Alley Cat - [MS-DOS]

[@ashliebelle]

My dad is a software programmer, so even in 1988 we had a family computer that I, as a 4 year old, was allowed to play. He programmed it so all I had to do was type in my name, and the list of games would show up. Alley Cat was first on the list, so I (naturally) played it the most. Watching this is unlocking a part of my memory I didn't even know still existed. Thank you!!!

[@nikascorner9047]

Can I get the coding information???

[@Helperbot-2000]

certified cool dad!

[@alexgayer85]

@@nikascorner9047It’s fairly easy to do with batch files, but these days DOSBox has some easy front end software available that run in Windows, like D-Fend Reloaded.

[@PhthaloGypsy]

Same pretty much💚yeah, he was a cool dad as well. Fond Memories

[@rakshitsinha8218]

It was a good dos game

[@capnhawkins]

The dog in Alley Cat is one of the scariest video game villains of all time.

[@murderface3r]

worst than bison and shao Khan

[@0374studio]

Yeah, that beeper rhythm on a background playing easy and nice...untill white (pixel ellipse with two black short lines) dog is appears, and rhythm is changes on a extensive terrible percussion ...scary as shit 🤣

[@albertomura7445]

The yeti from SkiFree is the worst.

[@maestrolodahl8681]

@@murderface3r Xd Xd XD

[@Gor4i4ka]

Of course. That's no doubt

[@gerryohara8497]

Thank you for putting this out there, Subypowa. I lost one of my closest friends, Andy, at the age of just 54, in March. I'd known him for 35 years since he was 19, when we worked together as analyst programmers. At any give opportunity, and for several years, he would play this and the sounds bring back so many memories and a 'feel' of that time. I looked on here, searching on the word 'cat', having forgotten the game's called Alley Cat, and I wasn't at all sure that I'd find it, but this came up, straight away. Thanks again - it's greatly appreciated! 🙂👍

[@Nightbanger89]

This game brings back memories from my childhood

[@jorgeneri]

Me too, how old are you? I'm 37. But I just played this game in 1990.

[@honeypower]

Same here, I'm 38 and one of the earliest games I remember playing on my dad's 386 pc 😁

[@Teacher_Paul_B]

Me too

[@urtaburta690]

This game is flawless. Design, programming, gameplay - A+

[@marijnfly]

That sweeping broom was for a while my biggest problem in life. I was six years old then. Good memories.

[@warren1564]

Me too...lmao

[@bdel80]

The trick with the broom was to make lots of footprints so it kept of sweeping them up so it was distracted

[@abnunga]

Electric eels. Ugh!

[@JamesAhn-f8s]

I was 10 with problems with the broom. Im 45 now and I still have problems with the broom XD

[@Sedwick1024]

Some things this video doesn't demonstrate: - Running fast on the ground can allow you to jump atop the higher trash cans immediately. - On the cheese stage, one can press the "Alt" button to make the cat enter into a cheese hole and emerge out another, discrete hole, allowing for possibly faster catching of mice. - The cat can leave tracks on the room floors up to 4 "layers" deep, with more layers occupying the broom longer. - On the second level (Housecat) or higher, "mating" with the female cat follows with a short clip of dancing kittens, with more kittens on the screen the higher the level, up to a point. (I have gotten to a very high level and never saw the screen completely filled with kittens, but maybe there is such a level?)

[@Rolandooo7]

haha yess awesome! You brought back the rest of the faint memories of this game, used to play this one a lot and def. got as far as you mention those kittens haha LOL!!!

[@BloodwolfTico]

Man, I had forgotten about the cheese hole trick. The running start was def missing from this one, used to do that a lot.

[@Sonikko777]

Nuooo the cheese tip pressing alt is astonishing

[@alexgayer85]

Ok, I knew about the running and jumping, and keeping the broom busy, but I think I learned something about the holes and the kittens. Thank you!

[@karlbarks2219]

Also didn't show the room with the sleeping dogs, or that you can enter the fishbowl to catch the fish inside.

