Doom is one of the most important games ever designed. It revolutionized the First Person Shooter genre, it forever altered the landscape of multiplayer gaming, and it's been ported to nearly every computer and console created since its birth. Doom 2 was an Even Better Sequel, using the same engine but adding in a new weapon and several new monsters. After that, however, the series stagnated. Final Doom was just two mods "id" charged you for. Quake came by and pushed Doom out of everyone's memories, and that seemed to be it.
Along came Doom 64, the only console-exclusive Doom ever made.
Appearing on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, Doom 64 was both outstanding and dated at the same time. Quake was already out (although to be frank, the N64 version of that game was a piece of crap), and Half-Life was just around the corner. This game still used the old Doom engine, and it showed. At the same time, however, the devs put the N64's processing power to good use. Texture filtering was utilized, freeing the game from serious pixilation. The flat lighting of the original was replaced with ambient, multi-colored, shifting light levels. Every single sprite was redrawn and enlarged. Sound effects were spiced up, although the music suffered; the rocking midi tracks were replaced with very low-key synthesized pieces, none of which are memorable. The level design is up there with Doom 2, making use of extra features (such as new textures and "room above room" technology). It was also a pain in the ass from Map 08 on.
Unfortunately, a lot of stuff was also missing. Most of the enemies introduced in Doom 2 (save for the Arachnids and Pain Elementals) were removed for memory reasons, as was the first game's Spider Mastermind. The only new weapon was a laser that barely worked unless you found three hidden items. The only new enemy was an invisible Imp. The final stage deserves special derision; it's a clusterfuck, with three caves constantly spawning enemies unless you found the previously-stated items, and a final boss that looks like a regular monster.
In the end, Doom 64 actually felt like a true sequel. It continued from Doom 2, it retained the same gameplay style, and was still pretty fun, all of which Doom 3 failed at. There's a .wad for Doom 2 that ports the entire game, so give it a shot.
VideoGame Doom 64: A 12.0 on the 10.0 scale of badness
Doom is one of the most important games ever designed. It revolutionized the First Person Shooter genre, it forever altered the landscape of multiplayer gaming, and it's been ported to nearly every computer and console created since its birth. Doom 2 was an Even Better Sequel, using the same engine but adding in a new weapon and several new monsters. After that, however, the series stagnated. Final Doom was just two mods "id" charged you for. Quake came by and pushed Doom out of everyone's memories, and that seemed to be it.
Along came Doom 64, the only console-exclusive Doom ever made.
Appearing on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, Doom 64 was both outstanding and dated at the same time. Quake was already out (although to be frank, the N64 version of that game was a piece of crap), and Half-Life was just around the corner. This game still used the old Doom engine, and it showed. At the same time, however, the devs put the N64's processing power to good use. Texture filtering was utilized, freeing the game from serious pixilation. The flat lighting of the original was replaced with ambient, multi-colored, shifting light levels. Every single sprite was redrawn and enlarged. Sound effects were spiced up, although the music suffered; the rocking midi tracks were replaced with very low-key synthesized pieces, none of which are memorable. The level design is up there with Doom 2, making use of extra features (such as new textures and "room above room" technology). It was also a pain in the ass from Map 08 on.
Unfortunately, a lot of stuff was also missing. Most of the enemies introduced in Doom 2 (save for the Arachnids and Pain Elementals) were removed for memory reasons, as was the first game's Spider Mastermind. The only new weapon was a laser that barely worked unless you found three hidden items. The only new enemy was an invisible Imp. The final stage deserves special derision; it's a clusterfuck, with three caves constantly spawning enemies unless you found the previously-stated items, and a final boss that looks like a regular monster.
In the end, Doom 64 actually felt like a true sequel. It continued from Doom 2, it retained the same gameplay style, and was still pretty fun, all of which Doom 3 failed at. There's a .wad for Doom 2 that ports the entire game, so give it a shot.