I remember it being vaguely similar to a Space Invaders style game. I remember playing this typing game in our 'MAC lab' we had in school in the mid 90s. I thought the Macs were a bit old at this point so I'm not sure what year they or the game were from. Possibly early 90s. Vintage Computer Games of the Eighties. I used to play this game on a Mac. You piloted a space ship, shopped for supplies, communicated with weird aliens. Our copy had a bug or physical damage to the floppy and locked up at the same place each time, but I'd play it for hours on end, anyway. Jan 23, 2014  The 10 Greatest Early Mac Games (And How to Play Them) The Mac, which turns 30 on Friday, wasn't known as a gaming platform in its early days, but there were some ground-breaking games that came.

Flight simulators and aircraft combat games serve a solid niche for those of us that like to take to the skies when we're not doing other things with our computers. Here's a roundup of the top ones you can download today, with prices from free to reasonable and the focus from arcade-style action to ultra-realistic flight sim. They're not only great games, they're some of the best Mac games you can find.

X-Plane is without peer on the Mac. Calling X-Plane a game isn't just wrong, but it's insulting: X-Plane is the definitive flight simulator for the platform. Intricately detailed, it's also incredibly scalable - X-Plane runs on mobile, oz77n home Macs and PCs, and also operates as a detailed professional-grade aviation simulator.

More than 30 aircraft are available in the default installation: You can fly everything from a single-engine Cessna 172 — the most popular airplane in the world — to a B-2 bomber. The app models fixed and rotary wing aircraft both, along with tons of atmospheric conditions that affect flight. It even simulates what'd be like to fly the Space Shuttle. More than 1,400 additional aircraft models can be downloaded online. And you can fly almost anywhere: Land at more than 33,000 airports worldwide, touch down on an aircraft carrier and more.

A free demo is available, so don't let the price tag scare you off. Given the incredible level of detail and the huge ecosystem that supports X-Plane, it's well worth the money if you take your flight simulation seriously.

• $59.99 - Download now

FlightGear

An open source flight simulator, FlightGear is a bit more do-it-yourself than some of the other apps in this list, but it's still remarkable and definitely worth checking out. You download the central app, airplane models and scenery separately. Hundreds of aircraft models are available for download.

FlightGear's rough open source edges show, but if you're a developer or a code tinkerer, there's fun to be had here. And for everyone else, plenty of fun airplanes to fly and scenery to explore.

• Free - Download now

WarBirds

Total Sims' WarBirds flight combat game has going since 1995. Take to the skies behind the yoke of dozens of legendary World War II-era aircraft. Single player mode consists of 20 training modules, 12 instant missions, and five different Free Flight modes. What's more, you can play offline for free, for as long as you want.

But the real meat of this game is in online play, which does incur a monthly fee to continue to play. You go on raids with squadrons of other real-world players as you reenact many famous battles of World War II. Total Sims is a bit funky with their Mac support; their FAQs reference Apple's GameSprocket technology, which went out the door when Classic Mac OS gave way to OS X more than a decade ago. But it goes to show just how long WarBirds has been on the platform, too.

• $13.95 (monthly, free offline play) - Download now

Falcon 4.0: Allied Force

Graphic Simulations has been making flight sims for the Macintosh since the early 1990s. Falcon 4.0: Allied Force is the latest iteration of its classic F-16 Falcon flight simulator, taking you to the Balkans and the Korean peninsula for realistic combat missions.

Arm your aircraft with realistic weapons and ordnance, then fly missions deep into hostile territory with a dynamic campaign engine that changes things every time you play.

• $9.99 - Download now

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders

Atypical Games' entry is an absolute must if you want to dogfight World War II style. The game features terrific graphics and easy to understand gameplay. There are single-player missions here but where the game really shines is in multiplayer dogfighting combat, which has been the series' strength. A variety of different online game modes test your skill, like Capture The Flag and Last Man Standing.

Sky Gamblers supports iCloud and Game Center - any progress you make in game can be saved to the cloud. It also supports a joystick or gamepad, which is a must for any flight sim, as far as I'm concerned. $5 gets you plenty of game play, but there are in app purchases that let you unlock new customization features and new airplane models.

• $4.99 - Download now

F/18 Carrier Landing II Pro

It's obviously a port of a game that originated on iOS, but it's lots of fun regardless. Take off and land from aircraft carriers and airstrips in some of the most legendary combat aircraft flying: the F-A/18 Super Hornet, F-14 Super Tomcat, F-16 Fighting Falcon and MiG-29K are all represented, along with the Harrier, F35B Lightning II and more.

RORTOS calls itself maker of the most advanced flight sims for mobile, and they're pretty snazzy on the Mac too. More than thirty missions along with a half-dozen training missions and free flight so you can buzz around on your own with no agenda.

