StupidBunny wrote:......The flower power grenade-style attack is a cool idea, but unfortunately I think it compounds that limiting feeling that the other factors have. All in all, I think my biggest gripe with Dreams is that Keen just doesn't feel as powerful as he does in the other games......
Considering how the story was set up, it makes perfect sense that Keen is less powerful here then in the other games. He is trapped in a dream sequence under someone else's control, just like when Freddy Krueger attacked and killed people in dreams. He said it best in one movie, "Might be your dream, but it's MY RULES!!!" The same thing applies here. However, I am sure the story was just a contrivance to take away Keen's stunner and pogo. I will admit I was not too fond of the flower power at first, but I kind of like the idea of the designers trying to do something different. I am sure most of the ideas implemented in Keen Dreams was just a one-off thing. It was not intended to be the new standard in future Keen games.
DaVince wrote:......Some disappointing level design. Heck, one of the levels is simply a screen with two immediate exits and a secret area in the water!
- Lack of point to some levels, once I actually knew what to do......
The level design is crap in some levels, not to mention 4 levels never even done at all. I will go into detail a little later by doing a level-by-level comparison of the Keen Dreams levels.
DHeadshot wrote:......The most disappointing Keen game is the buggy horror that is Keen 3.
Bugs aside, Keen 3 only had 3 problems:
1) Poor level design in two levels:
Hal's Kitchen and
Caves of Oblivion. There is nothing wrong with having an area or two of a level unreachable, but that was definitely abused in these two levels. In
Hal's Kitchen 75% to 90% of the level is unreachable. What is the point of creating a level that is practically unplayable? In
Caves of Oblivion 25% of the path to the exit is unreachable and the exit itself is unreachable. The solution? Just go over the top of the mountain and head for the other exit. "The impossible Caves of Oblivion"???? The pathetic irony there it is the easiest to reach the exit, even easier than the very 1st level. Talk about poor level design.
2) The Anhks: As cool as they are they are used rather poorly and so scarcely in Keen 3. If you would like to see the Anhks used to their full potential download Mr. Black's Keen 3 Levelpack. It definitely puts most of Keen 3 to shame.
3) Only two levels are required to complete the game: a blocker level and the final level. The player has to choose 1-2 other selective blocker levels in order to complete the game, but basically the player can skip most of the game. Granted it is the player robbing themselves of fun by skipping most of the game, but still, the worldmap should have been designed a little better so more levels were required.
VikingBoyBilly wrote:people think keen dreams is 'sub-par'? I think I said this before, but the only thing that needs to be changed is adding a way to go back to a level if you fail to get the boobus bombs......
There are 24 Boobus Bombs available in Keen Dreams.
The Melon Mines, Rhubarb Rapids, Grape Grove, and
Squash Swamp each have 3 bombs.
Spud City and
Apple Acres each have 6 bombs. Only 12 bombs are required to destroy King Boobus Tuber. If you happen to miss getting them in one level you can always go to another. Boobus Bombs are not that scarce.
Stealthy71088 wrote:......Enemies were cleverer- Some of them were good, but they felt almost a bit too rigid in general. One of the neat things about galaxy enemies is that a lot of them have more of a random nature to their movement, and some of them aren't confined to the ground......
There were quite a few Keen Dreams enemies not confined to the ground. The Apples went up and down ropes. Tomatooths bounce at Keen making them hard to turn into flowers, Squash fly into the air to "squash Keen'. Pea Pods shoot out the Pea Brains.
Difficulty- Hard mode is easy mode! The only difference between the two is lack of ammo, but when playing there's a good chance you won't notice the difference. I think enemy placement should have changed.
There is the same amount of ammo in all three difficulties. The only difference is the enemies stay flowers for a lesser period of time possibly causing the player to use more flower power. Enemy placement does not change in the galaxy games. They just add more enemies.
Ceilick wrote:Keen Dreams was made in the time of two months, and considering that the game can probably be seen as impressive in some sense. But there is definite room for improvement. My complaints with Keen Dreams are the following:
1. The physics. Keen's jump in Keen Dreams works differently than in Keens 1-6; when he bumps his head, he drops immediately. This feature is a mild annoyance in the levels as they exist, but is very restricting to level design.
