Welcome to a new edition of Modern Gaming Reviews and we take a look at another port of Doom for the GBA. I can’t seem to get the Original Doom off my mind and ever since the 2016 game came out that year its popularity exploded. Now, by 2001, the first game was ported to nearly every 16 bit and 3D consoles available in the previous generations. That was until Game Boy Advance was released in 2001, when the first game went portable. The Game Boy Color would’ve made this impossible to bring it over without changing the whole scope of Doom. It was reported at the time that Id designed a prototype for the GBC as an attempt to see if this would work. Well it was obviously scraped in favor of a stronger portable system for good reasons. Seriously, just imagine the massive downgrade Doom would have taken to work on the GBC—we would reach levels of Duke Nukem 3D on Tiger’s Game.com handheld with crusty visuals. However, that is not to say there weren’t proper ways to bring over console FPSs, but in a different way. We already saw Rare and Acclaim take Turok 2 and Perfect Dark GBC ports and turned them into 2D action games. It was either turn Doom into a side scroll akin to Contra or go the Duke Nukem 3D route on Tiger’s Game.com. None of these were bad, but it was a far departure from what made them great to begin with. Thanks to the GBA being literally a powerful Super NES, the tech inside allowed 3D games to run better. Gameplay If you read my reviews and played the first entry many times, you know what makes Doom fantastic. You collect items, gun down enemies and obtained card keys through labyrinth type levels. Of course, we all know how far the genre has come and by 2001 Doom does feel dated. It was also the year Halo came out on Xbox and not too long after the release of Perfect Dark on the N64. I don’t have to tell you how great Halo and Perfect Dark are as these FPSs took the genre forward with great level design. The GBA version comes with all 24 maps of the 1993 release with leaving Thy Flesh Consumed out. It is understandable why they left out the fourth episode due to the cartridge space. There is a difference with the difficulty as Ultra-violent is replaced by Nightmare mode. However, the true mode was actually removed, and the developers renamed Ultra-Violent to Nightmare. I can see why this was left out as Id didn’t want to alienate potential gamers who wanted to try it for the first time. The greatest thing about this version is you don’t have to pick a higher difficulty to do any episode. That was the biggest issue with the Super NES edition as it made you choose Nightmare mode to play Inferno. For once, we can play each episode in any order and on whatever challenge—that was among the best things about this edition. Just as it was with the Atari Jaguar port, the maps were simplified in some areas. The image of the left is the starting point of Map E3 M1 titled Hell’s Keep, and in the other versions it has a large open area. That was many examples of simplifying the maps and had nothing to do with the system being weak. If anything, this made the maps work here unlike in the Super NES game and allows us to see the enemies better. The second picture shows the Tower of Babel as both its layout and facing a wave of enemies was changed to this new challenge. It’s obvious the source code is the reason for these changes and even the Fortress of Mystery replaced the Spider Mastermind stage. Better yet, there is even a save function with four files to record and no dreaded sixteen letter passwords in site. There being no proper save feature in either the Super NES port or on Doom 64 always rubbed me the wrong way. As for controls, it is far better here than in the previous 16-bit conversions; in fact, the different layouts didn’t feel cumbersome. Of course, circle strafing was removed due to the GBA’s limited buttons. However, I was able to maneuver more from the enemies’ projectile without this being a chore to do. Due to the dated mechanics auto aim doesn’t always work even if you are in front of the demons from a distance. There is some stuff removed, such as the boss battles with the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind. The reason wasn’t limitations of the portable but rather the source code being based off the Atari Jaguar version. However, unlike my complaints with the Genesis 32X edition, here we are still getting the complete package. I can deal with that since it would’ve been hard to maneuver past the Cyber Demon’s missiles. The D-pad button might feel more accurate compared to other 16-bit conversions, but there being no analog stick would make the bosses difficult. My only complaint comes from changing weapons as you have to hold L and R simultaneously while pressing up or down on the D-pad. It is a little inconvenient especially when surrounded by enemies however, with a limited layout of ten buttons was all they could have done. Rating: 8.0/10 Graphics/Presentation For the portable’s standards, this looked fantastic and brings that pseudo-3D visuals to the GBA. That is what the GBA had over the Super NES and it’s able to get 3D to work properly—That is especially true even for games from a decade ago. One of the best features is the bright options in video under the Pause Menu. The reason Id added this is mostly to do with the portable’s lack of a backlight within the screen. Mind you this was before the Game Boy Player on GameCube and even the GBA SP when we had no options. It was either play under a light or buy a peripheral device you connected into the link cable jack. If anything, this feature helped make my experience more enjoyable compared to the darken Super NES port. The extra static lighting also made the game run faster which in turn gives better performance. In my Super NES review I explained how the framerate was the biggest issue. In fact, Doom on Super NES was actually at 10 fps, and that ran on a custom engine with a special chip. There are no such problems here as not once did any action lag for a second before it was done. I couldn’t find out how many frames this was, and we can only go by how fast the Atari Jaguar port went by. It is said the Atari Jaguar version ran at 30 fps which is what the port is based on. From what I experienced so far it seems to stay around 20-30 frames because the refresh rate is faster on PC. Remember the secret area in the Deimos Lab that was too dark on Super NES from my Retro Arena Doom article? Well as the first picture shows the area is quite illuminated as you can see Pinkies charging at the Slayer. That was also set to dynamic lighting at a low level and yet, it was still lit enough to see—that was the beauty of the lighting in this port, as it fixed the issue, I had with the Super NES edition. Now, the next image displays a Baron of Hell brutally chain to a wall and the demon is mutilated with blood all over the body. Even though the blood is