Microsoft recreates Hover, the classic Windows 95 game, in WebGL

Windows 95 included a lot of innovations when it came out nearly 20 years ago including true 32-bit support, long file names, and a little game called Hover. In case you never played it, Hover was a capture the flag game with floating bumper cars. You used the arrow keys to slide along in an attempt to capture your opponent’s flags before they could get yours. As a promotion forInternet Explorer 11, Microsoft has recreated Hover as a WebGL game that you can play for free.

The updated version of Hover is supposedly optimized for Internet Explorer 11, but it can be played in any modern browser at the Hover.ie website. The three maze-like levels and physics are identical to the original game, right down to the very loose and momentum-based controls. However, the textures have been overhauled to show off the power of WebGL (and presumably IE11). Users with a touchscreen device on Windows 8 can also use touch controls instead of the arrows to glide around.

There are various power-ups and traps throughout the levels to use against your opponent, but you’ll have to wrestle with the controls to get them. In addition to the visual overhaul, the new version of Hover adds a multiplayer mode. Just make a game, and send the unique link to your friends/enemies.

This version of the classic game was built in only eight weeks by developer Dan Church, who apparently approached Microsoft about the possibility of remaking Hover as a demo for IE11. That’s somewhat fitting seeing as the original was developed to show off the multimedia capabilities of Windows. Promotional vehicle or not, there’s some real nostalgia here.