Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle

aka: Commander Keen IV, Commander Keen IV: The Secret of the Oracle, Commander Keen in ... "Goodbye, Galaxy!": Keen Episode Four - Secret of the Oracle
Moby ID: 219

Description official descriptions

Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle is a platform game, the fourth in the Commander Keen series as a whole, and the first in the second series Goodbye, Galaxy.

Eight-year-old genius Billy "Commander Keen" Blaze receives an interstellar transmission while working on a Photachyon Transceiver (a radio that can receive signals anywhere in the galaxy). While the transmission is choppy, Billy manages to figure out that the galaxy is once again in danger from an alien race known as Shikadi. In order to get more information about this threat, he sets out to consult the Oracle. But it turns out that the eight Council Members necessary for the Oracle's activation have been kidnapped by the Shikadi and imprisoned in the dangerous Shadowlands. Billy heads out to save the Council Members.

The game begins with a top-down map of the Shadowlands. This is the level select screen, where Billy can walk around and the player can choose the next level they want to enter (though some of the levels are islands located on a lake and require you to find a wetsuit if you want to reach them). On each level, Billy has to make his way to the exit. Once a level is completed, Billy ends up back on the overhead map.

The levels are typically full of enemy creatures, such as poison slugs, deadly mosquitoes or hopping crazy mushrooms. There are also many hazards - pits, cannons, spears. If Billy gets shot or touched by an enemy, or falls into a pit or touches something hazardous, he dies and loses one life.

Thankfully, Keen can stun most enemies with his raygun, although some cannot be stunned at all, and some are only stunned for a few seconds. Keen also carries a pogo stick which allows him to jump very high. Other items to find include: ammo, gems that acts as keys to open locked doors, bonus items which give score, raindrops (100 raindrops give extra life) and the rare Lifewater Flask which gives an extra life.

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Credits (DOS version)

8 People

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 85% (based on 4 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 98 ratings with 7 reviews)

Boing

The Good
This was the first 'modern' Commander Keen game, and is fondly remembered by people of a certain age. Whilst the first three games had tiny sprites and decent, but uninspired gameplay, this and the follow-ups were excellent and are still fun today (certainly the most fun you can have on a PC with just 700k). The mixture of Mario-esque gameplay, a pogo stick, some utterly cheesy Adlib music, and an engaging amateurishness fits together perfectly. The difficulty level is pitched perfectly, too - it gets progressively harder, but deceptively so, and although you can save and load as often as you like, you tend not to as it all seems initially simple.

The Bad
For what it is, this game is perfect - Nintendo-style platform games are extremely rare on the PC, and the cute graphics and bouncy music haven't really dated (compared to something like 'Puzzle Bobble' they're positively advanced).

The Bottom Line
A fun, nostalgic early-90's PC-based shareware platformer by soon-to-be-Doomsters.

DOS · by Ashley Pomeroy (225) · 2000

Simply Excellent

The Good
Is an game like another, with an excellent gameplay and a lot of extra levels

The Bad
some about music and support to joysticks

The Bottom Line
Excellent, Joyful

DOS · by Sebastian Oliva (3) · 2004

The best platformer of all-time.

The Good
What isn't there to like? Huge levels, imaginative enemies, fanastic graphics, and a whole bunch of fun. The game still can prove challenging even to this day, and still strikes as one of the defining moments of my childhood, just plugging (and defeating) this wonderful game. The ending is treasurable as well.

The Bad
It was a little hefty for computers back in the day-- but this isn't a problem any more with much faster computers.

The Bottom Line
An amazing platformer reinforced with great ingenuity. Highly recommended.

DOS · by xofdre (78) · 2003

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Trivia

Dopefish

Developer Tom Hall on the creating the infamous Dopefish (taken from the 3D Realms website):

"The Dopefish, upon reflection, is pretty much based on one of two little faces my brother, sister, and I would draw on everything. Except stuck on a fish. I guess they were sort of the emoticons of the seventies. And of course, he's inspired by the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That's why they're the SECOND dumbest creature in the universe."

Eat Your Veggies

The song "Eat Your Veggies" in the Well of Wishes level actually was written for Commander Keen: Keen Dreams, but was removed from that game to save disk space. Explains the name, now, doesn't it?

Graphics

There was a special version released specifically for CGA, as the EGA/VGA version didn't support CGA.

CGA Composite

In 2016 VileR released an unofficial patch that allowed the CGA version of the game to use the CGA Composite mode. This results in CGA 16 colors graphics, as opposed of the CGA 4 color graphics of the original release.

OEM version

The game was bundled with the Gravis PC Gamepad

References

The opening sequence (with the words floating by each other) is a parody of the opening sequence of the movie The Terminator. When you select "Return to Demo" from the options screen, the story that's shown is an obvious parody of the Star Wars scrolling text opening sequence

Information also contributed by Itay Brenner, Jimmy Sherril, Kirschsaft, Roedie and Tony Gies

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  • MobyGames ID: 219
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Tomer Gabel.

Additional contributors: Steve Hall, Frenkel, Nico HafO, formercontrib, Neville, Patrick Bregger.

Game added August 15, 1999. Last modified March 23, 2024.