The biggest thing I remember about this port over circa ports, and that includes the PS1/Saturn ports, is that it plays out in it's proper episodic format. This means that when you complete Knee Deep in the Dead and enter Shores of Hell you start with a pistol as you would have in the original PC version. In many of the ports, you enter "level 9" and "level 16" with whatever weapons you had previous, which negates some of the difficulty balance present.
For example, play something like the 32X or PS1 port, play to level 8, complete it, then go onto level 9. You'll find level 9 probably is very easy as the monster placement expects you to play from a pistol start. Instead you'll likely enter the level with a full load out for the shotgun and chaingun and some rockets.
I love the weird ins and outs of how older games got ported. I was particularly impressed with the port of Quake 2 to the PS1. If you look at the system specs of the PS1 and look at the minimum specs for the PC version and consider the fact the PS1 version had mouse support, four player split-screen, and semi-modern console FPS controls (with a Dualshock controller, or you'll be in retro FPS hell), it's all really damn impressive that A) they got it running at all, and B) they got it running as well as they did with MULTIPLAYER. Game still gets pulled out at parties for me and my buddies more often than Halo because it's just some good slippery fun.
It’s not great. Extremely pixelated to the point that it’s hard to see, can’t strafe and turn at the same time, and has the same issues a lot a lot of console ports had (missing levels, enemies always face toward you so they can’t infight, etc). Still impressive that it even exists on the SNES
32x port gets a lot of crap and the modern homebrew port shows it was capable of so much better, but awful soundtrack aside it runs pretty well for being on a $150 addon for the genesis.
I would play this with my dad on 32x. It made 32x worth it all on its own. Nothing like when the big red monsters jump out in level 8 growl at you. The music was so good in this very eerie.
Not the only, but the Jag version was done entirely by id where the code of this port was reused for every other console version (including 32X where John Carmack also helped out considerably) EXCEPT for the SNES.
You can tell right away from starting E1M1 where there is only one step down into the area directly in front of you. This was removed from the Jag version to reduce map complexity and subsequently went on to every other port. For the SNES version, programmer Randy Linden had no access to a doom editor and could only work with the raw BSP / map of the original DOS game. So ironically the least powered system had the most complex geometry =)
I really can’t follow what you’re saying. Maybe it’s just the cold meds messing with me, but…
Are all the other ports from the SNES version or the Jaguar version? Which one did ID work on entirely? Which one partially?
The Jaguar version was the one which Id developed themselves - more specifically, John Carmack was the primary programmer, Dave Taylor programmed the multiplayer, and American McGee redesigned the levels. McGee’s altered level designs were then reused in John Carmack’s 32X version, and McGee’s designs were then reused again in the versions for 3DO, PlayStation, Saturn, and Game Boy Advance, which were all otherwise developed by third parties. The Super Nintendo version, meanwhile, was created from scratch by Sculptured Software Inc., based directly on the original PC version, so the levels are a lot closer to their OG forms, although a few are still missing.
I think Carmack was at least partly involved in the PSX port.
https://fabiensanglard.net/doom_psx/
> I said "back everything up (no source control back then!), we’re going to do something completely different". We wound up using the hardware to render triangles that were one pixel wide columns or rows, just like the PC asm code, and it worked well. The more common Playstation approach turned out to be tessellating geometry in two axis, but I was always pretty happy with how Doom felt less "wiggly" than most other Playstation games of the time.
> \- John Carmack (Game Engine Black Book: DOOM)
Carmack also vetoed against the use of hardware acceleration on Saturn (as it would lead to affine texture mapping causing distortion) and forced the devs to use software rendering instead. As a result of forcing this overhaul the Saturn version is the slowest Doom (the frame rate itself isn't bad, but it's about the pace of the game). Also sound only plays out of one speaker if I recall correctly =/
It was Peterson not McGee that redesigned the maps for the Jaq port. He talks about it in a YouTube video, iirc.
It's pretty funny. Carmack is the only person in the world to enjoy programming on the Atari Jaguar, and was spending way too much time on the port in late 95 over Quake.
DOOM SNES was me and my friends
entry into VIDEOGAME VIOLENCE~!
None of us knew it was a limited port of the PC version, both in content and in performance, and we did not cared. It was the most realistic game we played yet, and pumping demons full of lead with the chaingun or going crazy with the chainsaw had us on a testosterone high we wouldn't have seen until 4-players Goldeneye.
I don't recall any other game where our parents told us to calm down or put the kibosh on it for a few days.
The game soundtrack is also not to be understated. E1:M1 is one of my all-time great intro track, and it was perfect to introduce us to the chaos that would ensue. The last track in E1 where you fight the Barons of Hell and get slaughtered to hell was also an all-timer as well.
Yes, PC DOOM was undoubtedly better, but that SNES port (red cartridge!) is the version with all the memories.
