EGM's Doom Review

[Gregory DG]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.ataritimes.com/jaguar/features/...ea_egmdoom.html

[Lemmi]

That sounds about right, But i am not a fan of the Doom game so i cant tell if the differences are acurate, Yeah i believe they give biased ratings cause of the Advertising

(the more you advertise in there magazine the better rating you might get on some games, so they will advertise even more in the future)

 

the Sega 32x screen shots are'nt showing up for me

[Adrian M]

I think the review is biased, but then again, I believe the 32X version did come out before Atari officially released the Jag version.

 

Greg, I sent you a review for Plaque Attack last night. Did you receive it?

[Gregory DG]

32X images should be fixed now. (Not like they're anything special to begin with.)

 

Also, these reviews were in the SAME issue of the mag! They came out at the same time, or within weeks of each other.

[Albert]

Hi Greg,

 

That's pretty cool, thanks for putting it up. My only comment would be to make the 32X review a little larger so it's easier to read. Although graphically I'm sure the Jaguar version of Doom is much better, I'd really have to play both versions before I made a judgement between the two. Graphics aren't everything, so if the game feels more "faithful" to the original PC version on the 32X, then I'd also have to go with that one.

 

Did both of those reviews appear in the same issue?

 

..Al

[Lemmi]

Not to be picky Greg but now i cant see the 2 top jaguar screen shots (when i clicked on them i got a 503 error), but i see all the others

 

Just thought you might want to know

[Lemmi]

bummer i just looked thought my EGM magazines and i have DEC. 1994 and FEB. 1995 LOL, im missing this one ( Figures )

[Gregory DG]

Albert, try clicking on the graphic. You should be able to read the review just fine. The other image I can enlarge, but it was just to show that they KNEW it wasn't full screen. Those were the only 32X Doom screenshots in the whole mag.

 

As for the screenshots, all but 1 are offsite. And the work for me so...

 

Also, I think the 32X version has like 19 levels, but I'd have to dig around because they don't say in this issue (but they definitely mention how the Jag version has 24 levels and that they are not as many as the PC version.)

 

AND... I notice how they bag the Jaguar's lack of a save game feature. True, you can't save anywhere in the game, but you can save your progress. I don't think the 32X version even allows you to do that!

[Lemmi]

Well i can see all of them now (weird)

 

As for the Jaguar Version i will be getting my first copy of Doom soon, and the 32X version of Doom is so easy to find, i dont know how many times ive passed on getting it just cause i never cared for this game to much, but i might just pick one up to have it in my Collection with my 6 other 32X titles

[Adrian M]

I own the 32X version of Doom (it came included--cart only-- with my 32X when I bought it in the summer of 1995) and no, the 32X version DOES NOT have a save feature. Very inconvenient...it does allow you to start at any level you want, but in order to complete the game you have to beat all of the levels.

 

I believe there are something like 16 levels...definitely not 24 like the Jag version. Yes, the sound and music are pretty faithful to the arcade game, but they obviously took shortcuts to get the graphics to work. All enemies are 2 frame sprites and the game only runs at like 20 - 25 fps despite the reduced screen size. There's also a great deal of slow-down when the screen gets packed with enemies. I've also experienced several freezes and crashes on occassion, probably due to the fact that the 32X is a "tacked-on" processor upgrade adaptor.

 

If you're going to attempt to beat the 32X version, you MUST play it with the 6 button pad....it's practically impossible with a 3 button pad because it forces you to "cycle" through your weapons which is VERY inconvenient in later levels when you suddenly switch to the rocket launcher and end up blowing yourself up!

 

I must admit, I was impressed when I got the game, but the review in EGM was obviously a case of platform bias, especially considering that the Jag version had the networking code and save feature! What the hell were those idiots thinking???

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Adrian M:

I own the 32X version of Doom (it came included--cart only-- with my 32X when I bought it in the summer of 1995) and no, the 32X version DOES NOT have a save feature. Very inconvenient...it does allow you to start at any level you want, but in order to complete the game you have to beat all of the levels.

---

 

I'm a little confused. You can start at any level, but you can't "finish" the game until you've played all the levels? Does that mean if you don't start at the first level and work your way through all of them (without turning off your Genesis or the game crashing) before you can "finish"? That's pretty lame if that's the case. Even a simple password-based system (such as used by Chip's Challenge) would have been better than nothing, and not very difficult to program.

 

From your description of the 32X version it does sound like the magazine had an obvious bios against Atari, or one very much for Sega and Atari just happened to be in the way. I am pretty curious, though, and would like to experience this 32X version firsthand. I'll have to stop by some of the local game stores to see if I can snag a copy. Then all I have to do is find my 32X (and all the pieces you need to properly secure it to the Genesis. Man, was that such an ugly hack).

 

..Al

[Gregory DG]

quote

Man, was that such an ugly hack).

 

Much worse than the Jag CD add-on. I can't even remember how many times I read that they thought it looked like a "toilet." I barely remember one of them saying the 32X looked like a mushroom!

 

Anyway, there is a 32X emulator... AGES I believe is the name of it. I've been trying to get it to work, but I've gotta file the BIOS ROMS.

 

The only thing I really want to play is Star Wars!

