Pure early 90s Apogee energy running through an OPL sound chip and loving every second of it. Duke Nukem II's soundtrack is Bobby Prince at his most playful, crafting FM synth bangers for a side-scrolling platformer that thought it was an action movie.
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"Theme To Duke Nukem II" establishes Duke's swagger before Duke 3D made it iconic, "He's Back!" punches in with that cocky attitude, and "Kick Butt" is exactly the track name you'd expect from a game starring this guy. The level music has more variety than a 1993 DOS platformer deserves.
"Out Of The Depths" goes surprisingly moody, "Prowl" creeps with tension, and "Calm Before The Storm" actually gives you a moment to breathe. Then "Nukemania" and "You Be Dead!" throw you right back into the chaos. "Kiss The Girls And Make Them Cry" is peak Duke personality distilled into Adlib.
That "Apogee Fanfare" at the top is its own little piece of PC gaming history. Every kid who played shareware in the 90s knows that sound. The 2013 rerelease brought all of it back intact, FM synthesis grit and all. If you grew up on Apogee before 3D Realms was a thing, this is the soundtrack that started the legend.