mbrown
Probation evasion
Posts: 29
Registered: 01-12 |
Since it's my list, I thought I'd throw in my honest two cents on each item. Feel free to discuss or relate your thoughts to any of them:
Keen 1-3 (Invasion of the Vorticons): Honestly not a huge avid fan of these anymore. It's not the lack of music or sounds (besides PC speaker), or the simplicity, that bothers me, but it is rather one feature that when I look back on it, I feel it was nearly a game-ruining choice. Namely, the fact that one hit of anything kills you AND you cannot save anywhere in the middle of a level. I just become too frustrated playing the beginning of the same level 10+ (in many cases this is no overestimate) times before I finally reach the end. I'm not even sure I ever finished these games. Frankly, I'd rate these games pretty average and I don't know why even so many modern people still enjoy these so much. I included it in the list simply because they are a classic, not due to my personal like. The later Keen games, however, are quite the contrary....
Keen 4-6 (Goodbye Galaxy and Aliens ate my Babysitter!): Now this is Keen done right. This is, IMO, what the series is a classic for, or should have been by far most known for. The improved graphics and inclusion of sounds/music and better controls are a start. But that's not 10% of why these games are so much better IMO. It's the fact that you can save in the middle of levels now, so zap goes all the frustration that bogged down the first trilogy for me! Literally I played these day in and day out when I was young, possibly my most played platformers of all, and certainly one of the best/most classic. Without a moment of hestitation, I say this is absolutely excellent, and is *the* classic of all classic sidescrolling games. If only Keen 1-3 could be changed to allow midlevel saves...I honestly don't know what I might be missing out on.
Keen 7-9 (Universe is Toast unofficial trilogy): I haven't played these fan made episodes yet, except for a few levels of Keen 8. However I've heard many Keen fans say that in many ways they are just as good as the Keen 4-6 games they are modified after, and good enough they could have been mistaken for an official ID trilogy.
Jill of the Jungle: I think I've only played the last episode (Jill Saves the Prince) to date. I remember it was quite good though. I'm guessing I'd like the two prequels.
Xargon: This is a surprisingly little-known game as far as I know. I say surprisingly because I really like Xargon and used to play it TONS back in the day. It's even up there with Keen 4-6 for me in playing time. It's by the same makers as Jill but I believe if Jill Saves the Prince is the building block, the Xargon trilogy only improves upon it. I only recently played the second episode of the trilogy, as oddly back in the day I only had the first and third episodes. If you asked me, I'd say this game got nowhere near the attention it should have.
Jazz Jackrabbit series: Sonic turned into a shooter, but IMO by no means a ripoff. By far the fastest paced platformer I've seen, this guy is FAST!! Tons of levels in these games and I remember really liking them. I actually played Jazz Jackrabbit 2 before the first game and I still had a blast playing the first game. The lego levels in Holiday Hare still stick out in my mind. Now I even see that for Jazz Jackrabbit 2, there are lots of usermade creations I can download - a definite surprise to me!, as aside from the unofficial Keen trilogy I don't think any other game I listed has this level of custom map content available.
Duke Nukem I/II: Only played the first episode of Duke Nukem I to date, but I liked it a lot. It's technology may be on the same line as the first Keen games, but with a health system the frustration is thankfully gone. Duke Nukem II could be compared to Keen 4-6 using the same analogy, as it adds the same types of extra features. This game I've played entirely, and probably several times. My only complaint to air against it is that it can get frustrating sometimes for me, even though there is a health system. Like in the first level of episode two, there are these things that fly by at such an outrageous speed you could NEVER duck from them unless you have prior knowledge or take it very, very, downright painfully slow. Of course none of this is what Duke Nukem is known for, and neither of these platformers even come remotely close to the third game of the series, which is one of my favorite games of any kind. But that belongs in last week's thread.
Hocus Pocus: Similar thoughts to Xargon. Another game that is little known AFAIK compared to the rest, but has qualities that should have brought it a bigger audience. Although it is definitely different from Xargon, you can pretty much copy my review of it. And it's the only game I know of from the developer (Moonlite). A (should have been) one hit wonder?
Other: The only other side-scroller I recall playing to date is the demo of Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures. It wasn't bad, from what I recall, but it wasn't anything that I hadn't seen in other platform games; I never looked for the full game. I also have Alien Carnage now (it is officially freeware on Apogee). But I kind of wonder what's going on with the fact that you seem to just be able to fly wherever you want in it. I don't know of any other sidescroller like that. Makes me wonder if it's as worthy as many of the ones I mentioned (especially given Apogee released it as freeware).
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02-07-12 13:48 
