Commander Keen

Commander Keen is the main character in a series of computer games developed by id Software in the early 1990s, which were successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of the NES Super Mario Bros. games in DOS. The cartoon-style platformers are notable for their pioneering use of EGA graphics and shareware distribution, and because they were the first games by id Software, who went on to develop blockbusters like Doom and Quake. The games were also exciting to the PC gaming community of the time because of John Carmack's revolutionary smooth-scrolling graphics engine. Although developed by id, most of the Commander Keen games were published by Apogee Software, an already established PC shareware game publisher.

The Keen games

Seven official Commander Keen games were released for the PC under MS-DOS. Many are considered "episodes" that were available separately. Under the shareware model, usually the first episode was available at no charge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons

:1. "Marooned on Mars" (first released as shareware on December 14 1990)

Related Topics:
December 14 - 1990

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::While Commander Keen is exploring Mars, the Vorticons steal four vital components of his ship and hide them in Martian cities, each guarded by a Vorticon soldier. In this episode, Keen acquires his trademark pogo stick and meets a variety of Martian aliens and robots. One such alien, a green critter with an eye on a stalk (called a Yorp) sneaks into his spaceship and comes along home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:2. "The Earth Explodes"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::Keen returns to Earth only to find the Vorticon mothership hovering above, with its ray cannons locked on to eight of Earth's greatest wonders. Unlike the first game which had a happy and friendly atmosphere, almost everything in this game is hostile towards keen, from the floating machine gun robots to the electrified floors. The engine has a couple of extra features such as light switches and moving platforms, making this game the hardest of the trilogy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:3. "Keen Must Die!"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::Keen travels to the Vorticon homeworld in search of the mysterious Grand Intellect that has directed the Vorticons toward Earth. The game features the cities, parks and suburbs of the Vorticons, and their women, children, pets and mechanical toys make up the enemies. In the final level, Keen has to disable the 'mangling machine', a large apparatus with many crushing parts controlled by the Grand Intellect.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Interlude

:3.5. "Keen Dreams" a.k.a. The "Lost Episode" (published by Softdisk, not Apogee)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::After refusing to eat his vegetables, Keen is sent to bed by his parents. He falls asleep, only to awaken in a strange vegetable kingdom led by the evil Boobus Tuber, who has imprisoned other sleeping children there. This game uses an early version of the 'slanted 3-d' graphics engine used in the following three games. In the dream world, Keen does not have his trademark raygun and pogo stick, but has to defend himself with 'flower power' seeds that temporarily turn enemies into flowers. All enemies are food-based, such as the Tomatooth, Broccolash, and Frenchy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy!

:4. "Secret of the Oracle" (first released as shareware on December 15 1991)

Related Topics:
December 15 - 1991

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::Keen's newly finished homemade faster-than-light radio picks up a plot by the Shikadi to destroy the galaxy. He rushes to the planet Gnosticus IV to consult the Keepers of the Oracle, but discovers that they have been taken captive by monsters. This game is the first to use the full power of the slanted 3-d'ish perspective. It features huge levels and a wide variety of enemies, such as rocks that only move when your back is turned.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:5. "The Armageddon Machine"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::After getting information from the Oracle, Keen lands on a massive Shikadi space station, the Armageddon Machine (a.k.a the Omegamatic), and seeks out the mysterious Gannalech.

Related Topics:
Armageddon - Omegamatic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter

:6. Aliens Ate My Babysitter (published by FormGen, who resold it to Apogee; now discontinued)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

::When Keen's baby sitter Molly is abducted by the Bloogs, Keen must come to her rescue by fighting his way through the inhabitants of the planet Fribbulus Xax.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Commander Keen (GBC)

• In 2001, Activision published a completely new Commander Keen game for the Game Boy Color, simply titled Commander Keen. The game, although developed with id's permission, did not involve any of the original Keen developers. Most fans of the original games found this game to be a disappointment, as it strayed from the original game play and looks.

Cancelled games

• An additional installment, tentatively titled The Universe is Toast!, was planned for Christmas 1992, but it never got off the ground as id moved on to Wolfenstein 3D and then Doom.
• Monkeystone Games made plans to release Keen Chronicles through a Softek International April 2002. It would've consisted of all Keen games packaged together for Microsoft Windows and Pocket PC, but it never got out of the planning stages, and was never even announced. Industry Media's website features the logo that would have been used.