Duke Nukem for the Game Boy Color, influenced by GT Interactive and 3D Realms, takes a step back from the two early 90s PC side-scrollers that brought the hero into 3D and made him virtually famous. Having become accustomed to Duke, his witty one-liners, and his harsh treatment of aliens, it's hard to go back to his humble 2D beginnings. But at least he's portable. Duke has a few gimmicks up his sleeve to conquer the alien invaders, including a shotgun, machine and stun guns, a grenade launcher, a rocket launcher, and a flamethrower. He can also drive a hopping tank and a miniature rocket ship. But despite Duke's license and arsenal, this title doesn't resemble the current incarnations of the series. But can this game survive on its own? Not really, but the fun of finding a machine gun and wreaking havoc on a multitude of enemies still can't be beat. The game's controls (especially jumping and crouching) aren't responsive enough for Duke to avoid enemy fire. Fortunately, enemy fire doesn't do much damage to the uber-Rambo, so the game essentially devolves into shoot, shoot back, find health, and repeat. As a matter of fact, the game is very repetitive, and the bland background graphics add little to the action. You can also earn extra Dukes by picking up the letters "Nukem." The letters are there, so you know you're still headed in the right direction. The game's sound effects are flat and bland (although the default shotgun sounds pretty realistic on the Game Boy), and Duke and his enemies have very few frames of animation. With titles like Toy Story 2 and Gex 3 being released for the Game Boy, Duke Nukem simply falls short. Sure, you can run around blowing up everything in sight and occasionally see some blood splatter, but there are better portable platformers on the market.