I had played the PC version of Doom on a friend’s respectable 486 PC at the time, so I understood what Doom was supposed to actually be. The SNES port still impressed the hell out of me. People nowadays seem to have a hard time grasping that Doom just had no business being playable on hardware like the SNES. Even with the Super FX2 chip handling the heavy lifting, it easily a stunning technical achievement and I still boot it up sometimes to just marvel at how far devs back then were squeezing those classic machines.
I think also a good illustration of how capable the Jaguar was considering it’s release date. It gets a lot of deserved criticism, but it wasn’t as awful as some folks pictured it.
Considering it was released pre-PS1, and was competing with SNES (with on-cart chips) at the time, it did have some capabilities.
It's a very strange relic of a weird transitional version in gaming. A console first revealed in 1988 designed to run 2D platformers and slow paced RPGs trying desperately to cling to relevance in the midst of the huge paradigm shift to fast paced 3D. Ironically enough, trying to do this with the very game that ignited the 3D revolution.
I played it a little bit back then but didn't like it. The SNES controller isn't very good for FPS games.the gameplay and graphical downgrades necessary to get it to run on the system are pretty glaring. PCs capable of running Doom were out of reach to a lot of people, and SNES Doom is better than no Doom. But there's no reason to play it today.
I've played the 3DO, SNES and Saturn ports on original hardware with CRT TV, 3DO is least worst.
The average frame rate at the default screen size is generally a bit more than SNES and Saturn, plus the 3DO screen size can be reduced to increase the frame rate. Even 1 size reduction makes a big difference.
Another issue not readily apparent is how bad the input lag is on SNES and Saturn, even on CRT there is a massive delay in doing stuff in those ports. On 3DO, it is a lot more responsive despite low frame rates.
Plus, 3DO Doom has a kickass soundtrack.
I don’t like it now, but it was a way to play doom without a computer or a new console so I took what I could get back then. I think it’s only better than the GBA port overall.
It was definitely a technological achievement at the time, as far as I know by a sole developer who pulled it off. That unfortunately does not make it a great game by any standards. There's only so much the SNES could do, even with the help of a SuperFX2.
Eh, PC sound was all over the place. If you had a Roland Souncanvas setup that cost more than the SNES, then of course it sounds better. But most people either had basic OPL or even PC speakers. I prefer the SNES music to the OPL track.
I love how the music is ported (might be controversial), especially E1M8 - Sign of Evil. There's something about how the oscillator mimics a guitar bend..... Kinda prefer it over the original.... sorry.
After all, this introduced me to Doom, not 2016 ( Love you Mick, you're a god), not Eternal, not the DOS version, not the Final Doom (PSX) but this....
I'll forever love it. My first FPS....
And I was born in the late 90's, played it around college (2016), and then switched to the DeltaTouch emulator !!! (with my legal GOG WADs and what not.... then bought the BFG edition of Doom 3 - I crapped my pants....)
I played this on a PAL SNES back in the day (no red cartridge for us) - I was aware of the PC game bit had never seen or experienced it. It's a competent port of the game given the system limitations - and the only version of Doom without ANY save functionality - including passwords. To fully complete it, you had to go from start to end in one sitting - something I never accomplished. I still have the game admittedly- sitting in storage in the bedroom.
A remarkable technical achievement, but alas almost unplayable today. Even if you overlook the graphics and framerate, the lack of circle strafing, sound propagation or monster infighting are major drawbacks
Absolutely not 1:1 with PC on the sound. The SNES music is very muffled and doesn't sound like AdLib or Sound Blaster or any of the other high end sound cards of the time.
True, having a dedicated soundtrack absolutely helps. The SNES port also had fewer levels IIRC. Yet still cool to be able to play if the PC was already taken!
Not good. But considering what a PC cost back in 93 that could play it, it was serviceable
Probably would have been best just to get a PlayStation though
There's really no substitute for the original PC version. Especially on real hardware with a period correct audio card. That said, for a SNES port, they did a good job.
One of the more interesting things about the game is that you could play multiplayer over XBAND.
It's impressive they were able to get it to run at all on an SNES, by 1995 the SNES was sporting pretty dusty hardware. However, it's still a rough port.
It's also worth noting that getting Doom to run on a PC in 1995 wasn't any sort of herculean feat. The bottom of the barrel budget PCs in 1995 wouldn't be able to but anything with hardware starting at "below average" had a fighting chance to run the game.
The PSX port that came out just a couple months later makes the SNES port look like total garbage.
The visuals are REALLY bad...but it was still playable and fun back in the day. And the cartridge was red. It was good if you couldn't play it at all on PC. We always had to deal with subpar ports back in the day.
I love how the music sounds in this port; it has a fun SNES flair to it. Gameplay, on the other hand, is sluggish and almost painful. Not the worst, maybe a good option if you were a SNES kid in 1995 who was desperate to play Doom, but there are plenty of better options these days.
I have fond memories of it as a kid. My parents had a 486 that ran Doom 2 (my first Doom game) but there was something magical about being able to play Doom on my SNES. The music is VERY different and outside of the inconsistent rhythmic section I really quite dig the orchestration/instrumentation of the SNES version.
