Welcome to a new edition of Modern Gaming Reviews and we are checking out one of the few home conversions of Doom II. Do I need to explain how the first game was literally ported to death even to the 16-bit consoles, again? However, the sequel on the other hand including the expansions (Master Levels and Final Doom) were never ported to most 3D consoles. The PS1/Sega Saturn only received Doom II and Final Doom which leaves the Doom 3: BFG Edition as one of the few conversions on Xbox. Among the other limited home releases was the one on GBA, a nice surprise considering how massive most maps were. They were often large levels that even the PS1/Saturn versions had to use the Atari Jaguar’s source code to limit their size. It’s why the first entry on GBA had smaller areas compared to the Original PC game. However, the port for the sequel was handled by a different studio called Torus Games instead of David Parmer Production. If you don’t know who Torus is, they are mostly known to develop license titles like the Iron Man GBA game we went over a few years ago. It’s quite odd for Id to choose them over David Parmer Production despite proving their worth with the first entry. Can Torus Games do the impossible and get the second game to work on this handheld? Gameplay It’s surprising that the GBA edition was able to maintain all 32 maps from the Original sequel on PC. As you all know there is no Atari Jaguar sourcing for Doom II which is what most conversions were based on with the first game. It’s interesting to know none of the maps were condensed or shortened here from their complex designs. To address this Torus sometimes took maps and broke them down into two parts as seen by the Industrial Zone. Even DPP had the same idea until Id stopped the company and told them to use the Atari Jaguar source code for some odd reason. The core level design now wasn’t changed this time since the stages are as lengthy as the Original PC game. In fact the enemies are all retained with no changes in their placements. Another surprise is the Arch-Vile wasn’t removed and is here with its frames from the sprite intact. If you remember in the PS1 Doom review, the Arch-Vile wasn’t added in that port because Id claimed the sprite had too many frames to render. While it is true, the GBA is a 32-bit system; it also doesn’t support a million colors at once. I can’t tell if Id was being lazy or they were still learning the PS1’s architecture considering that port was released in 1995. Whatever Torus did to get the demon’s sprite to work on this system is nothing short of impressive. One of the unique maps in the overall package was Barrels of Fun based on an interesting challenge. The first image shows the Slayer using the oil drums as explosives to clear the hordes of demons. Those barrels give the players a challenge where they have to carefully shoot around the oil drums while using them to their advantage. If only the level creators did such interesting designs instead of doing those head scratcher maps. As explained, Doom II is known for its intricate maps and head scratchers to some that were developed. The Chasm shown in the second image is one of them since its confusing level design made us wonder how Sandy Peterson dropped the ball. It was one of those huge maps that had you explore to find the next area of progression. However, this conversion breaks the level into two parts and even then, the challenges still weren’t good. Nothing will fix these large levels no matter how shortened they are. However, this version does have its fair share of issues because the code has some bugs the developers didn’t address. The level design also has it’s unbalancing that either aids or hurts the player’s session. We find this in the armor points the most as the scripting can't read the code when entering the next level. That means when a player collects any armor including the Mega Armor in one stage and then enters the next those points don’t transfer over properly. Meaning you take damage as if you didn’t have it forcing the player to collect any armor to fix this. Of course, then there is the ammo of any kind that gives the full amount for the guns. Similar to the last GBA version, this was probably done to make it easier for casual players to get into the game. However, the other difficulties like Nightmare — that is actually Ultra-Violent with the true mode being absent — will truly hinder the challenge’s settings. Of course, we can’t forget about switching guns by holding down either L or R while pressing down and up on the D-pad. That is still my complaint with these portable versions since it makes changing them on the fly cumbersome. It is nothing like we have gotten on the Nintendo Switch where Bethesda Software put in hot buttons akin to the Keyboard. However, thanks to the limited buttons is the reason the developers had to program gun switching in such a manner. Rating: 8.1/10 Graphics/Presentation It was obvious the PC visuals were going to get watered down to work on the portable system. Torus continues what DPP left off doing similar work with the video settings of Dynamic and Static Lighting. Instead of using the Atari Jaguar source, Torus utilizes the Southpaw Engine considering the Doom Engine can’t