10 Industry-Defining Video Games That Are Nowhere To Be Seen
3. Commander Keen
Id Software are most well-known for their pioneering work in the FPS genre with Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein. However, all good things must start somewhere, and everything at Id began with their very first classic, Commander Keen. Starting life as an unofficial Super Mario Bros. 3 PC port, Id Software discovered that their game engine was way better than any other side-scrolling technology out there. Nintendo weren't interested in seeing Mario being ported over to a PC so Id software decided to make Commander Keen, a colourful and surreal side-scrolling adventure that featured the titular Keen fighting off a massive variety of aliens in a wide range of huge levels. As charming as each game was, Commander Keen was also an excuse to test new technology out and Id Software eventually turned their attention to a little game called Wolfenstein 3D whilst sadly leaving this series unfinished. If it weren't for Commander Keen, we probably wouldn't have Wolfenstein 3D which in turn would've set back the FPS genre a considerable number of years. Perhaps it's time to give Commander Keen a new adventure and pay tribute to one of the more underrated and influential classics ever made.
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
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