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• $5.99 - Download now

Heads up, virtual pilots — what'd I leave out?

This is my list of favorites right now, but I'm sure I've left some off that you love too. Feel free to let me know in the comments!

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Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved is a sci-fi first-person shooter created by Bungie Studios for Microsoft and released for the Xbox in 2001, then ported to Windows and Macintosh by GearBox in 2003.

Year: 2003Genre: ShooterUpdated: 2019-03-22Tags: aliensaviationfirst-personflightscience fictionshoot em uptankwar

Star Wars: X-Wing

Star Wars: X-Wing is the first flight sim game set in the Star Wars universe created by LucasArts. It was released in 1993 for PC MS-DOS only and it was followed one year later by Star Wars: TIE Fighter.

Year: 1993Genre: ActionUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: flightmoviesreal-timescience fictionspace flightvehicular combat simulator

Star Wars: TIE Fighter

Star Wars: Tie Fighter is a space flight and space combat simulator game released in 1994. It's the sequel to Star Wars X-Wing. It was designed by Totally games, and released by LucasArts.

Year: 1994Genre: ActionUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: flightmoviesscience fictionspace flightvehicular combat simulator

Transport Tycoon Deluxe

Transport Tycoon Deluxe (or TTD) is an improved version of Transport Tycoon, a business simulation game developed by Chris Sawyer and published by MicroProse in 1995 for MS-DOS. A Windows version was released in 1996.

Year: 1995Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: aviationbusiness simulationflighthovercraftisometricmanagementnavalreal-timetraintransportwatercraft

Frontier: Elite II

The 350th game on GamesNostalgia is our favourite game ever: Frontier: Elite II. You can download here the PC version, which had a more advanced graphics engine, featuring texture mapping, compared to the Amiga version.

Year: 1993Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: 3damiga original gamepolygonsscience fictionshoot em upspace flightspace simtexture maptrading

Descent

Descent is a 3D sci-fi first-person shooter notable for the 'six axis' movement, developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay in 1995. The game was originally released to MS-DOS, but was ported to Mac OS and Playstation.

Year: 1995Genre: ShooterUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: 3darcadescience fictionshoot em upspace flighttexture map

Red Baron

Red Baron was created by Damon Slye at Dynamix and published by Sierra Entertainment in 1990 for MS-DOS 5.0. Two years later it was ported to Amiga. Red Baron is a flight simulator game set in World War I, on the western front.

Year: 1990Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2020-02-17Tags: aviationcombat simflightflight simhistorical battlehistorywarww1

Wing Commander

Wing Commander is a space combat simulator designed by Chris Roberts and first released for the PC DOS in 1990. It was later ported to the Amiga, CD32, Sega CD and the SNES. It is...

Year: 1990Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2020-03-04Tags: 3dflightscience fictionspace flighttexture mapvehicular combat simulator

EF 2000

EF2000 is a combat flight simulator developed by Digital Image Design and published by Ocean Software for PC in 1995. The game, the sequel to TFX, puts the player in the cockpit of a Eurofighter Typhoon (also know as EF2000).

Year: 1995Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: aviationcombat simflightflight simvehicular combat simulator

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Star Trek 25th Anniversary

Star Trek 25th Anniversary is an adventure game and space combat sim based on the Star Trek universe, developed and published by Interplay for DOS and Amiga in 1992. Funnily enough...

Year: 1992Genre: AdventureUpdated: 2020-01-31Tags: agapoint and clickpuzzle-solvingscience fictionspace flighttv series

Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity is an arcade-style simulation video game released by 3D Realms in 1995 for PC and Mac. Terminal Velocity was quite different from the flight simulation games of ...

Year: 1995Genre: ActionUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: 3daviationfirst-personflightscience fictionshoot em upspace flighttexture map

Star Wars: Rebel Assault

Star Wars: Rebel Assault is a flight shooter based in the Star Wars universe and was developed and published by LucasArts in 1993 for Mac and DOS. The game renders actual footage and uses music from the movies.

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Year: 1993Genre: ActionUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: arcadeaviationflightlicensedrail shooterscience fictionspace flightvideo backdrop

Xenon 2: Megablast

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Xenon 2: Megablast is a vertical scrolling space shooter designed by Bitmap Brothers, originally produced for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1989, and later converted to the PC, Sega Master System and other platforms.

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Year: 1989Genre: ShooterUpdated: 2019-07-19Tags: arcadescience fictionshoot em upspacespace flightspaceship

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Strike Commander

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Strike Commander is one of the best combat flight simulator ever created. It was designed by Chris Roberts and released by Origin Systems for the PC MS-DOS in 1993, after 4 years of development.

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Year: 1993Genre: SimulationUpdated: 2019-10-22Tags: aviationflightflight sim