Keen's jump does suck in this game. Two points of example:
1) In
The Melon Mines the level is designed so if you go too far down you cannot get back up. There is a free Keen on the left side of the chasm. There is an easy way to get it, but if you go that way, it is impossible to go back up and get the magic eyeball. If you grab the magic eyeball it is impossible to use the easy path to get the free Keen I just mentioned.
But there is another way! You can go up to a higher platform and jump down to the edge where that free Keen is. In vorticons and galaxy this jump would be easy because pushing your arrow keys left or right in midair will allow Keen to drift in that direction making him land directly on the ledge. However, this jump is very difficult in Keen Dreams. There is no drift. When you jump, you only have a split-second moment to hit the arrow key to land on the ledge. If your timing is not perfect Keen just falls straight down. This applies to secret areas hidden next to poles and also applies to another brutal jump:
2) In
Apple Acres the same type of jump is required in order to make it down to the lower left of the level were there is a mine cart, a free Keen and 3 Boobus Bombs. The only way to get down there is to jump down there off a pole. Only this time you are above a chasm, so if you fall or miss the jump Keen dies. Again, as I stated in the above paragraph, there is no drift. At a split-second moment you have to hit your arrow key to the left. If your timing is not perfect, Keen will fall straight down to his death.
Keen GBC is...well its very different. How could Keen GBC have been improved?
*The Story: It's decent, I'd say it's comparable to the story in Keen Dreams and the stories in many mods, but it's just not as exciting as it could be. In addition, the way Mortimer is used in the story is just dumb; if they never mentioned him it wouldn't change the story whatsoever.
*Faithfulness to Keen Lore. As Stealthy mentions, there are so many instances where Keen GBC rewrites what we learned about the Keen universe. Whether this was done intentionally or not, it'd be a huge improvement if Keen GBC had gotten the facts straight.
Mortimer used in Keen GBC is completely dumb. In the official Keen games he is responsible for everything that is happening, but in GBC, he is just being mentioned just for the sake of mentioning him. Either make his presence relevant to the story or do not include him at all. As far as the phenominal incosistencies in GBC and official Keen canon, that is unacceptable. If you are going to create a game, at least do some basic research on the game. It is obvious that the people who created this abomination know little to nothing about Commander Keen.
A bit more controversial, but I'm going to say I think Keen 6 is also sub-par compared to the other episodes.
I am afraid I have to disagree with Ceilick here. Keen 6 is my least favorite of the three galaxy games, but I would not consider it sub-par. I do agree that level design does seem a little odd is a few levels here and there, but for the most part, I believe it is still a good game. I do like
Aliens Ate My Babysitter... Again better than the original Keen 6.
MOM4Evr wrote:I have to agree with Ceilick on Keen 6. It doesn't quite feel like a legit Keen game to me. The music is great and all that, but the lack of story just made it not feel right to me. I don't quite like the enemies as much as other Keen games, either. The mechanics for accessing different areas were cheap takeoffs on Keen4, too. Needing a rope, sandwich, and keycard just felt like ripoffs from Keen4 needing a swimsuit. It feels fine in Keen4 but not here. I don't know why.
Again, I disagree. The story for Keen 6 was not any worse than the stories for any of the other games. When you take the Keen series as a whole (including 7-9) it seems that most of Keen's adventures were distraction techniques set up by Mortimer. Why just blow up the earth or the Milky Way if your intention is to blow up the entire universe? Why enslave the Vorticons and Krodacians, then make pacts with the Shikadi and Bloogs, if you intend on exterminating them all anyway? Toasting the universe was Mortimer's plan all along. All the other stuff was to keep Keen out of his way (either by distraction and/or killing him.) Even having the Bloogs kidnap his own sister was nothing more than to distract Keen.
As for the rope and grapping hook, Stupendous Sandwich of Chungella IV and the Bloogstar Rocket passcard, yes, I am sure the idea came from Keen 4. But what is wrong with taking an idea from one game and taking that idea a step further in a differnent game? I liked this idea.
