Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons

The Intro

Title: Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons

Release year: 1990

Developed by: Ideas from the Deep

Genre: Platformer

Platform replayed on: PC

I’m not a huge fan of platformers. There, I said it.

However, I’ve certainly played a lot of platformers since the time of the third generation of video game consoles. I remember the classics like Super Mario Bros. (1985), Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986), and Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (1990). I remember playing as a dolphin in Ecco the Dolphin (1992) and as the 7 Up spot in Cool Spot (1993). I even remember playing as Bart Simpson in The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991).

*Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse*
*Image via Mobygames*

And I continue to play platformers, particularly since picking up the Nintendo Switch later in its lifetime. I’ve played a lot of Super Mario Odyssey (2017) and Super Mario 3D World (2021) over the past couple of years, and recently Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023) has been on heavy rotation.

I’ve also covered a couple of platformers here on Present Perfect Gaming before: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (1989) and Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

So what gives? Why don’t I like platformers that much?

It’s the difficulty and it’s the ensuing frustration. I don’t enjoy having to perfect actions and movements through repetition. One particularly egregious example I’ve recently come across is the jump rope challenge in Super Mario Odyssey.

Super Mario Odyssey jump rope challenge — *Getting to 100 jumps gave me nightmares…*

That said, I’ve enjoyed more modern platformers, like the above-mentioned Switch games. I’ve found the 3D platformers more accessible, with optional increased difficulty there for those looking for it. Even with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, there are the characters designed with more casual or younger gamers in mind.

However, there is something special about the classics, proven by when my then-eight-year-old son played the original Sonic the Hedgehog. At the time, it was a thirty-year-old game, but he still enjoyed it, despite growing up in a different era of video games.

But that’s enough about my history with platformers. This next entry on Present Perfect Gaming takes us back to 1990, and is about another eight-year-old boy, named Billy Blaze.

A boy who builds a spaceship, dons his older brother’s football helmet, and flies to Mars.

A boy who becomes Commander Keen.

Commander Keen intro text — *Billy Blaze blasts off as Commander Keen.*

The Game

My memories of Commander Keen are tied with a couple of other Apogee-published games from the early 90s: Duke Nukem (1991), and Wolfenstein 3D (1992). I recall these three together for one reason: Shareware.

For those unfamiliar with the term Shareware, it was basically “the first one’s on us, but you’ll have to pay for the rest”. These games were released in an episodic format, where the first episode was released and distributed for free. If you wanted to play the rest of the episodes, you would have to purchase them.

And everything was on the disk, including the previews of the future episodes and instructions on how to order.

Commander Keen mail order and phone order page — *Mail order and phone order!*

But these first episodes were not like demos—they were decent-length games on their own, with Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons Episode 1: Marooned on Mars featuring over a dozen levels.

Commander Keen chased by Yorps — *Lots of weird and wonderful levels in Commander Keen*

The backstory behind Commander Keen is an interesting one, involving the implementation of smooth side-scrolling video games on PC by a group of programmers (including John Romero, more well known for Wolfenstein 3D and Doom). I won’t go further into detail here, but it’s a story worth checking out if you like your video game history.

Commander Keen begins with Billy Blaze on Mars, having just been out exploring. What he didn’t know was that aliens from the planet Vorticon VI have arrived and are planning to kill him.

*Commander Keen Episode One: Marooned on Mars*

So these Vorticons steal parts from Billy’s ship and hide them in cities all over Mars.

Commander Keen level exit — *Why the Vorticons didn’t just try to kill Billy instead of leaving his spaceship parts lying around, I’ll never know.*

It’s a race against time, as Billy seems more concerned about rebuilding his spaceship and getting back home before his parents discover he’s gone than he is with an imminent Vorticon invasion of Earth.

Commander Keen spaceship orbiting Earth — *The Vorticons have bigger plans than just killing Commander Keen…*

In Commander Keen you take control of Billy through a series of side-scrolling platforming missions spread out across Mars.

Commander Keen Mars map — *Mission map on Mars*

To start with, Billy can only jump to avoid Vorticon aliens and navigate obstacles.

Commander Keen jumping over a Buttler Robot — *Jumping to avoid a Butler Robot*

But it’s not long before Billy gains access to some firepower.

