Apogee Software certainly released some great games in the 90’s, games such as Monster Bash, Bio Menace and even our personal favorite Duke Nukem. Well one game you’ve probably never heard of is the platformer version of Duke Nukem 4Ever. That’s because while the game did start its life as a side-scrolling platform shooter in 1996 by 3D Realms, it was scrapped and became lost in the sands of time. We had the pleasure of playing Duke Nukem 3D in 1996 by 3D Realms and the misfortune of playing the first person shooter of Duke Nukem Forever by Gearbox Software in 2011.
Well as a surprising story this morning and one I never thought I’d be announcing, is a prototype build for a scrapped side scrolling 2D version of Duke Nukem Forever, has been found and released into the wild by x0r_jmp! In light of this news story, Draco Shahryār gave us further details about the recovery through the MS-DOS Gaming! Facebook group below.
“Announced after the huge success of Duke Nukem 3D, there was a 2D title planned, a return to Duke’s 2D side-scrolling / platforming formula, tentatively named Duke Nukem 4Ever. Directed by Keith Schuler, the game would halt development mid 1996, finally cancelled in 1997, and the name would be reused for the infamous 3D sequel. Today, we are graced with a playable build of the lost game, the release includes four builds from that period of development, including tools. A setup with DOSBox ready to launch is also included inside the zip. Merry Christmas to you all! Let’s rock!”