Doom

"Not a perfect port, but a great game for a great console"

Doom was a great game for the PC and people loved this it. If you didn't play this game in the mid-90's you would probably be mocked at your school. This game was so good; it created a whole other genre of games: the Doom Clone, which eventually became known as the first person shooter. Any first person shooter made after Doom for about five years was considered a Doom Clone. All major video game companies wanted a ticket to ride on this money train, including Nintendo.


Graphics 6/10-
The original PC version of this game was 32-bits, when you put a 32-bit game on a 16-bit system things will always be lost and it will be very obvious. The game can be very pixilated at times and sometimes you won't even notice the enemies as when they are far away they are about 7 pixels in area, literally, until you see this large red ball of fire hurdling right at you that is. Also, this game has no floor textures, which translates into all the floors looking exactly the same except for color. That means you may accidentally step into some lava or toxic waste thinking it is just a red or green floor. But on the good side, this game pushes the graphical ability of the SNES to the limit, thanks to the help of the FX2 chip. The FX2 chip is the second generation of the chip that allows the ability to create a true 3-D game, the first generation of this chip was also used to help create the game StarFox. To tell if any game contains an FX chip or any other game enhancing chip, look at the prongs on the bottom, Doom will have two extra prongs on the sides of the cartridge. Thought this game most definitely does not have perfect graphics, it is truly a great achievement of the SNES and a must-have for all Doom fans.


Sound 7/10-
As you would expect, all the normal sounds are on this game as still here from the PC version. The songs, while still great, aren't as good of quality as the PC version though. Sometimes too many sounds at one time can cause all the sounds to come around about one second later than the initial cause of the sound, or just cut out completely; although this is rare and should cause no real problems in the game. The low point of the sound in this game is the chainsaw. It used to be extremely fun to chop up zombies, but the sound of the sound of the chainsaw is so butchered, it'll make you want to use it on yourself. Even if you are just holding the stupid thing, the sound will cut out very often, not to mention sound like scrap metal in a blender on puree. But overall, the sound is basically on par with the 16-bit console so enjoy it.


Story 7/10-
So some scientist start fiddling with the physics of teleportation and accidentally set the receiving end in hell so demons start pouring out of the teleported and everyone gets killed or zombified, now you, a nameless space marine, must go in and shoot everything that moves. It's your basic mid-90's story line. It's not really anything special so I give this game's story line a 7 out of 10.


Songs 9/10-
I cannot stress enough how great the songs on the Super Nintendo are. When you play Doom on the Super Nintendo you'll be accompanied all the way there by a great selection of midis. The music can definitely stand up to that of the PC. Since these songs are only midis, don't expect a discernable instrument, just expect awesome songs. This is an extremely high point of the game.


Replay Value 7/10-
The replay value is another good point that makes this game great. It is not good because the storyline will change each time you play, but because the first time you play through this game, you'll want to play through it again, but harder. The thing that definitely hurts this games replay value is that there aren't respawning monsters on Nightmare difficulty. This is a huge blow, knocking a chunk off of its replay value. On every other version of Doom, players would voluntarily stare at a screen all night long and pull their hair out trying to keep those monsters dead, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Over all, once you beat it you'll be coming back for more, just probably not on this system.


Conclusion 7/10-
This game is a great game to play. Most of America's population has had their computers updated to at least Windows XP, which will not run this game well. Yet, many Americans still own their old Super Nintendo. This game is not common yet nor is it rare. The most you should pay for this game is around ten dollars. It's not hard to miss because it comes in a very noticeable blood red cartridge. Overall, if you just want to play a quick 10 minute session to pass the time, this is a great solution, it requires only 5 seconds from flipping the power switch to the first level of the game. Overall, if you like Doom, this is a game worth playing.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/08

Game Release: Doom (US, 02/29/96)