View Full Version : Remember Commander Keen?
ShinobiMan
07-19-2006, 12:59 AM
ID Software's first popular title (if not first title?).
http://www.flashback-aw.net/images/c/commander_keen_2.gif
I have many fond memories playing the second episode, The Earth Explodes, at my grandparents house back in the early 90's. Never could get far cause I was terrible on the keyboard.
Anyone care to share their thoughts or provide some info on this forgotten gem?
Trumpman
07-19-2006, 01:16 AM
Commander Keen was great. It was made by the same company as the original Duke Nukem games, as I recall. I only played episode 1 because it was shareware, but it was a great game. However, I was only 5 so I died a lot.
Blanka789
07-19-2006, 02:12 AM
This whole series is great, my favorite is the oddball; Keen Dreams.
Damaramu
07-19-2006, 02:28 AM
Oh yeah. We used to play this game in my photography class in highschool.
I think I had the shareware version of it at home.
THATinkjar
07-19-2006, 04:48 AM
Ah, yes - Commander Keen. It sure has been awhile since I last played that, apart from a PSP port that Team Emergency Exit released.
These were great games back in the day. If I remember right, I think Secret of the Oracle (Episode 4) was my favourite. I think I've played them all, but I never bought one.
When I was young, all I needed was shareware.
There is actually a pretty good Commander Keen fan site (http://www.commander-keen.com/) that is still - somehow - going to this day.
Jibbajaba
07-19-2006, 11:06 AM
Ah, yes - Commander Keen. It sure has been awhile since I last played that, apart from a PSP port that Team Emergency Exit released.
These were great games back in the day. If I remember right, I think Secret of the Oracle (Episode 4) was my favourite. I think I've played them all, but I never bought one.
When I was young, all I needed was shareware.
There is actually a pretty good Commander Keen fan site (http://www.commander-keen.com/) that is still - somehow - going to this day.
How is the PSP port? I have a 2.7 PSP so I can't play homebrew (yet), but that sounds like something I would like to check out.
Chris
THATinkjar
07-19-2006, 11:36 AM
How is the PSP port? I have a 2.7 PSP so I can't play homebrew (yet), but that sounds like something I would like to check out.
Honestly... it is pretty good. I certainly didn't notice any problems, though I only breezed through a couple of levels at the time.
The copy I downloaded came with the shareware version of Episode 1. I believe that the port also supports Episode 2 and 3. I don't know about Episodes 4, 5 or 6, though - I have a feeling id updated the engine for those. The port should obviously support the full versions of the first three episodes, as well.
It hasn't been updated for awhile, though. There are a couple of bugs, but the game ran flawlessly for me. No performance issues at all. It is from the same group of guys that brought Quake II to the PSP... so you know you're getting a quality release.
Do you need a link?
Jibbajaba
07-19-2006, 03:12 PM
How is the PSP port? I have a 2.7 PSP so I can't play homebrew (yet), but that sounds like something I would like to check out.
Honestly... it is pretty good. I certainly didn't notice any problems, though I only breezed through a couple of levels at the time.
The copy I downloaded came with the shareware version of Episode 1. I believe that the port also supports Episode 2 and 3. I don't know about Episodes 4, 5 or 6, though - I have a feeling id updated the engine for those. The port should obviously support the full versions of the first three episodes, as well.
It hasn't been updated for awhile, though. There are a couple of bugs, but the game ran flawlessly for me. No performance issues at all. It is from the same group of guys that brought Quake II to the PSP... so you know you're getting a quality release.
Do you need a link?
If you have the link handy, then that would be great. Like I said, I can't run homebrew on my PSP yet because I upgraded to 2.7, but chances are that a 2.7 downgrader is just around the corner.
Thanks,
Chris
Vigilante
07-19-2006, 03:54 PM
I still have #4 on my laptop, it helps keep me sane. It's right next to my folder with Tiapei <sp> in it.
THATinkjar
07-19-2006, 04:25 PM
If you have the link handy, then that would be great. Like I said, I can't run homebrew on my PSP yet because I upgraded to 2.7, but chances are that a 2.7 downgrader is just around the corner.
Yeah... I reckon you're right. A downgrader for 2.7 can't be far off, not since they've now nailed 2.5 and 2.6.
You can download this Commander Keen port (version 0.99, I think) here (http://zcom.sytes.net/tee/keen/keen.zip) (direct link). This includes the shareware version of Episode 1.
It actually turns out that Episode 2 and 3 don't currently work. And as I mentioned earlier, they haven't updated this for a little while. So chances are they might never sort this out.
cyberfluxor
07-20-2006, 07:34 PM
Commander Keen was great. It was made by the same company as the original Duke Nukem games, as I recall. I only played episode 1 because it was shareware, but it was a great game. However, I was only 5 so I died a lot.
3D Realms makes Duke Nukem, Commander Keen is made by ID Software, those that made Heretic, Doom, Quake, Wolf3D, and Hexen to name a few popular series.
Commander Keen's 35th anniversary is this year!
JSoup
05-08-2025, 12:14 AM
Celebrate by buying it on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/9180/Commander_Keen/
calthaer
12-03-2025, 09:39 AM
Used to love this series. Played it on the PCs at school - used the "boss key" to put up a fake C: prompt if teachers came around. Started with Keen 4 and only then went back and played Keen 1-3. They seemed a little primitive at that time - even compared to the contemporaneous NES / SNES games when it was published it seemed primitive. Keen 4 started to really come up to par with what was happening on consoles, albeit a few years late - with some solid game and level design. Of course it was Wolfenstein 3D that really upped the ante and began to make the PC a serious contender as a gaming platform.