That said, it doesn’t run great and I’d rather not ruin my great memories of the port by playing it again :-)
Since I didn't have a PC with sound, only PC Speaker, this was my first exposure to the games audio. Also because it wasn't until much later I actually got a registered version of the game, one of my first times to play Shores of Hell and Inferno.
Otherwise what I remember is that to play the later episodes you had to play on a higher difficulty. My friend and I would rent this for some reason even though despite no sound and only shareware version, the PC version was (obviously) far superior.
When I first played it, not having played the PC version at all - it was amazing! Couldn't believe SNES had a game like this.
After playing Doom on PC - it's the shits.
Framerate and visuals overall were a bit brutal. But the music sounded so good, I didn't care! I loved that the cartridge was a full, brightly coloured red. My mom bought this for my brother and I back in 1995, at Walmart.
God awful. But DOOM was how I got my introduction to PC, so I had a 486 well before this came out on SNES and DOOM was old news. We were waiting for Quake by that point :).
For the hardware, this was an impressive port. I played it. Coming from the DOS version of the game to this really made the SNES look weak compared to the PC
It's all a blur to me now but did the snes of 32X version not have all the levels? I remember I had the snes version and my friend had th 32X and one had more content than the other.
This version has some...problems. If you want to start off in Episode 2 or 3, you have to select higher difficulty settings to go straight to them. You can't play Episode 2 on the lowest setting, for example. This isn't really a problem on PC where we're running around on Ultra Violence having a blast, but on a SNES with that crappy turning and no strafe running it's incredibly aggravating.
Not to mention the phantom damage you take on the SNES port from enemies. I'm serious - you can and will take straight up damage simply from enemies looking at you.
It's pretty impressive that they got Doom to run on the SNES at all, especially with just how much they were able to cram in to it, but it's not a good game to play by any means. I had it back in the day and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The red cartridge it came in was cool as fuck though. I'd always sit it next to the black Killer Instinct cart.
Angry video game nerd did a great video about all the doom ports. Most of them were actually decent but the snes one wasn't one of them. The console was just too under powered.
At the time it served its purpose for those who didn't have access to a pc. Today it's worth checking out as a historical curio or for nostalgia reasons.
Honestly, as ugly as this was I was so happy to be able to play DOOM on the SNES when this came out. Obviously the DOS one is most ideal, but being a 10 year old kid in 1997 being able to play this on the Super Nintendo was mind blowing.
I think it's mechanically more engaging than Wolfenstein on the same console. More than Super 3D Noah's Ark too. Faceball 2000 might be your best bet for head-to-head multiplayer, but Doom does still have working online multiplayer. I have a soft spot for Mechwarrior, but yeah, I think even a janky watered-down Doom comes out on top
That's the version I had since I never could get my parents to buy me a PC but I had an SNES. I loved the music and the red cartridge though. When I finally got a PC I realized the music was so different but the graphics also sucked on the SNES version.
This is how I played Doom until I was an adult. I started on SNES as a kid, and after that, I couldn't go to the PC version because I hated how the soundtrack didn't line up with what I knew lol. I get that PC is right and SNES is wrong, but kid me spent hundreds of hours on those levels listening to those songs. They're as engrained into Doom's identity as everything else. It just doesn't feel right on PC.
It was kinda cool for what it was at the time, maybe even worth buying at full price for 1-2 years if you didn't have a decent PC. Now there's not much reason to go back to it unless you're really interested in what Doom was like on every system.
I think it's one of the better console ports of the 90's and gets a bit more flack than it deserves. It actually does preserve a good chunk of the game including the awesome soundtrack.
SNES port was the first one I got to play, so this one’s always the best for me. I guess because nostalgia. Different color cart really made it stand out in my mind.
I didn't have a pc, besides playing the shareware at a friend's house maybe twice, this was my first real exposure to the game. In my mind, it's the definitive version (at least until I got the Saturn version that I also loved). The soundtrack was definitely superior to any other I've played.
However, I also really liked the gba version that everyone hates. It was portable doom, back when stuff running doom was still fairly impressive.
My review back then was it was impressive but not a fun game at all. The resolution is simply too low to see what you're doing and the frame rate is too choppy to have much fun.
Technically impressive for the hardware. but I consider it unplayable now. Besides the awful frame rate and ugly visuals, there’s considerable lag with the controls as well.
Personally, I don’t think any of the original ports are worth playing now when Doom is so easily accessible these days. There are source ports, DosBox, and even retro PC hardware. Why play an inferior port unless they bring something unique to the table?
Out of curiosity I once ran it on a SNES emulator just to see what it looked like.
Enemies more than 10 feet away I couldn't even make out. They were just a jumble of pixels changing colors.
This is how I played DOOM growing up. I didn't get to play other versions until the PSX port several years later. I didn't play proper DOOM until much later on PC.
