Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons

This was the game that not only launched both id software and apogee into the market, but also kick-started shareware magazine into releasing free demos of both companies’ libraries to their subscribers which was a large reason as to how they both ruled the decade despite both being indie companies.

I'll admit that everything in this game (or rather trilogy as it's a classic three for one deal) is done better in the sequel goodbye galaxy as the environments are much better as are the controls and saving mechanics, this is still a good set of games as it had that classic 80s structure that made the likes of Mario and Metroid so innovative back in the day. The story is basic in all three games, basically something you'd expect from Dexter’s laboratory later in the decade as we have a boy genius exploring Mars and eventually a dog planet (which are the titular Vorticans) with chaos ensuing from there. The graphics are a bit primitive even for an 8-bit game, however that's understandable given how this was the first game from two indie developers who clearly didn't have much of a budget. That said, the quality does vary from each chapter, marooned on Mars is the most consistent of the three as the environments are suitably simplistic without coming off as too barren to fit in with the setting. The earth explodes is the best out of the three due to its presentation and creative way of defeating the enemies, however it’s also the hardest out of all the chapters in the franchise due to aggressive enemies and the limited save mechanic (you can only save from the map as opposed to any time in the sequel.) Keen must die was infamously rushed which led to clunky level design including areas that are inaccessible even after multiple patches, it's also possible to complete this chapter with only four levels despite there being just as many levels here as the rest of the franchise (to say nothing of that terrible ending.)

The three chapters were each outclassed by the subsequent chapters (Mars being the secret of the Oracle, earth being the Armageddon machine and Kern being aliens ate my babysitter) however it does have its charm that differs from those entries, which makes it worth your while.