run on the handheld. The first noticeable thing is the skybox was lowered a bit since the city's tall skyscrapers isn’t as high in the city maps. It is quite odd they choose to raise the barriers however they probably did this due to the image on the skybox being quite pixelated. The one thing noticeable is how the textures become one color from a distance but once you get closer, they return back to normal. That is one of the sacrifices the portable had to go through to make this work on weaker hardware. DPP did a similar thing to the OST by sacrificing the music quality to improve performance. Then again Panic Button did the same thing for Doom Eternal on Nintendo Switch by making textures low resolution at a distance. That was followed by scaling to normal resolution when getting closer to a structure or a character model. While we are on the subject, the dead bodies of enemies still disappear probably to also help the performance of the Southpaw Engine. Some might take issue to dead bodies not remaining but if that isn't a problem for Resident Evil then there shouldn’t be an argument. It’s amazing how the Southpaw Engine managed to render the Arch-Vile’s animated frames on the GBA. According to Id it was the reason this infamous demon wasn’t added to PS1/Saturn conversions. Id didn’t even design the beast on Doom 64 considering that game was using the Doom Engine with pre-rendered 3D models on sprites. The greatest element here is the thing’s flame attack which wasn’t removed or changed to a simple green blast from the BFG as most frames are left in. Similar to the last portable entry, the lighting despite the gamma being set to low still doesn't have the eerie effect. The second image shows a balcony area in the Crusher map with tall lamps placed on each side of the corridor. That is still one of the many sacrifices needed to get such a large game to possibly work. Unfortunately, this also takes away the eerie ambiance the Original pushed on PC to give these environments a tense feeling. Unfortunately, the environments after many years looks absolutely dated even for the Hell stages. Mind you I am referring to today’s standards and not those in early 2000s especially when getting proper FPSs on the go was a godsend. The city maps weren’t helping either as it looks even worse here than on PC in 1994. Most of the maps did have massive levels which are impressive for Torus to get them to work here. Even on PS1 and Saturn, Id knew they would have a hard time getting these big levels from the sequel to work on the Fifth Gen consoles. Despite the mystical aspects of Hell being well present in their stages, the box like parameters especially in the Suburbs or Factory shows a dated concept. Even the eerie ambiences from the lighting is missing much like in its predecessor. No matter if you enable dynamic lighting in the video option will not change this effect at all. The point of Static lighting was to get around the handheld not having a back light inside the screen. It also helps when the gamma is set high because the frame rate stays between 20 to 30 fps. That is also a true miracle the studio was able to do this on a system akin to the Atari Jaguar. For GBA standards the scale and its appearance at a lower resolution works here since other FPSs on this platform had similar designs. You weren’t going to get Doom II on a portable anywhere else in the 2000s when most laptops were priced over a grand. It was also years away before Sony released the PSP where homebrewers were able to port the series over themselves. We either had to search for the PS1 conversion, find it on GBA or buy the Doom 3: BFG Edition on Xbox to experience the second game conveniently. Speaking of visual sacrifices, this is seen from the first caption as the Slayer looks into the distance to see simple textured colors on the structures. It was noticeable in the Downtown level looking across from a rooftop to another building that has simple textures. It also doesn’t help to play this on the Game Boy Player when it was meant for the handheld’s small screen. Despite the game running well in most cases, there are still moments where lag happens. The second caption shows the Cyberdemon and Barons of Hell room in the Tricks and Traps level. The problem here is when you alert them to your presence and start firing a gun like the plasma rifle the screen becomes a pixelated nightmare of lag. It becomes an even bigger mess of pixels when getting the Invulnerability Sphere as negative white colors fill the screen. Perhaps the studio should have reduced the number of Barons of Hell so then this doesn’t happen in a similar area. There isn’t much of a presentation when the Original PC releases hardly had an intro explaining the theme. The controversial stuff is still censored from the GBA port to retain a T for Teen rating. It’s obvious Nintendo under the strict leadership of Hiroshi Yamauchi in the 2000s was the reason the theme was censored heavily. There is no doubt the censorship does take away the mystique and lore that makes Doom an interesting series. By the 2000s Nintendo (even under Yamauchi) should have dropped such a BS mentality when your competition was making bank on mature content. While it is true, the GBA