List of Doom ports
Doom is one of the most widely ported video games. Since the original MS-DOS version, it has been released officially for a number of operating systems, video game consoles, handheld game consoles, and other devices. Some of the ports are replications of the DOS version, while others differ considerably, including modifications to the level designs, monsters and game engine, with some ports offering content not included in the original DOS version. Since the Doom engine's source code was released to the public in 1997, hundreds of fan-made ports to various hardware have been developed.
Official ports
Personal computers
NeXTSTEP
This was the version that the MS-DOS product emerged from, since, at the time, id Software was using a NeXTcube for its graphic-engine development. This version is sluggish on anything below an 040 NeXTstation/cube, and is missing sound, which was added on the PC side. With NeXT-Step based on i486 architecture, it ran smoothly under all conditions up to screen sizes of 400% with newer hardware. The version running on NeXT is programmed by John Carmack, John Romero, and Dave Taylor.OS/2
Doom was ported to OS/2 by an independent contractor, Jim Thomas, who was hired by IBM to port it and SimCity. A successful version was demoed in 1994 running in an OS/2 PM window.IRIX
Doom was ported to IRIX during the summer of 1994 by Dave D. Taylor. IRIX Doom was originally based on the unreleased MS-DOS version 1.5, though later updates were based on versions 1.6 and 1.8. No effort was made to take advantage of SGI's advanced graphics hardware, and like many other ports the game was rendered entirely in software rendering mode.Solaris
Doom was ported to Solaris in late 1994, and was designed to run with game files from Doom 1.8. In the readme, the port is credited to "Dave Taylor and the rest of the folks at id Software". It runs on Solaris 2.4 and later. The distribution contained two versions: one for regular X11, and another for Sun DGA.Classic Mac OS/Mac OS X Classic
Doom for Mac was released on November 4, 1994. The Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom were ported by Lion Entertainment and released by GT Interactive using a Mac OS launcher application to run original PC WADs. The Mac version runs on System 7 through Mac OS 9 and requires a 68040 or PowerPC processor. Although it can run in Classic under Mac OS X on Power Macs, Panther and Tiger cause graphic artifacts due to the later version of Classic having a double-buffered screen. It can also be played under emulation on Intel and Apple silicon Macs with SheepShaver and QEMU. In addition to an adjustable viewport, it supports rendering at low or high resolutions, and allows network play over AppleTalk as well as IPX.Linux
Doom was ported to Linux by id Software programmer Dave Taylor in 1994. The last Linux Doom binaries were provided by id Software on October 13, 1996, through the company's FTP server.The source code to the Linux version of Doom was released by id Software on December 23, 1997, under a non-profit End user license agreement; it was re-released on October 3, 1999, under the terms of the GPL-2.0-or-later license. However, the source code to the DOS and Windows versions of the game were not released, due to copyright issues concerning the sound library used by original DOS version and id Software having no access to the source code of the Windows port.
Microsoft Windows
The first version of Doom for Windows was released under the name Doom 95, on August 20, 1996. It was compatible with Windows 95 and up, and was able to use WADs from the DOS versions. It also allowed users to set up multiplayer games much easier than in DOS. It was included with Final Doom. The port was project-led by Gabe Newell and other later founders of Valve.On September 26, 2001, Doom Collector's Edition was released, containing The Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom. It was re-released on January 1, 2004 with added preview content for Doom 3. Some early versions of Doom 3 included the Collector's Edition and a small demon figurine as a bonus. The BFG Edition of Doom 3, released on October 15, 2012, includes The Ultimate Doom as well as Doom II.
On August 3, 2007, The Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and Final Doom were released on Steam. This release runs the original DOS versions of the game using DOSBox, a DOS emulator.
On January 9, 2020, the 25th anniversary release, previously only available on consoles and mobile devices, was released on the Bethesda.net games store. On September 3, 2020 it was also made available on Steam as a free update for the existing DOSBox release, with later releases on GOG.com and the Epic Games Store.
On August 8, 2024, Steam, GOG.com, and Epic Games received a free update which once again replaced the 25th anniversary release with Doom + Doom II. This version was also released on the Microsoft Store.
Acorn RISC OS
AcornDoom was released for both the 26 and 32 bit ARM incarnations of RISC OS, by R-Comp Interactive, on February 7, 1998. It was made available in a bundle of three Doom games: The Ultimate Doom, Doom II, and Master Levels for Doom II, as well as the Maximum Doom add-on pack, which contains over 3,000 user levels.Consoles
Sega 32X
The 32X version of Doom was developed and published by Sega and was released on November 21, 1994. It features 17 of the 18 levels from the first two episodes, but none from episode three. This version lacks multiplayer support, does not play in a full screen, and only has the front sprites for the monsters. 10 levels are missing from the original version. A DOS prompt shows up after the credits roll if the player finishes the game either using cheats or starting from any level other than the first level, locking up the game. Similarly, the secret level cannot be accessed in these scenarios. Due to the lack of the third episode, the BFG 9000 can only be obtained through the use of cheats. Due to poor use of the YM2612 sound chip, this version's soundtrack is considered inferior to that of other versions, and many of the sound effects are missing. As with most mid-90s console ports, the levels come from the Atari Jaguar version. This version does not feature the Cyberdemon, the Spider Mastermind, or the Spectre. There is a level select option that allows the player to start on any of the first fifteen levels, although there is no way to save the game or settings.In 1995, the 32X version of the game was given a score of 30 out of 40 by Famicom Tsūshin.
