Gourt > Games > Video Games > Platform > Commander Keen Series (1)
The Commander Keen series is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s, which was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of the NES Super Mario Bros. games in MS-DOS. The cartoon-style platformers are notable for their pioneering use of EGA graphics and shareware distribution, and because they were the first games by id Software. Id went on to develop blockbusters like Doom and Quake. The games were also exciting to the PC gaming community of the time because of John Carmack's revolutionary smooth-scrolling graphics engine. Although developed by id, most of the Commander Keen games were published by Apogee Software, an already established PC shareware game publisher.
History
John Carmack, a game programmer at Softdisk, found a trick that would allow smooth-scrolling graphics in PC games, but only with the 16-color EGA graphics card. Softdisk rejected the technology because they wanted to continue to support customers who only had 4-color CGA cards.
Carmack and his Softdisk colleague Tom Hall used their own time to put together a clone of the first level of Super Mario Bros. 3, except for the hero, which they replaced with Dangerous Dave, a character from John Romero's games for Softdisk. They called it Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement and approached Nintendo with the demo, who declined to enter the PC market at that time.
More on [ Commander Keen series ]
DOS :: Computer Platforms
Apogee Software, Ltd. :: A
id Software :: I
@matthewbadger They only have Keen 6 of the Commander Keen series on there. There's a better website for that.
russellhancox (Russell Hancox) Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:45:53 -0000
@matthewbadger They only have Keen 6 of the Commander Keen series on there. There's a better website for that.
3D Realms: A Look Back at Commander Keen - The history of Commander Keen, includes photos, and screenshots.
Beyond the Pogo - Offers fan art, newsletter, encyclopedia, and editing tools.
Can't Get Enough Commander Keen - Including character lists, cheats, and hints.
Cerebral Cortex 314 - Information, screen shots, downloads, an ASCII art section, level editor, and level sets for Keen 1.
Commander Keen Fan Site - Includes information, screenshots, downloads, cheats and links.
Meta Description: [ A fan site for the game Commander Keen. Includes reviews, downloads, media and much more ]
F Prod - Cheats, sounds, links, and downloads.
GameSpot - Frank Provo reviews the Game Boy Color version. Includes screen shots and passwords. Score: 6.8 out of 10.
Meta Description: [ Commander Keen for GBC - GameSpot offers reviews, previews, cheats, and more. Count on us for all of the latest on the Commander Keen Game Boy Color Game. ]
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Keen Galaxy - Offers downloads, online games, episode guide, music, cheat codes, maps, and installation guide.
pocket.ign.com: Keen! - Offers rumours about a possible version of Id Software's Commander Keen game for the Game Boy Color.
The Public Commander Keen Forum - A forum dedicated to the game.
Meta Description: [ The best place to discuss our hero, Commander Keen, and talk about life, the universe, and everything! ]
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