The best port of Doom I've played... If you can look past the lack of music

Doom was the second major hit for iD software in the First-Person-Shooter genre. The first hit was, of course, Wolfenstein 3d which, back in the day, was a revolution with it's fast and frantic gameplay.

Doom, originally released on home computers in the early nineties, took all the great things about Wolf3D and took them one step further. Plenty of interesting weapons, huge levels, varied (and occasionally, downright scary) enemies and graphics that were far ahead of its time. All these features and more made Doom a must-have game for PC owners and it was only a matter of time before this Juggernaut got the home console treatment.

Doom was ported to most 16- and 32-bit consoles available at the time including the Super Nintendo, Sega 32x, Atari Jaguar, Sega Saturn, Playstation and Nintendo 64 and has been subject to recent ports via iOS. Some of these, like the Super Nintendo and Saturn ports, felt very horrible to play but most systems did the original justice. The Nintendo 64 and PS-X versions felt very nice to play and the 32x version felt very good with a Mega Drive controller (Making up for some removed animations and levels) but the Atari Jaguar port feels closest to the original PC experience.

Before I talk too much about the Jaguar port, I'll talk about it's one problem: No music outside of the menu screens. This can be enough to turn many purists off. However, there are many people who played the original game with the music off in order to enhance the mood. It's purely an aesthetic choice determined by how gamers prefer to experience their games. Personally, I would rather have a choice due to the fact that Doom has some very interesting music that can get the adrenaline pumping.

However, the lack of music is a small price to pay once you begin to explore the game. As a matter of fact, I get the opinion that the music was sacrificed in order to get everything running correctly on the Jaguar's unique hardware configuration. The levels are pretty much exact replicas of the PC version as are the weapons and enemies. The game is in full screen (A crowning achievement if you have played the 32x version released in a close time frame) and it is fast. So fast that I have yet to encounter any significant slowdown. Everything sounds exactly like the PC version (minus the music) and you just feel like you're playing a superior game.

I'll quickly talk about the Atari Jaguar controller. If you own one, you know how big they can be. For a nostalgic gamer playing Doom, this is a positive. Back before the days of Call of Duty and Halo, games were played using both hands on the keyboard. They were always full and busy (especially if you used those new mouse things). With the Jaguar controller, your hands are full and busy. The three main buttons support main functions such as running, opening doors and shooting exploding barrels and the numeric keypad is subdued and handy when being used for weapon selection. Overall, very comfortable.

Bottom line, I believe this was the best home console port of Doom in the nineties and definitely a premium Jaguar game. The most unfortunate aspect of this port is the popularity of the Jaguar which means very few gamers will be able to appreciate it. However, if you're a Jaguar enthusiast and you don't mind a silent game, pick up Doom. You'll be glad you did.

A mixed bag for me

Doom is the great great great granddaddy of first person shooters. If you like fps and haven't played a version of Doom, I can't help you. This game is the classic bloody gutsy mess you should all remember or expect. The game itself is loads of fun. However, the 32x version is one of the worst home ports available. There is music included in this version, but don't expect much. The graphics, better than only the SNES version, are at a lower resolution than the other more PC faithful console ports of this game, and the game isn't full-screen. Instead you have this weird border around the screen so the actual game is only 3/4 of your television with the rest being that border. This game is also missing the most PC levels of any console Doom port. This obviously was rushed to be out for the Sega 32x's launch.

However, the game itself is good fun if your into more mature fps. Buy this game only if you have to get a 32x version for your retro collection or if you need to play Doom on your 32x. Its like 3$, so it isn't expensive.

I'll stick with Atari Jaguar Doom or better from now on though

A Very Great Milestone in the History of DOS and the PC

If you are reading this,then you are considering a very great game. Dont worry, it can run on a pc even though it was origionaly made for DOS. DOOM was an incredible technological milestone for the best Pc of 1993. It used 32-bit graphics and used and engine very similar to Mode 7 called the Doom Engine. This gave you 3d graphics using 2d hardware. That was combined with some of the best gameplay of the era. It was the mother of all fps we know today. This game comes with the first to games and an expansion with 2 Doom WADs.. A WAD. is a custom made level that can be quickly distributed over the internet. Since 1993, thousands of WADS. have been made, and this is fact not an over exaggeration. Using programs like Skulltag to get them, Doom can become an obsession. Though it says Mature as its rating, that was because of past standards. I believe it to be sutible for mature teens 15 and up(but this is my own opinion).If you cannot find a cheap or decent copy on ebay, try the ID Software website to support them to make more games like these.

Doom (PC Games)

Well, what can I say, Doom is pure power :) Heil to the king!

Doom is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is a landmark title in the first-person shooter genre, and in first person gaming in general. It is widely recognized for pioneering immersive 3D graphics, networked multiplayer gaming on the PC platform, and support for custom expansions (WADs). Distributed as shareware, Doom was downloaded by an estimated 10 million people within two years, popularizing the mode of gameplay and spawning a gaming subculture; as a sign of its effect on the industry, games from the mid-1990s boom of first-person shooters are often known simply as "Doom clones". Its graphic and interactive violence has also made Doom the subject of much controversy reaching outside the gaming world. According to GameSpy, Doom was voted by industry insiders to be the greatest game of all time in 2004.

I could play this game if my hair was on fire. Buy it. Play it. Love it.

DOOM for the PS1 is one of the very few games I would place in my "All-time" games, and is possibly one of if not the best game I ever had for the PS1. (It's tied with Castlevania: Symphony of The Night.) This is arguably the best console version of DOOM (aside from the Collector's Edition of DOOM 3 for the XBOX, which by virtue of having all 3 DOOMs to date in it) out there, and it still gives me the creeps.
The game differs somewhat from the PC version, and is in my opinion, an over-all more atmospheric experience, due to some better lighting effects, sounds, and framerate. However, the PC version is also a classic in and of itself, and is overall the victor in the comparison, as it is the ORIGINAL. Still, I prefer this one.
Now, the few detriments of this game. First, as above, it differs from the original game on the PC. PC gamers expecting a port should note that it loses a few levels, and also, it is slightly offputting if you're not expecting the changes. Also, the game takes an AGE to load sometimes. Finally, when this game was ported over to the consoles, the devo team apparently decided to spice things up by adding unique critters to each console's version. The PS1 got a Nightmare Spectre, which is basically a stronger Spectre, and instead of making him the standard cloaked Spectre, they made him transparent GREEN, which looks rather more comical than menacing. (However, be glad for that. the N64 got a PURPLE Imp.) That's it. The only complaints I had were load times, slight differences from the original, and green seethru bad guys. Small potatoes compared to some of the crap they foist on us nowadays.
Tight, intuitve control, atmospheric gameplay, silky smooth speed, and the ability to bask in the warming glow of one of the true legends of videogaming make this one of the very few games I would NOT think twice of grabbing if my house was on fire.
BOTTOM LINE: BUY IT. PLAY IT. LOVE IT.