Duke Nukem 64 is a port of Duke Nukem 3D, a PC game from a 1995. It still retains that “DOOM” feeling, although the levels are much more 3D. That said, it still has the sort of “puzzles” involving pressing random buttons and trying to figure out what has changed. On top of this, you are sometimes presented with a series of buttons and need to guess the correct combination to progress.

From a technical standpoint, Duke Nukem 64 has some graphical changes, with much better 3D explosions but lacking proper sky effects. One major problem is the sound: other than on the title screen, there’s no music whatsoever. It makes the game feel incredibly empty and lacking in atmosphere.

But those aren’t the biggest changes to the game. In order to release on the N64, Duke Nukem 3D is heavily censored. The voice acting has been completely redone to get rid of swearing, and women have been covered up with more clothes, with lots of posters changed completely. Some levels have been changed as a result, with an adult video store being replaced with a gun shop and a chapel being removed.

The thing is, all that stuff is pretty much what Duke Nukem was about, the N64 version is just very toned down. There’s no reason to play Duke Nukem 64, stick to the main version. Especially as the main feature for the N64 version – co-op – has now been added to Duke Nukem 3D.

Fine

The mixed news for someone that has played Duke Nukem before is that, apart from the censorious changes enforced by Nintendo, the levels in Duke Nukem 64 remain largely unchanged.

James Ashton, N64 Magazine #10. Review Score: 86%

Remake or remaster?

The proper version of Duke Nukem 3D has been remastered and updated over time, so stick with that version.

Official ways to get the game.

Duke Nukem 3D is available on Steam.