Commander Keen picking up a raygun — *Billy finds a raygun.*

Eventually, Billy even finds a pogo stick. Yes, a pogo stick. For reaching all those hard to reach places on Mars.

Commander Keen pogo stick — *The pogo stick in Commander Keen—go figure that one out.*

There are six different aliens Billy encounters in the first episode of Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons. Though not all are intent on killing Billy, with a couple providing more of a nuisance than a threat.

Commander Keen jumping on a Yorp — *Commander Keen crushing a Yorp*

However, there are aliens that are plenty intent on killing Billy.

Not all aliens can be killed either, so each one requires its own strategy of avoidance or extermination.

Commander Keen avoiding a laser blast from a Vorticon Robot — *Avoiding a laser blast from a Vorticon Robot*

Most levels in Commander Keen require locating one or more keycards to advance through the level and ultimately find the exit.

Commander Keen keycard — *Yellow keycard on the left*

You also need to navigate Billy around Mars in between levels, and you often have a choice of which level to enter next.

And speaking of entering levels, it’s about time we join Billy as he lands on Mars and takes on the Vorticons in the first episode of Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons!

The Replay

Our first look at Mars in Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons comes as Billy discovers his spaceship is no longer functional for flight—those sneaky Vorticons have stolen some parts!

Commander Keen Marooned on Mars — *Commander Keen—Marooned on Mars*

It’s time to get exploring those Martian cities and start finding those parts. And you have four “Keens” to start with.

Commander Keen Keens left — *Commander Keen(s)*

To make life (lives?) easier, you can acquire extra Keens by accumulating points in the levels.

Commander Keen pause screen dashboard — *More Keens!*

To get points, you need treasures.

Commander Keen treasures — *An interesting selection of treasures*

There are plenty of treasures across each level, and picking them up is entirely optional. You can save your game at any time outside of a level, so unless you’re going for a high score, there’s nothing stopping you just speedrunning through levels as quickly as you are able to.

Commander Keen teddy bear treasures — *Teddy bear treasures*

And it was a good thing for me that I could save at any time, as it didn’t take long for the challenge level to rise in Commander Keen.

I breezed through the first level, one of those classic first levels in platformers, where there’s not much threat and you get overconfident.

Commander Keen heading for a level exit — *Exit on the right*

Jumping a hazard was about as tough as it got.

Commander Keen jumping over a hazard — *Might as well jump!*

And then it was off to the next level—whichever one that is, as you have a few choices.

The next level I chose brought Billy face to face with possibly the most dangerous enemy in Commander Keen: an actual Vorticon.

Commander Keen Vorticon alien — *That red door’s not opening!!*

Not having a keycard at this crucial moment, Billy was soon disposed of.

I tried a couple of strategies. The first involved trying to blast the Vorticon guarding the level exit. Unfortunately, Billy wasn’t a great shot with the raygun.

Commander Keen blasting a raygun — *Okay, it was me that wasn’t a good shot with the raygun—a good gamer never blames his avatar*.

The second strategy involved the classic real-time-strategy game “kiting” tactic. These Vorticons jump unpredictably, so I thought if I could lure it away from the exit, I could double back.

Commander Keen chased by a Vorticon — *Chased by a Vorticon…*

Turns out it worked. I was impressed with the unpredictability of the Vorticon’s movements, and that there wasn’t just one pathway to success.

The next level had another Vorticon guarding the level exit, but this one didn’t have as much space to move as the previous level.

Commander Keen firing a raygun at a Vorticon — *There would be no kiting here.*

Brute force was the answer, and Billy was improving his aim with the raygun.

With both of those levels completed, and picking up two of the four spaceship parts needed, I was making good progress, and the overconfidence was flowing.

There are some shorter, often vertical levels, in Commander Keen, where Billy receives a useful hint when he reaches the top. These levels are like optional side missions.

Though often short, I thought it was clever level design to include a different take on the traditional left to right side-scrolling platformer.

One of these levels, if you can call it a level, presents Billy with the pogo stick.

Commander Keen acquiring the pogo stick — *Not exactly a difficult level…*

The next level was sprawling, but not overly difficult. No key cards, but the level was wide and high.

