Games

Commander Keen: Keen Dreams is a platform game. Its events take place after Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die! but before Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle. Eight-year-old genius Billy "Commander Keen" Blaze, the hero of the universe, the saver of planets has a problem: his mom forces him to eat yucky vegetables. This night, he dreams that he found himself in the land of Tuberia, where sentient vegetables live and reign supreme, and where the evil king Boobus Tuber enslaves children brought by his Dream Machine. The objective is to reach and destroy king Boobus Tuber, but before this happens, Keen must find a number of Boobus Bombs which are the only things that can harm the king. The game begins with a top-down map of the land of Tuberia. This is the level select screen, where you can walk around and choose the next level you want to enter. On each level, you have to make your way to the exit, collecting Boobus Bombs on the way if there are any on this level. Once you finish the level, you're back on the overhead map.

Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons: Episode 1: Marooned on Mars (Dec. 14th 1990) Episode 2: The Earth Explodes (1991) Episode 3: Keen Must Die! (1991) Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy!: Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (1991) Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (1991)

Molly, the babysitter of Billy "Commander Keen" Blaze (an eight-year-old genius) has been kidnapped by the Bloogs from the planet Fribbulus Xax, for purely gastronomical purposes. Keen must set out to Fribbulus Xax to save her! The game begins with a top-down map of the Fribbulus Xax. This is the level select screen, where Billy can walk around and the player can choose the next level they want to enter; however, some places on the map require the player to find specific items (such as a grappling hook) to get through. On each level, Billy has to make his way to the exit. Once a level is completed, Billy ends up back on the overhead map.

Eight-year-old genius Billy "Commander Keen" Blaze, having learnt about the alien Shikadi's plans to destroy the galaxy, arrives on board of their ship, the Omegamatic, in order to destroy it and prevent the evil deed. The objective is to reach and destroy the core of the Omegamatic, but before this happens, Billy must find and destroy four machines which protect the main elevator.

Eight-year-old genius Billy "Commander Keen" Blaze receives an interstellar transmission while working on a Photachyon Transceiver (a radio that can receive signals anywhere in the galaxy). While the transmission is choppy, Billy manages to figure out that the galaxy is once again in danger from an alien race known as Shikadi. In order to get more information about this threat, he sets out to consult the Oracle. But it turns out that the eight Council Members necessary for the Oracle's activation have been kidnapped by the Shikadi and imprisoned in the dangerous Shadowlands. Billy heads out to save the Council Members.

Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die! is the third in a series of platform games. The game begins with a top-down map of the Vorticon planet. This is the level select screen, where you can walk around and choose the next level you want to enter. On each level, you have to make your way to the exit. Once you reach the exit, you're back on the overhead map.

In this episode a Vorticon Mothership is poised above Earth, preparing to destroy the planet with their deadly Tantalus Rays! Commander Keen's mission is to stop these evil Vorticons from blowing up the Earth. In order to do this you need to find and destroy each X-14 Tantalus Ray, powered by cells from the big purple Space Amoeba. The game begins with a top-down map of the mothership. This is the level select screen, where you can walk around and choose the next level you want to enter. On each level, you have to find the exit; if this is one of the levels with a Tantalus Ray, you've got to destroy the Ray before exiting. Once you reach the exit, you're back on the map of the mothership.

Maybe it was the story that sucked us in? Here was a kid, much like we were then, who had an IQ in the upper limits and a cool secret identity. Barry Blaze, ordinary schoolkid, by day, Commander Keen, intergalactic superhero, by night. In this, the first story, Billy gets stuck on Mars when the evil Vorticons steal his space ship pieces and has to travel around the whole planet looking for them so he can get back and stop the Vorticons from blowing up earth. Riveting storyline right? Well... ok, so maybe it wasn't brilliant but to give it some credit, not too many games included real stories linked into the action in those days. Here you were actually on a mission linked to the plot and not just wandering around from level to level like a nerd at a hot party. The story of Keen 1, while not mind-blowing is certainly passable and definitely adds a little extra to the whole game.

Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons: Episode 1: Marooned on Mars (Dec. 14th 1990) Episode 2: The Earth Explodes (1991) Episode 3: Keen Must Die! (1991) Commander Keen's very first adventure, and the debut of id's groundbreaking side-scrolling technology. In the game you play the role of Commander Keen: the alter-ego of an eight year-old genius by the name of Billy Blaze. When Billy learns that the Earth is in danger, he dons his brother's football helmet and his homemade interstellar spaceship to become Commander Keen -- Defender of the Earth! Commander Keen in Goodbye Galaxy!: Episode 4: Secret of the Oracle (1991) Episode 5: The Armageddon Machine (1991) You are eight-year-old Billy Blaze, boy genius to your neighborhood. Commander Keen to the rest of the universe. It's time to grab your trusty pogo stick and neural stunner, climb into the cockpit of your homemade Megarocket and blast off for the Shadowlands. To prevent the obliteration of life as we know it, you'll have to battle your way past deadly hazards and devious creatures, or end up as space toast.