While not as bad as "Keen Must Die" in my opinion, it is still a step down from the previous two in this trilogy. I don't know why, but for some reason the platforming on the slanted ledges are just so buggy in this entry. I do appreciate them adding another planet to this franchise to expand the lore, and the new enemies have fun and goofy designs. It's a shame the story for this was left off on a cliffhanger, but luckily a CK fan known as Ceilick created a whole new trilogy to finish the story. Episodes 7-9 I will review next.

Now these are the Keen games I truly love, being this was the first game I tried out. The graphics from Keen Dreams coupled with Keen's classic arsenal makes for a perfect experience. The platforming in these games, and this one in particular feel more precise than in the previous trilogy. While I did find those games fun, it was hard sometimes to dodge projectiles. Here, you have the freedom of movement that wasn't possible the time the original was created. The addition of the "impossible pogo-jump" along with ledge grabbing is a game-changer for the platforming genre. Something that the Mario franchise didn't do until Mario 64, 5 years later. I can't wait to revisit Keen 5, which is my favorite of the entire franchise.

This is such a weird entry in the Commander Keen franchise. Made in between the "Invasion of the Vorticons!" and "Goodbye, Galaxy!" trilogies as sort of a demo for some of the gameplay enhancements that would be found in the latter trilogy. While the graphics are vastly improved from Invasion of the Vorticons, the gameplay is tedious at best, with Keen using flower pellets to stun enemies rather than using his usual artillery. This game also comes with a weird message of "vegetables are evil," which I understand a kid having that viewpoint, but at no point in the story does it vilify Keen's position. In fact it justifies it, so it just comes off as awkward.

The weakest of the trilogy, in my opinion. Instead of the world map being straight forward so you can progress at you own pace, it is instead a teleporter maze, making it very difficult to keep track of where you are and where you are going. The blaster pickups in this are even more confusing, because it uses the same sprites as the wall blasters, so you never know if it's an ammo pickup or a trap. Worst of all, it has the worst maze level of the entire trilogy. The other two games had mazes, sure, but they were small and contained to not overwhelm the player. This maze just goes all over the place, and has dead-ends that have just small enough of an opening that Keen can't get through. That's just bad level design to me. The boss fight with Mortimer McMire was fun enough, but the game surrounding it is just infuriating.

Due to the success of the Mario franchise, id Software, and specifically John Carmack, wanted to recreate that kind of fast side-scrolling gameplay but for IBM PC's at the time. Carmack came up with "adaptive tile refresh," a method that allows the screen to move along with the player, only adding in newly visible objects on screen. They actually used this first to ask Nintendo if they can port Super Mario Bros. 3 to PC, and while they were impressed by the demo they created for it, they declined saying they weren't interested in the PC market. Dejected, they felt like using this new technology to produce a platformer in the style of Mario, and the Commander Keen franchise is born.

While I prefer the second trilogy of games over the first one, I can't deny how fun this trilogy can be on its own merits, especially this one. The gameplay may be a bit simplistic, but it uses its simplicity effectively to create a memorable experience. The iconic creature designs, the pogo-stick that allows you to traverse the levels in greater leaps, and great level design combine for a fun experience. It would be improved upon in the second installment if I remember correctly.

Classic Mario but in 3D for the first time. The different powerups that are on hand in this (like the Mega Mushroom, mini mushroom, and the shell) vary up the gameplay quite a bit. I do like the inclusion of the Star Coins, although the placement of them in some of the levels are just baffling. I do like that it takes varying elements from the previous Mario games, like the overworld from Mario 3, and refines it, making this feel like the definitive version of Mario. I do hate, though, that this seemed to be what Mario looked like for over a decade until Mario Wonder. I really liked how over the course of Mario 1 to World, they varied up the look each time to make each game feel fresh.