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Commander Genius - Commander Keen For Android

by Yan Matusevich on 10/23/11 10:21 PM

Tested version: 0.3.5.0.09
Latest version: 1.4.2 Release
Requires Android: from 1.6

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Summary

There was once a time when smartphones, powerful computers and gaming consoles were only a distant dream. Back in the middle ages of home computing, Commandeer Keen was like a ray of shining light in the darkness of PC backwardness. It was the first side scroller for PC – something that had been reserved for consoles up to that point. Commander Genius brings you the old-school game to your Android device!

 

Features & Use

Section rating:

iD Software should be a recognizable term for any PC player. John Carmack, co-founder of iD Software, has always shown how to squeeze out the most graphics out of any piece of hardware. Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein – all of them were iD brain childs.

But iD got its real start with Commander Keen! Back then it was impossible to play NES game on your PC because of the limited computer hardware. John Carmack, however, managed to make a breakthrough in the world of PC gaming.

Here’s a short rundown of what Commander Keen is about. The game revolves around an eight-year-old kid named Billy Blaze that lands with his own spaceship on mars. Evil Vorticons end up stealing parts of his spaceship that he needs to continue his journey. Commander Keen is a traditional sidescroller game without any fluff. Jumping, running, zapping aliens and collection stuff – that’s what the game is all about.

Commander Genius brings the joy of Commander Keen, episode 1 through 4 on your Android device. Or does it? The biggest problem is that based on my experience I wasn’t able to play episode 4. As soon as you start the first level, you’ll notice a lot of glitches with the graphics. The first episode is the only one that is actually playable. Based on everything, you can tell that Commander Genius is a raw beta version. It’s basically an Android porting of the original game gone wrong. Yikes!

You also have to be really quick when you start up the game. The thing is that the options screen for adjusting graphics, audio and controls pops up for literally one second before dissappearing never to be seen again. The on-screen controls work OK, but they should make the buttons bigger and place them more strategically on the touchscreen. After getting the first couple of hurldes, the main problem is trying to actually play the game. In the first episode of Commander Keen i.e. Commander Genius is virtually impossible to control, especially when it comes to jumping.

There’s a whole set of things that just aren’t working in the game. Multi-touch gestures are a good example. Although the multi-touch works fine in the game, it doesn’t work as intended in the menu.

Bottom Line:

Commander Genius is really a mixed bag of apples. On the one hand, I’m happy to finally be able to play the first episode of this PC classic on my Android, but at the same time I am totally bummed out by the fact that episode 4 refuses to work. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg since a whole lot of thins are just plain buggy. So although this app doesn’t deserve a good rating, I would still strongly recommend it to retro gaming fans.

 

Screen & Controls

Section rating:

The graphics aren’t very demanding which is obviously a result of the emulation of Commander Keen.

Otherwise Commander Genius fairly well in gameplay, even if the menu navigation isn’t exactly self-explanatory.

 

Speed & Stability

Section rating:

You might be surprised, but despite a lot of things not working, Commander Genius actually runs smoothly and doesn't force close. 

Price/Performance Ratio

Section rating:

Commander Genius is available for free (and ad-free, too) from the Android Market. 

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Market Comments

Nellie, Apr 22, 2012
Brilliant Love it, I'm enjoying it just as much as I did in the 80s. It works perfectly on my phone. Can't WAIT for part 4!
කසුන්, Apr 17, 2012
Perfect Port Addicted to this in 80s and hoped for a Android port for a long time. Works nicely. Cool game.
Geana, Apr 8, 2012
Yes Its awesome
Tim, Mar 30, 2012
Great App for phone... Great app for phone but could you make the controls adjustable or smaller for tablet!?!?? That would be awesome. Too hard to play otherwise. Also, aren't you going to get sued by Apogee? Love being able to play this though!
Eliran, Mar 14, 2012
Commander Keen ! Keys are not very comfortable and the game responds slowly (at Samsung Galaxy s 2) but otherwise, a huge game!
Rt-I, Mar 9, 2012
! Commader Keen forever!
Aaron, Mar 6, 2012
BEST GAME EVER!!! Loved this game as a kid and never expected to be able to play it on my phone THANK YOU!!!
Erin, Feb 23, 2012
episode 4 please please please make episode 4 work! it would make having a smart phone so much cooler ;-)
Dalton, Feb 19, 2012
Really cool Works great on optimus v. Game locks up when you press home though.
MJ, Feb 18, 2012
Hooked...again! I was hooked on this game in the 80's and I'm hooked again! Great job guys!! Works great on my Motorola Atrix 2.
RJ, Feb 14, 2012
Love it!! Working great on Thunderbolt. Will be amazing when you get 4 to work!
sol1tude, Feb 6, 2012
Good Good SDL game sample.
Danielle, Feb 2, 2012
Omg I love whoever did this Omg omg I'm a serious DOS games addict and I would love to see more. I got doom but I need heretic! And highway hunter. And the old duke nukem. I have the 3D one, I mean the 2D one. And Hugo (where you type all the commands. Except walking) I love love episode 4 please fix asap
chard, Jan 30, 2012
Works great Works great on driod 3. Can't wait for 4 to work. Brings me back to a simpler time
Nuc, Jan 28, 2012
Unplayable Great game, nice to see it's still alive. Unfortunately, it's unplayable on my phone - can't run and jump at the same time.
C, Jan 25, 2012
Thank you! This brings back such good memories and harkens to a time when games were more about fun than graphics. It runs great on my Huawei M385 can you believe that? Only one issue, I can't get the On screen buttons to go invisible. 5 stars even without a fix!
Michael, Dec 26, 2011
Part 1 great, second section unfortunately not working Please make the second section work! First part great.
Artem, Dec 23, 2011
Wow! Reminded me the old days =) thank you. Part 1 is almost flawless :))) controls are perfect once you customize the layout. Sad, that part4 is not working :(
Anonymous, Dec 14, 2011
Great Interpreter NEARLY FLAWLESS!! I have NO idea what some of these people are complaining about. I've tested every which was and was pleasantly surprised to find out how well it worked! I was even more surprised to find it even supports the controls on my xperia play! I can't wait to see the next update (we ALL want to play the galaxy series) Commander keen was my first video game PERIOD. and it STILL holds up well. Now I have a new reason to rebuy the series on steam. (I don't particularly like dosbox) I think they should've gotten SOMETHING out of ID (a single OS compatibility update and 360 controls would've brought this game to THIS generation) Anyway, keep up the good work!
Nick, Dec 10, 2011
Poor controls Cant simultaneously press two buttons. Can only press one button and must hold it for a solid second before you are sometimes able to press a second
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