Jeux Vidéo Duke Nukem 1 et 2 (1991) et 1993) de 3D Realms (USA)

FLPLOUZANE TV

05/07/2025

Jeux Vidéo Duke Nukem 1 et 2

Historique et Descriptif des Jeux Vidéo
Duke Nukem 1
Le Dr Proton, un brillant scientifique, travaille sur une nouvelle génération de robots : les techbots. Après un accident, il est gravement irradié et devient fou. Il fabrique alors sa propre armée cybernétique et se met en tête de conquérir le monde.
La CIA engage le héros, Duke Nukem, pour l'arrêter. Largué au-dessus des ruines d'une grande ville ravagée par l'armée de Proton, il tente de se frayer un chemin. Le jeu est ainsi divisé en 3 épisodes de 10 niveaux chacun :
Shrapnel City : Duke progresse dans les ruines de la ville, à la recherche de l'usine secrète de Proton.
Mission: Moonbase : Proton s'est réfugié dans sa base lunaire.
Trapped in the future! : Après une nouvelle défaite, Proton décide de voyager dans le futur pour construire des techbots plus puissants.
Pour son époque, Duke Nukem est un jeu de plate-forme réussi, proposant de nombreux environnements, de très bon graphismes (toujours pour l'époque) et de l'action en permanence. Les thèmes, le style des dialogues et le type de personnage rappelle les BD américaines de science-fiction des années 1970, qui ont probablement dû baigner l'enfance des concepteurs…
Duke Nukem 2
Duke Nukem II est un jeu de plate-forme sorti en 1993 et publié par Apogee Software. Il est le deuxième volet de la saga des Duke Nukem.De mauvais extra-terrestres décident de réduire l'humanité à l'esclavage. Ils capturent alors Duke Nukem, durant une interview sur sa récente autobiographie Why I'm so Great (« Pourquoi je suis si formidable »), afin d'utiliser son cerveau pour accroître leur pouvoir. Duke parvient à s'échapper et se lance dans une nouvelle quête de sauvetage du monde.
L'histoire du jeu a été reprise trait pour trait (excepté quelques noms) dans la version de Duke Nukem adaptée sur Game Boy Color en 1997.

Duke Nukem 1 et 2 Site officiel : https://www.jeuxvideo.com/forums/1-2559-8654974-1-0-1-0-duke-nukem-1-et-2-abandonwares.htm

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Jeux vidéo

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00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada

00:30games each. Duke Nukem 1 and 2, Duke 3D Total Meltdown, Duke Nukem Advance, Land of the Babes,

00:38and Time to Kill. Alongside a special $150 Evercade vs. Console, the Atomic Edition.

00:46And while that was limited to 2,000 units and quickly sold out, the games remain in stock

00:52and work across the full Evercade range of systems. Which, I'll be honest, before now

00:58I had near zero interest in whatsoever, but if you release exclusive Duke Nukem games

01:04for a system, I don't care how niche it is, I'll buy one. The Tapwave Zodiac is a testament

01:10to that. I'm doubly interested when what's offered are new versions of two of my favorite

01:15childhood DOS games, Duke Nukem 1 and 2. Fully remade with new engines and widescreen gameplay.

01:22Yeah, these aren't just emulators running old MS-DOS software, these are 2023 overhauls

01:29using reverse engineered code and new assets, complete recreations of the titles with modern

01:35features. Impressive stuff, but the other titles here are notable in their own right and have

01:40never been ported beyond their respective platforms. Until now.

01:45But full disclosure here, this is a project I've personally worked on. Worked, in quotation

01:51marks there. I'm not employed by Blaze and wasn't paid for my involvement, nor are they

01:56requesting I make this video. I'm doing that because I'm a Duke fan and would've done

02:00it anyway, but yeah. Since June of 2023 we've had a friendly collaboration, where I'm not

02:07working for them but with them to fine-tune a few things on the DOS platformers Duke 1 and 2.

02:13Like particulars of sound playback and PC speaker characteristics, I was really particular about

02:18how certain sounds sound. As well as giving feedback on UI elements and general gameplay.

