After another lengthy absence, I have returned to talk about SNES Doom some more. If you think about Doom in a certain light, it's the first species in a genealogy that has led to innumerable more complex species, each of them with its own developmental advantages and disadvantages. We can't all have the memory of an elephant, after all.
SNES Doom is an aberration in that tapestry of life. It's the first console port not adapted from the original code. It does, however, bear other traits passed on from their common ancestor, albeit in diluted form. It possesses the same graphics and sounds--just less of them. What do I mean? Former humans only have one death sound. Imps and demons share the same pain and death sounds. The Soul Sphere and Invisibility make the same pickup sound as everything else...that plain "boop". Oh--and the enemies always face you.
My experience has been one of annoyance mixed with frequent sighs of relief. The Former Humans and Sergeants never miss with a single shot, and they can be quite aggressive, meaning that you take a lot of damage fairly quickly. And even though using the shoulder buttons to strafe is a beautiful advancement in the way the game is played, Imp fireballs are tough to dodge! So I found myself getting upset as my health ticked down, only to discover that there are really less overall enemies in every level than in the 32X and Jaguar versions. I'm really not sure why. I've definitely been playing in Ultra-Violence, and yet...well, okay...so you open the door in Toxin Refinery and you expect a whole slew of guys to be on top of you, but they're not. Oh, the area around the slime does have enemies, but not an overwhelming amount. Then there's Computer Station--same difference. Come out the door and it's really not as crowded as it should be. But hey, that just makes it beatable.
Playing the 32X and Jag versions set me up for some surprises on the Soul Sphere score as well. See, the Invisibility in Phobos Lab and Computer Station in those versions is replaced by Soul Spheres. Sculptured Software had the integrity to put Invisibility in the SNES version--but not Spectres. But that's not where it ends. Nope. They improved upon the original Doom's invisibility effect and managed to make the player's weapons appear translucent instead of giving them that wavy black pixel effect that so many people remember.
The SNES allows the player to pause and change weapons, but I haven't taken advantage of that particular feature yet.
I've noticed that my weapons are particularly effective, another feature which makes up for enemy aggression.
The music is really well done, as I've mentioned before. What I failed to mention was the song in Phobos Lab (and other levels). It's particularly creepy in this version. Wow. That sudden drumbeat/bass hit really adds to the ambience.
Another feature that stood out was that the dynamic lighting is surprisingly good in the SNES version. I had actually forgotten how well they applied it! The only thing I remembered from back in the day was that it didn't affect the player's weapon sprite. What I apparently failed to pick out was that lighting does affect everything else! Textures, enemies, items and decorations are all subject to varying shades of light depending on the brightness of the area and any flickering that is occurring. In other words, SNES Doom does a better job with lighting than the 32X and, if I recall correctly, the 3DO! Who would have thought the SNES could be such a powerhouse?
I've only played through Knee-Deep in the Dead thus far. I'll be offering a brief write-up every time I beat an episode, so expect the next one fairly soon! In the meantime, as always, here is an updated timeline:
Doom v1.0: December 10, 1993
Doom v1.1: December 16, 1993
DEU: January 26, 1994
Doom v1.2: February 17, 1994
Origwad: March 7, 1994
Doom v1.4: June 28, 1994
Doom v1.5: July 8, 1994
Doom v1.6: August 3, 1994
Doom v.1.666: September 1, 1994
Doom II: September 30, 1994
Doom v1.7: October 11, 1994
Aliens Total Conversion: November 3, 1994
Doom v1.7a: November 8, 1994
32X Doom: November 14, 1994
Jaguar Doom: November 28, 1994
Heretic: December 23, 1994
Doom v1.8: January 23, 1995
Doom v1.9: February 1, 1995
The Ultimate Doom: April 30, 1995
SNES Doom: September 1, 1995
Master Levels for Doom 2: December 26, 1995
Doom 95: August 20, 1996
SNES Doom is an aberration in that tapestry of life. It's the first console port not adapted from the original code. It does, however, bear other traits passed on from their common ancestor, albeit in diluted form. It possesses the same graphics and sounds--just less of them. What do I mean? Former humans only have one death sound. Imps and demons share the same pain and death sounds. The Soul Sphere and Invisibility make the same pickup sound as everything else...that plain "boop". Oh--and the enemies always face you.
My experience has been one of annoyance mixed with frequent sighs of relief. The Former Humans and Sergeants never miss with a single shot, and they can be quite aggressive, meaning that you take a lot of damage fairly quickly. And even though using the shoulder buttons to strafe is a beautiful advancement in the way the game is played, Imp fireballs are tough to dodge! So I found myself getting upset as my health ticked down, only to discover that there are really less overall enemies in every level than in the 32X and Jaguar versions. I'm really not sure why. I've definitely been playing in Ultra-Violence, and yet...well, okay...so you open the door in Toxin Refinery and you expect a whole slew of guys to be on top of you, but they're not. Oh, the area around the slime does have enemies, but not an overwhelming amount. Then there's Computer Station--same difference. Come out the door and it's really not as crowded as it should be. But hey, that just makes it beatable.
Playing the 32X and Jag versions set me up for some surprises on the Soul Sphere score as well. See, the Invisibility in Phobos Lab and Computer Station in those versions is replaced by Soul Spheres. Sculptured Software had the integrity to put Invisibility in the SNES version--but not Spectres. But that's not where it ends. Nope. They improved upon the original Doom's invisibility effect and managed to make the player's weapons appear translucent instead of giving them that wavy black pixel effect that so many people remember.
The SNES allows the player to pause and change weapons, but I haven't taken advantage of that particular feature yet.
I've noticed that my weapons are particularly effective, another feature which makes up for enemy aggression.
The music is really well done, as I've mentioned before. What I failed to mention was the song in Phobos Lab (and other levels). It's particularly creepy in this version. Wow. That sudden drumbeat/bass hit really adds to the ambience.
Another feature that stood out was that the dynamic lighting is surprisingly good in the SNES version. I had actually forgotten how well they applied it! The only thing I remembered from back in the day was that it didn't affect the player's weapon sprite. What I apparently failed to pick out was that lighting does affect everything else! Textures, enemies, items and decorations are all subject to varying shades of light depending on the brightness of the area and any flickering that is occurring. In other words, SNES Doom does a better job with lighting than the 32X and, if I recall correctly, the 3DO! Who would have thought the SNES could be such a powerhouse?
I've only played through Knee-Deep in the Dead thus far. I'll be offering a brief write-up every time I beat an episode, so expect the next one fairly soon! In the meantime, as always, here is an updated timeline:
Doom v1.0: December 10, 1993
Doom v1.1: December 16, 1993
DEU: January 26, 1994
Doom v1.2: February 17, 1994
Origwad: March 7, 1994
Doom v1.4: June 28, 1994
Doom v1.5: July 8, 1994
Doom v1.6: August 3, 1994
Doom v.1.666: September 1, 1994
Doom II: September 30, 1994
Doom v1.7: October 11, 1994
Aliens Total Conversion: November 3, 1994
Doom v1.7a: November 8, 1994
32X Doom: November 14, 1994
Jaguar Doom: November 28, 1994
Heretic: December 23, 1994
Doom v1.8: January 23, 1995
Doom v1.9: February 1, 1995
The Ultimate Doom: April 30, 1995
SNES Doom: September 1, 1995
Master Levels for Doom 2: December 26, 1995
Doom 95: August 20, 1996