[tehrafe]

Hell yes BioMenace :O Just a heads up, BioMenace is now freeware and can be downloaded off 3DRealms' site. Never really liked Dreams as much as the others. It was really annoying that enemies wouldn't stay down, but only for a few seconds :/ And I'm not sure, but aren't the items needed to defeat the last boss missable?

Didn't know it was released as freeware, awesome, replay time

[Rafaelcsa]

I don't think we should have another Keen game. I love all of the games we have now, but seeing how most retro games get transitioned into the HD age, most of the just don't have the same feeling. I mean look at Rocket Knight, or Golden Axe, or Splatterhouse, or Syndicate, or...

Bah, why not look at some good examples of revived franchises? Donkey Kong Country Returns, A Boy and His Blob, Mega Man 9 and 10, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Castlevania Rebirth, Contra Rebirth and Contra 4, etc.

It all depends on the quality of the product. A new Keen could be good if Id has the enthusiasm for the project. But I doubt that they do. :(

[arbok26]

loved the commander keen trilogy - i think the entire commander keen 4 was available on shareware....

i loved the old days where they would give you literally a third of the game on shareware - i don't know how they made money those days...

obviously back then we were comparing it to mario so it wasn't as good, but i always had a great time playing it... that and all the rest of the apogee shareware... there was enough gaming there to last a fair while. i wish gaming was like what it was then - its just a bit shallow these days.

[disappeared]

They'd fuck it up and add some epic shit to it.

[A Black Falcon]

Of course it's time, and was years ago, but there's just one problem... who'd make it? The series has been dead for so long because id has no interest in making a Keen game, and the only person who has expressed any interest, Tom Hall, doesn't have the money it'd take to try to convince them to part with the license, that's for sure.

And so one of the great PC platformer serise continues to languish without the sequel it so badly deserves. A good, high-quality 3d Keen game (or a 2d title too) could be so amazing... it's definitely quite sad that it's never happened. I would strongly prefer to see it with Tom Hall working on the game, though... I doubt it could be done as well without him.

[Eusis]

It would be a FPS with shoehorned multiplayer.

Turn it into the spiritual successor to Jumping Flash (or a more linear Super Metroid) and I'm game.

[Dilli666]

Would back at least 100€ for a new or remastered Keen :-|

[MrCunningham]

Would back at least 100€ for a new or remastered Keen :-|

I'd be happy with remakes of the "Invasion of the Vorticons" series and the "Goodbye Galaxy!" series as well.

Vorticons is a little vanilla as far as platformers go, but still not bad. It was still pretty groundbreaking for its day for using Carmacks adaptive tile refresh technique, which allowed for smooth 2D scrolling that could be comparable to the 8-bit consoles of the day. It really opened up a lot of new avenues for fast paced console styled gaming on PC in general, and helped push the popularity of Shareware gaming. There were other 2D platformers before this one on PC, I think. But none with scrolling environments like Keen.

Goodbye Galaxy! Was a much better game in general, it had a lot more variety and just played better, IMO.

Put a small team together with some talented artists, and remake them with new higher resolution artwork and maybe update the game mechanics a bit.

[How About No]

No need for remakes, the games are good enough and there's still a continuing story to develop.

Also, is anyone else guilty of saving every step of the way in 4-6? I mean, everything kills you in one hit and it would be a shame to lose all that progress...

[kennah]

Those bring back memories, any love for BioMenace?

I loved that game.

[nincompoop]

No need for remakes, the games are good enough and there's still a continuing story to develop. Also, is anyone else guilty of saving every step of the way in 4-6? I mean, everything kills you in one hit and it would be a shame to lose all that progress...

The problem with that is that the music starts over after you return to the game after saving, so if you do that you'll miss out on getting to hear the badass soundtrack.

[Silex]

God I miss those games so much... They were my childhood defining games.
I'd totally fund a kickstarter for a new game or a remake...
I'd actually appreciate a new 2D platformer in the series rather then a new 3D game. The world needs some good, fun and cheerful platformers.

[Bjoern the Smexy]

Apogee love thread, GO!

I seriously loved so much that came out ot Apogee.
Commander Keen, Bio Menace, Cosmo, Monster Bash, Secret Agent and so much else.

I'm so glad I grew up in the late 80s/early 90s. Best game decade EVER on every system.

[How About No]

The problem with that is that the music starts over after you return to the game after saving, so if you do that you'll miss out on getting to hear the badass soundtrack.

Well I don't think I die quite often enough to miss the soundtrack. The soundtrack is burned into my mind anyways >.>

Also, another Apogee game...Word Rescue. Uh, wouldn't call it a gem, but my stupid little self played them to completion regardless:

[ksimm]

Such fond memories of these games. I used to play Keen Dreams, shooting gallery and alley cat on my dad's CAD machine, good times.
I'm all for a follow up, as long as they don't turn it into an 18+ rated Keen Wet Dreams FPS to keep this generations game players interested.

