Ok, so lately I've been browsing other "classic, pre-registered shareware" sites trying to find a game, not so much because I want to play them, but because the fact I can't remember their names is driving 'round the twist. I think it was a series of games, or at least tried to be a series, because the games had the same format, which I'll explain in a moment. They weren't connected as in a single story, just connected in the way that they were sort of a franchise, kind of like how the only thing tying Goosebumps together was the name "Goosebumps", except when sequels to certain stories were written (that damned dummy...).

Each game had twelve or so "minigames", but unless you registered the game, only four were accessible. One was about Billy the Kid, and one "minigame" was a sort of platformer, involving traversing a gold mine, shooting bandits, and collecting gold. Another minigame was a sort of vertical-scroller, but like the top-down-view levels in Bionic Commando. You had to run through the middle of the town, shooting bandits and avoiding dynamite bundles.

Another game in this series involved a scuba diver/spelunker. The level/minigame selection screen was the same, and while the subject matter didn't allow for a run through the middle of a town, there were a couple of levels diving through caverns, collecting jewels and avoiding bats and snakes, or sharks and eels in the underwater cavern.

I combed through every page on HotU looking for these games, and if I can't find them there, I don't know where I can find them. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Found them. I shotgunned this request for info at a bunch of different places, and someone knew what I was talking about.

They're games from a place called Alive Software.

OH GOD NOT THAT GUY.

I bought a full, legit registered version (brand new in the box) of Billy The Kid Returns at my local flea market for like a buck. It sucked. Horribly. I almost wanted to ask the guy if I was entitled to an update patch... but I'm afraid it'll still be the same. :(

I remember the games being BAD, I just couldn't remember their names or the developers. It was on a big CD collection of shareware games, when those things were popular.

Oh I love those things. I've found some awesome games amongst the crap.

I'm surprised the guy is still around, most of the old school Shareware developers just vanished in the mid 90s.

The woman who developed Math and Word Rescue for Apogee, and Pickle Wars is still selling them on her own site.