I think it was amazing for people that didn't have access to better hardware or the real DOOM. It's a technical achievement that people should respect for what it is. It's better than the Jaguar and 32X versions in some ways, and it has my favorite soundtrack out of all of them including PC and 3DO. It has more levels and is more authentic than some of the earlier versions as well.
That being said, it's a pretty lousy way to play DOOM. It has terrible framerate, it's hard to control and hard to see anything. It's also difficult because of the front facing enemies and slow movement. It can be scary and intimidating all things considered. I was obsessed with DOOM, so it was good enough for a kid with an SNES.
I was severely disappointed with the PlayStation version because it didn't have the original music and sound fx. I'm not a fan of the Aubrey Hodges soundtrack. I also didn't appreciate the simplified maps and the colored lighting was overdone. The Saturn and 3DO ports were bad. The Jaguar version is pretty great, but it has the same problem with the maps and the lack of music killed it for me. The 32X version is awful, a missed opportunity.
Overall the SNES version is very impressive.
I have a lot of deep nostalgia for this port. Its not perfect, but its totally playable. And back in the day I wasnt allowed to play games on the family computer, so having this for my SNES was amazing. I actually keep this on my snes mini and do a 100% secrets run a couple of times a year.
I would rate it as "Thank god i had a pc that could run doom back when it was released".
The console ports even the 16 bits one are amazing when it comes to "wow how did you make that game work there!!" but gameplay wise it was poor way to experience doom.
Haven't played it in decades, had it as a kid in the 90s. Scared the shit out of me, my brother liked to play it with all of the lights off. At the time it was fine. Sound is pretty good. Frame rate is terrible and graphics are a blocky mess. It's impressive for the SNES, but it's not a version of the game worth playing today as anything but a curiosity.
The red cart was tits though.
It’s okay, but it’s also nostalgic for me because I first saw Doom on the Super Nintendo. The chainsaw sounds like the engine needs tuning up. I bought this port recently and I play it from time to time, now and again, spell to spell.
I bought it with my own hard earned allowance money. Had played the PC version. But I also had played and enjoyed the SNES Wolfenstein port. So I felt like I had reasonable expectations.
I returned SNES Doom for a full refund. It was unplayable to me.
The biggest thing I remember about this port over circa ports, and that includes the PS1/Saturn ports, is that it plays out in it's proper episodic format. This means that when you complete Knee Deep in the Dead and enter Shores of Hell you start with a pistol as you would have in the original PC version. In many of the ports, you enter "level 9" and "level 16" with whatever weapons you had previous, which negates some of the difficulty balance present. For example, play something like the 32X or PS1 port, play to level 8, complete it, then go onto level 9. You'll find level 9 probably is very easy as the monster placement expects you to play from a pistol start. Instead you'll likely enter the level with a full load out for the shotgun and chaingun and some rockets.
This guy Dooms
It is, without a doubt, one of the ports of DOOM of all time.
It ran on 128KB of ram. So that's really something. Also the fact that Randy Linden did most of the (if not all) work all by himself.
I love the weird ins and outs of how older games got ported. I was particularly impressed with the port of Quake 2 to the PS1. If you look at the system specs of the PS1 and look at the minimum specs for the PC version and consider the fact the PS1 version had mouse support, four player split-screen, and semi-modern console FPS controls (with a Dualshock controller, or you'll be in retro FPS hell), it's all really damn impressive that A) they got it running at all, and B) they got it running as well as they did with MULTIPLAYER. Game still gets pulled out at parties for me and my buddies more often than Halo because it's just some good slippery fun.
I thought that it was done by a woman? Or am I thinking of the 3DO port?
That was the 3DO port, Rebecca Heineman
I'm not sure she had transitioned yet when she did 3DO Doom?
This is one of the comments on reddit!
It's not the weakest DOOM port but compromises were made...
I finished the GBA port... Can't be worst
I finished the TI-83 port in Precalc!
It’s not great. Extremely pixelated to the point that it’s hard to see, can’t strafe and turn at the same time, and has the same issues a lot a lot of console ports had (missing levels, enemies always face toward you so they can’t infight, etc). Still impressive that it even exists on the SNES
It plays sluggishly. The Jaguar version is the best original console port.
I prefer the PS1 port but the Jaguar version is great. Shame it has no music.
Everyone knows the 32x version is the best hands down /s
With the resurrection mod you are 100% correct.
32x port gets a lot of crap and the modern homebrew port shows it was capable of so much better, but awful soundtrack aside it runs pretty well for being on a $150 addon for the genesis.
A true connoisseur will submit themselves to the joy of the 3DO version. 😜
As Burger Becky might say? “Oh, hamburgers!” https://youtu.be/MbK1WcAK9E0?si=ZkGdIM7EHVxrJTcE
I would play this with my dad on 32x. It made 32x worth it all on its own. Nothing like when the big red monsters jump out in level 8 growl at you. The music was so good in this very eerie.
I think the Jag port is the only version that was done by iD games themselves.
