90s PC game nostalgia...

I was bored last night.

Not able to stand the monotony, I decided to go through my game shelf just to see if there was something that I could pop into my PlayStation 2 and enjoy. I eventually picked up and dusted off my copy of Clover Studio's Viewtiful Joe 2. I decided to play through the first stage mostly as Sylvia. While I was blasting through the stage with her pink guns of unrelenting joy and joyfulness, I suddenly got hit by a wave of nostalgia.

I needed a 2D platforming high.

Why go with 2D you ask? Well, it's because if there's anything that Castlevania on the DS and Viewtiful Joe by Clover proves, it is that there's still room for well-done 2D platforming games in this hyper defined, 1080p, next-gen world.

Dammit, I want to play Commander Keen again.

Commander Keen - Tom Hall- id Software - 1990

For those who don't know, Commander Keen is a series of games made by id Software in the early 90s. The cartoon-y game was notable for it's then outstanding use of EGA graphics, and it's proliferation through shareware distribution.

The last incarnation of Billy Blaze (the protagonist of the game) was seen last 2001 on the Game Boy Color. Unfortunately that was a bad, bad game. It was so iffy, that even Tom Hall, designer of the original series does not consider the GBC game to be a sequel.

Given that Keen references are made several and later id Software games like Doom and Quake, it would be really, really be apt if they revived it somehow, and then made references to id Software games over the years.

*insert dead Keen from Doom pic here*

You know what? I don't even care if the next Keen incarnation is a 2D platformer. They could turn it into a 3D platform action game, as long as they execute it well. I just want to see Keen again. I want to experience the game universe, the humor, and the fun of the world again. I just want to see the franchise alive again. I want to see it revived. More importantly, I want to see it done right.

Syndicate - Peter Molyneux - Bullfrog Productions - 1993

Some folks really enjoy playing Splinter Cell: Double Agent's Spies of the Third Echelon vs Upsilon Force Mercenaries multiplayer. I for one particularly like using that almost magical wrist computer to break glass, open security doors, hack or whatever else some super-genius could accomplish without the use of guns and with only a Swiss-army knife to rely on.

Because of the massive popularity of the stealth genre, and all this espionage stuff saturating console video games, I'm really starting to miss Bullfrog Productions 1993 game Syndicate, and its all powerful Persuadertron.

I know that a lot of gameplay elements from this game have been redone, and executed better in more contemporary games. But still, it's the cyberpunk world I miss. The most recent incarnation of the old franchise is via Electronic Arts' EA Replay for the PlayStation Portable. It had the Sega Genesis version. Bad choice really. Aside from the clunky controls, it had seriously dumbed down graphics.

*No you don't want to see horribly bad Sega Genesis screenshots...*

This was the first game that allowed me to sorta micro/macro manage the AI of my units, it combined RTS elements, and it made me pause and think of ways to sneak my agents from point A to point B without being detected. It even got me running away from cops before GTA III did.

I miss the gameplay. I miss the cyberpunk, I miss the missions, I miss the chaos. They could turn it into a sandbox game ala GTA for all I care, I just want to see the franchise alive again. I want to see it revived. Most importantly, I want to see it done right.

Other 90s Franchises I also wanted to mention
...but really can't due to the existence of recent and decent incarnations or recent rumors on them thar intarwubs.

• Duke Nukem - The new Duke Nukem game is still in a perpetual state of "we're working on it." More on that rumor in a future post.
• Wing Commander - Wing Commander Arena is set to grace XBLA come summer 2007.
• Master of Orion - Master of Orion III got released last 2003.
• X-COM - Take-Two Interactive acquired the property in full a few months before they acquired Irrational Games. Irrational Games founder Ken Levine often cites X–Com as a game that stands the test of time.

Relief...
Thank the gods (or the cylon God) that StarCraft II and Fallout 3 both look to be on the right track. Blizzard even listened their fan-base and replaced the planned "dark Carrier", the Tempest, with the original big yellow Protoss Carrier. With the game in constant flux though, who knows what it'll look like by 2008?

Potential old-school rejuvenation aside, the specs required for SC2 and Fallout 3 gameplay scare me. I miss 90s games for a different reason now.

Why do graphics cards have to be so expensive?

(Oh, yeah, what about Nova from StarCraft Ghost? Now that SC2 is brewing, is the spunky female Ghost forever doomed to spend time in vaporware limbo?)