[@Troels_T_Kjoeller]

The intro music is an an adaptation of “Alley Cat” by Bent Fabric. The song was originally released in November, 1961, under the Danish title "Omkring et flygel," which means "Around a Piano." In 1962 it reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording during the 5th Grammy Awards. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.

[@wakaneut]

Damn. One of the first PC video games I've ever played. Glad anybody still remember this.

[@de0ndre]

Just randomly remembered playing this game back in the day. Glad someone posted it.

[@imelda8183]

2020 and I’m feeling nostalgic. Thank you for posting this 🥰

[@ronaldhonsa2057]

I played this game for the first time in 1992 and believed it was a new game. Then i found out it's actually from 1984, the year i was born. Great memories. Good times with the 486 computer at the beginning of the nineties.

[@sarah-vh2ws]

My mom used to bring her laptop home from work and this game would be on it. My brother and I would be so excited to play it. It was a big treat for us because she couldn’t bring her computer home very often. Best memories ever ❤

[@BenM64]

Dunno what's the cutest about Alley Cat: the PC speaker audio, or the charming CGA graphics. Much better than the laggy microtransaction-infested console ports being pumped out now.

[@PresStar2Play]

Even though the sound effects sound weird, for some reason I find them satisfying to listen to.

[@BenM64]

By "PC speaker audio", I meant full square waves, like at the title screen. The rest of the sounds were probably just raw clicks from the speaker. They may sound weird at first, but it's to be expected from such a primitive speaker (8088 MPH notwithstanding). …Y'know, I wonder if the latest NVIDIA GPUs still support these adorable CGA colours as a hardware mode. Given how much the IBM PC influences computers today, I'd be surprised if today's overly-convoluted UEFI-based computers were physically incapable of running Alley Cat (or Rayman!) without an emulator. I'd quite like to make a game that directly calls the 4-colour CGA palette (either as an in-game story joke or just to prove that such a mode exists), but I have no idea how 64-bit OSes would react to it…or NVIDIA's latest GPUs.

[@PresStar2Play]

Yeah of course, I know it was hard to do better with the hardware, I was just saying they're weird, yet weirdly satisfying to listen to. And I see.

[@BenM64]

…Say, y'know IBM actually _published_ Alley Cat - at least on the IBM PC? Notice how the title screen even says "IBM Presents"? Imagine how hilarious it would've been if IBM became a big-name video game publisher in the gaming industry!

[@0374studio]

TRUE. All elements is matter. Solid (pc speaker - mono), introducted jazzy audio in tittle screen, and laconic rhythm of main gameplay, great and sharp CGA, intriguer game mechanics, slightly randomised level design, crazy bonus levels, enemies (artificial objects and creatures)...all is matter This game is brilliant 😁

[@richardholmes2142]

I used to play this on my 286 in the early 90's... Remember writing batch files to launch my programs using short commands from the C:\ prompt in DOS... Life before a GUI OS... Oh the nostalgia!

[@og_s_e_n_s_e_i9347]

25 years later i still love the song great memories thx a lot

[@bigbadboehemith4693]

Wow, I can't believe someone actually still has this.....and made a video for memories. What a great game this was.

[@Alby911]

Come back to me my childhood days.

[@libik]

This gameplay, music, sounds and graphic are absolutely unbelievable according to year 1984! Love this game :).

[@konitsacity]

This game brings me back in the past, 30 years ago, ...memories from my childhood

[@adrianmario4991]

OMG i had this tune stuck in my head for ages and I couldn't place it forever, and today I randomly remembered this game and when that loading screen music started I was like OMG this is it!

[@alexanderplatzberlin3940]

GREAT! My father was one of the first persons ever being interested in PC games. He had me on his lap, and we were playing "Cat" for hours. - Today, I am into "War Gaming" for CIMIC in NATO/EU training courses. Love can catch you one time and last for your life time. "Alley Cat" opened the way for me, as it did for many others:)

[@thebarbaryghostsf]

This was one of the few games I could play with my whole family growing up. My mom and dad loved it, my sisters loved it, and I especially loved it, as I have always loved cats.

