Duke Nukem, Part 1: Explosive Beginnings

A few days ago, I posted about ZOOM Platform’s Duke Nukem Classics Collection. To finish what I’ve started, I’ve decided to blog about the Duke Nukem series’ complete history. Welcome back to THE SITH ARCHIVES OF DARTH FANDOM, where today, I will be talking about Duke Nukem and the first game in its series, well, Duke Nukem. I’m hoping that by the time that I’ve finished this series, I’ll have covered at least the most important parts of Duke Nukem’s history, in-universe and out, and yes, that does mean I will have to play Duke Nukem Forever again. Bugger. I’m also hoping that by that time my main laptop will be fixed so that I can get back into my PSP ramblings. Now, onto the Duke.

Hail to... the King?
Image Credit: ZOOM Platform

Introduction
Apogee Software, known at the time for publishing Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons (developed by what would become id Software, creators of Wolfenstein, DOOM and Quake), published the first episode of Duke Nukem under their “Apogee model”. In simple terms, the “Apogee model” involved releasing the first episode of a game for free (as shareware), to generate interest for the next two or more episodes. Duke Nukem’s first episode, Shrapnel City, was released as shareware under this model in July 1991, running on the same engine as one of Apogee's previous games, Crystal Caves. After the shareware’s release, November 1991 saw the release of the full game, now also including the second episode, Mission: Moonbase, and the third, Trapped in the Future! Duke Nukem’s gameplay is very simple, similar to Commander Keen. You play as Duke Nukem from a side-scrolling perspective, armed with a gun to shoot down the enemies (called TechBots). The main villain is Dr Proton, who you will fight at the end of every episode. Each episode starts and ends with dialogue between Duke Nukem and Dr Proton, until Dr Proton is defeated at the end of the third episode.

Kicking ass and not chewing bubblegum.
Image Credit: GOG

Story
*WARNING* Spoilers for Duke Nukem. The year is 1997, and Duke Nukem (sporting pink clothing that changed drastically in the later games) has been hired by the CIA to take down Dr Proton, an evil man who was formerly Dr Blunderwitz, a nuclear physicist, until a deadly nuclear accident damaged his brain. Dr Proton went underground, enhanced himself with cybernetic parts and began building an army of robots to take over the world (called TechBots). He also managed to build a base on the Moon, known as the Lunar Fortress, and a time machine, known as the Time Warp Device (TWP). After completing his initial plans, Proton attacked Shrapnel City (a place located somewhere near or in Los Angeles) and took over, attracting the attention of the CIA. Duke is dropped by plane onto a skyscraper and begins attacking the TechBots. Duke defeats all the TechBots in Shrapnel City and attacks Dr Proton, who manages to escape to his Lunar Fortress on the Moon. Using a rocket, Duke follows Proton to the Moon and destroys the TechBot army there, fighting Proton again. This time, Proton uses the TWP to escape to the future in order to have time (literally) to rebuild his army. Duke manages to use the time machine and destroys the final TechBot army and seemingly kills Dr Proton in the process. After returning back to the correct time period, Duke is handed the key to Shrapnel City due to his efforts in saving it and becomes a famous hero in the process.

Dr Proton in all his EGA glory.
Image Credit: BADX / Duke Nukem Wiki

Legacy
Apogee became concerned legally after hearing about the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which includes a villain named Duke Nukem. Due to this, Apogee updated the game to version 2.0 and renamed it “Duke Nukum” to avoid any possible legal action, but later learned that the “Duke Nukem” name was not registered and instead registered it themselves for future games. Duke Nukem received a sequel, Duke Nukem II, in 1993, which uses the same basic gameplay on an enhanced and updated engine. In December 2012, Interceptor Entertainment (now known as Slipgate Ironworks), the developers of the cancelled Duke Nukem 3D remake, Bombshell and the Rise of the Triad remake, rereleased Duke Nukem I and II on Steam and GOG, also including them in the Duke Nukem Platformer Pack alongside Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project on Steam. A Mac version followed in July 2013 alongside the second game, as well as a Linux version in 2015. However, all versions of Duke Nukem / Duke Nukum were delisted in 2015, other than the ZOOM Platform version, which can be found here. A level editor was released, which can be found here, as well as a reverse-engineered source port, ReDuke, which can be found here. Duke Nukem spawned a legend, which will carry on into the next posts in this series, although that legend wasn’t always known for good things. Well, that’s a wrap on THE SITH ARCHIVES OF DARTH FANDOM!

No, not that Duke Nukem.
Image Credit: Plunderer01 / Captain Planet Wiki