Apogee, for me, will always hold fond memories. Indeed the
mere mention of the name elicits nostalgic visions of playing 2D
platform games, Mario kart clones, and early first person shooters
using my keyboard, and of DOS based commands to get games working.
Ah, who can forget the joyous days of command prompts, .exes,
sound-blasters, and autoexe.bats?).
Some people emit an audible groan (or whimper) when recollecting
the DOS days of yore. But I am filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling
inside. Even using the marvellous DOSBox today feels comforting. Like
revisiting your old room in your parent's home and finding a toy you
loved as a kid.
I never had any of the problems people seemingly had in those
days. Maybe I got lucky and had a magical PC that never went wrong,
but I always had games up and running in a jiffy. From my very first
forays into PC gaming, sneakily enjoyed in the school computer labs (as
they liked to call them back then) playing Sim City and the mind
blowing Wolfenstein 3D, I was hooked. I was unfortunately banned from
the computer labs for installing a bootleg Super Mario Bros Clone,
which became so popular that my warnings to be discreet went unheeded,
and eventually I was betrayed by an anonymous snitch.
My father took surprisingly little persuading to buy me a brand
spanking new 486 DX2/66. Maybe I played the educational card well.
Regardless of my bargaining tactics, the next thing I knew I had one,
smelling like only a new computer does, and was gob smacked to see it
had a CD-ROM drive! My tiny mind was blown like a cheap light bulb,
and in my haste to get it all set up, I didn't even notice the addtional CD-ROM
versions of Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld, Day of The Tentacle,
and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis my old man had also bought me. Yes, this was a very good
day indeed!
My father was less impressed when, mere weeks later, I asked for
an expensive RAM upgrade so I could play Rise of the Triads, but I
ended up getting this too. Wow, my dad sure was gullible back then,
or maybe he just loved me and was generous or something.. I don't
know.
So with this behemoth of PC gaming set-up I was now an official
recluse. School time would be spent eyeing up the clock, waiting for
home time so I could cycle home as fast as my chubby little legs
would carry me. Friends would come round and we would spend hours
mesmerised by the amazing 256 colour VGA graphics and full speech
audio tracks on the point and click adventures. Then DOOM arrived,
and my life was never the same again. But that is another story for
another day.
I will be taking a similar look-back at Epic MegaGames and other
DOS era developers at a later date, but for now I will be focusing on
Apogee Software. But before getting to the all important games that ruled
my DOS days, I will look briefly at the company's origins.
Apogee was started in 1987, way before I got my greasy
little mitts on a PC. They published their own games before branching
out and publishing other developer's creations. Their most famous
developer was, of course, Id Software. Id first found fame with their 2D
platforming series Command Keen, before getting the entire world's
attention with the ground breaking Wolfenstein 3D. Id’s DOOM was
actually an Apogee title for a short time, but the link was severed
and DOOM was published hereafter by Id themselves.
Apogee used the shareware model for shifting their games.
Instead of selling their games in retail outlets, as most of their
competitors were doing, they decided to distribute their software via
online bulletin boards, and by using word of mouth to spread news of
their 'free' games. The shareware version would consist of a sizeable
chunk of the game, much more than the demos / trials we get today.
Often a game would be split into episodes, with the first being free
to download as shareware. The rest would be unlocked by paying for a
code, which would allow you to download the full game, or a floppy
disk that would be sent via mail order.
Their early games such as Supernova, and Beyond The Titanic were
actually marketed in the 'pay what you want' format we know today. The game would be
completely free and Apogee's hopes of financial gain rested on how
honest / generous its customers were. Of course, this didn't really
work financially, so they moved on to the more commonly remembered
episodic shareware model. The first game to use this method was Kingdom of
Kroz, a business model that would continue on throughout the 1990s. This approach even
became known as the Apogee model.
Some of the games differed slightly in that you would get the
first episode free and then you could buy each additional episode
separately, this was later dropped but the legacy of this business
model can even be seen in today's games, with download services by
Sony and Microsoft now offering players the chance to buy games,
episode by episode, with no commitment to buy the following episodes. The biggest example of this today is The Walking Dead
game by TellTale Games.
Due to Apogee's success in this field, other publishing companies
began to use the shareware model too. Most notably Activision, Id
Software, and Epic MegaGames.
Apogee was eventually to become 3D Realms, famous for Duke
Nukem 3D and a whole host of other FPS titles. 3D Realms was
initially created in 1994 to house the brand new 3D blaster, Terminal
Velocity. It would act as a sister label to Apogee, so the output
could be spread between them.
But due to the nature of the games
industry at the time, where 2D games were becoming old hat and 3D
games were seen as the way forward, Apogee itself became surplus to
requirements, and dissolved into 3D Realms.
The final game to be
released under the Apogee name was 1996's Stargunner, a fairly
mediocre side scrolling space shoot-em-up.
The Apogee name is now back though. With a website showcasing a
trailer for their new HD update of Rise of the Triad, and some of
their back catalogue available to purchase. It would appear Apogee is
not dead and buried after all.