02:25Nothing major, they just ran pre-production builds past me and I told them what I thought.

02:30All that to say, if you see me credited as the resident Duke expert in the game, well that's

02:34what that's about.

02:36But what are we waiting for, Christmas? Let's get to the action already. And that begins with

02:41the Evercade itself, of which I have two here. The Atomic Edition VS Console, which I purchased

02:48myself, and the Evercade EXP Portable, sent to me by the company to test the games pre-release.

02:55Each system accepts the same cartridges and plays games using the same hardware, though

03:00I've mostly been playing using the Portable since I enjoy the novelty of DOS games on the

03:04go, but either way the experience is the same.

03:08As for the games, they come in the standard Evercade plastic clamshell cases with nicely

03:13made art inserts and a little cartridge nestled inside.

03:17And a proper full-color instruction booklet, bringing back the kind of bathroom reading

03:21material you see less and less these days, filled with colorful illustrations, useful info,

03:27and gameplay tidbits.

03:28There's even a little section going over the genesis of the project, which, yeah.

03:33Niko, aka Lethal Guitar, programmed his own open-source re-implementation of Duke Nukem

03:382 called Rigel Engine a couple years back, something I covered on LGR Blurbs.

03:44And through that video, Blaze's Chief Technical Officer Ryan learned of the project and began

03:49collaboration talks with Niko, with work beginning in January of 23.

03:54A refreshing series of events indeed, I love seeing passion projects turn into official

03:59paid gigs.

04:01Also refreshing is having no installation, no downloading patches, or waiting for updates

04:07here.

04:08Just plug in a cart and start it up, which kicks things off with a brief intro sequence.

04:13And from here you're greeted with the Game Selection menu featuring key art made by a real human

04:36artist, Victor Garcia to be specific.

04:40Once you've chosen a title, you're given the option to start a new game, choose a

04:43season episode, or view stats.

04:46So let's start at the beginning with Duke Nukem 1 here, which provides a brief story

04:51overview in text form, followed by the usual Dr. Proton and Duke Nukem banter from the DOS

04:56game, just with an updated color palette.

05:13And right off the bat this is both familiar and intriguingly fresh as a lifelong fan.

05:23Duke Nukem 1 was one of the first games I remember playing as a kid, one of those my Uncle Mark

05:27gave me to install on our then-new Packard Bell 486 PC, and yeah, it's Duke Nukem alright.

05:35Jump, shoot, move left and right, taking out robots and Energizer bunnies while collecting

05:41key cards and balloons, footballs and floppy disks.

05:45It's all the silliness of the classic game with a fresh slathering of pixelated paint,

05:50made apparent by pressing select and swapping between the remastered and original presentation

05:55on the fly.

05:57Yeah, it's hard to describe how big a smile this provided when I first played it.

06:02It's simply the kind of re-release I never thought I'd see.

06:06The source code for Duke 1 and 2 were lost decades ago, so I always assumed there was

06:11zero chance we'd ever get a modern version, much less an enhancement.

06:15And if you're not sold on the full facelift, peruse the options to customize things further.

06:22Modern and retro features can be toggled on and off to mix-and-match styles.

06:26With everything from the 60fps smooth scrolling, to the widescreen view, to the HUD and color

06:32palette.

06:33My own preferred mix is having widescreen but with the classic HUD, while keeping the

06:38smooth scrolling and whatnot.

06:40And disabling the sound filter, it's one of the things I personally vouched for including

06:45since it makes the sound a bit brighter and crunchier.

06:48At least that was the goal.

06:50On a related note, there's now music in Duke Nukem 1.

07:05The original never had any, so Blaze hired the talented James Paddock, who composed the

07:11era-appropriate FM synth music for the Secret Agent HD remake, along with scoring things like

07:17Proteus and Sigil.

07:19Many of these tunes are original compositions, but several are covers of Lee Jackson's

07:24tracks from Duke 3D.

07:25And it's all lovely stuff, like an ad-lib soundtrack the game never had, but deserved.

07:31The original music is made.

