Commander Keen

I decided to check this game out because I was curious about Id Software's roots following my obsession with their Doom games. Now don't get me wrong, Commander Keen is really cool and that early 90s aesthetic could not be replicated today. The controls are simple, the graphics quaint, and I definitely see the appeal as a fan of platformers. Sadly, this pack doesn't actually include all Commander Keen games despite the name, but even that isn't the reason I'm not recommending. I hate to have to say it, but the game is just too hard, and I simply don't have the energy to go on. The levels have messy layouts designed to confuse you or get you lost, and you can't save progress within the middle of it, meaning death is a brutal consequence in some of the bigger stages. There's strangely no music either, creating this miserable atmosphere of isolation that doesn't quite suit a young boy's adventures on a foreign world. The game is a very obvious basic port as well, and its blurry graphics don't really help in making it very attractive. I have a lot of respect for Commander Keen however, and I know that back in the day this would have been pretty cool. Today though? It's just anot…

Honestly, I would never assume that pack of thirty years old executables will still work, especially under Proton, but... Dosbox does it job, so you can actually play all of these. No point talking about actual games. It is Commander Keen, duh... Ancient platformer largely overshadowed by fact, that same studio released Wolf 3D and subsequently DOOM and Quake....

Love this game, such a classic

the series is legendary; for me its pure childhood unfortunately only includes episodes 1-5 (no 6th and no keen dreams; get them on a safe abandonware site and use "commander genius" or dosbox to play) this steam version runs great (included dosbox; ctrl+F11 or F12 to in- or decrease emulated cycles (performance); also no problems with minimizing & restoring game)

good old game i remember playing as a kid

Good