Summary
Duke begins his reign of kicking ass...
The Good
By the present time, the "Duke Nukem" series is one of the biggest game franchises, even if we've been waiting forever for Duke 4. This is where it all began, and what an awesome beginning it is!...
Even today, Duke Nukem is one of the best side-scrolling games in existence. You, as Duke Nukem, a kick-ass, one-liner spewing action hero, must stop the evil Doctor Proton from taking over the world. Blocked by hordes of his evil tech-bots, Duke is ready to "Save the world and still be in time to catch 'Oprah' " in his own special way...shooting everything IN his way!
In this game, the shooting is important and fun, as Duke Nukem can shoot anything from soda cans to, obviously, your robot and mutant enemies.
While Duke's famous attitude and one-liners are just starting out, and Duke doesn't have his cool "Terminator-esque" shades yet, Duke Nukem is still recognizably Duke Nukem, and his dialogue during the cut-scenes with Dr. Proton is suitably corny and hilarious!...
The Bad
Unfortunately, the original Duke Nukem game is just slightly repetitive, and the best episode of the three in the game is easily the first one, the shareware "Shrapnel City". While the game has for the most part aged well, there are a few parts that haven't, most notably the slightly irritating PC speaker sound effects.
The Bottom Line
The greatest game series ever gets off to an awesome start, and the original Duke Nukem is still VERY playable, even to this day!