07:32The original music is made.

07:33The original music is made.

07:34The original music is made.

07:36The original music is made.

07:37The original music is made.

07:38The original music is made.

07:39The original music is made.

07:40The original music is made.

07:41The original music is made.

07:42The original music is made.

07:43The original music is made.

07:44The original music is made.

07:45The original music is made.

07:46The original music is made.

07:47The original music is made.

07:48The original music is made.

07:49The original music is made.

07:50The original music is made.

07:51The original music is made.

07:52The original music is made.

07:53The original music is made.

07:54The original music is made.

07:55The original music is made.

07:56The original music is made.

07:57The original music is made.

07:58Et en addition to the colors added to the original's EGA palette to correct things

08:25like Duke's skin tone and tank top, there are enhancements to the backgrounds with added

08:29parallax and extended pixel art.

08:32And some minor changes to certain items, like the soda cans which are now beer cans, apparently

08:37because the old sprites were a bit too close to Coca-Cola, plus Duke and beer are kind of

08:42a natural fit.

08:44Otherwise yeah, it's the full registered version of Duke from 1991 and I had zero problems

08:50playing through it here.

08:53Same with Duke Nukem 2, as expected, seeing as I was already super impressed with Nikko's

08:58Rigel Engine project on PC.

09:01That work continues here on the Evercade with the same welcome enhancements like smoother

09:05scrolling and widescreen gameplay.

09:08The latter of which really helps with playability since the original in 4x3 is pretty cramped

09:13due to the larger sprites.

09:15It also has the optional modern HUD, which does look nice and I quite like the enhanced radar

09:20it offers, but again I'm partial to the old DOS interface and prefer using the widescreen

09:25enhanced version of that.

09:28Unfortunately though, there's a huge drawback here and that is the music, or lack thereof.

09:35It uses the same new tracks included in Duke 1 and none of Bobby Prince's work from the

09:40original Duke 2.

09:41Again, I like those new tracks on their own, but removing the old ones here changes the

09:46whole vibe of the game.

09:47The reason for this is twofold.

10:05One, there's been a bit of a thing with Bobby Prince's music being used in newer Duke releases

10:10where it got financially and legally messy between rights holders.

10:15And too, many of the old tracks were effectively unauthorized covers of songs by Metallica,

10:20Pantera, and the like.

10:21So yeah, just a licensing minefield, and I get why it was changed, but I don't have

10:25to be happy about it, and I'm not.

10:29That said, this is still a great port.

10:30With those Rigel Engine enhancements, it really makes the game that much more pleasant to play.

10:35And I'm simply gobsmacked to see this and Duke 1 being re-released at all, 30 years

10:41later.

10:42The third and final title from Collection 1 is Duke Nukem 3D Total Meltdown.

10:48Which, yep, used to just be called Total Meltdown back in the day, but now has 3D snuck in

10:53there to bring it closer to the better-known Duke Nukem 3D on PC.

10:57Make no mistake though, this is not the 1996 DOS game, but the PlayStation-exclusive conversion

11:04from 1997.

11:06And there are pluses and minuses that result.

11:09On the plus side, hey it's Duke Nukem 3D, love to see it.

11:13The original three episodes are here and played just as they did on the PlayStation.

11:17And the remixed CD audio soundtrack and exclusive fourth episode, Plug and Pray, are included

11:23as well.

11:25That said though, it's still the PlayStation game, with its unstable frame rate, constant

11:31slowdown issues, lower resolution, and lack of any Atomic Edition content.

11:36I asked why they included this instead of the PC game, especially since there are excellent

11:41source ports available.

11:43But it turns out it's those same source ports that proved tricky to license across all involved

11:48parties.

11:49Particularly with this being a Linux-based console, it seems.

11:53Man, Alien Bastards were bad enough, but Duke Nukem's most formidable challenge turns

11:58out to be lawyers in legal terms.

12:00Anyway, the second cartridge contains three more console ports.

12:04And we'll start with Duke Nukem Advance.

12:07A game I've been vocally critical of in the past, calling it technically impressive but

12:12clunky to play, with sterile and confusing level design.