[@smolqnbg]

first game i ever played

[@By888Tj]

me too :D

[@dtewffg43]

me too

[@pauldsheppard126]

They don't nearly make games like this anymore.. old school arcade style art and each one a unique and original labour of love. It was not for profit back then, just pure fun. I don't play video games now.

[@lorddracon]

Perhaps “Stray” game will be its spiritual successor?

[@daedalos5132]

I forgot that I even remembered this game until I stumbled upon it here. EXCELLENT FLASHBACK! THANKS SUBYPOWA!

[@haithy]

We used to play this at the end of computer tech class in 2nd and 3rd grade back around 1997-1998 it seemed so difficult, would love to have a go at it again now

[@mko09]

It's better than GTA5 for sure.

[@EySanti20]

no grandpa

[@EySanti20]

no es para tanto jajaj abuelito

[@mko09]

escroto joven

[@0isay]

Fatherless kids don't get humor ahahahaa

[@henkka6456]

Actually this was as much fun as GTAV. GTAs are my favorite games, but this was more fun as a kid, as whenever I die in GTAV I get annoyed, in this it was all just good fun and no in-game purchases either. Check this short vid to comprehend how modern gaming went to hell kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3Knm3qAorJqnqs

[@greg_gamer]

Some of my sweetest gaming memories are here. The very first glame I played. I was seven and taught myself a handful of DOS commands just so I could open this game (and Prince of Persia).

[@Zenardo]

I used to play this game all the time when I was a child. Looking back at it now, I realize how much I relate to the black cat.

[@TheMonsterPool]

Great great memories. Played this game a lot at a friends house, before I had a computer myself. Good old times!

[@Kaothica]

Que buenos recuerdos, mi papá tenía un pc en su oficina en los 90 y yo cuando era pequeña (unos 4 a 6 años) jugaba a esto con mis hermanos mayores, el principe de persia y Jazz Jackrabbit (el conejo verde).

[@NoreenHoltzen]

Incredible game for its time and real gem.

[@0412therichard]

C'est un des premier jeu auquel j'ai joué. Au début, je ne comprenais pas du tout le but du jeu. Super souvenirs, merci pour le post

[@Dukefazon]

Just another childhood game we played in the winter holiday afternoons. I loved this game so much.

[@vitalic_drms]

such powerful nostalgia with this game. brings back an entire world for me

[@marcusbrasilite]

So many "meowmories"! o-o

[@LoddyDah]

😆..⚰️💀🥀

[@lukasm9286]

Back then I used to wonder if there was something wrong with my sound output. Now I realize the music is supposed to consist mostly of cracking noises.

[@adzmirable]

I thought the same too 😂

[@blatherskite3009]

It's reminiscent of the kind of sounds a ZX Spectrum game would emit. I guess if a computer only has a basic onboard beeper for audio then those kinds of chirps, parps and crackles were what qualified as subtle.

[@DicaSilly]

Sono emozionata!!!! Io giocavo fino allo sfinimento a questo gioco!! Mi sembrava impossibile poter trovare un video per tornare indietro di 20 anni!!!!!! Sono davvero emozionata..grazie x questo video !

[@Eddy163]

Damn, I used to play that game at a friends computer. I must have been around 6 to 8 years old and I was totally intrigued by the different games in each window. That friend killed himself in 2009, makes this video very bitter sweet.

[@stephen_unc]

Sometimes and for some people life become unbearable

[@tonysly41]

I feel you, mate. I used to play this game with my brother when we were kids and he committed suicide back in 2004. Life happens, death happens.

[@mindtreat]

The intro music is an instant classic. And those cute little tappy tap sounds int he background as music/beat, its amazing :D

[@Troels_T_Kjoeller]

The music is an adaptation of “Alley Cat” by Bent Fabric (1962)

[@mindtreat]

@@Troels_T_Kjoeller Haha, thats so cool, thank you :D

[@Vlad22051969]

Спасибо. У меня не получалось в эту игру играть. Показалась сложной.

