by peezmachine
Break out your 5.25" floppies with that weird wizard dude on them, because it's time to learn the real meaning of sharing. These were all games that I played in my youth, where a combination of penny-pinching and a miserable wreck of a computer left my gaming options a little on the thin side.
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept "Shareware" was software that was typically broken into several different "episodes," with the first one available either for free or a pittance. The idea was that you played the first episode, liked it, and then mailed the developer a check in exchange for the rest of the episodes. I have yet to play anything other than the first part of any shareware game. Some of these games I've played through dozens of times, my trusty 2-button Gravis joystick at the ready.
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You whippersnappers and your "3D Realms" sicken me. Duke Nukem was absurd, colorful, and tons of fun. However, I think the real gem here is the sound design. Duke Nukem had the best beeps and boops you will ever hear, hands down.
Another gem from the undisputed shareware kings, Apogee Software. I have yet to find a game that features a pogo stick as prominently as Commander Keen.
I remember loving this game's overland map, as it was the first time I felt like I had a choice in what level to play next. I also really liked how enemies had certain levels and shooting an enemy would demote them, so shooting a ninja would demote him to a soldier, and then to a sentry and so on until they finally died. A nice game, but it didn't stand up to the rest of Apogee's lineup.
Colors! Suction cup hands! Child endangerment! Apogee! Cosmo really had it all, you could say. God help you if you ran out of bombs, though...
This is the only game on this list I didn't beat, and there's a good reason for that. Apparently I experienced some sort of bug that made it so I couldn't stop moving. I could walk either direction, but by default I would just keep on truckin' to the right. This made things.... difficult, but I thought at the time that it was just how the game was played. Unlike the first four games on this list, Captain Comic didn't have the episodic structure (you were on the honor system to send the developer money if you liked it).
Another one-off piece of the 'ware. My brother and I would compete for the high score, and I especially loved the Old-West style shootout stage.