The primary reason just about anyone picks up a vintage IBM Compatible today is for retro-gaming. The Tandy 1000 and IBM PC Jr. have their own special niche, in that they have enhanced 16-color graphics, and 3-voice audio. So I have compiled this list to help people further familiarize themselves with the games that make use of the special attributes of these computers.
| Title + Screenshot
| Suggested Systems
| Description
|
Arkanoid
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RL, 1000RLX, 1000RSX
| This is the Taito game that came to fame in the arcades. For those not familiar, it's basically a souped up version of Super Breakout for the Atari 2600 that has enemies, better graphics, and a plot. It works with just about every system in the Tandy 1000 series with 16-colors. It does not properly initialize the sound card if you want to record/play over RCA Jacks so you'll probably want the TDYSPKR utility on my sound page/downloads page. It also tends to look a little funky on composite as color burst does not behave as it should in this game. This game is a blast with the Deluxe Mouse.
|
Arkanoid II: Revenge of Doh'
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RL, 1000RLX, 1000RSX
| The sequel to above. Basically Arkanoid with fancy 16-color backgrounds, more power-ups, and some bonus stages, just to name a few features. I've had some problems with JOY.SYS and JMOUSE on this particular release so I use the keyboard on it more often than not. Same deal as all the other Taito games. RCA Jacks will need another game that configures the Multiplexer right or use TDYSPKR to get the full sound through RCA. Overall runs great even on the really old 1000's with minimal frameskip.
|
Bubble Bobble
| 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another Taito Release, same deal. This one runs a little too slow on a 1000A so I would say better to play this on a 1000SX or better with a V20 or V30 CPU at the very least. Might benefit from a Joystick or Gamepad (I'm designing a Tandy 1000 Gamepad ATM).
|
Cisco Heat
| 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Great sound, amazing graphics, but plays very poorly on a 8088-based IBM or Tandy. Better off playing this on one of the later 286 machines from the SL/TL/RSX series. It's a bit like a Tandy-ized version of Chase HQ (which I think may also be on Tandy).
|
Goldrush
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Basically a graphical adventure game taking place during the Gold Rush around the turn of the century. Being a Sierra AGI engine game, this will play just fine on pretty much all systems including hte original PC Jr and Tandy 1000. Just make sure to set the speed to "Fast" when you play on those systems. It also correctly sets the multiplexer for audio.
|
Hoyle's Book of Games Vol. 1
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Hoyle licenced a huge number of PC based card game complitions to Sierra between 1988-1997. This one has Crazy Eights, Old Maid, Cribbage, and Klondike to name a few - with the ability to play against various Sierra employees and PC game characters like King Graham and Leisure Suit Larry. One of the few SCI releases that plays really well on the original 1000 and 1000A. A little slow to load but once you're in the game it runs great. Also a great release to play with on the Deluxe Mouse or Color Mouse as well, especially Klondike.
|
King's Quest I
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| The O.G. PCJR/Tandy 1000 graphical adventure game, released in 1984, and it put Ken and Roberta William's Sierra On-Line company on the map! You play as Sir Graham on a quest to rescue a dying kingdom. I've been getting into this one a little more recently. Runs great on everything, sets the sound properly, and works as intended.
|
King's Quest II
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| The sequel to the first game, runs just as good on the early 1000's and PC Jr, as it does on the later models. Also sets the sound multiplexer properly so you can run the game without using a utility to set.
|
King's Quest III
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another great one (duh, it's Sierra, this is pure tandy 1000/PC Jr turf). Runs as intended, runs great on all models, and has a pretty nice soundtrack as well.
|
King's Quest IV (AGI)
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| This game is unique in that it came out in not one - but TWO Versions - there's a AGI version which was one of the last gasps of the Adventure Game Interpreter engine Sierra made for the PC Jr/Tandy 1000, and then there's the version below which is SCI (Sierra Creative Interpreter). As such, runs as intended, sounds great, and plays well on all models.