was targeting a younger audience, however, so did the Wii that still received a handful of mature content akin to No More Heroes. The House of Mario has come a long way from its outdated mentality of censorship as the series is available with the controversial stuff intact on Nintendo Switch. I don’t have a complaint about this when the T rating gives them an excuse to not feature gory and religious details. The OST was handled better this time as each track nearly comes close to the PC edition. It’s not the same quality on Super NES or PS1 by any means but a massive step up from the 8-bit sounding OST from the first GBA game. The fact the music doesn’t sound like farts or wasn’t reduced to 8-bit style music still helps the port. Rating: 8.3/10 Features/Content The multiplayer from the previous port continues here but not in the same manner. Before we get into that, the GBA multiplayer was mostly done by using a link cable in all games available. Unlike today where Bluetooth signaling and internet does the connecting for us, this is what Silver Age gamers had to deal with. However, when compared to the PS1 Doom that had users go through hoops — two PlayStations, the games and TVs were needed — the portable provides convenience from the system’s built in features. The last time David Parmer Production created original maps not found in any version for the deathmatch gameplay. Unfortunately, you won’t get original ones since Torus decided to reuse the Campaign levels with the difference being no enemies. Just imagine if the players had a match on maps like the Factory or the Chasm, they would mostly wander around than compete for wins. Torus probably was too busy trying to make Doom II’s large stages work the best they could on the Southpaw Engine. The multiplayer deathmatch was also a second thought to them based on what’s available. The co-op doesn’t seem to have the issue in the campaign as the challenges were left the way they are. Despite the convenience this handheld offers, you are better off playing local multiplayer on the modern re-releases for the current consoles. The only way anyone would return to Nintendo's version is through nostalgia on playing this first at the time before experiencing the real deal later. Rating: 8.2/10 These ports still brought over the secrets with no changes either and unfortunately that also includes the ones who give the middle finger. The Arch-Vile surprise in E3 M20 that was mentioned in the last review is an example of bad level design. The first caption has an Arch-Vile appear by a wall lifting up after getting a Mega Health sphere in a secret. When creating these maps, the point of hidden areas is supposed to reward the player and not with a strong tier enemy. The funny thing about Id is they love those tiny call backs to older games such as featuring Commander Keen. In a secret Map numbered 31 and 32 (they are not the final levels) will have Wolfenstein enemies and visuals. There is nothing special about these maps as they have no heightened floors or hazards except for shooting enemies. That is the reason these two levels were never mentioned in my PC review because they do nothing but act like nods to previous works. Final Rating The infamous sequel on GBA is often considered a technical marvel akin to Doom Super NES/GBA was to gaming. When we look at the Southpaw Engine which was only used for a few games, it truly took up the task of getting the sequel to run. All 32 maps were present with no cuts or shortened levels that other editions received based on the Jaguar source. Not even the Arch-Vile was cut, and both the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind were programmed in this time. Visually some stages had the right concept like the Hell environments, but the city areas still looked terrible. Despite keeping the frame rate between 20 to 30 fps there were moments where lag would happen when too many enemies were on the screen. You could also argue that scaling the textures to a single color from a distance did hurt the visual effect. However, it's a sacrifice needed to get the game to work especially when this was one of the few ways to conveniently experience Doom II back then. Another thing Torus really nailed is the OST sounding close to Original PC especially hitting the right tones. DPP did use an 8-bit synthesizer to recreate the OST to get good performance—Torus took this further by getting the graphics to work while not taking hits and keeping the music close to the PC game. The multiplayer wasn’t giving the same attention considering the deathmatch mode just reuses maps from the main game. You think by getting co-op gameplay to work they would create exclusive levels that DPP did. Unless you are a collector that wants to own a technical marvel, there is no reason to get this today when superior re-releases are available. Gameplay: 8.1/10 Graphics/Presentation: 8.3/10 Features/Content: 8.2/10 Final Rating: 8.2/10 Very Good
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Retro Gamer has over 25 years of gaming experience and played many classics since the Golden Age. She has been an avid fan since the day the NES graced her life and changed it forever.
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