[@SimoExMachina2]

I remember playing this game on my dad's old 286 PC back in the 90's. What made the game even greater was the fact we actually had a black cat (like the protagonist of the game) as a pet. My sister named it "Amadeus Mozart" after the famous composer and pianist. Now granted, our house was not full of giant wedges of cheese, room sized swimming pools etc, but the game did feel like it was right up my alley (pun intended, because why not!)

[@JvanW-d5w]

We had this game on our first computer. 😂

[@billcarson3182]

This game would be perfect for a Kids React or Teens React episode.

[@bobziho]

Your face when the kids in kid's react are now probably 18 or something, and my face when I react to a 6 yo comment.

[@sirfoxgaming]

Wow. The nostalgia is real with this 1.

[@muzboz]

Excellent game. So much stuff going on! I loved it. And yes, one of the first games my family ever had around 1984. Golden times! VIVA! :)

[@Jacinta101]

Ah man thank you so much for posting this! memories!

[@joke_0]

Damn i still remember when i was little my brother playing this game and me watching him

[@DJSamantha35]

Ik hou van deze spel jammer dat het niet meer is

[@nily2048]

this 8 bit sound brings me back so much nostalgia..

[@athropos]

I dont think its even 8bit.

[@thegreatujo]

I've played this as a child on my IMB PC-XT, but in the 90s. thanks for posting this

[@brianlacroix822]

i remember trying to play this game when i was 4. i remember never being able to get past the start screen. now i know why.

[@PAYASADAS22]

This was my first game! I used to play it after computer class was over, back in 2nd grade! Watching his video was like a deaf person hearing for the first time, since my school's computers didn't have speakers, this is the first time I get to hear the sounds!!

[@randomriddle539]

i used to play this game on my dad's desktop way back in early 90's

[@SFaPiL2]

I still remember this game, digger and sopwith on my IBM. There were other games but I can't remember. I must've been 5 years old back then :)

[@faarao44]

When I was a kid they used to have this game in the waiting room of dentist office. Now I kind of associate this game with dentist.

[@LaserGadgets]

When that bird was freed, things went nuts at home, everybody was yelling...

[@kvishnay]

Любимая игра моего советского детства. Играла в 1989 году у отца на работе с i286-го. До сих пор является моей любимой наряду с Golden Axe и Tetris

[@majinhiei7]

Alley cat > mafia 3

[@Rolandooo7]

Think that is the best bleepy computer game tune made out of nothing I ever heard up until today. Sweet memories of this game ! :)) 1. Alley Cat 2. Digger (still wake up sometimes having a tum-tum-tum-tum-tum-tum-tum..tum-tum-tum-tum-tim-tum-tam day) 3. Impossible Mission God.. I miss that era!

[@Kongolox]

wow.. memories! thx for uploading :)

[@DanielAdiNugroho]

This game marked my first interaction with an IBM-PC clone at a computer rental in my hometown on a lazy afternoon 27 years ago. It was on a DOS 3.30 I think.

[@pilotgaruda]

aaah,..the good old times...tuk tik tukuk tik tuk tuk...

[@manzarek88]

Damn!! I used to play this game when I was like 4 years old... we´re getting old people :P Great vid... Love the song!

[@owenescamilla4893]

Buenos recuerdos con este juego. Gracias por compartir este tesoro 🤗😉

[@pauldsheppard126]

Why didn't you run the full theme music!!!

[@dozotcz8477]

My first game ever. I almost cried watching this...❤

[@Asiong09]

Didnt know youre supposed to go inside the open windows!!! I was just jumping around like crazy and dying. Mind blown!!!

[@autumnsprites488]

Im 30 and the moment i thought about this game again, the same song popped up in my head. 😊

[@clod262]

I played this game when I was 7 years old 😂😅❤😢

[@adamjoseph6122]

Oh man does this bring back memories!!