|
King's Quest IV (SCI)
| 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| The SCI version runs better on later model Tandy 1000's with the best performance being on the 286 and higher models (ie TX/HX/SL/TL/RSX). That said, the SCI games also run better on EGA hardware with an Adlib card so the 1000 series is pretty much right in the middle presentation-wise.
|
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (AGI)
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Al Lowe's original game from 1987 runs really good, and at ideal speed even on an original 1000 in "Fast" mode. The music on this original release is a superior experience on the PC Jr/Tandy 1000 because that's about the best audio you're going to get out of it.
|
Leisure Suit Larry 2: Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places)
| 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| A bit on the slow side as this is a later (1988) SCI release, which tends to need more "horsepower". As it supports Adlib might be better to play this on a later 286/386/486 PC with Adlib/SoundBlaster than on a Tandy 1000.
|
Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorials
| 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Again, another SCI release better on later 1000's if you must use a 1000. Otherwise, it's upstaged by the SoundBlaster/Adlib support and would be better run on a faster, more efficient platform.
|
Loom
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| The Lucasfilm games have the most inefficient engine of the lot (SCUMM), but it actually runs quite nicely on this, Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders, and especially the early Maniac Mansion release. Loom runs about the same as Zak McKraken, and it seems that the 320x200p graphics mode is it's only slowdown disadvantage.
|
Manhunter: New York
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another Sierra AGI Release, and rather elaborate for one of those games as well, with rather appealing graphics and sound. Runs great on all models.
|
Manhunter: San Francisco
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another Sierra AGI Release, and rather elaborate for one of those games as well, with rather appealing graphics and sound. Runs great on all models.
|
Maniac Mansion
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| If you want to play a Lucasfilm Games SCUMM title on a Tandy 1000, THIS is the one to get. Maniac Mansion runs superbly, and you will get the superior sound experience on a PC Jr or Tandy 1000. It also uses the 160x200 pixel model graphics so it's pretty swift even on a 4.77MHz 1000A. And Tandy 3-voice is the best it can pull off sound wise. I must warn you thought that a lot of releases found online will get corrupt graphics when run in Tandy or EGA mode, so beware. You probably want the first or the second "Enhanced" edition of this, not the version that came with Day of the Tentacle as that version has broken EGA Support.
|
Marble Madness
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another classic Arcade port to the Tandy 1000/MS-DOS. This particular port has pretty good color and a really good rendition of the soundtrack, but it lacks a little bit in control, particularly from the deluxe mouse. Full Tandy 1000 16-color graphics and 3-channel sound on this one.
|
Outrun
| 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Outrun will run on the older 1000's and has some pretty good music. But it is very choppy and drops a lot of frames on the older 1000's like the 1000, 1000A, and 1000SX, so a 286 based 1000 would be better. You also can get later releases with Adlib I believe so Outrun might be better on a later machine not of the 1000 Series.
|
PakuPaku
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| This open-source Pac-Man clone runs incredibly well on an original Tandy 1000 or PC Jr, complete with full sound. It's one of my favorite "new" games for DOS and for this system. While it also supports Adlib and better sound formats, it sounds really the part on a Tandy 1000!
|
Planet X3
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| If this sounds familiar, it should be, it's Dave Murray aka. the 8-bit Guy's Planet X series game, and it's made to run on darn near anything vintage that has an x86 CPU it seems. I've seen him running this on a 1000 like mine and it seems to run great. I'm planning to buy this in the future at some point.
|
Rampage
| 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Rampage is an Arcade port of the same to MS-DOS, that uses Tandy Graphics, but unfortunatley, not Tandy sound. Kind of a shame since some pretty neat noises could be created using the Tandy 3-voice. It runs alright on earlier 4.77 MHz 8088s but it generally will start to perk up a bit on a 6MHz 1000 SX or later machine.
|
Rastan
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Rastan is another one of the Taito Arcade/NES conversions for the Tandy 1000/PC Jr. and it runs really well and is quite fun despite choppy graphics. However, the soundtrack is a bit annoying with a lot of long, sustained, high-pitch notes, even in Tandy mode (the PC Speaker version is a trainwreck). Also needs TDYSPKR to run through RCA properly.
