s a complicated corporate octopus”. Still, the original 2003 PC release can be downloaded for free, and modded in all sorts of ways. The most anticipated mod is El Gato del Tejado’s Remastered mod, which replaces the 3D graphics with more show-accurate cel-shaded ones instead.