Doom

"Doom for Super NES extremely underrated and unfairly critisized don't believe it truly is a great game"

Doom is considered to be what really jump started first person shooters and it immensely popular with all the controversy it received and the fact that it was so much fun to blast demons with a BFG 9000. It is what made this genre so huge and made it so wonderful in the first place and has recently spawned a really awesome remake of sorts Doom 3 and a motion picture with The Rock called "Doom". It has received immense controversy and unbelievably harsh criticism from Christian groups, parent groups, and senators. I think the most controversy it spawned was after the columbine shooting when it was discovered that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold made tapes saying that the shooting would be like Doom referring to the game and that they were huge fans of the series and loved the Doom games plus Eric Harris created his own Doom levels with mod kits and apparently its rumored that he might have done a Columbine simulation off of it and practiced for Columbine by creating his classmates and teachers. We all know games can't warp your brain millions of people play violent games and they don't have an effect unless maybe your already screwed up pretty badly. So the only version of Doom I really own or bothered buying was the Super NES version I got it for 99 cents at a EB Games awhile ago and I played through it and I was just like "wow" cause I had never bought the PC version I plan on it sometime in the future to get all the different versions of Doom for PC but I honestly think that this game is unfairly compared to the PC version. 1 thing is Doom 1 for Super NES was originally thought as impossible to port to Super NES but Williams and ID Software proved that wrong and somehow managed to pump polygons and 3D environments and graphics into this game. They used the Super FX2 chip which was capable of pushing 3D worlds and environments, running at a peak of 21 mhz compared to the Super NESs 3.85 mhz processor and it allowed for lighting and shading effects. It was a huge achievement and Doom was basically as far as you could ever possibly push the Super NES you couldn't do anymore than what they did and I bet it was horrible and very hard on them to get this game to come out as good as it did. Its got everything the PC version has mostly they did cut I guess about 7 levels out of it like I said but the only real flaw of it is the graphics and honestly who cares about graphics I never played Doom on a PC very much so I had to get this version. Its good but like I said you can't compare this to the PC thats like comparing Doom 3 to Doom 1 graphically no comparison so unlike some I have decided to review this game based on my experience with it and purely based on game-play.

Game-play 10/10: I played this game on the normal difficulty setting and it seemed to be pretty challenging because you can't really see the enemies from too far away cause of the resolution but sometimes enemies will gang up on you and that can be a bit hard to deal with. Its Doom of course its fun to play what else can you really say its the same game-play as the PC version it just doesn't run as smooth or look as good as it but its got all the same game-play elements in it. Its of course very enjoyable to blast demons to little bitty pieces.

Story 8/10: Its of course the same storyline as always your the nameless marine who has set out to conquer the hordes of demons that has been unleashed from the depths of hell and you have to try and get out alive nothing too complicated but thats what makes it good. I don't need a long winded storyline for a FPS game its of course all about killing but at least ID did make a effort in to a storyline.

Graphics 10/10: Yes I am giving this a 10 only because it did something that no other Super NES game accomplished it pushed the 3D capabilities of our little Super NES to the absolute limits. I applaud ID Software and Williams for doing such a remarkable thing and actually taking the grueling task of porting a game on a 2D gaming system that had never really taken this kind of advantage of the Super FX chip. The Super FX2 chip was used in very very few games and some of the games never saw the light of day that did use it and they implemented it pretty darn good in this game. Basically this is about as 3D as you could get Doom on a Super NES so for that I give it a 10 based on the hardware its on.

Sound 10/10: Sound is really good for being MIDI and some of the tunes are really catchy. Its basically just the same typical Doom music from the PC just a bit watered down but for Super NES its pretty good. The sound isn't as good as the PC but what do you expect its about as good as your will get in this version.

Play Time 7/10: It takes about a good afternoon or so to beat it about 2-3 hours or so. Its not the longest game but it sure is fun while it does last.

Re-playable 10/10: There is not a ton to do after you beat it but there are several difficulty settings and such. There are no cheat codes or anything that I know of but its really re-playable cause its of course Doom its great old action oriented fun and it never really gets too old so fun factor is what drives you to keep playing this game.

Buy or Rent?: Absolutely a buy you can't rent Super NES games anymore. I say just find a used game store like a Game Crazy or if you have a store that sells some used games for older systems in your town then ask if they can get this game for you or if you just see it buy it. It shouldn't cost no more than $5 at the very most if you spend over $5 your probably getting ripped. Ebay usually has them too for pretty cheap for around $3-$5 sometimes less if your just looking for the cartridge. If your a graphics type of person skip on it and go buy the PC Collectors edition which is better but for Super NES gamers or collectors its pretty cool and if you approach the game with an open mind and understand that this is not in any shape or form as beautiful looking as the PC game you should come out of this gaming experience satisfied. Oh one other thing the cartridge is BLOOD RED yes its a colored Super NES cartridge like Spider Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (red) or Killer Instinct (black) so its kind of nice to have a colored cartridge as a gimmick type of thing.

Overall 10/10: For a Super NES game from 1996 its not bad at all it was one of the last games out toward the end of the Super NES lifespan and I think it was probably one of the most largest accomplishments for the system considering nothing else was ever even attempted like this before. It isn't the PC version but its still pretty darn good and on it own merit and for the system its on I give it a 10 its not perfect compared to the PC version but its as perfect as your gonna get a 3D shooter on a Super NES. Its still fun and enjoyable and you can still bust out all the old weapons and blow demons to bitty pieces. Another thing this version has the Cyber Demon and this Spider enemy in it and other conversions of Doom usually don't making this one of the few that does it also has a few new power-ups.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/11/06