Commander Keen jumping — *A lot of platforming is required in this level.*

Getting through this level provided access to a teleport to the other side of Mars.

Commander Keen teleporting — *Teleporting*

The first stop on this side was a cold one for Billy, as it introduced ice platforms.

Commander Keen trapped by Gargs — *Uh oh…*

I ended up getting Billy into a few unfortunate situations due to the slippery surfaces.

This half of the planet features a few ice levels, each with their own challenges.

Commander Keen falling through cracked ice — *Falling through cracked ice*

And finishing one of these ice levels provided a very useful hint to finishing Commander Keen.

I really enjoyed the level variety in Commander Keen. The next level I encountered was maze-like. It was quite disorienting, as the walls and platforms all looked the same.

Commander Keen blasting a Garg — *Blasting a Garg in this maze-like mission*

The next level I chose was thematically the last level, and it required the hint I had just acquired. But as I hadn’t yet found all the spaceship parts, I couldn’t finish the game just yet.

Commander Keen on the pogo stick — *Commander Keen enters*…

It wasn’t the most challenging level, and I did manage to find something interesting thanks to some exploring.

Commander Keen iD Easter egg — *“iD Software” Easter egg*

This wasn’t the most challenging level in Commander Keen, once I knew what I had to do. It was a valuable reminder to pay attention to hints in video games—they’re there for a reason!

Commander Keen destroying a Vorticon — *Use the force, er raygun, Billy!*

Once that mystery was solved, it was time to find the last spaceship part in Commander Keen and get Billy off Mars and back to bed before his parents arrive home.

Commander Keen approaching the level exit — *There it is! The last spaceship part…*

The level that caused me the most grief was an ice level, which required navigating icy platforms, laser-blasting Vorticon robots, and defeating another exit-guarding Vorticon in a very tight space.

Commander Keen on ice platform — *No brakes on ice*

Commander Keen jumping a Vorticon Robot — *That was a close one!*

Commander Keen Vorticon jumping — *No room to move*

With Billy’s raygun aim striking true (or can I finally give credit to myself for improving??), the final Vorticon was defeated in Commander Keen.

Commander Keen Vorticon enemy defeated — *Vorticon down*

The end game sequence is well done, hinting at what’s to come in the next instalment of Commander Keen.

Commander Keen Vorticon spaceship orbiting Earth — *As Commander Keen flies home, he notices a large Vorticon spaceship orbiting Earth…*

But as for Billy, he manages to tuck himself in just in time before his parents arrive.

Though he didn’t completely get away with it…

Commander Keen endgame screen — *Stowaway!*

Take a look at this level and the endgame sequence on Youtube:

The Verdict

I would leave Commander Keen there, as Billy took off into the second episode, The Earth Explodes.

Commander Keen Episode Two: The Earth Explodes — *It’s about more than Commander Keen in Episode Two—Earth is in danger!*

I came to appreciate Commander Keen more after I had finished this first episode. During my playthrough, my focus was on exploring the levels and perfecting the moves.

Commander Keen blasting a Garg with a raygun — *Mastering the raygun took time…*

And of course there were the numerous failures.

Commander Keen death — *Apparently, Billy can’t swim.*

Once I completed that final level and watched the endgame sequence, I went through my video captures and realised there’s some good stuff going on in Commander Keen.

Commander Keen using keycards — *Complex level design in Commander Keen—this level required locating four(!) keycards*.

I listed some of the platformers from my past in The Intro. Turns out, there were a lot of platformers around in the third and fourth generation, so it was natural to play them, despite their difficulty and the ensuing frustration. But it was a new and exciting entertainment medium, so the limitations were often overlooked.

But I am really impressed with Commander Keen, and I didn’t find the extreme difficulty or frustration I find with other platformers from this era.

The enemy aliens each provide their own unique challenges. There is level variation, in terms of length, but also the exploration of the vertical as well as horizontal space, with exits not always in the same place. And there is a non-linear approach to level selection, with some levels being entirely optional.

It was also interesting to compare the episodic approach used by Apogee with what Telltale Games would do over a decade later with titles like Sam & Max and The Walking Dead. I’ve always liked the smaller, self-contained episodes which tie together into an overarching plot. I guess it’s like chapters in a book—once you finish one, you feel like you’ve made progress.