[YoungHav]

My cousin put me onto Apogee in the early 90s. These pics just bring back memories man.

[How About No]

Just got this dusty old case from my dad.

I had a list of all of the games in the picture, but I clicked out of the wrong window trying to get rid of an ad, negating my progress on this reply. Fuck you to fucking fuck Abload ads.

But highlights include Star Trek 25th Anniversary (8 disks!), Wolfenstien 3D, BioMenace, Major Stryker, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Monster Bash, and Commander Keen (including Keen Dreams and Aliens Ate My Babbysitter).

But...I have no floppy drive :((

[Poimandres]

Keen 4 was my favourite. I played 4, 5 and 6 a lot.

I think it was 5 that had some cool cheats you could mess around with, no clip and invincibility and whatnot. LOVED the secret platforms in 4.

[CorvoSol]

Is there still a way to play these games? All I can find are old DOS versions that my computer does not like.

[Like the hat?]

Is there still a way to play these games? All I can find are old DOS versions that my computer does not like.

1-5 are on steam

[Grayman]

Just got this dusty old case from my dad. I had a list of all of the games in the picture, but I clicked out of the wrong window trying to get rid of an ad, negating my progress on this reply. Fuck you to fucking fuck Abload ads. But highlights include Star Trek 25th Anniversary (8 disks!), Wolfenstien 3D, BioMenace, Major Stryker, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Monster Bash, and Commander Keen (including Keen Dreams and Aliens Ate My Babbysitter). But...I have no floppy drive :((

I think you can pick up usb cord to 3.5 inch floppy drives pretty cheap. You might want to look into any issues with old dusty discs before spinning them up. If they are not in read only mode modern windows may try to dump files on them like it does with dvds.

Is there still a way to play these games? All I can find are old DOS versions that my computer does not like.

In addition to the steam suggestion you could try your own DOSBox setup http://www.dosbox.com/

[How About No]

Is there still a way to play these games? All I can find are old DOS versions that my computer does not like.

Like said, DosBox. The handiest thing to do is to create shortcuts to DosBox, and have each shortcut Target (under Properties) point to the location of the desired .exe.

[Lord British]

I recommend the DosBox GUI "DosShell". I use it to launch all my DOS games without faffing about with command prompts.

[Rocket Scientist]

Bought the Steam versions the other day and oh god the memories. One of the first games I played and still one of the most fun. It would be incredible if they could do more Keen and old school Duke Nukem games. So sad Steam doesn't have the 6th game. Definitely was my favorite.

[Martian]

Bought the Steam versions the other day and oh god the memories. One of the first games I played and still one of the most fun. It would be incredible if they could do more Keen and old school Duke Nukem games. So sad Steam doesn't have the 6th game. Definitely was my favorite.

Wait, they have this game on steam?

And it's only 5 euros! Insta-buy. Is it compatible with W7?

[bede-x]

2d keen yes. 3d keen no.

That's how I feel, even though I'd probably buy a 3D one as well.

[revolverjgw]

Grotesquely unappealing character designs like that need to be buried forever. A Commander Keen-alike would be fine, sure.

[Rocket Scientist]

Wait, they have this game on steam? And it's only 5 euros! Insta-buy. Is it compatible with W7?

Don't have W7 so I can't say, sorry. Game page says XP/Vista. Too bad you didn't catch the sale, it was just over a Euro or something.

That's how I feel, even though I'd probably buy a 3D one as well.

I would love to see Keen's ''super mario 64'' even though I'd prefer more 2D ones.

[Shadow Hog]

It uses DOSBox. It's compatible with Windows 7.

Y'know, a Commander Keen first-person game might work - but with shooting mostly as an afterthought, like it always has been (a stun gun isn't really gonna incapacitate most enemies for long, after all)... I suppose first-person pogo-sticking might feel kind of awkward, though.

[Ifrit]

Those bring back memories, any love for BioMenace?

The mullet makes it awesome

[How About No]

Grotesquely unappealing character designs like that need to be buried forever. A Commander Keen-alike would be fine, sure.

[Taffer]

... I suppose first-person pogo-sticking might feel kind of awkward, though.

It needs to happen. Not necessarily in a Keen game, just more pogo sticks generally.

[Dark Octave]

I was expecting the guy from Halo. Wasn't his name also Commander Keen?

[Rocket Scientist]

I was expecting the guy from Halo. Wasn't his name also Commander Keen?

The main character? Nah.

Man these games are so much harder than I remembered.

[Woorloog]

I was expecting the guy from Halo. Wasn't his name also Commander Keen?

It was Keyes. And Captain, not Commander.

While i liked Keen games, i doubt i'd bother playing a new Keen. At least if it were sidescrolling platformer. 3d platformer and i might bite.