Duke Nukem II

Duke Nukem II

Platform: PC (DOS)
Developer: Apogee
Release Year: 1993

Basic Plot

It is the year 1998 and the evil Rigelatins are threatening to overthrow the Earth! As part of their dastardly plan they kidnap Duke during an interview (for his new book Why I'm so Great) to use his mind to help them plan their invasion. Instead, Duke escapes, and saves the world once again.

Gameplay

Duke Nukem II is the sequel to the original platform game of the same name and features an enhanced game engine.

For anyone who is not familiar with the Duke Nukem franchise, the game is a parody of itself; it is the quintessential mindless violent 2D platform action game. The character of "Duke" is cheesy and over-confident, and at least initially the whole package of the unashamedly cheesy action game was a hit with fans. The game has a nice blend of humour but is genuinely a fun game to play as well.

Gameplay is fairly similar to other 2D action games:

• Travelling through a series of levels defeating enemies.
• Picking up new weapons:
• A flame thrower was his default, which was able to shoot through walls and boost him into the air!
• The laser gun (my personal favourite) could shoot through anything, slaying multiple enemies in one shot.
• A rocket launcher was the final weapon.
• Also picking up power-ups including rapid fire, health kits for health (or points), and a cloaking device for temporary invincibility.
• Key cards needed to be obtained to progress through levels, which was a very over-used mechanic in platform games at the time.

The ultimate goal is to beat your way through each level and fight the alien boss at the end.

The visuals were smooth and quite beautiful for the era.

The flame thrower could be used not only to attack enemies, but also boost yourself into the air.

Comparisons

Duke Nukem II fits into the "second generation" of platform games, competing alongside classics such as:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Alex Kidd
• Super Mario World
• Commander Keen
• Jill of the Jungle

Comparitively, the Duke Nukem series was the one to contain satirical humour - it was an analysis of the genre as a whole and of computer game culture.

In terms of game mechanics it was quite a plain and uninventive game, even for the time. The opposing example would be Sonic the Hedgehog which re-defined a new style of fast-paced platform game which focused on agility and accuracy.

Positives

Light hearted and fun platform game, especially good quality for a PC game (at the time consoles had the pick of the games, and PC games were lagging behind).

Negatives

Linear story, uninventive game mechanics, not a game which made a big imprint on me as a child against a back-drop of other industry-shaping games which overshadowed it. I also never "got" the humour of the game in a way that some other people apparently did, it wasn't my personal taste.

Memorable Moments

I remember clearly the laser gun; it was the most satisfying weapon in the game. Nothing better than slicing a whole line of enemies with a single shot.