Dangerous Dave's Risky Rescue, also known as Dangerous Dave 3, is a platform video game developed by Gamer's Edge and published by Softdisk for MS-DOS in 1993. It is the third entry in the Dangerous Dave series and a direct sequel to Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion. This installment was the first not to be programmed by John Romero, as he and other key developers from the original team—John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, and Tom Hall—had departed Softdisk to form id Software.
Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue (DOS)
As a result, the game was developed without their involvement, and its design and execution reflected this change.
The gameplay remains largely similar to that of its predecessor, featuring side-scrolling action, gun-based combat, and key collecting. Dave once again embarks on a mission to rescue his younger brother Delbert, who has been captured by the evil Dr. Nemesis, a recurring villain in Softdisk's Catacomb series. The game consists of 11 levels, and while the core mechanics are preserved, several changes—both beneficial and detrimental—were introduced. A significant improvement is the addition of a save feature at the beginning of each level, reducing player frustration by removing the need to replay the entire game after losing all lives. However, the new mechanic of fall damage, including death from high drops and temporary stun effects from medium falls, added unpredictability and was widely criticized.
Another major change involves the weapon system. While previous games featured unlimited ammo, Risky Rescue restricts the player to a six-shot magazine, requiring more careful aim. On the positive side, reloading is quicker and ammo refills are frequent, which generally prevents the player from running out of bullets. Visuals in this installment are serviceable, but the level design has been considered uninspired, with forest levels in particular criticized for repetitiveness and unclear platforms. Moreover, sound design was downgraded, with many actions lacking any audio .
Reception of the game was mixed to negative. While some appreciated the familiar gameplay and welcomed the save feature, others found the experience inferior to the previous installment. Critics pointed out frustrating mechanics, graphical glitches (such as Dave falling through platforms), and lack of polish. The absence of the original creators was felt in both the level design and overall cohesion of the game. For many players, nostalgia failed to compensate for these shortcomings.
In retrospect, Dangerous Dave's Risky Rescue is often seen as a transitional title in the series. Though it maintains the basic appeal of earlier entries, its technical and design flaws prevent it from standing out. It was followed by Dave Goes Nutz!, which aimed to refine the formula but also met with lukewarm reception. Today, Risky Rescue remains a curiosity for fans of the series and early 90s PC platformers, but it is generally not considered a high point in Dave’s adventures.
More details about this game can be found on Wikipedia.org.
This version of Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue was designed for personal computers with operating system MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), which was operating system developed by Microsoft in 1981. It was the most widely-used operating system in the first half of the 1990s. MS-DOS was supplied with most of the IBM computers that purchased a license from Microsoft. After 1995, it was pushed out by a graphically more advanced system - Windows and its development was ceased in 2000. At the time of its greatest fame, several thousand games designed specifically for computers with this system were created. Today, its development is no longer continue and for emulation the free DOSBox emulator is most often used. More information about MS-DOS operating system can be found here.
Available online emulators:
5 different online emulators are available for Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic features of each emulator available for this game Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue are summarized in the following table:
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This version of Dangerous Dave’s Risky Rescue was designed for personal computers with operating system MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), which was operating system developed by Microsoft in 1981. It was the most widely-used operating system in the first half of the 1990s. MS-DOS was supplied with most of the IBM computers that purchased a license from Microsoft. After 1995, it was pushed out by a graphically more advanced system - Windows and its development was ceased in 2000. At the time of its greatest fame, several thousand games designed specifically for computers with this system were created. Today, its development is no longer continue and for emulation the free DOSBox emulator is most often used. More information about MS-DOS operating system can be found 
