Commander Keen 4 full review by John the Ax : Classic DOS Games

Commander Keen 4 Full Review

Commander Keen 4 "Secret of the Oracle"
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Game created by Apogee Software 1991
Reviewed by John the Ax July 27 2002

Commander Keen. Many of us have played this game in our youth. The plot was just wacky enough, the gameplay just great enough, to make this many people's favorite platformer.

Graphics: 10/10
All the graphics are clear, crisp, and colorful. Nothing is really choppy, and there may be many enemies on screen at once.

Story: 8/10
The story really isn't in-depth or anything, but it is kind of funny and weird. The funniest part is the Star-Wars like scrolling text if you watch the demos.

Music: 10/10
It's been a couple years since I last played this game, and I still remember some of this music. It is kind of bouncy, and fun to listen to. It is not grainy in any way, and is high-quality.

Sound: 8/10
The sound isn't bad. It just isn't that great. The Stungun sounds weird. The jumps aren't exactly great either. But, some of the enemies sounds are good.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay is what is so great. The jumps are just right, and the easy mode is easy, while the hard mode is Insanely hard. There is plenty of ammo in the game, but less in harder settings. The game never reaches unfair, except maybe in hard.

Replayability: 10/10
With more secret passages than you can shake a stick at, and a secret level, which is insanely hard, long, and rather pointless, except for lots of points and lives, if you don't use them all trying to beat it.

All in all: 9/10
With a great level set-up, and secret passages, this game is a must-try. If you like old platformers, you will love this one. If you like any platformer at all, you will like Commander Keen 4.

John the Ax

Click here to download Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle

Click here for more information on Commander Keen 4 at mobygames.com
Click here for cheat codes from gamefaqs.com

Special thanks to MobyGames.com for the additional screenshots used in this review.

Second Opinion: Original dosgames.com review

The Keen sequel is even better than the original! (Numbered '4' because episodes 2-3 were released only when the original was registered.) Great graphics (and now SB sound effects!) plus improved control and cool new enemies and places to explore! This must've been before the days of the 'lame sequels', eh? (Note: The game's graphics don't work correctly when using certain video cards (my old video card combo, when I had a 3dfx add-on card, is one) ... if this is the case for you, I unfortunately do not know of any fix for this.)

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