Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons

You play the role of Billy Blaze, eight year-old kid genius who builds an interstellar ship when not working at home on his college fast-track degree. Among other household objects, Billy uses his Nintendo joystick for flight control and his mom's vacuum cleaner (heavily modified) for his ship's ion propulsion system (with pile height adjustment).

At the hint of galactic trouble, Billy dons his brother's football helmet and becomes "Commander Keen"--defender of Earth! Ever on the side of justice, Keen dispenses justice with an iron hand.

"Marooned on Mars" is episode one of the Commander Keen trilogy. Only part one is available via shareware distribution, the other two episodes ("The Earth Explodes" and "Keen Must Die!") may only be purchased from Apogee.

EACH VOLUME HAS COMPLETELY UNIQUE GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION!

Episode one is located on the planet mars. Episode two takes place on the immense Vorticon mothership, where you'll need to stop the destruction of Earth by disabling the eight deadly ray cannons aimed at Earth's greatest cities and wonders. Episode three takes Keen to the dangerous Vorticon home planet, where you'll explore huge caves, battle the top Vorticon ninja fighters and discover the secret of the Grand Intellect.

Originally released December 14, 1990.