Over 2,000 MS-DOS games now available in your browser

The gaming industry is often criticized for being poor curators of their heritage. Well, not anymore. At least hopefully not anymore. Various efforts have popped up to not only preserve these age old titles but also make them available to a generation of gamers who would otherwise have no other way to experience these games. Last November, it was old school arcade games that went up on the Internet Archive. Now it's the turn of hundreds and hundreds of MS-DOS games, around 2,300 in all.

To new gamers, these might seem too old school, simplistic, and maybe even boring, but for those who have been around for a while, this is a most welcome blast from the past. You have the original Prince of Persia, for example, in all its hinted pixelated gore. Or the now famous again Oregon Trail. Solid Snake might be an icon nowadays, but he had to start somewhere, like in the original Metal Gear from Konami. There are even classic RPG's from the D&D Forgotten Realms and Ultima franchises.

There is, of course, no arguing that visually speaking, these games don't hold water against today's games. But that is probably where some of the treasures lie. Many of these games were able to deliver satisfying experiences even without the flair of our modern-day graphics. Visual presentation may change and may also affect your gaming experience, but the principles of game design don't change so much.

The best part about these MS-DOS games is that they are available absolutely for free and can be played anywhere. All you need is a modern browser and you're good to go. Combine that with the Internet Arcade collection, and you've pretty much got a solid piece of gaming history right inside your browser.

SOURCE: Internet Archive