Hopefully all this talk of the DOS era has whet your appetite for the
games themselves (that is what everyone is here for, after all). So I
bring you a selection of my personal favourite Apogee titles as well as some of the most important, and
hopefully it will bring back nostalgic memories, and encourage you to
try them again via the excellent DOSBox emulator.
The Games:
Hocus Pocus (1994)
A lovely side scrolling
platformer in which you play a young wizard apprentice named Hocus.
You are sent on a mission by The Council Of Wizards, and
must prove your worth by traversing 36 colourful levels filled with
cute, but deadly enemies. You are not unarmed though, luckily Hocus can fire
lightning bolts from his fingertips. The goal of each level is to
collect all the magical orbs, which in turn, opens the exit. Along
the way you will find a gratuitous amount of treasures to collect, many in hidden areas
you access by touching certain key points in the level. It is great fun to play, and
the score system and hidden treasures give it added depth and
re-playability.
Bio Menace (1993)
A more action, and violence, orientated
platformer. Bio Menace has you controlling a guy
called Snake, who looks alarmingly like a 70's porn star complete
with large 'tash. Fortunately he is armed with a big weapon (no
sniggering at the back please) to fend off the various mutants that
have taken over the city. Sure, the idea is basically stolen
wholesale from Escape from New York and other 80's movies, but the
game is good fun to play. Collecting keys and blasting the mutant
invaders is satisfying, and there are plenty of secret rooms to find
to reward the player with extra weaponry and loot.
The game was released by Apogee as
freeware in 2005, and can be found online.
Alien Carnage (Also known as Halloween Harry) (1993)
Very similar in
style to Bio Menace, but much improved. This time around you must
blast the alien invaders, while saving hostages. This is made easier by
having a jet pack rather than jumping, with it you can fly around the action packed levels with ease (much like the jet pack in the outstanding XBLA version of Spelunky). Harry
is armed with a flame thrower, which is always nice, who out there doesn't enjoy engulfing enemies in flames?), and can find
other weapons along the way. You collect coins from vanquished foes
in order to use vending machines to buy health and ammo, and your
game can be saved using in-game terminals.
This is also now
freeware, and should be high on your list of DOS games to play..
Wacky Wheels (1994)
A unashamed rip
off.. sorry, I mean 'clone', of Super Mario Kart. This game comes with
some controversy as the original authors sent out a demo to a small publisher called Copysoft.
They rejected the game but Apogee snapped it up. Just before
Wacky Wheels hit the stores Copysoft released a near identical game
called Skunny Kart, which used the code from the demo sent to them by the
developers. Copysoft were accused of copyright infringement, but no
legal action was ever taken.
This is all pretty
irrelevant though as Wacky Wheels is the superior game, and a
fantastic kart game to boot. Its cast of zoo animal characters are colourful and cute, and the tracks are well designed and fun to play.
Instead of the Mario Kart's shells, Wacky Wheels uses little hedgehogs as
the primary missile of choice. The little critters hang around the
tracks and can be collected by your driver to unleash upon his / her opponents. Even though I had Super Mario Kart at the time, I still enjoyed this a great deal. It still remains shareware but I recommend you hunt it down.
Raptor : Call of the Shadows (1994)
A vertical
scrolling shoot-em-up, much in the same vein as Raiden. The storyline
is, of course, irrelevant. What matters is the game play, and Raptor
was a solid shoot-em-up experience, replicating the thrills of the
arcade on your humble PC. It was well received on release,
and it is easy to see why. The game plays well and offers a stiff
challenge. It lacks the upgrades and land based obstacles of other,
more exciting, shmups. But for its time, and the platform it was on,
it is a very polished effort.
There was a Windows version released in 1999, and it is primarily the same, but
for a few control issues that ruin the experience. I recommend you
stick to the DOS original. There is also a 2010 version available on
Good Old Games (gog.com) that is optimised to run on modern PCs.
The Commander Keen series (1990 -1991)
I could never keep track of the
chronological order of the Keen games in their heyday. The first one
I ever played was Keen Dreams which, it turns out, is actually the
fourth game in the series. The previous 3 episodes of Commander
Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons
are all considered entries in the whole Keen universe, bringing the
total to 8 (including the final Keen game on the Gameboy Colour, released in 2001).
Ignoring the convoluted numbering of the games, they are part of DOS
history, as well as that of the mighty Id Software who created them.
The
Keen games are based on the imaginary adventures of a young boy named
Billy Blaze. Billy is an eight-year-old boy genius who has
constructed a spaceship in his backyard from old soup cans and other
household objects, called The Bean-with-Bacon Megarocket. When his
parents are out and the babysitter falls asleep, he dons his
brother's football
helmet and becomes Commander Keen, Defender of Earth. What young lad could resist a story like that?
The first game was ground breaking as it was previously thought that
console-quality platform games were not possible on the PC, but John
Carmack of Id Software programmed a smooth scrolling version platform
game demo based on the hugely popular NES title, Super Mario Bros 3.
He named it Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement, and from this
simple demo the first Commander Keen game was born.
Each episode features colourful, cartoony graphics and simple
platforming action, but remain great fun to play. They all deserve to be
checked out by anyone with a love of DOS games or 2d platformers in
general. Preferably in the correct order, whatever that may be.