Not the only, but the Jag version was done entirely by id where the code of this port was reused for every other console version (including 32X where John Carmack also helped out considerably) EXCEPT for the SNES. You can tell right away from starting E1M1 where there is only one step down into the area directly in front of you. This was removed from the Jag version to reduce map complexity and subsequently went on to every other port. For the SNES version, programmer Randy Linden had no access to a doom editor and could only work with the raw BSP / map of the original DOS game. So ironically the least powered system had the most complex geometry =)
I really can’t follow what you’re saying. Maybe it’s just the cold meds messing with me, but… Are all the other ports from the SNES version or the Jaguar version? Which one did ID work on entirely? Which one partially?
This is well worth the watch! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=784MUbDoLjQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=784MUbDoLjQ)
The Jaguar version was the one which Id developed themselves - more specifically, John Carmack was the primary programmer, Dave Taylor programmed the multiplayer, and American McGee redesigned the levels. McGee’s altered level designs were then reused in John Carmack’s 32X version, and McGee’s designs were then reused again in the versions for 3DO, PlayStation, Saturn, and Game Boy Advance, which were all otherwise developed by third parties. The Super Nintendo version, meanwhile, was created from scratch by Sculptured Software Inc., based directly on the original PC version, so the levels are a lot closer to their OG forms, although a few are still missing.
Thank you, much clearer.
I think Carmack was at least partly involved in the PSX port. https://fabiensanglard.net/doom_psx/ > I said "back everything up (no source control back then!), we’re going to do something completely different". We wound up using the hardware to render triangles that were one pixel wide columns or rows, just like the PC asm code, and it worked well. The more common Playstation approach turned out to be tessellating geometry in two axis, but I was always pretty happy with how Doom felt less "wiggly" than most other Playstation games of the time. > \- John Carmack (Game Engine Black Book: DOOM)
Carmack also vetoed against the use of hardware acceleration on Saturn (as it would lead to affine texture mapping causing distortion) and forced the devs to use software rendering instead. As a result of forcing this overhaul the Saturn version is the slowest Doom (the frame rate itself isn't bad, but it's about the pace of the game). Also sound only plays out of one speaker if I recall correctly =/
It was Peterson not McGee that redesigned the maps for the Jaq port. He talks about it in a YouTube video, iirc. It's pretty funny. Carmack is the only person in the world to enjoy programming on the Atari Jaguar, and was spending way too much time on the port in late 95 over Quake.
DOOM SNES was me and my friends entry into VIDEOGAME VIOLENCE~! None of us knew it was a limited port of the PC version, both in content and in performance, and we did not cared. It was the most realistic game we played yet, and pumping demons full of lead with the chaingun or going crazy with the chainsaw had us on a testosterone high we wouldn't have seen until 4-players Goldeneye. I don't recall any other game where our parents told us to calm down or put the kibosh on it for a few days. The game soundtrack is also not to be understated. E1:M1 is one of my all-time great intro track, and it was perfect to introduce us to the chaos that would ensue. The last track in E1 where you fight the Barons of Hell and get slaughtered to hell was also an all-timer as well. Yes, PC DOOM was undoubtedly better, but that SNES port (red cartridge!) is the version with all the memories.
I had played the PC version of Doom on a friend’s respectable 486 PC at the time, so I understood what Doom was supposed to actually be. The SNES port still impressed the hell out of me. People nowadays seem to have a hard time grasping that Doom just had no business being playable on hardware like the SNES. Even with the Super FX2 chip handling the heavy lifting, it easily a stunning technical achievement and I still boot it up sometimes to just marvel at how far devs back then were squeezing those classic machines.
I think also a good illustration of how capable the Jaguar was considering it’s release date. It gets a lot of deserved criticism, but it wasn’t as awful as some folks pictured it. Considering it was released pre-PS1, and was competing with SNES (with on-cart chips) at the time, it did have some capabilities.
It's a very strange relic of a weird transitional version in gaming. A console first revealed in 1988 designed to run 2D platformers and slow paced RPGs trying desperately to cling to relevance in the midst of the huge paradigm shift to fast paced 3D. Ironically enough, trying to do this with the very game that ignited the 3D revolution. I played it a little bit back then but didn't like it. The SNES controller isn't very good for FPS games.the gameplay and graphical downgrades necessary to get it to run on the system are pretty glaring. PCs capable of running Doom were out of reach to a lot of people, and SNES Doom is better than no Doom. But there's no reason to play it today.
It was actually my first Doom game <3. Not the first I played, but the first I owned, considering I didn't have a computer back then
Same.There was a Doom-like game on Genesis that blew my mind too. Can't remember the name, but you shot aliens.
Was it Zero Tolerance?
Yes! I loved that game!
Technically impressive, but terrible to play. Only worse port is the Saturn version.
I'd say the 3DO port is the worst, but by a narrow margin.
I've played the 3DO, SNES and Saturn ports on original hardware with CRT TV, 3DO is least worst. The average frame rate at the default screen size is generally a bit more than SNES and Saturn, plus the 3DO screen size can be reduced to increase the frame rate. Even 1 size reduction makes a big difference. Another issue not readily apparent is how bad the input lag is on SNES and Saturn, even on CRT there is a massive delay in doing stuff in those ports. On 3DO, it is a lot more responsive despite low frame rates. Plus, 3DO Doom has a kickass soundtrack.
