Duke Nukem II is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Apogee Software. The game consists of four episodes (of eight levels each), the first available as shareware. It is the follow-up to 1991's Duke Nukem, and followed by Duke Nukem 3D in 1996. Todd Replogle was the primary designer of all three games.
| Duke Nukem II | |
|---|---|
 Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Apogee Software[a] |
| Publisher(s) | Apogee Software
|
| Designer(s) | Todd Replogle George Broussard Scott Miller Allen H. Blum III |
| Artist(s) | Randy Abraham Stephen A. Hornback |
| Writer(s) | Tom Hall |
| Composer(s) | Robert Prince |
| Series | Duke Nukem |
| Platform(s) | DOS, Game Boy Color, iOS, Windows, OS X, Evercade/VS |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
A heavily reworked version of Duke Nukem II, simply titled Duke Nukem, was released for the Game Boy Color on September 2, 1999, in North America.
Gameplay
edit
The player's goal is to proceed through the levels collecting items, destroying enemies to the level exit and at the final level, defeat the super alien boss. In one level of each episode Duke needs to destroy radar dishes to progress.
Duke Nukem can pick up weapons along the way. There are four types of weapons: His regular default gun, the flamethrower (which can shoot through walls and launch him in the air), the laser (which can shoot through anything) and the rocket launcher. Duke can also get a rapid fire powerup. Health items can be collected to heal damage Duke receives or to boost score points at full health. Keycards need to be collected to access past the force fields and keys must be obtained to get past locked doors. A cloaking device makes Duke temporarily invincible and disables the super force fields.
Movement through the levels mainly consists of jumping onto platforms, climbing ladders, operating elevators, using teleporters, hovering over blowing fans and climbing hand-over-hand across pipes or girders. At the end of every level (with the exception of the last level in each episode), the player can receive up to seven 100,000 point bonuses, earned by making certain achievements in the level, such as destroying all cameras.
Plot
editIn 1998, the evil Rigelatins plan to enslave Earth, and they kidnap Duke Nukem during the Oprah Winfrey Show in the city Neo LA (in GBC Nerola City), to use his brain to plot the attack for their forces.[9] Duke escapes from the cell and fights across the planet's surface and underground, where he first wants to destroy the city's energy reactor and then capture the fighter jet to return to Earth.
Development
editThe game uses VGA and EGA graphics and draws two backgrounds ("dual-parallax scrolling"). The game took almost two years to create.[10]
Reception
editAllgame gave Duke Nukem II 3 out of 5 stars for the original DOS version, and 4 out of 5 for the Game Boy Color version.
PC Zone gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | GBC: 73%[11] |
| Metacritic | IOS: 50/100[12] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| PC Zone |   [13] |
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2020) |
Notes
edit- ^ Game Boy Color version developed by Torus Games.
iOS version developed by Interceptor Entertainment.
Remastered version developed by Blaze Entertainment.
References
edit- ^ "3D Realms Site: History". 3D Realms.
- ^ "Duke Nukem". Chipsworld. Archived from the original on July 16, 2001. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
- ^ "3D Realms Site: Press Releases: Duke Color Gameboy Ships". www.3drealms.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Release: Duke Nukem 1+2". GOG.com. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ "Duke Nukem 1 and 2 now available for Mac on GOG.com". Engadget. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ McElroy, Griffin (3 April 2013). "Duke Nukem 2 launches on iOS today". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
- ^ "Changelog post #1". GOG.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
- ^ Davison, Pete (2023-11-28). "Evercade Game Spotlight: Duke Nukem 1+2 Remastered". Evercade. Retrieved 2023-12-09.
- ^ "Duke Nukem's Biography". 28 January 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013.
- ^ Scott Miller - Bio-Menace Readme text file
- ^ "Duke Nukem for Game Boy Color". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
- ^ "Duke Nukem 2". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
- ^ Burgess, Mark (March 1994). "PC Zone Review - Duke Nukem II". PC Zone. No. 12. Future plc. p. 130.
External links
edit- Duke Nukem II website Archived 2022-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
- Duke Nukem II at MobyGames
- Duke Nukem (GBC) at MobyGames