Some random facts about Commander
Keen that you may not know:
Billy is the
grandson of William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz (the hero of Wolfenstein 3D)
Commander Keen has
appeared in cameo roles in many titles. Most memorable is his
appearance in the secret level of DOOM 2, where he is found hanging
from a rope and can be killed by the player.
In Epic MegaGame's
excellent Jill of the Jungle, there is a cut scene that mocks
Commander Keen. A news bulletin states Keen has been forced into
retirement by 'those cool Epic Heroes'.
Monster Bash (1993)
A cutesy horror platformer starring a boy in pyjamas may not sound like the ingredients for an exciting game, but the 90's were full of strange ideas (usually resulting in a 2D platformer of some kind). Monster Bash sees you in control of a young lad, named Johnny Dash, on a mission to retrieve his kidnapped hound, Tex, from the monsters that lurk under his bed. What awaits you are 28 horror themed levels that play like most of the other Apogee platformers mentioned here. The Halloween vibe of the whole thing works well and you will find yourself enjoying exploring the fairly large levels, looking for all the sweets and treasures. Johnny's weapon, a slingshot that fires rocks, is the hook here. The projectiles can be fired at angles, and can be bounced off walls to hit switches or unlock imprisoned pets from their cages. You even end up on a broomstick at one point, adding variety to proceedings. This is classic 90's Apogee platforming and is worthy of your time.
Wolfenstein 3D (1992)
The granddaddy of
First Person Shooters. This is the game that truly made the world sit
up and take notice of Id Software, John Carmack's amazing game engine
offering a fast, smooth, first person arena to run around in. Sure,
Ultima Underworld, released the same year, also had first person
scrolling, but Wolfenstein was far more action based and so took the
limelight. Plus it had Nazis to kill, and who doesn't love the chance
to kill Nazis?.
Based on an old
Apple 2 game 'Escape from castle Wolfenstein' that John Romero used
to play, this took the idea of a P.O.W. Locked up in a Nazi fortress
and went the whole nine yards. Creepy dungeons, Nazi barracks,
science labs and other settings were the order of the day, filled
with Nazi soldiers, Nazi dogs, Nazi zombies, and even Hitler himself. It was a test of
survival, you against the hordes. It was tense, exciting, and fresh.
It became a huge success for both Apogee and Id software, and it is
easy to see why. It still holds up amazingly well today, and enjoys
continuing support from the modding community. It is even on XBLA.
Wherever you chose
to play it, it is a fantastic game. Sure, the consoles had some great
ports (Atari Jaguar and 3DO especially) but for me, you just can't
beat the PC original.
Blake Stone : Aliens of Gold (1993)
Made by JAM
Software, licensing the Wolfenstein 3D engine from Id Software, this is
another fantastic early first person shooter. In many ways it adds improvements to the formula set by Wolfenstein, offering interactions
with NPCs, computer terminals, missions, and a wider variety of
enemies, but it lacks the simplicity and polish that made Id's game
so great. It has a cool Sci-Fi setting and storyline and the game
immerses you in its world. It probably would have been a huge
success, but the same year Id unleashed DOOM, and that
basically destroyed all competition.
Rise of the Triad (1995)
The
final Apogee First Person Shooter was this extremely violent
gore-fest. Originally intended as a sequel to Wolfenstein 3D, this
used an enhanced version of that game's engine. After Id cancelled the project (possibly to avoid competition to its
forthcoming DOOM game, Apogee took it in a slightly different
direction and it gained it's own identity in doing so. It looks
inferior to the DOOM games, which were released much earlier, but it
did introduce many pioneering elements which would go on to become
staple features in the genre. Things such as bullet holes,
breakable glass, panoramic skies, simulated dynamic lighting, fog,
and level-over-level environments. The trampoline platforms
were a strange addition that divided opinion among players, but
overall the game was well received and it went on to gather a cult
following. Indeed, the game is currently being remade by the newly
formed Apogee for release in 2013. The game is exceptionally violent,
with enemies begging for their lives when injured, and huge fountains
of blood and guts (or gibs) spewing forth from foes killed with
rockets. There was an official retail add-on level pack released in
1995 by Apogee entitled Extreme Rise of the Triad,
but sales were poor, and it was eventually released as freeware in
2000.
Duke Nukem 1 & 2 (1991 / 1993)
Actually, I was never a huge
fan of these titles, but they are still worth checking out as a curio
for fans of Duke's tongue in cheek 3D adventure.. They are pretty
generic platform shooters, but play reasonably well, and worth the
effort of playing just to see the history of the character. The
second instalment is a vast improvement over the original though,
which really shows it's age.
There are several
other Apogee titles out there, so I implore you to hunt them down and
download the freeware / shareware versions and play them in DOSBox.
It will give you hours of entertainment, as well as a great look back
on the pre-Windows days of PC gaming.
Now I am off to
play some Hocus Pocus, enjoy your DOS gaming!
c:\
cd\games\HPocus
Hocus.exe
DOSBox can be downloaded here:
