One of the defining video games of this generation, Doom, where a lone soldier, John Doe, is isolated on the distant moons of Mars, pitted against a cast of some vile demons and alien creatures, ultimately fighting for his survival, began on the PC back in 1993. It was one of the most cutting edge games of its time and is indeed a true classic. It was also ported to many different home consoles as well in the years to follow, for instance, on the ill-fated Atari Jaguar, the Sega Saturn, the horrid Sega 32X, 3DO, and Sony's Playstation to name a few. Though, the ported version I have decided to discuss here is the 1995 release for Super Nintendo. Unfortunately, like many of the other versions of this game, this port did not live up to the groundbreaking PC original.

     With its stark blood-red cartridge, Doom for the SNES really stands out in your collection, it surely does in mine - it is the only one that is not the tradtional gray color. I like the gutsy color of red (no pun intended) for the cartridge because it seems to emphasize and embrace a certain no-holds barred attitude in an attempt to be tougher than any game out there on the market. Well, sure, that was the case for the PC game, but that game was able to look macho in a floppy disk format! This SNES port pales to the original with its incredibly blurry and unrefined looking graphics. It's also marred with some terribly slow controls, but, in comparison to some of the other iterations of the game, it isn't entirely bad either.

     For the Atari Jaguar version, the graphics are far superior (as I suppose the Jaguar was a more powerful system, with its apparent 64-bit capabilities), but there was no music! How could such a thing exist?! Doom was not only known for its kick-butt gameplay, but its awesome, and thrilling music reminscient of vintage Metallica. In fact, listen to the music on the first level of Doom for the SNES, or the PC version, and you'll swear it is "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, it's pretty darn cool. Anyway, take a look at the 32X version of the game, it also had some decent graphics, but, the music was astrosis. It was a totally distorted and dissonant mess of a soundtrack, inducing some major cringes. Before I go on, I must quickly note that my information about the Jaguar and 32X versions comes from watching the Angry Video Game Nerd's videos about them, so thankyou Nerd!

     So after seeing those other two odd ports of the game, it makes the SNES one not nearly as poor as it may be. In fact, the SNES game has a really powerful riveting version of the iconic music, and its a real treat to listen to. If you can look past the weak graphics and the sluggish gameplay, Doom for the Super NES is alright, but nothing stellar. It is a functional, serviceable version of what is at the core, a great game, but unfortunately reduced on Nintendo's super console.

     I would stick with the PC version, and there are so many other ways to play the original Doom these days, that it sort of makes these inferior ports obsolete. However, the SNES iteration has a great take on the soundtrack, and it is still Doom, so it is very familar, albeit a lesser game. In the end, it is something nice to add to your collection, and with its cool red cartirdge, it will surely stand out.

-Kurt L.

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