Commander Keen Complete Pack (GOG)

A homemade rocket, a football helmet, and an eight-year-old super-genius are enough to launch one of PC gaming’s most influential platforming series. Commander Keen Complete Pack collects Billy Blaze’s first five spacefaring episodes, from his escape across Mars in Invasion of the Vorticons to the stranger, more colorful worlds of Goodbye Galaxy. The tone is cheerfully pulp-science-fiction, packed with alien castles, dangerous machinery, oddball creatures, and the kind of Saturday-morning imagination that makes every screen feel like a child genius’s dream project. Beneath its cartoon exterior, though, Keen remains a demanding old-school platformer with real teeth.

Players guide Keen through compact 2D stages, searching for keycards, navigating vertical routes, avoiding traps, and reaching each level’s exit while collecting treasures along the way. His signature pogo stick turns movement into the central skill: it lets him clear hazards, bounce to hidden ledges, and maintain momentum through enemy-filled rooms, while the neural stunner temporarily disables many threats. The earlier Vorticons episodes lean into sparse visuals, maze-like level layouts, and unforgiving jumps, whereas the Goodbye Galaxy pair adds smoother presentation, richer scenery, more imaginative enemies, and more elaborate stage design. Exploration matters as much as reflexes, since optional items, secrets, and alternate paths reward players willing to poke around rather than sprint for the goal.

What makes the collection valuable is seeing id Software’s platforming craft evolve in real time, years before the studio becomes synonymous with Doom and Quake. Keen’s responsive movement and screen-by-screen problem solving feel closer to the exploratory challenge of early Mega Man, while its quirky humor and pogo-based traversal give it a personality no console mascot quite matches. Expect occasional rough edges typical of early-1990s PC design, including punishing hazards and limited forgiveness, but the episodes remain charming precisely because they ask players to learn their layouts. It suits retro-platformer veterans best, yet newcomers with patience will find an essential, surprisingly playful piece of PC history.