Gaming Target - Game Boy: Commander Keen

Written by Chris Woodrow on July 31, 2001

Review: Commander Keener is a wee near...classic!

Commander Keen has returned in his latest game since his appearance in the early 1990's. Through the ten years of Commander's absence, the developers of this character has an ample amount of time to improve the game's performance, but the real question is, have that taken advantage of it all? Though I can confirm that some areas do show signs of great improvement, overall, it's still unclear, so let us take a look at our main character Billy Blaze, or as he likes to call himself, Commander Keen, as he blasts into action to save the world!

The story for Commander Keen is a little kooky, although this seems to fit the setting and the character quite nicely. The story starts off with our hero, Billy Blaze, who is who wakes one average morning, and sits down to watch cartoons, but is left viewing television static. All of a sudden, a sub-space anomaly appears in the Earth's core and everything goes nuts! Telephones start ringing randomly, the clouds turn blue, and morning cartoons cease to exist! Our hero realizes something is wrong, and is the only one who can do anything about the problem. Equipped with his older brother's football helmet, Billy jumps into the Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket and boosts into outer space. Sure, the story isn't too complex but it suits the game, especially one for Game Boy Color.

Commander Keen has some of the best graphics seen on a handheld system, with its colorful levels and characters, as well as enemy designs and smooth animations. While I'm not the hugest Game Boy player around, and used to large characters in mostly sticking to the consoles, I was impressed with what Commander Keen had to offer in the visuals department. In the begging of the game, as Billy is hopping along on his pogo stick, he will be placed in a forest with vibrant colors, where he must dodge gruesome monsters. This entire atmosphere was a huge motivating aspect to play the game.

The one downside to visuals that I must point out is a small facet within Commander Keen, which could have easily been avoided with a mere adjustment. The bullets that Billy Blaze shoots seem to be very tiny, and nothing but a dot on the screen. Though this was somewhat of a disappointment, I have to say, overall, the graphics were superb.

After ten years since Commander Keen first appeared, you would think that its developer would be able to improve the gameplay, giving gamers a new gaming experience. However, this is not so as the game was ported the game from its original PC version, onto a Game Boy Color cartridge. Yet dismissing the fact that the game offered nothing new, this ten year old title is still very entertaining and fun to play, for about a day. Past that time, it won't last ten minutes as it becomes tiresome to keep playing, and starts to feel like a repetitive pogo stick hopping platformer.

The fact that Commander Keen is provided with a gun is one item that seems utterly useless, as there is no apparent need to use it through the entire game. Some cool power-ups would have worked with this weapon, making it feel more of a needed portion of the gameplay, however this is just not found in the title. Throughout all these gripes about what the game could have, yet didn't feature, there is a strong area for Commander Keen; it's sound.

Aside from it's vivid graphics, Commander Keen makes room for some impressive audio; a definite plus for the title. Though the short midis are a bit childish, they are effective and will get players moving to the beat. Each of the three beginning worlds has its own matching tunes, suited for the environment, with places like the forest level containing a Tarzan/Jungle theme. Though it might not be thought of as the most spectacular feature by all, it surely goes with the mood of the game. Sound effects are another strong point for Commander Keen, from its Сboing' noise of the pogo stick and the Сpop' from the gun, everything heard is just about perfect, making the collection of little sound clips very effective.