EGA IBM PC Games
EGA stands for Enhanced Graphics Adapter. EGA was released by IBM in 1984. As it pertains to IBM PC games, EGA features 16 on-screen colors drawn from a palette range of 64 colors. Thus, even the best EGA games look stark and stippled in comparison to 16-from-512 Atari ST graphics and 32-from-4096 Amiga graphics. EGA display memory ranges from 64-256 kbytes.
This article is concerned with 16-color EGA 320x200 IBM PC games. cf. IBM PC EGA 640x350 games.
However, the main problem with EGA games is not the color palette range but rather the fact that they generally don't scroll smoothly or feature smooth sprite-shifting. Therefore, in practice, and with some exceptions to be sure, Amiga games and even Commodore 64 games were better. That said, there were still some great EGA games released for IBM PC and compatibles. In addition, in some cases the EGA version of a computer game is the best version. Moreover, a few of the greatest computer games ever made are EGA games (not every computer game needs to scroll or shift sprites on a per-pixel basis).
I append "Best on EGA" to the relevant entries. I also append "IBM PC original" and "IBM PC exclusive" to the relevant entries.
16-color VGA games are not the same as 16-color EGA games. On top of the broader palette range, VGA has much faster drawspeed and more display memory for faster and more complex line-draw and flood-fill algorithms. Conversely, not all EGA games exploit EGA's on-screen colors or range of colors. For example, some may have CGA title screens, but they are still EGA games; title screens are meaningless.
This is a chronological list of IBM PC games that were coded to display in 16-color 320x200 EGA as opposed to 4-color CGA and 256-color VGA 320x200.
Number of EGA games chronologically covered as of December 20, 2024: 70.
1984
The Ancient Art of War IBM PC 1984
Dave & Barry Murry of Evryware Entertainment coded The Ancient Art of War for IBM PC DOS or MS-DOS 2.0 in 1984. The Ancient Art of War is one of the first real-time strategy games. The Ancient Art of War requires an IBM PC or XT with 128K RAM and an EGA video controller with 128 kbytes of vRAM.
The Ancient Art of War supports keyboard and joystick control.
Best on EGA.
The Ancient Art of War Manual: 54 pages.
1985
Silent Service IBM PC 1985
Randall Don Masteller of MicroProse coded Silent Service for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1985. Silent Service displays in 16-color EGA 320x200.
1987
Arkanoid IBM PC MS-DOS 1987
Tetris IBM PC 1987
Spectrum Holobyte released an EGA 320x200 version Tetris for IBM PC in 1987 based on Alexey Pajitnov's 1985 mainframe version of Тетрис.
Best on EGA.
Jet IBM PC 1987
Best on EGA.
Defender of the Crown IBM PC 1987
Gunship IBM PC 1987
Sid Meier's Pirates IBM PC 1987
Randall Don Masteller of MicroProse coded Sid Meier's Pirates for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1987. Pirates displays in 16-color EGA 320x200.
Test Drive IBM PC 1987-89
Best on EGA.
Xenon IBM PC 1988
Lombard RAC Rally IBM PC 1988
Falcon AT IBM PC 1988
Best on EGA.
Street Fighter 1 IBM PC 1988
Pool of Radiance IBM PC 1988
Jordan vs Bird: One on One IBM PC 1988
Imagineering Inc. released Jordan vs Bird: One on One for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1988. One on One was programmed by Garth Hitchens. One on One displays its action-screens in EGA 320x200, but also employs 640x400 "MS-DOS"-style option menus. One on One features 1-on-1, slam dunk comp and 3-point shoot-out modes of play; that is, there is no full-court play, only half-court play.
1989
Battle Chess IBM PC 1989
Interplay Productions released Battle Chess for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1989. Battle Chess features two board perspectives, animated battles, 4 megs of animation, 10 levels of play, modem-play and an opening library of 30,000 moves.
Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs IBM PC 1989
Best on EGA.
John Madden Football IBM PC 1989
Electronic Arts released John Madden Football for IBM PC MS-DOS 2.0 in 1989. Precursor to the Madden NFL series, John Madden Football displays in 4-color CGA and 16-color EGA 320x200 and 640x400.
John Madden Football was distributed on 1x 3.5" 720kB DD diskette or 1x 5.25" 360kB floppy disk and installs onto a blank disk via Madden Football Installation program. In-game, John Madden Football employs code-wheel copy protection. John Madden Football was programmed by Robin Antonik and John Friedman.
DeathTrack IBM PC 1989
IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.
Alien Syndrome IBM PC 1989
Sky Shark IBM PC 1989
TANK: The M1 Abrams Tank Simulation IBM PC 1989
Best on EGA.
Abrams Battle Tank IBM PC 1989
Best on EGA.
Steel Thunder: American Battle Tank Simulation IBM PC 1989
Best on EGA.
Sherman M4 IBM PC 1989
Best on EGA.
Outrun IBM PC 1989
Vette IBM PC 1989
IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.
Suzuki's RM250 Motocross IBM PC 1989
IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.
1990
The Secret of Monkey Island IBM PC 1990 LucasFilm Games
BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge IBM PC 1990
Blood Money IBM PC 1990
Super Contra IBM PC 1990
Beverly Hills Cop IBM PC 1990
Tynesoft Computer Software released Beverly Hills Cop for IBM PC MS-DOS in 1990. This game is funny for all the wrong reasons. That said, I found the car-crashing animation to be quite amusing. Beverly Hills Cop was programmed by Gary James Partis and David Crofts.
Celica GT Rally IBM PC 1990
Railroad Tycoon IBM PC 1990
1991
Llamatron 2112 IBM PC 1991
Forgotten Worlds IBM PC 1991
1993
IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.
1995
IBM PC original. IBM PC exclusive.
For more info on CGA, EGA and VGA please refer to:
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