[MarkR]

EGM was horrendous when the covered Atari products. It was disturbing really. Hardly what you'd call "objective journalism." Some of the funnier things I remember:

 

* EGM claiming that the Jaguar was "64 bit" because the system used "two 32 bit processors in parallel." Chuckle. Seems like they forgot about the 64 bit object processor, the 64 bit blitter and the 16 bit mc68000 that are also under the hood.

 

* EGM claimed that the Jaguar wasn't a 64-bit system because it wasn't 100% 64-bit and "a chain is only as strong as its weakest link." Funny - not all components of the Sega Genesis are 16-bit and not all components of the PSX are 32 bit yet EGM never seemed to take dispute their "bitness".

 

* EGM once claimed that the Jaguar's graphics capabilities didn't even come close to that of a Super Nintendo. Really? Know a lot of SNES games that have 16.7 million colours like Rayman? Texture mapping like Skyhammer? Throw around polygons like Battlemorph? Hmm....

 

* EGM in 1995: "the frame rate is something that needs improvement!" Know the game EGM is talking about? It's Super Burnout - the racing game that runs at 60 frames per second!

 

* Review of Pitfall: The game suffers from a lack of in-game music. Well - that's what EGM says, anyway! It's a shame they didn't actually play the game to see that it had music!

 

* We won't even discuss their personal attacks on Atari's brass or Atari themselves.

 

Journalists are supposed to report the facts. Too bad they often get a slant first!

[Rhindle The Red]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Adrian M:

I believe there are something like 16 levels...definitely not 24 like the Jag version.

---

 

According to the Doom Comparison FAQ, which can be found here, there are 17 levels in 32x Doom and 24 on the Jaquar. The Comparison FAQ hasn't been updated for the GBA yet, but covers all the other ones. It's an excellent document.

[Adrian M]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Albert:

I'm a little confused. You can start at any level, but you can't "finish" the game until you've played all the levels? Does that mean if you don't start at the first level and work your way through all of them (without turning off your Genesis or the game crashing) before you can "finish"? That's pretty lame if that's the case.

 

..Al

---

 

This is how it works. Say you start on level 10 and somehow make it to Level 16. Upon finishing Level 16, the game would start you back on Level 1 and make you complete all the previous levels you skipped. So in other words, after level 16, you'd start back on Level 1 and once Level 10 was finished, ONLY THEN would you make it to the actual final level-Level 17.

 

For the record, Level 17 is a giant star-shaped room with an insane amount of enemies....but if you leave them alone, they'll start to fight each other and you'll have much of the level cleared if you let them go at it. The Barons from Hell are among the toughest enemies in the game and there are more than 5 on this level alone, so its definitely best to let as many of them kill each other before you pick off the remaining survivors.

 

No doubt about it, the 32x version is tough, but it can be beaten if you adopt a "defensive" style of gameplay (ie: walk slowly, pick off as many distant enemies as possible, conserve ammo, use the exploding barrels and save your high powered weapons for the later levels).

 

By the way, you must play on the normal difficulty or above to get the true ending. Good luck to any who attempts this and be sure to set aside a few hours.

[Adrian M]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Albert:

I'm a little confused. You can start at any level, but you can't "finish" the game until you've played all the levels? Does that mean if you don't start at the first level and work your way through all of them (without turning off your Genesis or the game crashing) before you can "finish"? That's pretty lame if that's the case.

 

..Al

---

 

This is how it works. Say you start on level 10 and somehow make it to Level 16. Upon finishing Level 16, the game would start you back on Level 1 and make you complete all the previous levels you skipped. So in other words, after level 16, you'd start back on Level 1 and once Level 10 was finished, ONLY THEN would you make it to the actual final level-Level 17.

 

For the record, Level 17 is a giant star-shaped room with an insane amount of enemies....but if you leave them alone, they'll start to fight each other and you'll have much of the level cleared if you let them go at it. The Barons from Hell are among the toughest enemies in the game and there are more than 5 on this level alone, so its definitely best to let as many of them kill each other before you pick off the remaining survivors.

 

No doubt about it, the 32x version is tough, but it can be beaten if you adopt a "defensive" style of gameplay (ie: walk slowly, pick off as many distant enemies as possible, conserve ammo, use the exploding barrels and save your high powered weapons for the later levels).

 

By the way, you must play on the normal difficulty or above to get the true ending. Good luck to any who attempts this and be sure to set aside a few hours.

[KAZ]

Somebody set up us the bomb. What happen?

[Fellow Atari Man]

By the way, you must play on the normal difficulty or above to get the true ending.  Good luck to any who attempts this and be sure to set aside a few hours.

 

It takes about three hours, if I remember correctly, as I fried out my first 32X due to long Doom games on pause (plus the 32X has only two small vents, which is pretty poor designing), as I would go through a bit of it, then go run an errend and get back to it later. Once I fried out my 32X, I had had Doom for a year and was luckily tired of it then, since that was my first exposure to the game.

 

The game does play a lot like the original PC version, but Sega obviously dropped the ball on quite a few things. And that's horrendous what EGM did with the Jaguar version and misinformation and all; did they even have the nerve to print any angry letters from Jaguar owners (or at least those aware of the TRUE specs) in any issues about their b. s.?

[SteveW]

I don't remember EGM saying anything about Jag Doom being the only console version done by id Software themselves. Or that John Carmack once called it the best home version to date. I'm not sure where I read that, but it damn well wasn't EGM.