12:16And I mean, I'd still sorta think that, but perhaps I was a bit harsh, cuz it's really

12:21not that bad.

12:22Considering this was a handheld title from 2002, I think the original devs did a fantastic

12:27job making it feel as much like Duke 3D as possible, while simplifying things enough

12:32to ensure it plays decently on a small screen.

12:36Playing on a portable Evercade really drives that home, I had more fun with this than I thought

12:40I would.

12:41Although, yeah, it's rather eye-melting to look at on a big modern display.

12:46But whatever, now that I've given this one another shot, I see that the gameplay itself

12:50is actually pretty solid for what it is, and I'm glad it's here.

12:54Next on this cartridge is Duke Nukem Time to Kill, a third-person action platformer from

12:591998 with a clear Tomb Raider inspiration going on.

13:04Ever since I first played this on a PlayStation demo disc back when it was new, I found it oddly

13:09enjoyable, despite its slower pace and somewhat clunky controls.

13:14Much like Laura, once you get used to the quirks of handling Duke here, it's rewarding to

13:19learn exactly how to move in order to complete puzzles and annihilate aliens while taking

13:24minimal damage.

13:25Your first playthrough is certainly a slog, but revisiting it is where it tends to come

13:30alive for me, especially the world itself and the time-traveling level design, which

13:34I find unusually charming.

13:37As for what's changed for this port, well as with Total Meltdown it's not a lot, other

13:42than modified UI elements to show Evercade buttons instead of PS1 controls.

13:47And the intro video has had its music changed, again being a licensing issue, this time with

13:53the record label for Stabbing Westward.

13:56And last, but probably least, is Duke Nukem Land of the Babes, which I always forget came

14:02out two years after Time to Kill, since it feels like a step backwards.

14:08No fault of the Evercade port of course, it was a lackluster game back in the day and that's

14:13even clearer 23 years later.

14:16It plays as fine as it ever did, a bit more streamlined than Time to Kill actually.

14:21And it's undoubtedly nice to have from the standpoint of preservation and completeness.

14:26And the extra cheesy in-game cutscenes still provide a chuckle here and there.

14:31But the story and the world and the aliens never grabbed me, it's easily my least played

14:36across this entire collection.

14:39And that's fine, there's still plenty of enjoyment to be had from the rest of the series.

14:45And that about sums up the first two Duke Nukem Evercade collections.

14:49And in my highly biased opinion, I think these are fantastic ports and updates.

14:55Despite the unfortunate issues with music licensing, I'm utterly stoked to see all these

15:00Duke games finally get re-released, even though they are restricted to the Evercade platform.

15:08And I already know the top comments below this video are gonna be like, if only they weren't

15:12exclusives, I'd buy these if they were on PC, or the Switch, or Xbox, or PS5, or literally

15:18anything else.

15:19Yeah, I hear that.

15:22It was one of the very first things I brought up when I started talking to them about the

15:26project.

15:27And all I can say is that the folks at Blaze are very much aware of that demand.

15:33For now though, it's a real treat to see these specific and often underappreciated titles

15:38get updated and re-released on physical media in 2023.

15:43Especially since multiple Duke games have been delisted over the years, no chance of that

15:48happening with cartridges.

15:50About the only games quote-unquote missing are Duke Nukem 64 and Zero Hour.

15:55But there aren't any Nintendo 64 Evercade ports yet, and I don't even know if it's

15:59feasible on the current hardware, but I hope it happens someday.

16:04Perhaps alongside Duke Nukem for the Game Boy Color, too, if I'm being greedy.

16:08Who knows what the future may bring for the Evercade, and Duke Nukem in general.

16:13I for one have hope for both.

16:15Now that I've seen the care and respect these ports received leading up to their release,

16:20it's a good time to be a fan of the Duke.

16:28And hey, if you've played these yourself or have any thoughts on the Evercade in general,

16:33plop down some comments.

16:35Or stick around for more LGR things always in the works.

16:39Christmas is just around the corner after all.

16:41And as always, thanks for watching!

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