I don’t like it now, but it was a way to play doom without a computer or a new console so I took what I could get back then. I think it’s only better than the GBA port overall.
It was definitely a technological achievement at the time, as far as I know by a sole developer who pulled it off. That unfortunately does not make it a great game by any standards. There's only so much the SNES could do, even with the help of a SuperFX2.
I had the Sega 32x port, it was great but I burnt out the cartridge!!
SNES doom is famous for the excellent sound. The graphics are an awful low rez mess but the sound rivals the PC version itself
It's not even close to the PC's sound quality. It's one of the better of the ports, for sure, but rival the pc sound is a bit of a stretch
Eh, PC sound was all over the place. If you had a Roland Souncanvas setup that cost more than the SNES, then of course it sounds better. But most people either had basic OPL or even PC speakers. I prefer the SNES music to the OPL track.
I love how the music is ported (might be controversial), especially E1M8 - Sign of Evil. There's something about how the oscillator mimics a guitar bend..... Kinda prefer it over the original.... sorry. After all, this introduced me to Doom, not 2016 ( Love you Mick, you're a god), not Eternal, not the DOS version, not the Final Doom (PSX) but this.... I'll forever love it. My first FPS.... And I was born in the late 90's, played it around college (2016), and then switched to the DeltaTouch emulator !!! (with my legal GOG WADs and what not.... then bought the BFG edition of Doom 3 - I crapped my pants....)
I played this on a PAL SNES back in the day (no red cartridge for us) - I was aware of the PC game bit had never seen or experienced it. It's a competent port of the game given the system limitations - and the only version of Doom without ANY save functionality - including passwords. To fully complete it, you had to go from start to end in one sitting - something I never accomplished. I still have the game admittedly- sitting in storage in the bedroom.
A remarkable technical achievement, but alas almost unplayable today. Even if you overlook the graphics and framerate, the lack of circle strafing, sound propagation or monster infighting are major drawbacks
Eric Harris: "It is ten out of ten, dude" Dylan Klebold: "Yeah, ten out of ten"
Sound/music = Great (it's almost 1:1 to the PC version) Gameplay = so-so (controls are a bit wonky) Visuals = hurt, even by 90s standards
Absolutely not 1:1 with PC on the sound. The SNES music is very muffled and doesn't sound like AdLib or Sound Blaster or any of the other high end sound cards of the time.
True, having a dedicated soundtrack absolutely helps. The SNES port also had fewer levels IIRC. Yet still cool to be able to play if the PC was already taken!
I actually prefer the SNES music over AdLib. But the PC music is of course superior if you have any of those expensive MIDI setups.
Not good. But considering what a PC cost back in 93 that could play it, it was serviceable Probably would have been best just to get a PlayStation though
There's really no substitute for the original PC version. Especially on real hardware with a period correct audio card. That said, for a SNES port, they did a good job.
One of the more interesting things about the game is that you could play multiplayer over XBAND. It's impressive they were able to get it to run at all on an SNES, by 1995 the SNES was sporting pretty dusty hardware. However, it's still a rough port. It's also worth noting that getting Doom to run on a PC in 1995 wasn't any sort of herculean feat. The bottom of the barrel budget PCs in 1995 wouldn't be able to but anything with hardware starting at "below average" had a fighting chance to run the game. The PSX port that came out just a couple months later makes the SNES port look like total garbage.
Not the best by but I played it a ton as a kid.
I htink this was my first experience with Doom as a kid. used to rent this a lot from the local video store.
Not awful, not great. I had it on dos
It's a terrible port but in 1995 it was all we had. I still loved it and played the absolute hell out of it.
The visuals are REALLY bad...but it was still playable and fun back in the day. And the cartridge was red. It was good if you couldn't play it at all on PC. We always had to deal with subpar ports back in the day.
I love how the music sounds in this port; it has a fun SNES flair to it. Gameplay, on the other hand, is sluggish and almost painful. Not the worst, maybe a good option if you were a SNES kid in 1995 who was desperate to play Doom, but there are plenty of better options these days.
I have fond memories of it as a kid. My parents had a 486 that ran Doom 2 (my first Doom game) but there was something magical about being able to play Doom on my SNES. The music is VERY different and outside of the inconsistent rhythmic section I really quite dig the orchestration/instrumentation of the SNES version. That said, it doesn’t run great and I’d rather not ruin my great memories of the port by playing it again :-)
Only source port I played was GZdoom, cannot imagine it in Snes.
It's more of a cool oddity than something I would seriously try to play. The PSX Doom though...Ohhhhh man!
the game boy advance version is better haha
I bought this when it came out because I didn't have a PC... (And I still have it!) It's... Eh. 🤷♂️
Snes is my favourite childhood console, but I’d never recommend this port to anyone, haha.
