Classic DOS Platformer games reviews/opinions

[YukiHerz]

I loved this one when i was a kid, along with Keen 4.

[wildweasel]

I'd also like to take this moment to point out that Trolls by Capstone is surprisingly not as awful as Capstone's other games.

[Clownman]

No love for Pac-In-Time?

[Reactor]

Prehistorik 1 was nice and challenging, although short. And the bossfights were so much better than in the second one. Unfortunately, the timed levels made it (meaninglessly) harder. I never liked timed games, especially if there's no real reason behind just rushing to the exit. The same thing plagued Zool, too.
Prehistorik 2 on the other hand ,looked better, was much longer, and all enemies could be killed. However, the bossfights were poor, it contained several graphical bugs (level 4 or 5), riding the glide was a nightmare, and the last level was next to impossible to complete. I actually died 74 times at the last part (I had about 80 lives because I was well aware of what I can expect, and collected points mindlessly). Thankfully, the endless amounts of enemies can supply you with endless extra lives.

Titus the Fox was also a nice platformer game, though I hated how the game tries to pretend its bugs to look like features...

[Hisymak]

I just remembered one weak point of Commander Keen 4-6 games which I did not like: The lives have practically no purpose, because you can always save&load your game. This way, you can always avoid deaths, so you never lose any live and just collect them up for fun. I also tried a no-save&load run, but in some hard levels (most notably Hand pyramid) it is not even possible, and furthermore it gets very annoying when you need to play all the level again.
But actually, more games suffered from this problem, for example Wolf 3D and Rise of the Triad, where dying is moreover discouraged by the fact that you lose all your weapons and stuff.

[Viscra Maelstrom]

But actually, more games suffered from this problem, for example Wolf 3D and Rise of the Triad, where dying is moreover discouraged by the fact that you lose all your weapons and stuff.

at least ROTT had a sort of arcade-feel to it, so scoring points and speedrunning it felt like it had more of a purpose. Wolf3D OTOH had labyrinthine levels where you had to take it careful and navigate your way around. at least, that's the impression i get from it.

but yeah, the lives system in those games are pointless since it's an archaic mechanic that has no purpose in a game where you can save and load your progress anytime.

[Laggy]

Hey, I'm sure there's some people who think loading a game after every death is cheap.

[Woolie Wool]

How has this thread gone this far without a mention of Jazz Jackrabbit?





The music was out of this world in 1994. It made OPL look like a complete joke.