Nintendo 64
Duke Nukem 64 is one of the most polished and well-done console ports during the 90s first-person era, and doesn't disappoint.
Picking up directly after Duke Nukem II, Duke Nukem 3D takes a departure from the platformer genre and enters the realm of the first person shooter, giving one of the most memorable and iconic gaming experiences of all time. On a trip to Los Angeles, Duke is shot down by alien forces and quickly learns they are trying to take over the city through mutating former LAPD officers and using their own weaponry.
With not much story to go on, its ultimately your mission to destroy any alien that gets in your way whilst protecting Duke's precious babes, and eventually saving the world from total domination. This is done through over 30 levels, including special secret levels and boss encounters, complete with an incredible arsenal of weapons.
Its same to assume most of you have played the original Duke Nukem 3D, so lets get straight into the most important changes made to the Nintendo 64 port, the first thing you'll notice are the weapon redesigns - every weapon has been altered in some way, for example now you dual-wield SMGs instead of the chaingun cannon, and the original RPG is now a grenade launcher. There are now different types of ammo for both the pistol and shotgun - a stronger ammo type is available to blast through the pistol, whilst the shotgun welcomes explosive ammo, which can deal massive damage as well as easily committing suicide in close confined environments.
Most of the explicits have been removed - considering this was a Nintendo release, this should come as no suprise. Whilst Duke maintains some of his one-liners, the more crude ones have been taken away, and now the babes are dressed with more clothing as opposed to the original, in which they were practically naked. A nice feature put into this version is the ability to actually save babes scattered around each level - this, along with finding all the secrets, adds a lot of replay value, especially if you're a completionist wanting to 100% every level possible.
Unlike many console ports at the time, Duke Nukem 64 managed to play at impressive framerates, making for extremely smooth gameplay - this combined with the excellent level designs make for a fantastic experience. Although the controls take quite a while to get used to, once you get the hang of it, you should find yourself maneuvering at a comfortable pace - there are various control schemes available, and whilst neither really change that much from another, it's worth going through them all and experimenting which is best for you.
Whilst the graphics aren't quite on par with the original release, there are some nice improvements in some areas - explosions look incredible and feature some of the best polygonal effects of the time, and even more notable is the final boss (Cycloid Emperor), who now sports a fully-rendered 3D model as opposed to the original 2D sprite. Its a mix of both good and bad graphics, the new visuals are fantastic, but overall most of the textures are very pixelated and blurry, making it sometimes difficult to navigate certain parts of levels, especially if you're new to the game.
One of the best additions to Duke Nukem 64 are the multiplayer options, you can either rip aliens apart in co-op with a buddy or battle it out on the maps available, including Castle Dukenstein - a parody of Wolfenstein 3D. 'Duke Bots' can also be added if there aren't enough real players, making up the numbers for a healthy firefight.
This game is a must-play, offering the same incredibly well-designed levels from the PC release, along with some of the most unique weapons at your disposal to blast away those pesky alien maggots. retroreview
8/10
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