Doom 64

Moby ID: 5195
Nintendo 64 Specs
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Description official descriptions

DOOM 64 picks up where all the other DOOM games left off. After tearing through space, hell, and wherever else in the previous games, the Space Marine thought that the threat of the demons was finally past. Of course, one survived, and it is currently reanimating all of the fallen monsters in a last-ditch attempt to revitalize their evil mission. The player's task is to finally rid the universe of all the crazy hellions, from the dead guy with the pistol to the rocket-spewing Cyberdemon.

The game is very different from the original DOOM; it has entirely new sprites for the monsters, new textures, pseudo-3D effects (such as bridges), colored lighting, scrolling skies, and custom scripting which allows for effects such as morphing environments and spawning items. The levels are completely new. There are 32 levels in total, including several challenging "fun levels" which cannot be accessed in normal gameplay.

The enemy roster is similar to Doom II. Though several enemies from Doom II are not included, a new monster has been added: the "nightmare imp", which moves and attacks twice as fast as a regular imp. The end boss of the game is also new. The game features a new weapon, the Unmaker, which can be upgraded with "demon keys" found in secret levels.

The atmosphere of the game is even more grim than the original Doom games, in part due to the new soundtrack: instead of rockin' metal tunes, the music consists of creepy ambient sounds and drones.

The 2020 re-release adds seven new levels, including a six-level episode "The Lost Levels".

Spellings

  • ドゥーム64 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (Nintendo 64 version)

38 People (37 developers, 1 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 39 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 61 ratings with 2 reviews)

Doom fans rejoice!

The Good
Classic doom game, with a couple new features such as shooting darts and artifacts than make the final level easier. Secret levels, an awesome looking chainsaw, and even an enemy unique to this game, show that the doom spirit is alive and well.

The Bad
Due to the odd shape of the N64 controller, I had a LOT of trouble learning how to properly do stuff such as strafe.

The Bottom Line
A great run-through-and-shoot-everything-that-moves game. If you're new to DOOM, I would suggest trying a different DOOM games first. However, if you're familiar with the DOOM games and wish for one that will give you a challenge even after playing many others, put in the cartridge and press "power", you'll turn it off 5 hours later and wonder where the time went.

Nintendo 64 · by Skularach (1) · 2007

Still Capturing The Sense of Doom.

The Good
Back when the Nintendo 64 was still in its infancy, Midway heavily promoted the fact that "Doom 64" was their "big exclusive" for the system. And it was for them.

Midway wasn't a stranger to Doom at this point in time. Having released two Playstation versions and a SNES version, the team that worked on those created this version from the ground up. Other than the name and related elements, this was an all new experience rather than a port.

The new levels were, at times, pretty fiendish to complete. There were several traps, puzzles, and tight situations the player had to work through, which fortunately had solid controls and a customizable button layout made things easier. It wasn't a keyboard and mouse, but it worked.

The graphics and sound were real stand outs for this game. There was no fog to handle screen draw-in. Everything was purely atmospheric, and the textures utilized the filters of the N64 to make a less pixelated-looking game, and kept true to the game's dark themes, This wasn't a bright, colorful game as so many titles were in Nintendo's stable.

Sound was all new as well. Not as much music, as it was atmospheric noises, creepy sound effects, and moody tones that added a level of unease to the player's situation.

The game pays a good homage to the original games, while trying to be its own title. For the most part, it succeeds quite well.

The Bad
The most fatal flaw is the game's lack of multi-player. For any first-person shooter, especially Doom, this was a wasted opportunity not to include this feature, and severely hurt its replay factor.

While the game's graphics were good, the default setting was simply too dark. It took fully customizing the game in options, then adjusting the television settings themselves, to make this game viewable enough to play. It also didn't hurt to play it in a dark room. For ambiance, it didn't hurt, but to do this much out of necessity.... This could have easily been adjusted.

The other factor was just the timing of its release. This went up directly against Acclaim's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, which included bloodier deaths, the ability to look up and down, and a jump button for the character. While adding these features would have taken away what makes Doom what it is, it made for some harsh comparisons between the two.

Doom 64 also removed a handful of long-standing enemies from the series, which were sorely missed, and the overall story was pretty weak. Then again, you didn't necessarily play Doom for its epic storyline. One played to blow apart demons.

The Bottom Line
Doom is... well, it's Doom. If it had come out at another time, or included multi-player, it could have fared better than it did.

That said, it's still a good game with a lot of puzzles to sort through, and demons to blast. It captured the spirit of the series well, though it has never been considered an "official" sequel in the series.

That in itself is a shame, as it's a credible title that lives up to its namesake... even if it has a few blemishes here and there.

Worth a look.

Nintendo 64 · by Guy Chapman (1748) · 2007

Trivia

Development

The developer team, Midway, originally wanted to re-create all of the original enemies from the previous DOOM games, but due to deadlines and the memory constraints of the Nintendo 64 cartridge, they had to leave out Commando, Revenant, Arch-Vile and Spider Mastermind from the game.

Japanese version

In the Japanese version all blood was coloured green.

Recreation

Since the original Doom 64 was not available on the PC, a number of unofficial ports have been created by fans over the years.

Doom 64: Absolution, released on July 1, 2003, is a Doom mod which recreates Doom 64. It contains several extra levels. If you still have the original Doom2.wad, you can download and play the TC here.

Doom64EX was released on June 24, 2009. Unlike the previous Absolution TC, it boasts 100% recreation of the N64 game on Windows PCs.

Several other fanmade recreations are listed on the Doom Wiki.

Sprite edits

In the 2020 edition of the game, the medikit, stimpack and berserk sprites were edited so that the crosses are blue instead of red. This is because the rights to the red cross symbol are owned by the International Committee of the Red Cross (who have expressed concern that usage of the symbol in video games cheapens its special significance), and its usage in video games technically violates the Geneva Conventions.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • March 1998 (Issue 104) - First-Person Shooter Game of the Year Top Write-In (Readers' Choice)

Information also contributed by BurningStickMan and Daedolon.

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Syed GJ.

Stadia added by Rik Hideto. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation 4, Windows added by Sciere. Windows Apps added by Koterminus.

Additional contributors: Ledmeister, Guy Chapman, Sciere, Alaka, The cranky hermit, Havoc Crow, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto.

Game added October 20, 2001. Last modified March 24, 2024.