Doom

"A pretty good port missing just 1 thing..."

Story
One day, you and your marines decided to create a base on Phobos and Deimos, the two moons orbiting Mars. But one day, the demons broke through the gates surrounding the bases, and then came a demon invasion. Deimos vanished right into the air, and all the marines were sent out for combat. Except for you, where you were alone on another area. But when you came to the bases, you found all your buddies were dead, and they already took the good weapons like the Shotgun and the Plasma Gun, so it's up to you to save Phobos and Deimos.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics in this game are very good. Monsters have been designed well, and so have weapons and backgrounds. Even though enemies look blurry when you are far away from you, and they go into idle mode. But some of the wall textures in this game have been deleted, and now blood is green instead of red, and now dead enemy corpses disappear when you kill them, and that was to keep the game running fast. Also, some hanging body parts were missing, and as this was so id Software could bring the Rating from M to T and make more sales. So overall, everything looks pretty much great.

Gameplay: 8/10
This was part of the game missing just 1 thing. You run around 24 levels, shooting monsters, grabbing keys, and solving puzzles. Some of the levels have been changed around, missing rooms, or have just been completely removed from this game. Also, the part that was missing were the monsters the Spider Mastermind and the Cyberdemon, my favorite enemies. Even without them, this game is still as fun as the PC version was.

Music: 7/10
Also, comparing to the PC version, the music has fallen apart. Some music titles don't sound like what they sounded like on the computer version, and they have been almost remixed (especially when you compare the GBA's audio to a PC's soundcard). Song title ''Hiding the Secrets'' was taken out of the game as well, and it was my favorite MIDI from the first Doom. But overall, the music is is OK.

Sound Effects: 9/10
The sound effects are very good in this game, and they sound just what they sound like in the computer version of this game. The sound of a Shotgun reloading sounds very realistic, and I love the Plasma Gun's sound effects. Also, enemy screams sound good, but now when a Demon dies, it uses the sound effects of an Imp dying instead of its own. And all other sound effects in this game are good as well.

Replayability: 8/10
It is fun playing this game again, and you can play this game again to try it at a harder skill level, check for more secret areas in each level, or just to have fun. Also, there are 4 save slots in this game, so you can have up to 4 separate files, and you can save whenever you finish a level. So if you feel like getting rid of this game, don't even think about it.

Rent or Buy?
Since this game is hard to find in video game stores these days, I would suggest buying this game. I saw this game a few days ago at GameStop, and I was pretty excited to see it, as it's one of the hardest to find GBA games around here. So if you see this at a video game store, buy it before you lose your chance.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/16/04, Updated 03/17/04