GateWorld similarities with Commander Keen/Cosmo

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Roobar
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GateWorld similarities with Commander Keen/Cosmo

Post by Roobar »

I don't know if anyone has ever heard of this game (I for sure wasn't) or if it was discussed before, but today I found this game by accident and I tried it. I found it to have some similarities to Commander Keen and some apogee games in general.



Similarities:
1. Smooth sidescrolling. Although the perspective isn't 2.5 as Keen and looks more like Cosmo, the scrolling effect is smoother than Cosmo and more like Keen.
2. The in-game menu similar to many of the apogee ones, i.e. with ordering info, recorded gameplay demos, previews, configuration, f1 for help etc.
3. Similarly Keen looking gun. It's a blue one, but still.
4. Although the main hero is known as Captain Buzz Klondike, in the story he was mentioned many times also as Commander. So the similarity here is obvious Commander Buzz - Commander Billy.
5. Billy and Buzz both travel through space with their own spaceships. The differences between Billy and Buzz though are their motives. For the Buzz it is the gold.
6. There is a bouncing ball very similar to the one in Keen 4! You can actually jump on it and use it to jump to higher places.
7. Foreground tiles that hides one-ups and other goodies.
8. Collecting 100 coins (instead of rain drops, vitals etc) for 1 up.
9. Wise mans (somewhat similar to oracles in keen 4).

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Because the game was releases in 1993, I think it was inspired by Keen and similar games such as Duke Nukem, Cosmo and Bio Menace.

Also, this one might be the game I've been looking for many, many years and wasn't able to find out which one it is!!! There was a screenshot in one of the magazines back in 1993-1994 with a question of what is the game. And now, I believe the above screenshot is the one in that magazine back then!!!!! And it appears to be the preview of GateWorld. The screenshot looks cool, but only if I knew back then what a crap game it is... Ah, another mystery solved!
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Post by DaVince »

The differences between Billy and Buzz though are their motives. For the Buzz it is the gold.
This, and the game's style, kind of remind me of Crystal Caves. As in, the guy is in it for the crystals.
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Post by tulip »

The difference between Keen and this game is, that I played it and I completely forgot about it.
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Roobar
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Post by Roobar »

It's true. But maybe the 2nd and 3rd episodes are a bit better.
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Post by Scarlet »

The graffics of this came look much worse than those of keen.
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Post by Lumpytoast »

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how the HUDs in GateWorld and Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure look similar.

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Post by Genius314 »

The bar at the bottom looks-arghhh ninja'd by lumpytoast.

That first screen looks like it came right out of Duke II.

The ship flying looks like a similar scene in the story from Cosmo.

Please tell me that third screen is just a promotional mockup, and not an actual level. It's a complete mess! And... is that a hooker in the bottom-right corner??
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Post by VikingBoyBilly »

I agree with everything said here. The character looks like another cut-and-paste of the crystal caves/secret agent/duke nukem cookie cutter, graphics definately aren't far off from those games even for being limited by EGA palette, and if this weren't released in 1993 I'd say they stole the name from Buzz Lightyear :p
But I guess Buzz, Zap, Flash, and other 'sparkly' words are all common names for space-hero stereotypes.
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Post by DHeadshot »

VikingBoyBilly wrote:I agree with everything said here. The character looks like another cut-and-paste of the crystal caves/secret agent/duke nukem cookie cutter, graphics definately aren't far off from those games even for being limited by EGA palette, and if this weren't released in 1993 I'd say they stole the name from Buzz Lightyear :p
But I guess Buzz, Zap, Flash, and other 'sparkly' words are all common names for space-hero stereotypes.
I thought it was DN when I first opened the topic, before reading the text - it is very similar!

Oh and VBB - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin
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Post by Roobar »

Lumpytoast wrote:I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how the HUDs in GateWorld and Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure look similar.]
I didn't have the time to look up for Cosmo's screenhsots, but I was sure there are some similarities with it too. But these kind of HUD's for these kind of games were pretty standard ones back then.
Genius314 wrote:Please tell me that third screen is just a promotional mockup, and not an actual level. It's a complete mess! And... is that a hooker in the bottom-right corner??
I've downloaded episode 2 and I can assure you it's a mockup. Just a promotion in episode 1. But I think episode 2 looks much better with this jungle motive than episode 1. And the level design is a bit better too. But that doesn't save the game from being boring, unpleasurable and unplayable.

And about the hookers... Actually yes, this is one of the funniest aspects of episode 2. They run towards you and when they bump into you, they die :D. They're kind of an alien suicidal hookers :crazy . What were they thinking?
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Post by Lumpytoast »

I downloaded this game not too long ago, and I must say, the worst aspect of it is the music. It is HORRENDOUS.
But I do like how your head goes up in smoke when you get killed. :p
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Post by RoboBlue »

I used to love this game, but today I can't get over the horrendous controls. :/
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Post by Levellass »

It seems many reviewers also agree, there is much of Keen in it.
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Post by Calvero »

Even the cheat codes are similar to the Keen ones with all the F10 + a letter cheats.

From The Apogee FAQ: Section [2.5]: Cancelled Projects:

Code: Select all

 Game                     Genre      Date     Comments/Reason For Cancellation
 ----                     -----      ----     --------------------------------
 Gateworld                           1991-2   Poor quality; later released by
                                              HomeBrew Software.

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Post by RoboBlue »

For some reason only the items cheat works for me. :(
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