Doom

Everyone knows Doom. Oh? You've never heard of it? Ok. Here's a synopsis: Run around in a pseudo-3D environment shooting monsters for fun! It's as simple as that.

The graphics in Doom are nothing short of phenomenal. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all texture mapped. There are "see-through" textures, fireballs that shoot down at you, and a plethora of monsters that attack you. True, the graphics look very dated by today's standards, but that is typical of all games. The true test of a great game is if the gameplay can withstand the test of time. And there is nothing quite so satisfying a spilling a little demon blood now and then. Even today, however, I think the graphics are wonderful and convey exactly what the designers were looking to do.

Animation of the creatures, however, is one aspect of Doom that has been lacking in virtually all versions of the game. There seems to be only maybe 16 frames of animation for any one character. This includes seeing it from the sides and from the back.

Rating the music in Jaguar Doom is very easy because there is none! I suspect the reason it was omitted was to make room for more monsters or levels. In truth, which would you choose?

The sound effects are wonderful, however, and I especially enjoy the monster's groans as you blast them with your rifle. (Some of the sounds were actually someone's stomach growling.)

The control is smooth and tight. This game is also much faster than AvP, which many complained was too slow. In Doom, you zip around at a road runner's pace. It can sometimes be too fast if you run!

Jaguar Doom is one of the few games that supports networking. You can battle it out with a friend or take on the monsters together. The only problem is that the Jaguar itself has several bugs in it which make network games crash on occasion. The only thing you can do is restart the game. Bummer!

The only things missing from the Jaguar version of Doom are a few of the monsters (the spider-demon is the only one I know of for sure), the music, and a level or two. Otherwise, Jaguar Doomis an incredible accomplishment because it mimics the PC game so very closely. Certainly, adding another 4 megabits might have made it a perfect PC clone.

This version of Doom compares favorably to other console versions. Not the best, but certainly not the worst.

Want proof of magazine bias against the Jaguar? Find the Jan. 95 issue of EGM where they rate both the Jaguar and Sega 32X versions of Doom. Which one do you suppose got a higher rating? The Jaguar version is full screen, has multiple views of the monsters, has more levels, includes networking support, has a better resolution, has more sound effects, and was even programmed by John Carmac himself! Yet, the 32X version gets an average rating of 8.4 while the Jaguar version rates as a 6.75! Now, if that isn't bias against the Jaguar, I don't know what is. (For a more in-depth comparison, check out the EGM Reviews Doom article.)

Doom is one of the landmark games of all time. Get it. Play it. Love it. Worship it.