Duke Nukem 64

Duke Nukem 64 is a first-person shooter developed by Eurocom and published by GT Interactive for the Nintendo 64 in 1997. It is an extensively modified conversion of Duke Nukem 3D, originally released for MS-DOS by 3D Realms in 1996. The story remains largely unchanged: action hero Duke Nukem returns to Earth and finds Los Angeles under attack by an alien force that has transformed members of the police into hostile Pig Cops and abducted the planet’s women.

The single-player campaign retains the three original episodes of Duke Nukem 3D, but presents their levels as one continuous sequence. Many locations were redesigned, shortened or divided into separate stages, while selected material from the Atomic Edition was incorporated into the campaign. The basic structure nevertheless remains familiar, with players exploring theatres, streets, prisons, military installations and space stations, searching for coloured key cards and secret areas while fighting aliens. The environments preserve much of the interactivity that distinguished the original game, including working switches, security cameras, destructible objects and numerous optional details.

Eurocom made substantial changes to the available weapons. The chaingun was replaced by a pair of submachine guns, while the grenade launcher, missile launcher and chargeable plasma cannon took the place of several weapons from the computer version. Alternative ammunition was also added for the pistol, shotgun and missile launcher. Explosions are rendered as polygonal effects rather than sprites, and the final Cycloid Emperor is represented by a three-dimensional model, although most enemies and objects retain their original sprite-based appearance. The game also supports the Nintendo 64 Rumble Pak.

The Nintendo 64 version was censored to reduce its sexual content and references to drugs or profanity. Several locations were consequently redesigned: an adult shop became a gun store, for example, while a strip club was replaced by a fast-food restaurant. Items were renamed and Jon St. John recorded altered versions of Duke’s dialogue. In-game music was removed, leaving only the menu theme, but the sound effects and spoken comments remain. These changes make the presentation less provocative than the original, although Duke’s action-film personality and humour are still clearly recognizable.

One of the port’s most significant additions is its split-screen multiplayer. Players can cooperate through the campaign or compete in Dukematch, with support for as many as four participants and computer-controlled Duke bots. Contemporary reviews were generally positive, particularly praising the expanded arsenal, improved explosion effects and multiplayer options. Critics also noted that the extensive use of sprites already appeared technically dated beside newer Nintendo 64 shooters, while opinions differed over how much the censorship weakened the game’s identity. Despite these compromises, Duke Nukem 64 remains a substantial console adaptation that combines most of the original campaign with unique weapons and strong local multiplayer features.