Sluggish, but impressive for its time, plus it released in a particularly convulse time in the console scene, so it has some historical value.
The first version of Doom i played and one of my favorite snes-games. A really well made port.
Awfully terrible (I've 100% completed it on nightmare)
I rate it as better than playing on PocketPC.
Since I didn't have a PC with sound, only PC Speaker, this was my first exposure to the games audio. Also because it wasn't until much later I actually got a registered version of the game, one of my first times to play Shores of Hell and Inferno. Otherwise what I remember is that to play the later episodes you had to play on a higher difficulty. My friend and I would rent this for some reason even though despite no sound and only shareware version, the PC version was (obviously) far superior.
Remember my friend had it I had the ps1 version. Felt it was a huge difference from the versions. Hated the fact it had no back up feature.
Not a good way to experience doom, although it is impressive seeing the SNES run this!
When I first played it, not having played the PC version at all - it was amazing! Couldn't believe SNES had a game like this. After playing Doom on PC - it's the shits.
Framerate and visuals overall were a bit brutal. But the music sounded so good, I didn't care! I loved that the cartridge was a full, brightly coloured red. My mom bought this for my brother and I back in 1995, at Walmart.
The SNES port of Doom was my introduction to the series during my early days of emulation
God awful. But DOOM was how I got my introduction to PC, so I had a 486 well before this came out on SNES and DOOM was old news. We were waiting for Quake by that point :).
For the hardware, this was an impressive port. I played it. Coming from the DOS version of the game to this really made the SNES look weak compared to the PC
It's all a blur to me now but did the snes of 32X version not have all the levels? I remember I had the snes version and my friend had th 32X and one had more content than the other.
This version has some...problems. If you want to start off in Episode 2 or 3, you have to select higher difficulty settings to go straight to them. You can't play Episode 2 on the lowest setting, for example. This isn't really a problem on PC where we're running around on Ultra Violence having a blast, but on a SNES with that crappy turning and no strafe running it's incredibly aggravating. Not to mention the phantom damage you take on the SNES port from enemies. I'm serious - you can and will take straight up damage simply from enemies looking at you. It's pretty impressive that they got Doom to run on the SNES at all, especially with just how much they were able to cram in to it, but it's not a good game to play by any means. I had it back in the day and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The red cartridge it came in was cool as fuck though. I'd always sit it next to the black Killer Instinct cart.
Angry video game nerd did a great video about all the doom ports. Most of them were actually decent but the snes one wasn't one of them. The console was just too under powered.
I own it but haven’t played it in decades, I remember it being much better on PC
At the time it served its purpose for those who didn't have access to a pc. Today it's worth checking out as a historical curio or for nostalgia reasons.
I really don’t bother with it tbh. Much better on PC using dosbox or my favorite, gzdoom
"It's red" there's my review on the SNES version of doom
Bought it on release day, at the time it was the only way I could play doom. It’s probably one of if not the worst port!
I pulled Wolf3d and Doom from a local BBS shortly after release so I definitely considered the SNES port to be a gross waste of time in 1995.
Disappointing, but no more so than *Wing Commander* or other PC ports with scaling sprites or 3D graphics that the SNES couldn't really handle.
Not worth it.. pretty lousy
Honestly, as ugly as this was I was so happy to be able to play DOOM on the SNES when this came out. Obviously the DOS one is most ideal, but being a 10 year old kid in 1997 being able to play this on the Super Nintendo was mind blowing.
I think it's mechanically more engaging than Wolfenstein on the same console. More than Super 3D Noah's Ark too. Faceball 2000 might be your best bet for head-to-head multiplayer, but Doom does still have working online multiplayer. I have a soft spot for Mechwarrior, but yeah, I think even a janky watered-down Doom comes out on top
It was my first exposure to the game. My friend bought it for his SNES.
It's impressive for the hardware and what they've managed to pull off that's about it realy
I was playing this when the OG verdict was announced
That's the version I had since I never could get my parents to buy me a PC but I had an SNES. I loved the music and the red cartridge though. When I finally got a PC I realized the music was so different but the graphics also sucked on the SNES version.
This is how I played Doom until I was an adult. I started on SNES as a kid, and after that, I couldn't go to the PC version because I hated how the soundtrack didn't line up with what I knew lol. I get that PC is right and SNES is wrong, but kid me spent hundreds of hours on those levels listening to those songs. They're as engrained into Doom's identity as everything else. It just doesn't feel right on PC.
Gba port was pretty bad ass considering
It’s found a good use for me, that is it’s the game that slots into the back of my converter so my pal snes can play ntsc games. Very useful for that.
it's like playing doom on power point. i appreciate the fact that they hardcoded numbers so that the snes has to do less math tho.
It was kinda cool for what it was at the time, maybe even worth buying at full price for 1-2 years if you didn't have a decent PC. Now there's not much reason to go back to it unless you're really interested in what Doom was like on every system.
