Basically every classic game and system in your browser
May 15, 2013 7:42 PM Subscribe
A gigantic list of browser-based emulators and classic game ports covers everything from the Amiga to the ZX-Spectrum. Some things not to miss for either the nostalgic or the lover of classic games: Play Dune 2 (the original RTS) in HTML 5; Command and Conquer; an authorized version of many Sierra adventures (works on iPads too); beautiful versions of the Nintendo Game and Watch games; a nice Apple //e emulator (Bard's Tale! Neuromancer! Karateka!); and, of course, every NES game [a few of these mentioned before]. All in your browser!
I am constantly nostalgic for Sierra games. Until I die 20 times in 45 minutes.
posted by Brocktoon at 7:54 PM on May 15, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 7:54 PM on May 15, 2013 [11 favorites]
What a huge waste of time. Thank you very much for posting this.
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 8:10 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Purposeful Grimace at 8:10 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
HOW DARE YOU. If I don't post for a week, send help
posted by lordaych at 8:15 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by lordaych at 8:15 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
Sierra Games... I only got immersed in the Space Quest series starting at III, which was command line based, and at one point they re-released the first one in the style of the more GUI oriented post-III titles. I distinctly remember dying after smelling the wrong thing and smelling a dead body and being told it smelled like "Eau de Pain." And if you didn't buckle up your seat belt before flying off, death. Instant death with the warning "buckle up for safety!"
posted by lordaych at 8:19 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by lordaych at 8:19 PM on May 15, 2013
Aieeeee. Doomed, doomed I say. And man, that Dune 2 looks so little. Awesome.
posted by emmet at 8:19 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by emmet at 8:19 PM on May 15, 2013
I marveled when I got my BlackBerry Curve half a decade or so ago how its stunning QVGA (aka MCGA, represent!) 320x240 resolution was basically identical to what my first PC could handle. My dad insisted it was VGA and that that amazing 640X480X256color mode seen on newer 386 models was "super VGA." can't remember if it was pure denial or if the goalposts moved, but I'm pretty sure "super" started at 800x600
I want A10 Tank Killer please. It's like real life video! Except the game part
posted by lordaych at 8:27 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
I want A10 Tank Killer please. It's like real life video! Except the game part
posted by lordaych at 8:27 PM on May 15, 2013 [2 favorites]
I just got a USB NES controller yesterday. I've been playing games on my Nexus 7, which has been pretty fun. If you want to use a USB controller in these browser-based emulators, download joy2key (I downloaded it yesterday and no malicious software was detected, but download as your own risk).
posted by jessssse at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by jessssse at 8:34 PM on May 15, 2013
Also: http://www.classicdosgames.com/online.html
posted by jcterminal at 8:58 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by jcterminal at 8:58 PM on May 15, 2013
I can't let this post pass without mentioning Metafilter's own jscott's project to port MESS to Javascript.
posted by JHarris at 10:00 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by JHarris at 10:00 PM on May 15, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is jscott's effort the same as JMESS? It is listed on the site, but not hosted anywhere.
Also, sadly, I have been unable to find any online Intellivision simulator (I want to relive Utopia and Dungeons and Dragons - both of which were in the Smithsonian). On the Apple, I also want to play Below the Root, the pacifist video game, again.
Fortunately, I have not found an online version of In Search of the Most Amazing Thing, one of the few games I had pre-age 10, since I was only allowed educational games on the family Apple ][e. It was an amazingly long and frustrating game, and included a novella with hints and information, telling you How Amazing the Most Amazing Thing really is, but that it shifts forms over time. In in the end, you discovered that the most amazing thing was [spoiler alert for a three decade old game] you. And you think Mass Effect 3 had a disappointing ending. I am getting angry just thinking about it.
posted by blahblahblah at 10:11 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
Also, sadly, I have been unable to find any online Intellivision simulator (I want to relive Utopia and Dungeons and Dragons - both of which were in the Smithsonian). On the Apple, I also want to play Below the Root, the pacifist video game, again.
Fortunately, I have not found an online version of In Search of the Most Amazing Thing, one of the few games I had pre-age 10, since I was only allowed educational games on the family Apple ][e. It was an amazingly long and frustrating game, and included a novella with hints and information, telling you How Amazing the Most Amazing Thing really is, but that it shifts forms over time. In in the end, you discovered that the most amazing thing was [spoiler alert for a three decade old game] you. And you think Mass Effect 3 had a disappointing ending. I am getting angry just thinking about it.
posted by blahblahblah at 10:11 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
Yep, that's the one b3. It's funny, my friend Matt Matthews hates it (Search for the Most Amazing Thing) for that reason too.
posted by JHarris at 10:37 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by JHarris at 10:37 PM on May 15, 2013
Blahblahblah, most of what I remember from that game was long elevator rides up and down mine shafts to get to auction(?) or markets(?). That, and that the game came with a nice little kid-friendly novella.
