The 69 best MS-DOS games

Ranked by the scores that magazines gave these games when they came out. The list draws on 6,075 review scores of 2,164 MS-DOS games; 907 of them have enough reviews to be ranked.

#	Game	Platform	Year	Score
1	Command & Conquer: Red Alert	MS-DOS	1996	98.8
2	Doom	MS-DOS	1993	95.6
3	Ultima VI: The False Prophet	MS-DOS	1990	94.6
4	Magic Carpet	MS-DOS	1994	94.2
5	Eternam	MS-DOS	1992	94
6	Carrier Command	MS-DOS	1989	93.9
7	Theme Park	MS-DOS	1994	93.9
8	The Adventures of Moktar	MS-DOS	1991	93.7
9	Another World	MS-DOS	1992	93.6
10	F-29 Retaliator	MS-DOS	1990	93.6
11	Day of the Tentacle	MS-DOS	1993	93.4
12	Star Wars: Dark Forces	MS-DOS	1995	93.3
13	Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger	MS-DOS	1994	93.3
14	Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss	MS-DOS	1992	93.3
15	Jetfighter II	MS-DOS	1990	93.3
16	Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon	MS-DOS	1991	93.2
17	Quake	MS-DOS	1996	93.2
18	Doom II	MS-DOS	1994	93.1
19	1942: The Pacific Air War	MS-DOS	1994	93
20	Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0	MS-DOS	1988	92.9
21	SimCity 2000	MS-DOS	1994	92.9
22	Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender	MS-DOS	1992	92.7
23	Railroad Tycoon	MS-DOS	1990	92.5
24	Purple Saturn Day	MS-DOS	1989	92.3
25	Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra	MS-DOS	1991	92.2
26	Dungeon Keeper	MS-DOS	1997	92.2
27	UMS	MS-DOS	1987	92.2
28	Sam & Max Hit the Road	MS-DOS	1993	92.1
29	Chuck Yeager's Air Combat	MS-DOS	1991	92
30	Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis	MS-DOS	1992	91.9
31	Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle	MS-DOS	1993	91.8
32	Civilization	MS-DOS	1991	91.5
33	Overlord	MS-DOS	1994	91.5
34	Heart of China	MS-DOS	1991	91.4
35	Stunt Island	MS-DOS	1992	91.4
36	Super Street Fighter II Turbo	MS-DOS	1995	91.3
37	Star Wars: TIE Fighter	MS-DOS	1994	91.1
38	Driller	MS-DOS	1988	91.1
39	Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge	MS-DOS	1991	91
40	Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame	MS-DOS	1993	91
41	Betrayal at Krondor	MS-DOS	1993	91
42	Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood	MS-DOS	1991	91
43	The Four Crystals of Trazere	MS-DOS	1992	91
44	SimEarth: The Living Planet	MS-DOS	1990	90.9
45	Martian Memorandum	MS-DOS	1991	90.8
46	Sensible Soccer: European Champions	MS-DOS	1993	90.8
47	Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire	MS-DOS	1990	90.8
48	Ultima VIII: Pagan	MS-DOS	1994	90.7
49	Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds	MS-DOS	1993	90.7
50	The Secret of Monkey Island	MS-DOS	1990	90.6
51	Full Throttle	MS-DOS	1995	90.5
52	The Chessmaster 3000	MS-DOS	1991	90.5
53	Wing Commander	MS-DOS	1990	90.5
54	Populous	MS-DOS	1989	90.4
55	Duke Nukem 3D	MS-DOS	1996	90.3
56	Gods	MS-DOS	1991	90.3
57	King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow	MS-DOS	1992	90.3
58	Eye of the Beholder	MS-DOS	1991	90.3
59	Indianapolis 500: The Simulation	MS-DOS	1989	90.3
60	Alone in the Dark 2	MS-DOS	1993	90.2
61	Swap	MS-DOS	1990	90.2
62	BioForge	MS-DOS	1995	90.2
63	Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny	MS-DOS	1988	90.1
64	Star Wars: Rebel Assault	MS-DOS	1993	90.1
65	Silent Service II	MS-DOS	1990	90.1
66	Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis	MS-DOS	1992	90
67	Lure of the Temptress	MS-DOS	1992	90
68	Maupiti Island	MS-DOS	1991	90
69	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure	MS-DOS	1989	90

