Review BadBoyBule 4/5 · May 13, 2024
A good platformer, even without nostalgia goggles
Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle is a solid platformer by id Software. It has a nice funky look, lots of charm, good gameplay and lots of secrets to find in the levels. I especially like the pogo and how it is used throughout the levels to pull crazy jumps. The levels themselves are well designed for the most …
Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle is a solid platformer by id Software. It has a nice funky look, lots of charm, good gameplay and lots of secrets to find in the levels. I especially like the pogo and how it is used throughout the levels to pull crazy jumps. The levels themselves are well designed for the most part but doing slight save-scumming seems to be in the recipe for a better time with the game. There's some pretty brutal enemy placements later on that can kill you in a second. Also, the music is pretty forgettable but it doesn't annoy either so no biggie. In general, though, good stuff.
We played through the game with my girlfriend by switching the player between levels. I played this a lot as a kid but this playthrough had some new revelations that I hadn't even known about. I had never seen the secret level of this game and whoo boy, it's no wonder. The way to reach it is such an obscure (yet funny) puzzle that I would have never figured out as a kid. And the level itself... Let's say it's not for the faint of heart.
The game is a part of a trilogy so, of course, we continued onwards to Keen 5 after this.