If you have an older monitor this is quite common. The screen in older dos games can be so dark, it's sometimes unplayable. Gamma correction utilities in win don't help. As soon as you switch to dos task, it becomes obvious that the win apps have no control of it. I have found this little program that may be of some help, but not allways. It is usefull only with games that use low resolutions and 256 colors, and even then, it doesn't allways work.
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/m...ia/sassi10.zip
If someone had/has a similar problem, and possibly solved it(without buying a new monitor), please reply!