New: DGC merch!

Over the years people have asked us if they can get DOS Game Club merchandise. Now you can! We've set up a merch shop at: https://shop.dosgameclub.com

Golf games!

We've done some multi-game episodes, where we take a look at a whole genre of (typically) sports-type games. We've looked at skiing games, we've looked at pinball, we've looked at cricket. But this month is our most ambitious one yet, in which we venture into the world of PC golf. No fewer than 50 games have been discussed on our forums, ranging from humble text-only beginnings in the 1980s to fully featured multimedia presentations that really show what your late 90s machine is capable of. There's a golf game for everyone!

Alongside hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") we are joined by two excellent guests. First of all long-time DGC member Richard ("Pix"), who took the deepest dive of all this month and documented his findings on the forums, where he reviewed all 50 golf games for MS-DOS we came across. We are also joined by Corwin ("Wildweasel"), who is the maintainer of the "golfshrine online", a webpage dedicated to a physical cabinet which he uses to showcase his vast collection of golf videogames for various platforms.

Both Richard's forum thread and Corwin's golfshrine are well worth a visit, see the links below!

[ download mp3 ] (114 mins, 131 MB)

Thanks to our producer Pix for helping to make the podcast happen, and thanks to DGC member Console for editing the audio.

Thanks to all who make this show possible, we couldn't do this without you!

Planetfall

What happens when a lowly Stellar Patrol ensign, stuck with endless busywork aboard the S.P.S. Feinstein, suddenly finds himself the lone survivor on a mysterious, crumbling outpost? Intercom's 1983 Planetfall isn't just another text adventure. It's a mix of sci-fi exploration, survival, and an emotional punch to the gut. Will we uncover the secrets of the abandoned alien world? Can we repair the failing base before it's too late? And what about that quirky little robot who insists on following you everywhere? Friend, nuisance, or something more?

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") on this episode we have three guests to discuss the game. First of all returning DGC member Hannes ("Mr Creosote"), who wrote a review of Planetfall for his website GoodOldDays.net. Also joining is Tony Longworth, a music composer who contributed music for Jason Scott's "Get Lamp" interactive fiction documentary and also made an album inspired by Infocom games called "Memories of Infocom volume 1". Last but not least we are joined by Jimmy Maher ("The Digital Antiquarian") who has written about the history of videogames in general and Infocom in particular for many years for his website Filfre.net.

We received a voice message by Jon ("BogusMeatFactory"), for which we are very thankful! If you, too, want to be part of a future episode you can send one to club@dosgameclub.com

[ download mp3 ] (230 mins, 263 MB)

Thanks to our producer Pix for making us all stick to actual schedules (did you notice we're not really lagging behind anymore?). And thanks to DGC member Console for editing the episode, you're a lifesaver!

Thanks to all who make this show possible, we couldn't do this without you.

Frontier: Elite II

With Earthworm Jim previously and Planetfall up next, you could say we're on a bit of a space-themed streak here. But while those games have lots of other things going on, the Elite series puts the vastness of outer space absolutely front and centre.

When the original Elite came out in 1984 the sheer scale of the game blew everyone away. A whole universe on a floppy disk, who would have thought it possible! It was going to take a lot to amaze the audience again when the sequel was released, a whopping 9 years later. But Frontier: Elite II had kept up with current events. Gone were the wireframe graphics, a new colourful galaxy was there for you to explore. Just request take off permission and fly off, commander!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") on this episode we have two guests to discuss the game. First of all returning DGC member Brian ("SpaceGameJunkie") who as you can tell by the username is all about space games. See the links below to find his YouTube and Twitch channels as well as the two (!) retro gaming podcasts he hosts. Also joining for the very first time is Tane, for who Frontier is one his favourite games. He also made a cool space visualiser inspired by Frontier that's linked below.

We received no voice messages this time (boo!), but if you want to be part of a future episode you can send one to club@dosgameclub.com

[ download mp3 ] (144 mins, 164 MB)

Thanks to our producer Pix, who also recorded the audio clips from his retro hardware which you hear in the episode's intro. And thanks to DGC member Console for editing the episode, you're a lifesaver!

Thanks to all who make this show possible, we couldn't do this without you.

Earthworm Jim

"It's a day like any other. A crow is chasing a worm, a worm named Jim. Today the worm escapes to safety and the crow eats dirt. Jim looks left, then right. It seems he has given the crow the slip. Jim returns to his normal daily life, cruising about avoiding crows and doing other general worm-like things. Jim is suddenly struck by a very large ultra high tech indestructible super space cyber suit." This is all the backstory we get from the manual to explain why a worm is walking around in a space suit. And to be fair, it's all we need!

Earthworm Jim (1994, Shiny Entertainment) is the kind of 2D platformer, with its cartoony graphics and smooth animations, that was becoming quite commonplace on the consoles of the time, but was still pretty rare to see on the PC. As a product of the 90s it's full of bizarre humour, only elevated by its eclectic soundtrack. There's no doubt this game has a great production quality. But is it fun to play? Let's find out!

Joining hosts Martijn ("Tijn") and Florian ("rnlf") we are joined by two guests. First of all DGC member Wouter ("Jefklek") is back, who previously was on the Heretic episode. Newly joining the show is Lukasz ("Red Hexapus") who turns out to be a big fan of the game, so that's always good.

Once again DGC members Watchful was so kind to send in a voice message, for which we are very thankful. If you also want to send in a voice message, you can email them to us at club@dosgameclub.com

[ download mp3 ] (117mins, 134 MB)

Thanks to our producer Pix, who also recorded the audio clips from his retro hardware which you hear in the episode's intro. And thanks to DGC member Console for editing the episode, you're a lifesaver!

Thanks to all who make this show possible, we can't do this without you.