Doom

Doom is no longer a game. It is a feature for every game platform produced today. Better on some, worse on others. One might figure that on a Saturn, a system capable of generating 200,000 texture-mapped polygons a second would be able to run Doom with all the fluidity of silicone lubricant. Instead, Rage's inept port turns it into a stagnant pool of clotted blood.

Saturn Doom is identical to the PC version, with the addition of some atmospheric redbook audio music. The object of the game is to kill, and kill you do, mowing down demons, marines, imps, and mancubi with your powerful arsenal. The original game is intact, as the levels are identical to Doom II and Ultimate Doom.

However, the gameplay is another matter. It stinks. It stinks to high heaven. Unlike Lobotomy Software, which created an excellent 3D engine for Powerslave, Rage seems to have done a straight port, with no Saturn-specific tweaking whatsoever. Hampered by an engine initially designed for at least 4MB of RAM, Saturn Doom plays like an epileptic fit - jerky, uncontrolled, and time-consuming.

The frame rate is pathetic, moving at that annoying speed just between strobe and old movie. Movement is imprecise, and players will find themselves overshooting targets and running into walls all too often. There are no options to decrease resolution on increase speeds in any way, so players are reduced to trudging from one section of a level to another.

This is a half-assed port, and GT Interactive may find itself with serious competition when 2nd generation 3D engines roll their way. The Doom name isn't enough to sell games on the Saturn.