Genre: Applications
Developer: the DOSBox crew
Year: constantly updated
Version: latest official
Documentation: Check official website for specific instructions.
Related websites: <dosbox.com>
Related titles: No related games found in database.
Notes: Windows only! Visit the official site to download DOSBox free.

[ Get it for free from DOSBox.com ]
Many a gamer has been frustrated by the state of abandonment of classic PC games over time, and a terrible symptom of this abandonment is that our modern systems and hardware simply won't run most of the older games. There's still hope though. Yes, even if you're using Windows XP, there's still hope.

DOSBox does the impossible. From the authors: "DOSBox emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, modem, etc., necessary for running many old DOS games that simply cannot be run on modern PCs and operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Linux and FreeBSD." I confess I didn't believe it until I saw with my own eyes. But it actually works.

Version 0.65 came with a lot of new features, including one that promises to turn a few abandonware sites upside down: it is able to record the window activity directly to an AVI file. Why having screenshots when you can record a video with perfect sound and image quality?

Version 0.70 brought great improvements in the way of compatibility with games never before supported. It also added one of my favorite features, you can now let the program detect and apply the best possible core definition and cycles speed for your current experience on the fly. Manual setting is still available, so you can't lose here. I almost think of quit playtesting the old games in pure real-mode DOS. Almost!

The main drawback here is that the program is highly demanding in terms of processing, so be sure you're running a fast machine. I mean it, if your processor runs at less than 1GHz, consider running pure DOS somehow. If on the other hand you got a very fast processor with enough RAM memory, DOSBox is nearly limitless. Only a few old games won't run, and the project is being continually developed and updated to put these few in the list of playable.

Many games on Abandoneer refer to DOSBox on the "notes" line, which means you don't necessarily need to run the game under pure DOS, you can try it through DOSBox instead (if you like). If you still had doubt about it, try and see it with your own eyes.

NOTE: You can check the latest development status and download DOSBox for free at their official site.