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Commander Keen
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Ever heard of that company id Software? The one that made Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake? Oh, you didn’t realize they made 2D platformers that seemed geared more towards kids than gamers? Maybe it’s because their name was spelled ID Software at the time, but whatever the reason you’ve missed out one of PC Gaming’s legendary series.
Back in the late 80’s the guys who would eventually become id Software discovered a neat little trick that would allow platformers to smoothly scroll on PCs. They decided to create complete clone of Super Mario Brothers 3 with the hopes that Nintendo would pay them to port them over to the PC. Of course, that dream had about as much chance of succeeding as pigs do of flying and even though they received a hearty clap on the back from Nintendo, the guys were on their own. Fortunately, Apogee (that mega shareware company from the earlier 90s) saw the potential and after an initial investment of $2000 and three months of hard work by id, the rest of the world had Commander Keen.
Commander Keen was an episodic cartoonish side-scroller heavy on humor. The episodes featured references to relevant pop-culture, slapstick humor (such as mooning the player), and even introduced everyone to the infamous dopefish, which is the second dumbest creature in the universe. The game features an eight year-old boy named Billy Blaze who creates his own spaceship out of common household objects. Using this spaceship he travels around the galaxy fighting Vorticons and saving our planet with the help of rayguns, a pogo stick and flower power...although not always all at the same time.
Strangely enough, one of our strongest memories from this series is the built-in Pong game called Paddle War. It was accessed through Keen’s wrist watch.
Back in the late 80’s the guys who would eventually become id Software discovered a neat little trick that would allow platformers to smoothly scroll on PCs. They decided to create complete clone of Super Mario Brothers 3 with the hopes that Nintendo would pay them to port them over to the PC. Of course, that dream had about as much chance of succeeding as pigs do of flying and even though they received a hearty clap on the back from Nintendo, the guys were on their own. Fortunately, Apogee (that mega shareware company from the earlier 90s) saw the potential and after an initial investment of $2000 and three months of hard work by id, the rest of the world had Commander Keen.
Commander Keen was an episodic cartoonish side-scroller heavy on humor. The episodes featured references to relevant pop-culture, slapstick humor (such as mooning the player), and even introduced everyone to the infamous dopefish, which is the second dumbest creature in the universe. The game features an eight year-old boy named Billy Blaze who creates his own spaceship out of common household objects. Using this spaceship he travels around the galaxy fighting Vorticons and saving our planet with the help of rayguns, a pogo stick and flower power...although not always all at the same time.
Strangely enough, one of our strongest memories from this series is the built-in Pong game called Paddle War. It was accessed through Keen’s wrist watch.
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