Cabinet-Friendly DOS Games

This is a listing of DOS games that are cabinet-friendly, meaning they play well using a MAME-compatible control panel. Some games are cabinet-friendly as-is, while others require a substantial amount of keymapping in DOSBox. See the tips where applicable.

To make a suggestion for this list, please see the Cabinet-friendly DOSBox games thread at the Wah!Cade forums.

Games Requiring No Keyboard Intervention

The games in this list require no keyboard intervention at any point.

Title	Year	Author/Developer	License	Description / Tips
Bananoid	1989	William Rieder	Freeware (link)	Horizontal-scrolling ball-and-paddle game. Clone of Arkanoid. Mouse/Trackball. Exits automatically on game over. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Battle Chess	1988	Interplay	Commericial	Animated Chess simulation Trackball or mouse controlled. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Beats of Rage	2003	Senile Team	Open Source (link)	1-2 Player side-scrolling fighter. Clone of Streets of Rage/Final Fight. Keys are redefinable in-game. Menu navigation is done using game keys. ESC exits by default
Cyberdogs	1994	Ronny Wester	Freeware (link)	1-2 Player top-down shooter. Keys are redefinable in-game. Menu navigation is done using game keys. Keymapping Enter to 1 is recommended to start game using the player-1 start button.
C-Dogs	1997-1999	Ronny Wester	Freeware (link)	1-2 Player top-down shooter. Keys are redefinable in-game. Menu navigation is done using game keys.
Electro Man	1993	Epic Megagames	Freeware (link)	Action / puzzle platformer. Exiting the game requires a "Y" keystroke to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Executioners	1992	Bloodlust Software	Freeware (link)	1-2 Player side-scrolling fighter. Clone of Streets of Rage/Final Fight. Player 1 controller is keyboard, and player 2 controller is joystick. INS and DEL must be keymapped to CTRL and ALT respectively. Joystick Y-axis must be keymapped to R (up) and F (down). Joystick X-axis must be keymapped to D (left) and G (right). Joystick buttons 1 and 2 must be keymapped to A and S respectively. ESC exits by default.
Galactic Battle	1990	Softdisk Publishing	Shareware (link)	Space Invaders/Galaxian clone. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Jump 'n Bump	1998	Brainchild Design	Freeware (link)	Multiplayer arena fighting. LEFT/RIGHT/UP For player 1. A/D/W For player 2, keymap to D/G/R. Mouse buttons control player 3. ESC exits by default.
MsPac Pc	1996	JROK	Freeware (link)	Ms. Pac Man clone. No config necessary for gameplay. Changing options requires keyboard. ESC exits by default.
One Must Fall: 2097	1994	Epic MegaGames	Freeware (link)	1-2 Player versus fighting. Player 1 controller is keyboard, and player 2 controller is joystick. Keys are redefinable. Joystick Y-axis must be keymapped to R (up) and F (down). Joystick X-axis must be keymapped to D (left) and G (right). Joystick buttons 1 and 2 must be keymapped to A and S respectively. Changing options requires keyboard. Run the game with FILE0001.EXE instead of OMF.EXE to avoid the cabinet-unfriendly menu at the beginning.
Pac PC	1997	JROK	Freeware (link)	Pac Man clone. No config necessary for gameplay. Changing options requires keyboard. ESC exits by default.
PC*Bert	1997	JROK	Freeware (link)	Q*Bert clone. No config necessary for gameplay. Changing options requires keyboard. ESC exits by default.
Prince of Persia	1989	Brøderbund	Commercial	Action / adventure / puzzle Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Round42	1986	Elven Software	Shareware (link)	Lo-res shooter. Space Invaders/Galaxian clone. Keymap F1 to CTRL, F2 to ALT Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Spot	1990	Virgin Mastertronic	Commericial	Multi-player puzzle / Ataxx clone Spacebar jumps, but keymapping to CTRL is recommended. Trackball or mouse controlled. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
TerraFire	1997-2004	Ort Software	Freeware (link)	Multi-directional flying shooter. Plays like Asteroids. Keys are redefinable in-game. Up arrow thrusts, but redefining to ALT is recommended.
Tyrian/Tyrian 2000	1995/1999	Eclipse	Freeware (link)	1-2 Player vertical-scrolling flying shooter. Main menu may be fully navigated with a trackball. Player 1 controller is keyboard, and player 2 controller is joystick. Keys are redefinable in-game. Joystick Y-axis must be keymapped to R (up) and F (down). Joystick X-axis must be keymapped to D (left) and G (right). Joystick buttons 1 and 2 must be keymapped to A and S respectively. The timed option must be set to false in the dosbox conf file.

Games Requiring Some Keyboard Intervention

The games in this list cannot be played without at least one instance of keyboard intervention. In most cases the intervention is limited to game saves, high-score entry, or option configurations.

