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commander keen for gbc: typos

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Wouter Groeneveld 2023-11-23 10:28:54 +01:00
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content/games/gameboycolor/commander-keen.md
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@ -13,11 +13,11 @@ tags:
- 'Commander Keen'
---
When I saw a _Commander Keen_ cart for sale in last year's nearby retro game show, I was shocked: how did this early nineties DOS icon make its way to the [Game Boy Color](/games/gameboycolor)? Of course, being provisioned by id Software, the _DOOM_ port clone craze eventually had to jump over to their other franchises, although the Keen commander himself has been more or less neglected once the space marine got hold of his shotgun. Given the respectable CPU and RAM powers of the GBC, I didn't expect a faithful clone, but I also didn't expect a completely different _Keen_ experience that we got instead, cooked up by _David A. Palmer Productions_ and their faithful subcontractors, _:)Smilie Ltd._.
When I saw a _Commander Keen_ cart for sale in last year's nearby retro game show, I was shocked: how did this early nineties DOS icon make its way to the [Game Boy Color](/games/gameboycolor)? Of course, being provisioned by id Software, the _DOOM_ port clone craze eventually had to jump over to their other franchises, although the Keen commander himself has been more or less neglected once that other space marine got hold of his shotgun. Given the respectable CPU and RAM powers of the GBC, I didn't expect a faithful clone, but I also didn't expect a completely different _Keen_ experience that we got instead, cooked up by _David A. Palmer Productions_ and their faithful subcontractors, _:)Smilie Ltd._.
In case both names ring a bell: Palmer was responsible for the commendable _DOOM_ GBA port and a lot more less commendable ports, and Smilie also co-made _Gex: Enter the Gecko_, also on GBC. [Their website](http://smilie.com/console_done.php3), straight out the early noughties, somehow still is online. As soon as I saw the "David A. Palmer Productions" logo upon boot-up, I knew I had to adjust my expectations.
You see, _Commander Keen_ on GBC isn't a bad game, but it's not exactly what you would call good by any means, suffering from a plethora of major game design mistakes, resulting in more frustration than joy. And yet, after carefully navigating these shortcomings, there's a ray of sunshine here and there. Until you fall to your doom (_DOOM_?)---again.
You see, _Commander Keen_ on GBC isn't a bad game, but it's not exactly what you would call good by any means, suffering from a plethora of major game design flaws, resulting in more frustration than joy. And yet, after carefully navigating these shortcomings, there's a ray of sunshine here and there. Until you fall to your doom (_DOOM_?)---again.
![](gameplay.png "Left: pogoing my way through the forest. Right: this robot is supposed to be a boss.")
@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Although rest assured, if you want to make it to the exit, an abundance of both
Second, the level design is quite confusing. You'll need to collect colored keycards to pass through barriers, but there are usually obtained in other parts of the level accessible through teleporters that throw your sense of direction off time and time again. Then there's the switch flicking---that, by the way, is done by standing ON TOP of it and pressing `SELECT`, which I had to look up!!---that makes a certain piece of floor disappear in god-knows-where in order to progress; good luck finding your way back.
Third, as bright and colorful _Commander Keen_ is, the lack of depth and sameness frequently had me mistake a field of spikes for the background and vice versa. It's even sometimes difficult to spot the teleporter exits! It seems that Smilie and Palmer forgot the existence of the term contrast and used their Splatoon guns to spread colors of joy instead. Don't get me wrong, apart from the lack of background layers, difficult to discern stuff and stiff animations, I like the pixel art. Perhaps if things had been black and white on the original Game Boy, the designers were forced to look into the issue of contrast.
Third, as bright and colorful _Commander Keen_ as is, the lack of depth and the overall sameness frequently had me mistake a field of spikes for the background and vice versa. It's even sometimes difficult to spot the teleporter exits! It seems that Smilie and Palmer forgot the existence of the term contrast and used their Splatoon guns to spread colors of joy instead. Don't get me wrong, apart from the lack of multiple scrolling background layers, difficult to discern stuff and stiff animations that could do with a few more frames, I like the pixel art. Perhaps if things had been black and white on the original Game Boy, the designers were forced to look into the issue of contrast.
Despite the questionable implementation of pretty much anything, after having learned the quirky level design philosophy, I kind of enjoyed pogoing through them in a weird way. The catchy 8-bit tunes by Commodore 64 music chip expert Mark Cooksey certainly helped.