Doom

• Release Date: 1997
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: First-Person Shooter
• Similar Games: Alien Trilogy (Sega Saturn), Duke Nukem 3D (Sega Saturn), Hexen (Sega Saturn), Powerslave (Sega Saturn), Quake (Sega Saturn), Congo: The Lost City of Zinj (Sega Saturn), Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels (Sega Saturn)

Roots & Influences

This game is based on the classic PC title that takes its cue from Wolfenstein 3D. The game is also featured on the Sega 32X.

Review: Overall

Playing the Saturn version of Doom my bring some people to tears. Here is a classic game that has been loved for years on the PC totally ruined, hacked up, and botched beyond playability. It's a game that has been ported to almost every console or gaming platform, most of them successful. There are a few exceptions to that statement and this is one of them. This version of Doom is basically unplayable thanks to the wretchedly flawed translation.

The most noticeable problem lies within the low frame rate and excruciating slow down. It is so sloppy and slow that it is almost impossible to maneuver your space marine around. When there are more than five enemies on the screen at one time (which is a lot) and you're in a wide open space, the frame rate hits the floor resulting in the player becoming disoriented and confused. Movement chops so incredibly bad that it feels like you're watching a slide show from a vacation in Hell.

It is bewildering as to why the game plays like this. How can the Saturn be incapable of running a game made in the early 90s when it has already proven that it can run Quake more than adequately? The incarnation of this engine is horribly flawed and this alone should be the reason that you should never play this game.

Then the redundancy sets in as there are no new levels in this version. There are sixty levels in all as it contains Ultimate Doom and Doom II but nothing we haven't seen before. Sure, these levels are great but it sure would be nice to play some new ones.

So what you're left with is an incredibly bad translation of one of the 90s most cherished and revolutionary games. If you have ever played Doom before, don't even dare try playing this version. There are no new levels or multi-player support (unless you link two systems together) and it runs on with a frame rate that might have been acceptable in the very early 90s or late 80s. Stick with the PC or even PlayStation version.

Review: Enjoyment

Because of the awful frame rate and lack of any new levels, this version of Doom is anti-enjoyable.

Review: Graphics

Outdated and poor are the only two ways to describe the visuals department. The textures and enemies are incredibly pixelated and monsters shamble about like bad cardboard cut outs.

Review: Sound

The music and sound effects have been recycled once again and are far from original.

Review: Replay Value

When you combine the same redundant levels that we've played a bazillion times already with the fact that there is no multi-player option, the replay value is nil.

Review: Documentation

Standard {*Doom} manual tells you about the items, weapons, and monsters.

Production Credits

doom	doom 2
doom 3