posted by blueberry at 10:44 PM on May 15, 2013
posted by blueberry at 10:44 PM on May 15, 2013
A timely post. Freeciv for the browser just released.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:26 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Apocryphon at 11:26 PM on May 15, 2013 [4 favorites]
can't remember if it was pure denial or if the goalposts moved, but I'm pretty sure "super" started at 800x600
Yep, SVGA = 800x600
posted by rh at 11:31 PM on May 15, 2013
Yep, SVGA = 800x600
posted by rh at 11:31 PM on May 15, 2013
You can also organize your emulators into one badass system with HyperSpin. For bonus nerdery, it can be incorporated into XBMC.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:01 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:01 AM on May 16, 2013
My dad insisted it was VGA and that that amazing 640X480X256color mode seen on newer 386 models was "super VGA." can't remember if it was pure denial or if the goalposts moved, but I'm pretty sure "super" started at 800x600
Depends how you're counting. VGA had a standard 640x480x16 mode, but who cares about a lousy 16 colors? If you wanted 640x480x256, that was Super VGA territory.
posted by neckro23 at 12:13 AM on May 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
Depends how you're counting. VGA had a standard 640x480x16 mode, but who cares about a lousy 16 colors? If you wanted 640x480x256, that was Super VGA territory.
posted by neckro23 at 12:13 AM on May 16, 2013 [1 favorite]
I've been playing (and replaying) some of my Super Mario Brothers favorites. The New Super Mario for the Nintendo DS is one hell of a fun game. I love emulators.
(I also loaded NEStron onto my Win8 tablet and played SMB as a proof of concept. It was a little shaky, but it worked.)
posted by gjc at 2:41 AM on May 16, 2013
(I also loaded NEStron onto my Win8 tablet and played SMB as a proof of concept. It was a little shaky, but it worked.)
posted by gjc at 2:41 AM on May 16, 2013
OP, You have no idea how happy I am to see someone else recognize Dune 2 as the original RTS, even pre-dating C&C (although both were from the same company)... Warcraft was #3, even though most idiots seem to think it was first.
posted by mystyk at 6:02 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by mystyk at 6:02 AM on May 16, 2013
Now I just need someone to invent an "I'm a kid, it's summer, and I have basically no real-world responsibilities" emulator.
posted by usonian at 6:03 AM on May 16, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by usonian at 6:03 AM on May 16, 2013 [7 favorites]
Transport Tycoon Deluxe Online - HTML5 - From the developer who brought you Dune 2 Online, TTDOnline comes in both single-player and multiplayer flavors. It sizes itself to your browser window, and runs beautifully (except for a few crash bugs). I still love that music. This is a web port of OpenTTD, so it implements a bunch of that project's improvements to the original game.
I guess the week is over?
posted by ersatz at 6:08 AM on May 16, 2013
I guess the week is over?
posted by ersatz at 6:08 AM on May 16, 2013
OHMIGOD, classicdosgames has TELENGARD #officiallyveryold
posted by hanov3r at 6:09 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by hanov3r at 6:09 AM on May 16, 2013
VGA had a standard 640x480x16 mode
I was going to say that was EGA, but it looks like you're right. EGA was only 640×350×4-bit. I always thought of VGA as primarily referring to the switch to 8-bit color, since that was the biggest advantage of getting a VGA monitor. From the Wiki on VGA, it looks like the standard 8-bit mode in the original VGA specs was only 320×200. Huh. I do remember King's Quest V and Space Quest IV had some mind-blowing VGA graphics for the time. And Windows 3.1 had the 256color.bmp wallpaper option.
posted by stopgap at 6:31 AM on May 16, 2013
I was going to say that was EGA, but it looks like you're right. EGA was only 640×350×4-bit. I always thought of VGA as primarily referring to the switch to 8-bit color, since that was the biggest advantage of getting a VGA monitor. From the Wiki on VGA, it looks like the standard 8-bit mode in the original VGA specs was only 320×200. Huh. I do remember King's Quest V and Space Quest IV had some mind-blowing VGA graphics for the time. And Windows 3.1 had the 256color.bmp wallpaper option.
posted by stopgap at 6:31 AM on May 16, 2013
But can this make the toasters fly across my screen when I lock my computer?
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:32 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:32 AM on May 16, 2013
swallow analgesic. Ignore thing my aunt gave me which I don't know what it is.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:44 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by Smedleyman at 10:44 AM on May 16, 2013
Smedleyman - your quote led me to some Googling, which led me to the awesome photoset of props included in the Hitchhiker's Guide adventure game.
posted by blahblahblah at 11:32 AM on May 16, 2013
posted by blahblahblah at 11:32 AM on May 16, 2013
Apple II: Bolo. Hells, yes.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:30 PM on May 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:30 PM on May 16, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have the Don't Panic button from the Infocom Hitchhiker's Guide game on my bag right now.
However, the microscopic space fleet escaped long ago.
I think.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:58 PM on May 16, 2013
However, the microscopic space fleet escaped long ago.
I think.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:58 PM on May 16, 2013
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