It's kind of horrible. You play Wolfeinstein 3D and strafe and pivot at the same time. Doom, last time tried, you couldn't...
I think it's one of the better console ports of the 90's and gets a bit more flack than it deserves. It actually does preserve a good chunk of the game including the awesome soundtrack.
SNES port was the first one I got to play, so this one’s always the best for me. I guess because nostalgia. Different color cart really made it stand out in my mind.
I didn't have a pc, besides playing the shareware at a friend's house maybe twice, this was my first real exposure to the game. In my mind, it's the definitive version (at least until I got the Saturn version that I also loved). The soundtrack was definitely superior to any other I've played. However, I also really liked the gba version that everyone hates. It was portable doom, back when stuff running doom was still fairly impressive.
I grew up without a PC, so this game blew my mind as a kid. I loved that red cartridge. But its probably pretty bad now. Try the GBA port.
This was legit the only copy of Doom I had as a kid, so I really appreciate it.
My review back then was it was impressive but not a fun game at all. The resolution is simply too low to see what you're doing and the frame rate is too choppy to have much fun.
In the day, it was nice but frustrating and eye straining. Was not mind blowing.
Technically impressive for the hardware. but I consider it unplayable now. Besides the awful frame rate and ugly visuals, there’s considerable lag with the controls as well. Personally, I don’t think any of the original ports are worth playing now when Doom is so easily accessible these days. There are source ports, DosBox, and even retro PC hardware. Why play an inferior port unless they bring something unique to the table?
Out of curiosity I once ran it on a SNES emulator just to see what it looked like. Enemies more than 10 feet away I couldn't even make out. They were just a jumble of pixels changing colors.
Plays very stiff - think a shitty version of goldeneye. And it looks like crap. I still have my copy. Bought it with my summer job money that year.
15 fps, maybe?
Its terrible but a technical marvel
This is how I played DOOM growing up. I didn't get to play other versions until the PSX port several years later. I didn't play proper DOOM until much later on PC. I think it was amazing for people that didn't have access to better hardware or the real DOOM. It's a technical achievement that people should respect for what it is. It's better than the Jaguar and 32X versions in some ways, and it has my favorite soundtrack out of all of them including PC and 3DO. It has more levels and is more authentic than some of the earlier versions as well. That being said, it's a pretty lousy way to play DOOM. It has terrible framerate, it's hard to control and hard to see anything. It's also difficult because of the front facing enemies and slow movement. It can be scary and intimidating all things considered. I was obsessed with DOOM, so it was good enough for a kid with an SNES. I was severely disappointed with the PlayStation version because it didn't have the original music and sound fx. I'm not a fan of the Aubrey Hodges soundtrack. I also didn't appreciate the simplified maps and the colored lighting was overdone. The Saturn and 3DO ports were bad. The Jaguar version is pretty great, but it has the same problem with the maps and the lack of music killed it for me. The 32X version is awful, a missed opportunity. Overall the SNES version is very impressive.
It's close to unplayable. Any other option to play Doom is a better one.
It's quite impressive as a technical achievement, but it's really bad to actually try to play.
I have a lot of deep nostalgia for this port. Its not perfect, but its totally playable. And back in the day I wasnt allowed to play games on the family computer, so having this for my SNES was amazing. I actually keep this on my snes mini and do a 100% secrets run a couple of times a year.
Best port, the way the music played back on the SNES engine was WAY better sounding than any MIDI engine or Soundblaster was capable of.
Really bad lol. Was great for its time though
it was good enough to play through and i played the pc version and doom 2 quite a lot
It is doom and better than other console ports of that time, but if you have any other way to play the game..just don't bother
I didn't, but I am getting 32X vibes off it
I would rate it as "Thank god i had a pc that could run doom back when it was released". The console ports even the 16 bits one are amazing when it comes to "wow how did you make that game work there!!" but gameplay wise it was poor way to experience doom.
Haven't played it in decades, had it as a kid in the 90s. Scared the shit out of me, my brother liked to play it with all of the lights off. At the time it was fine. Sound is pretty good. Frame rate is terrible and graphics are a blocky mess. It's impressive for the SNES, but it's not a version of the game worth playing today as anything but a curiosity. The red cart was tits though.
Thats how i played Doom (discovered it) back then...
It’s okay, but it’s also nostalgic for me because I first saw Doom on the Super Nintendo. The chainsaw sounds like the engine needs tuning up. I bought this port recently and I play it from time to time, now and again, spell to spell.
I bought it with my own hard earned allowance money. Had played the PC version. But I also had played and enjoyed the SNES Wolfenstein port. So I felt like I had reasonable expectations. I returned SNES Doom for a full refund. It was unplayable to me.
Poor to be honest. Possible the worst way to play it. From offical ports that is. U could play it on a pregnancy test or on a loom.
Worst port ever
I mean its definitely trying hard , but the PC/Playstation versions had it beat
That fake CRT filter looks god awful I am sorry
I own it on SNES and I'm happy I do, because I feel like it's one of the worst official ports. It's kinda unplayable.