[@ziccuj]

I played this game so much in 1990 when we got our first PC: an Osborne 286 with 640 KB of RAM, a 20 MB of hard disk drive, a 1.44MB floppy disk drive and a 14" EGA display. It was the year I turned 9 years old, good times. Some other games from that era were Commander Keen, CD-Man (a Pacman knockoff), Prince of Persia, Menace, Test Drive, Stunts, Monkey Island I, Space Quest I, Leisure Suit Larry I etc. Oh boy, it's hard to be almost 42.

[@khronux]

Oh My God... I traveled in a second to my childhood when I used to play that game XD

[@cynthiafreitas4751]

I miss this time of my life very much😢

[@josephandrews2353]

I used to play this game at my Aunt’s house in the late 80’s. She worked for Olivetti. I used to think it was so cool cuz she had one of those modems for work just like they had on War Games.

[@CAJAGISAN]

i remember the frustration when playing this game when i was a kid...it was so hard :)

[@LoddyDah]

Wow. It's all coming back. 😆 I forgot about the broom!! That was so stressful!! Lol

[@hypnoconnect]

My ringtone. Why doesn't steam re-release games like this?!

[@theblackbaron4119]

It's "abandonware" it's free anyway.

[@zeliard79]

Where can I get that ringtone?

[@FabryMercury]

Follow

[@clubdonk9651]

thanks for the memories. first thing i did on the computer was play this

[@carobeppe]

First game I played on my first PC (amd am386... 1993!)

[@joanruck5292]

I played this game in 1987 in my first PC, I was 10 years old

[@michaelnguyen823]

Oh boy. I just realized that I still get really freaked out when the spider "bytes" the cat. Like my body tenses up freak out! Crazy that I'm admitting that.

[@wckvn]

Ah... good times... brings back the memories....

[@rafaellbenevides]

Man...thats game remenber me mau infancy

[@startinguptoday]

This evil broom!!

[@h93slafco]

I bet everyone here is 40 yrs old :)

[@kimerapolar]

No. I'm 27 but I played it since was kid 🥹

[@h93slafco]

​@@kimerapolar exception proves the rule ;) do u know any other old dos games?

[@unread24]

We played this game all the time at school!

[@villerautanen5983]

Very legendary game!! Play it many times back in early 90s..

[@PabloGonzalez-cx8kw]

This was the very first videogame I saw in my life I was a few years old I couldn't even play it because I was too small but I remember seeing my brothers playing it, I am so glad I found it now!

[@LeylaTemiz]

omg i remember this gameee... reminds me of the early 90s when i was a couple years old, my dad taught me how to play it (:

[@dhedarkhcustard]

That heart level where he drops down like 6 rows. Fall Guys almost 40 years before it was cool.

[@Sicaine]

Thanks for that video. Brings back my first memories of computer games i have : ) I got an old 486 and found games on floppys. One of them was Ally cat

[@Angyali]

This game drove met nuts as a kid. Now, that I rediscovered it as an adult, it still drives me nuts. How many people ever completed this?!

[@ArttuTheCat]

This game is so meowing legendary, I played it a lot on my old PC back in the 1990's 😹😺👍🕹️. I also played the Remeow version of this game, and it is absolutely the best remake, I have ever played in many years 😺👍🕹️.

[@NessNoldo]

Nostalgic... Long time ♥

[@TornacenseDeFuturo]

I really like this game back then :) The '90s greatest games, Golden Axe, Heroes Of Might and Magic III, Day of the Tentacle, Diablo, RCT, Fire Power, Commander Keen, Zeliard, Lemmings, Bubble Bobble, etc...

[@comradeinternet467]

I'm just getting into pixel art, I'm experimenting with the CGA1 High palette(black, white, magenta and cyan), and did not expect to find footage of a game in those colours while looking for music to make pixel art to. Neat.

[@sewerrat42]

On the mating level, if you pick up a present, you can drop it anytime. The cat disappears if it finds the present. Makes the journey to the top a lot easier. :)

[@LatisARG]

Some many memories