Back to Mortimer, something about him always puzzled me. What I had always believed (and was confirmed in Keen 9) that despite only being one point lower in IQ, Mortimer thinks Keen is just as stupid and deserves to die just like everyone else. It is obvious Mort wants Keen dead, but I find it interesting that he never tries to kill Keen himself, at least not directly. Mortimer attempts to have the Vorticons, his Mangling Machine, Shikadi, Bloogs, Krodacians, and whoever is inhabiting Calidune kill Keen for him but he will not do it himself. Even in
The Warpcore in Keen 9, I do not think Mortimer even expected Keen to make it there and have to face him 1-on-1. Why is this? Is it because Mort feels Keen isn't worth his time? Is it because deep down Mort knows there is a slim possible Keen could defeat him? Or is it because Mort not only possesses the biggest brain in the universe, but is also the biggest coward in the universe? Who knows what Mortimer's motivations are in this regard.
So here is my analysis for Keen Dreams:
0. Land of Tuberia: The world map is cool. But I do have to agree with others than Keen moves way too slow to go from one area to another. Plus who could not like the trees that wave to Keen?!?!
1. Horsradish Hill: Kind of an empty level, but it is the first level after all. First levels can be simple. Basically it is just an introductory level to give the player a small taste of what to expect in the rest of the game, so the simplicity and emptiness can be forgiven this one time.
2. The Melon Mines: This would be a good level if not for the aforementioned "I've fallen down and get go back up" poor level design. Plus it is only one of two levels the contain mine carts. I certainly wish they would appear more often in the game. This is also one of two levels that contains the magic eyeball.
3. Bridge Bottoms: Other than the secret area under the water this level is empty and useless. Again, once you fall you cannot go back up. At least there are two free Keens in the level.
4. Rhubarb Rapids: Again mostly empty, but it does contain some structures at the left of the level that could be possible buildings.
5. Parsnip Pass: Again mostly empty, more empty than
Rhubarb Rapids but less empty than
Bridge Bottoms. Other then two free Keens, and the Pink Owl whose head you can stand on, this level has nothing to offer.
6, 8, 11, 13: No levels. There is only a placeholder here and even then most of the points are unreachable! This was incredibly stupid. Why even bother?
7. Spud City: I actually like this level for the most part. It does have its problems. As Celick mentioned the hidden areas and secret passages were kind of a mess. Most of them were only accessible via hidden poles. Even then it was still hard to access some areas due to the KD's jump dynamics mentioned earlier in this post. The level is called Spud City, but there is only one mediocre structure and the rest of the top is platforms to jump to and from. There is a lot of wasted space at the top of this level.
This is one of the two levels that contain the magic eyeball, despite the fact it appears to be unreachable.
9. Apple Acres: I like this level for the most part as well, but the brutal jump I mentioned earlier in this post is not the most pleasant experience in the world.
10. Grape Grove: This level is okay but it is relatively small and short. Very little as far as points and other items can be found. At least it has Boobus Bombs.
12. Brussels Sprout Bay: Completely useless level if you ask me. Too short, too simple, too easy to get to the exit. Again, little to no points or items to obtain. This is most definitely an optional level in all ways.
14. Squash Swamp: just as empty and short as the last two levels. It does have Boobus Bombs and it is kind of interesting running through the grass and not having an easy time seeing what might be coming at you. It makes for interesting gameplay however brief.
15. Boobus' Chamber: I like boss levels, but this is way too easy. You can throw all your bombs at King Boobus Tuber before he gets anywhere near you. It would be better if the level could be designed so you have no choice but to dodge... bobbin' and weavin', weavin' and bobbin'!
16. Castle Tuberia: The only level I have no complaints about. I like this level. My favorite part of the level is when you go to the top of the castle to obtain extra points and two free Keens. The two free Keens seem unreachable but you can use the 'I' in ID as a pole and grab the extra lives. If anyone ever decides to redo Keen Dreams, please do not take this out. It is actually my favorite part of the game.
As for Keen GBC, I have never played. I have seen several YouTube videos of it and was not impressed at all. Plus I never had a GameBoy and never will!
Patrick
