Duke Nukem Advance

Duke Nukem Advance brought the tough action hero Duke Nukem to the Game Boy Advance in a two-dimensional run-and-gun form, developed by Torus Games, a studio specializing in handheld adaptations of well-known brands. The player moves through linear levels full of alien enemies, collects weapons and bonuses, and tries to fight through to the final confrontation in the style fans of the series knew from the computer entries set in the streets of a city overrun by invaders.

The gameplay is built around straightforward side-scrolling shooting, collecting various types of weapons with limited ammunition, and overcoming platforming obstacles, while trying to preserve at least some of the tough humor and self-irony for which the Duke Nukem series was already famous on computers. Along the way through the levels, the player also encounters short puzzle sections requiring the activation of mechanisms or the search for hidden passages, which slightly slows the otherwise action-packed pace of the game and forces attention to the surrounding environment as well. Compared to the computer originals, the game's pace is adapted to the handheld's limitations, meaning smaller levels and simpler enemy patterns, which makes the game more accessible even to less experienced action fans. The graphics are colorful and readable, and the music supports the action-oriented, slightly jokey tone typical of the whole brand.

Critics and fans received the handheld installment with mixed feelings, as it only partially managed to capture the charisma and energy for which the Duke Nukem series was known on computers, and the game ended up feeling more like a side spin-off than a full-fledged sequel. Today, Duke Nukem Advance is seen mainly as a curiosity for collectors and loyal fans of the brand who want to see how the iconic hero coped with the limitations of a handheld console at the start of the new millennium, and whether it managed to retain at least a part of its unmistakable image even in this format.

Why play it: For collectors and loyal fans of the brand, it's mainly a curiosity showing how the iconic hero coped with the limitations of a handheld console, without fully capturing the charisma of the computer originals.