Welcome to a Retro Core I've been asked about
many times.
This is Duke Nukem 3D.
In this video we are taking a look at the
original game and the ports that appeared
around the same time.
Yes.
There are many modern ports that improve on
the graphics and add extra features but they
are not to be featured here.
Developed by 3D Realms and released originally
as a shareware game in January 1996 then fully
in April 1996, Duke Nukem 3D is the sequel
to the platform games Duke Nukem and Duke
Nukem II, which were also published by 3D
Realms.
In this game you play as Duke Nukem, voiced
by Jon St. John, who fights against an alien
invasion on Earth.
Duke Nukem 3D is considered to be responsible
for popularizing first-person shooters, and
was released to major acclaim.
It did cause quite a bit of controversy as
well due to the adult theme within the game.
Duke's arsenal consists of the "Mighty Foot"
(a basic kick attack), a pistol, a shotgun,
a triple-barreled chain gun, a rocket-propelled
grenade launcher, pipe bombs, freeze and shrink
rays, laser land mines, and the rapid fire
"Devastator" rocket launcher.
The game features a wide variety of enemies;
some of which are aliens and other mutated
humans.
The LAPD have been turned into "Pig Cops",
a play on the derogatory term "pig" for police
officers, with LARD emblazoned on their uniforms.
As is usual for a first-person shooter, Duke
Nukem encounters a large number of lesser
foes, as well as bosses, usually at the end
of episodes.
Like Duke, these enemies have access to a
wide range of weapons and equipment, and some
weaker enemies have jet packs.
If you've never played the original Duke Nukem
3D, you really should give it a try.
It truly is one of the all time great PC games.
Duke Nukem 3D was ported to the Saturn by
Lobotomy Software, the same developer responsible
for the excellent Exhumed and Saturn Quake
port.
This port uses Lobotomy Software's own fully
3D SlaveDriver engine.
We also get online play via the Sega NetLink
and as to be expected it is fully compatible
with the Saturn analogue controller.
While this is a fantastic port it also contains
a few extras such as an exclusive bonus level
called Urea 51, accessed through the level
"Fahrenheit".
And a hidden multiplayer mini-game called
Death Tank Zwei.
Graphically it's a very impressive game, especially
when the Saturn port of Doom is looked at
next to this.
Very smooth for the most part, real time lighting
effects and screen tilting.
Next up is the PlayStation port which was
released in 1997.
This version was developed by Aardvark Software.
Extras include an exclusive fourth episode
called Plug 'n' Pray, which includes six new
levels and a secret level.
Straight away we can see this lacks the real
time lighting found in the Saturn port and
some would say it doesn’t look as clean.
But then again the original game didn’t
have the real-time lighting either.
As far as I can tell this game has no analogue
support making it a little tricky to play
on a D-Pad but after a short while you’ll
soon get use to it.
Also released in 1997 was Duke Nukem 64 a
port for.... well, I'm sure you can guess
by the title.
We have Eurocom to thank for this port.
The unique feature in this version is a split
screen 4-player mode but sadly it doesn't
make this the version to rush towards.
In-game music was removed due to limited storage
capacity, many items were renamed to avoid
drug and sex references, and new lines of
dialogue were recorded specifically for this
version to remove profanity.
THAT'S WHAT DUKE IS ALL ABOUT!!
There are some changes to several levels to
include areas from the PC Atomic Edition,
such as a Duke Burger outlet in the second
level.
Personally the blurry graphics on this port
don't do anything for me and I find the controls
to be way too sensitive.
As you can see I'm all over the place.
This is not my favourite version by far.
Well, well.
Duke Nukem 3D on the most awful game console
of all time, the Tiger Game.Com.
As you'd expect this isn't a fully 3D roam
around game like we've seen so far.
But it is rather impressive should it have
been a stand alone cheap LCD hand held game.
I actually had a bit of fun with this one
despite the basic appearance and limited movement.
Let's be honest though, this isn't Duke 3D
but a game based upon it.
Duke Nukem 3D hit the Mega Drive originally
in Brazil only back in 1998.
It wasn't available elsewhere officially until
Piko Interactive licensed it for a world wide
release in 2015.
Now, obviously Duke on the Mega Drive is going
to be drastically simplified.
What we have here is a game being a closer
resemblance to Wolfenstein 3D than Duke Nukem
3D.
This version consisted solely of Lunar Apocalypse,
the second episode from the original game's
three episodes.
It's quite nice for a Mega Drive 3D game.
As you can see it moves at a reasonable speed
and does control rather well.
It's just a shame the visuals are a little
messy but that's to be expected.