Title	Year	Author/Developer	License	Description / Tips
Alien Carnage	1993	Apogee	Freeware (link)	Action platformer. Basic movement and action keys are redefinable in-game. Other hotkeys are not redefinable, but could be keymapped. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard. Exiting the game requires a keystroke prompt to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Bio Menace Episodes 1, 2, & 3	1993	Apogee	Freeware (link)	Action platformer. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard. Keys are redefinable in-game. Exiting the game requires a "Y" keystroke to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Classic Jumpman	2001	Ingenieurbüro FRANKE	Freeware (link)	Action / puzzle platformer. Clone of Jumpman. Levels/difficultly selected by typing 1-9 on keyboard. Spacebar jumps, but keymapping to CTRL is recommended. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended. High score entry requires the keyboard. Extra game modes & options require keyboard.
Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons	1990	Apogee / id Software	Shareware (link)	Action platformer. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard. Exiting the game requires a keystroke prompt to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Commander Keen IV: Goodbye, Galaxy!	1991	Apogee / id Software	Shareware (link)	Action platformer. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard. Keys are redefinable in-game. Exiting the game requires a "Y" keystroke to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Commander Keen: Keen Dreams	1991	Softdisk Publishing / id Software	Shareware (link)	Action platformer. 5 key is required at the start to begin the game. This is conveniently mapped to player 1 coin. Keys are redefinable in-game. Main menu may be fully navigated with a trackball. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard.
Dangerous Dave	1990	Softdisk Publishing	Freeware (link)	Action platformer. High score entry requires the keyboard. Exiting the game requires a keystroke prompt to confirm, so keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for easy exit is recommended.
Digger (Remastered)	1983	Windmill Software	Freeware (link)	Clone of Dig Dug/Mr. Do! This is not the original version. This is a remake. Keymapping F10 to ESC for to exit is recommended. Keymapping F1 to CTRL to shoot is recommended. High score entry requires the keyboard.
Galactix	1992	Cygnus Studios	Freeware (link)	Space shooter. Galaxian/Galaga clone. Mouse/Trackball controlled. Keymapping B to L-Shift for megabomb is recommended. High score entry requires the keyboard.
God of Thunder	1993	Adept Software	Freeware (link)	Action/adventure. Zelda clone. Name entry requires the keyboard.
Jazz Jackrabbit	1994	Epic MegaGames	Shareware (link)	Action shooter/platformer. Keys are redefinable in-game. Game saves and high score entry require the keyboard.
Raptor: Call of the Shadows	1994	Apogee / Cygnus Studios	Shareware (link)	Vertical-scrolling flying shooter. Keys are redefinable by running SETUP.EXE. Main menu may be fully navigated with a trackball. Name/codename entry at start of game requires a keyboard.
Scorched Earth: The Mother of All Games	1995	Wendell Hicken	Shareware (link)	Multi-player turn-based tank strategy. Trackball/mouse controlled. Name entry requires keyboard. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
SkyRoads	1993	Bluemoon Software	Freeware (link)	3D puzzle / obstacle course. Keymapping Enter to 1 is recommended to start game using the player-1 start button. Spacebar jumps, but keymapping to CTRL is recommended. Also trackball or mouse controlled. High score entry requires keyboard. Keymapping "Shutdown" to ESC for quick exit is recommended.
Stargunner	1996	Apogee	Freeware (link)	Side-scrolling space shooter (think Gradius). Main menu may be fully navigated with a trackball. Keys are redefinable in-game. High score entry requires keyboard.
Wacky Wheels	1994	Apogee / Beavis Soft	Shareware (link)	Arcade kart racing. Clone of Mario Kart SNES. Basic movement and action keys are redefinable by running SETUP.EXE. Giggle keys are not redefinable, and must be keymapped. Menu navigation is done using game keys. High score entry requires keyboard.

Disqualified Suggestions

The titles listed here were suggestions found to not provide a cabinet-friendly experience. Comments are provided to indicate why not.

• Mega Man - Basic movement and actions may be remapped easily. However, the weapons menu requires a keystroke of the letter of the desired weapon (P-Plasma, V-Volt Shield, ESC to close) for each available weapon. Each of these keys could be mapped to an unused cabinet button, but you will quickly run out of buttons this way, and the experience won't be enjoyable.
• Mega Man 3 - Same reasoning as given for Mega Man, but add two more buttons for two more weapons.
• Monster Bash - The options on the main menu are only selectable by typing the first letter of the desired option.

Not Yet Reviewed

This space is reserved for suggested titles that have not yet been reviewed for cabinet-friendliness.

• Avoid the Noid
• Freddy's Rescue Round up.
• Beetlejuice
• Galacta: The Battle for Saturn

External Links

• Index of MS-DOS games on Wikipedia.