This week marked the fifteenth anniversary of Windows 95. This was major milestone, abandoning the impenetrable MS-DOS and the cumbersome Windows 3.1 for a new, slick experience. I still remember the day my dad brought up our first Windows 95 computer: a sexy gray Packard Bell.
This was our first computer with a CD drive. So in order to show off this new technology, the system came with several games. Most were edutainment games of varying levels of quality (the dinosaur one was the best). But there was one that was pure fun with a healthy does of violence. Yes, I speak of:
MegaRace is a vehicle combat game setup with the premise that you are participating in a television game show. The player must fight through a series of violent gangs in a variety of unreal environments. Tracks range from futuristic cities to underwater Atlantis.
Looking at it now, the game looks pretty poor. But 15 years ago? It was mind blowing. The pre-rendered 3D environments were unlike anything I had seen up to this point. The game play was simple, but that was feature for us. It allow you to look around and appreciate this creation. But the race was only half the fun.
The game show is hosted by Lance Boyle (played by Christian Erickson) in wonderfully cheezy full-motion video. Like 3D, FMV was relatively new and exciting stuff. Erickson plays Boyle with an over-the-top kind of silly that is wonderfully enduring. His dialog is enough to keep you playing, even if the rest of it falls apart for you.
With the power of the emulator DOSBox, I was able to actually play MegaRace again. In all honesty, it is not a great game. Age has turned its best feature, its graphics, into its greatest handicap. But Boyle is still entertaining, and the gameplay is fun enough when combined with some nostalgia. So happy birthday Windows 95, and thanks for bringing me MegaRace.
Personally, I miss Amazon Trail and the King’s Quest games. I know I could probably find them on an abandonware site. But I doubt I would appreciate them like I did when I was little.
My favorite quote from the Kings Quest games is right at the beginning of Kings Quest 5 when you walk on the screen you see a very vicious and angry looking snake, Cedric (the annoying owl that follows you around) says “Watch out! That’s a poooooisonous snake!” At which point I tried to examine the snake for more information and accidental walked over to it and found out how poisonous it really was. Good times…
The King’s Quest hold up quite well; that’s part of the beauty of adventure games. My only complaint is that they are full of dead ends, making it easy to progress to a point where your only option is to restart.
The first six King’s Quest are available DRM free from Good Old Games in two packs (each $9.99). If you’re accepting of DRM, Steam has the first seven in a pack for $19.99. There are also fan remakes of King’s Quest 1 and 2 from AGD and KQ3 from Infamous Adventures. Lots of options to relive those memories.
Sadly, no digital distribution love for Amazon Trail.
If you search for abandonware in Google you can find all those games, usually for free….although the legality of those downloads is dubious at best.
King’s Quest is not abandonware. This is shown by my examples. It is a game that is actively being sold by its proper copyright holders. If you want it, you can get it, and at reasonable prices. Downloading it from an abandonware site is both illegal and immoral in my point of view.
From a legal standpoint, all abandonware downloads are copywrite infringement. They are illegal. The morality of downloading is another issue entirely. If something is not actually for sale, it is easier to justify download it. But officially, it is still stealing.