|
Silpheed
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Another Japanese import. It's spaceship simulator/shooter game from a cockpit perspective, and it runs pretty well on a Tandy 1000A with 640K RAM. Even has some FM-digitized Speech through the internal speaker that sounds like some kind of long lost Radio Shack noisemaker project kit, lol. Really good music, on par with some of the better NES chiptunes. It's also one of the less mentioned games in the Tandy 1000 library.
|
Sim City
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| This is the famous strategy/simulation game by Maxis created by Will Wright that started the whole "Sim" game craze back in the late 80's/early 1990's. It will run on the original 1000, PC Jr, and 1000A, but it has one problem - it expects the DIGITIZED Audio of the later Tandy 1000 models (TL and later), so you'll get a message saying "Tandy Sound BIOS not found" on startup with this. Kind of wishing the soundtrack would work for this. I can't seem to get it working on the regular 3-voice.
|
SkyShark
| 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Top down schmup playing as a fighter pilot. Very similiar vein to 1942 or 1943. It has great graphics and sound, however, the grpahics glitch out on my 1000A for some reason. I'm not sure if it's because of a corrupt download, something oddball going on with my specific 1000, or something else. All I know is I recorded it for YouTube so you'll get to see that maddeningly weird graphical artifact wonkiness for #SepTandy 2023.
|
The Secret of Monkey Island (EGA)
| 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| You are Guybrush Threepwood, wannabe pirate, and you are embarking on a journey to become one, but things twist a bit when you fall for the governor and she get's obsconded with by the GHost Pirate LeChuck. This is the game that got me into PC games and I honestly cannot believe this would run on an 8088 Tandy....but it does...albeit a little slow. The graphics are great, and the Michael Land music score translated to the Tandy 3-voice chip extremeley well. Unfortunatley, you have to use the much older EGA 16-color version of Monkey Island to get these capabilities, as the VGA (1990) release removed all Tandy support.
|
Thexder
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| Thexder is a Japanese side scrolling game kind of in a similar vein to Dynaman/Power Rangers. Basically, you can change from a man/gundam into a ship, and then fly around blasting enemies. The Tandy Port is pretty awesome and has some great music to it as well, and a amazing title screen. So yeah, you get the full experience. Sierra On-Line imported this from Japan to be ported to the PC back around 1987 or so.
|
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| You, "The Stranger" are on a spiritual quest, in times of peace, to become an "Avatar" to Brittania's people - a symbol of the eight virtues embodied as a man. This spiritual journey was one of the most revolutionary CRPGs of all time. On a Tandy 1000, you will get the full 16-color graphics, which are not too terribly impressive compared to others on this page, but it runs at a great speed. The sound however is internal speaker only, so no soundtrack.
|
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny
| 1000, 1000A, 1000HD, 1000SX, 1000EX, 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| You play as the "Avatar" in times of turmoil, when Lord British has been lost in a cave for awhile, and his "friend" Blackthorn has taken over Brittannia in his absense, but has been corrupted by the Shadowlords. The story is basically a story of what happens when you legislate morality. Anyway, this one has the full 16-color graphics but only uses the internal speaker. It looks stunning on the Tandy but the sound leaves a lot to be desired, running pretty close to Ultima 4. It's also a hair slow on the 8088 Tandys but it's still fun and more than playable anyway.
|
Ultima VI: The False Prophet
| 1000TX, 1000HX, 1000SL, 1000SL/2, 1000SL/3, 1000TL, 1000TL/2, 1000TL/3, 1000RSX
| You play once again as the "Avatar" of virtue, now in a very deep tale concerning social injustice vs. 2 conflicting belief systems. The Gargoyales have risen from underground and you're tasked to destroy them and liberate the eight shrines of virtue, but it turns out the gargoyles are not exactly the problem. Anyway, this is the only Ultima game that has Tandy Specific video and sound on it (the other two only have the graphics, which are really just EGA TBH). It runs best on a 286 or later PC so reccommendations start with the 286 model Tandys. Honestly, I feel this one is best left to a 386 or later with VGA and Adlib TBH for the best experience.
|
|
