About Death Rally
Death Rally is a vehicular combat racing game. Remedy Entertainment developed it, Apogee Software published it and GT Interactive distributed it. Known as HiSpeed while it was being made, it came out for MS-DOS on 7 September 1996, with music by Jonne Valtonen.
You begin with $495 and a weak car called the Vagabond, and enter deadly races in which every car is armed. Money comes from finishing near the front, picking up cash bonuses during a race, completing missions and destroying other cars. The final aim is to beat the Adversary, the undisputed king of Death Rally, in a one-on-one race. Wikipedia lists single-player and multiplayer modes.
The game is freeware today. In October 2009 Remedy updated Death Rally for Windows and re-released it for free, based on work by programmer Jari Komppa. It’s proprietary freeware rather than open source, and that free Windows release dropped network multiplayer. Wikipedia also credits Cornfox & Brothers and Mountain Sheep with a remake, and lists iOS, Android and Fire OS among the game’s platforms.
How it runs in your browser
DOS.Zone doesn’t use the 2009 Windows release. Its listing runs the original 1996 MS-DOS game, and pressing Play opens it on dos.zone in a new tab. There, js-dos, an open-source take on DOSBox that DOS.Zone builds for the web, recreates a PC from the DOS years and starts the game. The files come from the site, so there’s no installer, no copy to provide and no account, and you won’t find ads on DOS.Zone.
The listing is tagged action and racing and holds a rating of 4.8 from 4 player reviews. Its description is generic: beyond saying the game is free, needs no registration and offers virtual controls on mobile, it tells you nothing about the game itself or about saving. Check how your progress is kept before you put a long evening into chasing the Adversary.
Controls and devices
Death Rally was made for a PC keyboard. DOS.Zone doesn’t publish its key layout, so look in the game’s options before your first race, and click into the emulator window so it takes your input.
DOS.Zone shows virtual on-screen controls on phones, but a racer designed for keys is easier to steer on a desktop or laptop, and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed.
Who it’s for
It suits players who like races where the cars carry weapons and a small starting budget has to grow, and anyone who wants an early Remedy game without tracking down files, since it’s freeware and there’s nothing to buy. Rock n’ Roll Racing from 1993 also mixes racing with combat, though on DOS.Zone it’s the Super NES version running through an emulator. For another vehicular combat game, Stainless Games’ Carmageddon from 1997 runs on DOS.Zone in its MS-DOS version.
Is Death Rally Free, Safe and Official?
Is Death Rally free?
Yes. In October 2009 Remedy updated Death Rally for Windows and re-released it as freeware. DOS.Zone runs the game in a browser tab with nothing to pay and no account to create.
Is this the 2009 Windows version or the original Death Rally?
It’s the original 1996 MS-DOS version, running in an emulated PC. The 2009 freeware release was a separate Windows update, and it dropped network multiplayer.
Can I play Death Rally on my phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls on phones, but Death Rally was built for a keyboard and we haven’t tested it on a touchscreen. A desktop or laptop is the safer choice.