Highly rated, with fewer than 3 reviews

75 MS-DOS games have a score of 90 or more, but from only one or two reviews, and no Metacritic score.

Game	Platform	Year	Score
Planetfall	MS-DOS	1983	100
BurgerTime	MS-DOS	1982	100
Corporation	MS-DOS	1991	100
Deadline	MS-DOS	1982	100
El Capitán Trueno	MS-DOS	1990	100
Infidel	MS-DOS	1983	100
Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.0	MS-DOS	1982	100
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2.0	MS-DOS	1984	100
Questprobe: Featuring Human Torch and the Thing	MS-DOS	1985	100
Spellbreaker	MS-DOS	1985	100
Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative	MS-DOS	1985	100
Stationfall	MS-DOS	1987	100
The Hobbit	MS-DOS	1983	100
Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress	MS-DOS	1982	100
Wheel of Fortune	MS-DOS	1987	100
Lemmings	MS-DOS	1991	98.5
Go Simulator	MS-DOS	1992	95
Under a Killing Moon	MS-DOS	1994	95
Inferno: The Odyssey Continues	MS-DOS	1994	93.5
Worms	MS-DOS	1995	93
Syndicate	MS-DOS	1993	92
Go Player	MS-DOS	1991	92
The Vortex Factor	MS-DOS	1985	92
Wild Streets	MS-DOS	1989	92
EF 2000	MS-DOS	1995	91.5
Rick Dangerous II	MS-DOS	1990	91.5
Strike II	MS-DOS	1991	91.5
The Blues Brothers	MS-DOS	1991	91.5
Flashback	MS-DOS	1993	91
Hi-Octane	MS-DOS	1995	91
Shadow Sorcerer	MS-DOS	1991	91
Gnome Ranger	MS-DOS	1987	91
Harpoon Classic	MS-DOS	1994	91
Joan of Arc: The Siege & The Sword	MS-DOS	1988	91
Romance of the Three Kingdoms	MS-DOS	1989	91
Star Saga: One - Beyond the Boundary	MS-DOS	1988	91
Asterix: Caesar's Challenge	MS-DOS	1995	90.5
Grandmaster Chess	MS-DOS	1992	90.5
Jim Power	MS-DOS	1994	90.5
Raptor: Call of the Shadows	MS-DOS	1994	90.5
The Legend of Kyrandia: The Hand of Fate	MS-DOS	1993	90.5
The Need for Speed	MS-DOS	1995	90.5
Transport Tycoon	MS-DOS	1994	90.5
Alone in the Dark 3	MS-DOS	1994	90
Dyna Blaster	MS-DOS	1992	90
E.S.S. Mega	MS-DOS	1991	90
Flight Unlimited	MS-DOS	1995	90
Jazz Jackrabbit	MS-DOS	1994	90
Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny	MS-DOS	1992	90
Virtual Pool	MS-DOS	1995	90
Aladdin	MS-DOS	1994	90
Balance of Power	MS-DOS	1986	90
Ballyhoo	MS-DOS	1986	90
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure	MS-DOS	1990	90
Borrowed Time	MS-DOS	1985	90
Boulder Dash II: Rockford's Revenge	MS-DOS	1985	90
Bureaucracy	MS-DOS	1987	90
EGA Trek	MS-DOS	1988	90
EGA-Solitaire	MS-DOS	1988	90
Gear Works	MS-DOS	1992	90
Lemmings 2: The Tribes	MS-DOS	1993	90
Les Castors Juniors dans la Foret	MS-DOS	1990	90
Many Faces of Go	MS-DOS	1991	90
Master of Magic	MS-DOS	1994	90
Meurtres en Série	MS-DOS	1987	90
NetHack	MS-DOS	1985	90
New York Warriors	MS-DOS	1990	90
Perry Mason: The Case of the Mandarin Murder	MS-DOS	1985	90
Premier Manager 3	MS-DOS	1994	90
Push Over	MS-DOS	1992	90
Syndicate: American Revolt	MS-DOS	1993	90
The Adventures of Captain Comic	MS-DOS	1988	90
The Cardinal of the Kremlin	MS-DOS	1990	90
The Puzzle Gallery: At the Carnival	MS-DOS	1990	90
Wolfenstein 3D	MS-DOS	1992	90

How the ranking works

The scores are the ones magazines gave when the games came out, all converted to a 0–100 scale. Only one review per magazine counts for a game: the most recent.
A game's score is half the average, half the median of its magazine reviews. A title opens the game's page on uvlist.net; a score opens the report with every review behind it.
A game needs at least 3 magazine reviews to be ranked. With equal scores, the game with more reviews comes first.
Metacritic already sums up many reviews, so it is never mixed with the magazines: it is used only for games with fewer than 3 magazine reviews, as their only score.
Each list shows every game with a score of 90 or more. Games with fewer than 3 reviews and no Metacritic score are shown apart: their score is promising, but rests on one or two opinions.

The lists are rebuilt each time reviews are added. To filter by genre, year, magazine or publisher, explore all the scores in the report.

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