green and human sacrifices were removed because of the Teen rating, it's interesting that they left gore like this in. The reason the depiction was important is because of the story telling in the environment. It tells us, not even the demons were safe in their domain and salivated at hurting others like themselves. The soundtrack was unfortunately changed due to the limitations of the GBA’s sound chip. It’s not as bad as the 32X version but nowhere near the quality we experienced on the Super NES. That’s because the GBA supported a chip that had six channels through an 8-bit resolution; a reflection of this is heard through muffled music. Just go listen to Golden Sun and Metroid: Fusion and even when these are done right muffled tones are all that is heard. The most drastic change from the OST was some tracks getting changed to something resembling 8-bit music. A couple of examples comes from Suspense and Tension which captures that gothic tone in a NES style. David Parmer Productions probably reconstructed the music, so they could preserve performance. Unfortunately, the more popular songs of At Doom’s Gate and Kitchen Ace sounded as if these tracks went through a blender. At least they don’t sound like farts from the Genesis 32X port; some of these were tolerable to an extent on the GBA. Let’s also bring up how the sprites that were killed will disappear from the map entirely. Once again, this was to preserve performance, so the visuals don’t lag the game. I know some gamers like to see their work of violence against the forces of Hell, but it really isn’t an issue at all. Do you see anyone complaining that dead enemies are not left around in the Resident Evil series? The answer is obviously no since we care more about the gameplay then corpses of the enemies lying around. The Satanic symbol on the white wall and flesh textures in the first image is all that remains of Doom’s dark content. It's understandable this time why censorship was used since they were shooting for a T for Teen rating. Why Nintendo wanted to censor this in the Super NES port, despite the M for Mature is beyond me. One thing to note is the lighting, and since it was using a static source renders some environment ambiences obsolete. The photo on the right shows a hall leading to a cross section from E2 M4 that had this dark eerie ambient effect on PC. Unfortunately, even if you set the lighting to dynamic that still limits the dark ambience source to the point it’s no longer eerie. That’s some sacrifices made by David Parmer Productions to get the game on the GBA. The next thing that’s worth mentioning is Nintendo had this port censored just like on the Super NES. It’s a little different this time as one, the GBA version had a T for Teen rating and two, they have an excuse. By having a proper rating allows them to replace controversial visuals like pentagrams and human sacrifices. My problem with the same game on Super NES is how they still censored all this despite giving an M for Mature. While on this handheld system David Parmer productions and Nintendo had a good reason because of the rating being T for Teen. Does it still take away the mystique and lore of Doom? Yes, it does, but that wasn’t the reason censorship isn’t the issue here. The point was to get Doom to properly work on the GBA, so you can take the game on the go. Today this isn’t a problem for the fact; I could get the PC edition on my computer and modern consoles with no tradeoffs. I mean, we were receiving a proper Classic Doom for a Nintendo system that puts the previous Super NES game to shame. I also like the fact the sprites are not always facing the player but move at different angles in their frames. It looked good, ran nearly at 30 fps and with hardly performance issues thanks to some tricks used—that is why this was a celebrated version by the game community at the time. Rating: 8.5/10 Features/Content As mentioned already, the campaign includes the original 24 maps from the first 1993 release. That is the beauty of Doom on the GBA as nothing was cut except for a few enemies like the two bosses. However, where the first entry really shines is within the multiplayer between co-op and deathmatch. Fortunately, I found this function put together better especially when we had to go through ridiculous means in the past. On the Super NES and Genesis 32X local multiplayer was missing altogether while on PS1 you needed two games, TVs and consoles just to enjoy this mode. There is also no point in bringing up the fact the 16 bit consoles had the XBAND modern which was discontinued five years prior in 1997. However, you still needed two GBAs and a separate copy with a link cable to play these modes. There is a massive difference as accessing the multiplayer wasn’t an absolute chore. The GBA was small to carry around and had everything needed between a screen and sound together. Yes, you still need two to four people with their handheld and game cartridge to access it. The convenience is all there, and even the link cable was easy to get unlike the PS1 ribbon wire on the Original model. I mean, how often did we get to experience this FPS on the go that had an easy way to play with two to four people. It was even better for Id to include eight exclusive maps not found in any version. Rating: 8.6/10 Final Rating Doom on the GBA was a pleasant surprise and probably among the best porting the first entry went through. It’s no secret how many others failed to capture the PC game in its entirety. The thing that separates this from previous ones is the game runs smoothly between 25-30 fps while retaining the original visuals. Despite there being a couple of enemies missing everything else is still here. That is what makes this one of the best conversions to come to any system. The multiplayer added another layer that was missing in not only the 16-bit systems, but even on the PS1. For starters, the players didn’t have to go through hoops when all they needed was a single GBA and their own game to play. The handheld has everything required and all the players needed at that point was a link cable which most owners already had. Probably the biggest exclusive came from the deathmatch maps which till this day have yet to get brought over to the modern releases. The only thing we could take away from is how limited the music sounded when compared to previous iterations. The album didn’t sound bad as the music would hit those perfect tones for the Hell stages. At the end of the day David Parmer Productions literally produced a technical marvel—it was following the footsteps of Randy Linden’s work with the Super NES. The real difference is the GBA is playable while retaining everything that makes Doom what it is. Gameplay: 8.0/10 Graphics/Presentation: 8.5/10 Features/Content: 8.6/10 Final Rating: 8.4/10 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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