Atari Jaguar
The Jaguar version was developed by id Software and published by Atari, and was released on November 28, 1994. This version has more levels than the SNES and 32X versions, and as many levels as the 3DO and GBA versions. id Software had to strip down the port to allow the game to fit on a 2 megabyte cartridge. It features 22 of the PC version's 27 levels, though many of them are simplified, plus two new levels. Unlike the 32X, SNES, and 3DO versions, this version of the game display occupies the full screen, albeit with an opaque status bar at the bottom. The game runs at a fairly constant and fluid frame-rate. The levels use more complex lighting effects, but have less variation in floor depth and ceiling height. It lacks the Cyberdemon, the Spider Mastermind, and the Spectre. It is compatible with the JagLink 2-console networking device for two players to play deathmatch. The Jaguar version does not have any music during gameplay, but plays the title theme and intermission music with new instruments. Game settings and progress through the levels are saved automatically, and the player can start a new game anywhere up to the last level reached. Instead of having to cycle through the selection of weapons, the player can select a weapon by pressing its corresponding button on the controller's number pad.Next Generation gave it four out of five stars and called it "Definitely the best Jaguar title we've seen so far."
James "Quasar" Haley, one of the developers of the remastered version of the game Killing Time, confirmed that it was originally based on the Atari Jaguar version of Doom. In particular, developer Rebecca Heineman had used the source code of the Jaguar port as a basis for the 3DO port of Doom, and then used the 3DO port as the basis for Killing Time.
Super Nintendo
The SNES version of Doom was developed by Sculptured Software, published by Williams Entertainment, and released on September 1, 1995. The head programmer of the port, Randy Linden, created a new game engine called the Reality engine for the port. The game makes use of the Super FX powered GSU-2 chip, and was one of the few SNES games to feature a colored cartridge; the game was a red cartridge in the United States. The game was released as a standard gray cartridge in Europe, Australia, and Japan.The SNES version of Doom features all five of the PC version levels that were missing from the Atari Jaguar version, but is missing a different set of five levels instead. Like the Sega 32X version, this version does not include exclusive levels. The levels included resemble the PC levels more so than other ports. This was also the only home console port of Doom released in the 1990s to feature all three of the original secret levels and boss levels from the PC version. Like the Sega 32X version, the player's heads-up display does not utilize the whole screen, and enemies are only animated from the front, which means that they always face the player. This renders monster infighting impossible, although it is possible for monsters of the same type to damage each other with projectiles. This version of the game lacks both battery back-up saves and a password system, meaning that each episode must be finished from the beginning. Multiplayer was only available if an XBAND modem was used, which included support for two player deathmatch. This version lacks the Spectre enemy, though it does feature the Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind boss monsters that the Atari Jaguar, Sega 32X, and 3DO versions lack. In the North American and PAL versions, episode two cannot be played on the "I'm Too Young to Die" and "Hey, Not Too Rough" difficulties, and episode three can only be played on "Ultra-Violence" and "Nightmare" difficulties if one is selected from the game's episode select menu, though it is possible to play episode three on the "Hurt Me Plenty" difficulty if the player beats episode two on that difficulty setting. In the Japanese version, however, all three episodes can be played on any difficulty level.
The automap display takes advantage of the rotating and scaling abilities of the Super FX 2 chip, with the entire map spinning around the player's position rather than the player being portrayed with an arrow. In the Japanese version, the player is able to see enemies on the automap, a feature not present in the PC and many other ports of Doom. Due to hardware limitations, particles such as blood impacts, smoke, or bullet sparks are not present, and floors and ceilings are not textured. The chaingun is capable of firing a single bullet. Moreover, the shotgun does not fire seven individual shots as it does in the PC version, but rather functions like a hunting rifle. This allows the player to shoot from a distance using the shotgun with no decrease in power. This version of Doom features support for the SNES Mouse peripheral.
Reviews for the SNES version were largely positive. Super Play awarded the game a 92% score, calling it "rather excellent" and describing it as a "game they said could never be done” on the SNES. It further described the game as being the "most technically accomplished SNES title yet seen" and described it as "one of the best reasons to own" a SNES. It stated that the game had fine joypad controls, albeit with a touch of "treacley responsiveness" during the most action heavy moments. Nintendo Magazine System awarded it 95% describing the game as "fantastic". Total! described it as “one of the finest SNES games ever created” awarding it 93%. GamesMaster described the game as "fabulous" in spite of it moving slower than the other versions, and awarded it 93%, saying that it surpassed the 32X version. Console + reviewers described the game as 'excellent' and awarded it 92%. AHL described it as the best console port of Doom thus far, surpassing the 32X and Jaguar versions. Marc stated that making negative comparisons with the PC version was 'ridiculous' as a PC costs over 10,000 francs, and in spite of a few small flaws, he would still buy the SNES version with no regrets. Olivier of Joypad magazine described it as a ‘gem’ on the SNES and awarded it 94% saying that the developers pushed the limitations of the machine to the extreme. Super Power described it as a 'super cool, fun, thrilling trip' and awarded it 94%, calling it a faithful adaptation of the PC version with the exact same level design, unlike the 32X version. Super Console described it as an amazing conversion for the SNES.
Electronic Gaming Monthly gave this version a score of 5.375 out of 10. Two of their reviewers said that it was "decent" but clearly inferior to other versions of Doom, while the other two felt it to be a poor game even without comparing it to other versions. They particularly criticized that enemies at a distance are too pixelated to be seen, making it "seem like you are getting hit for no reason at all". They cited the "outstanding" music as the one strong point. Next Generation similarly complained that enemies are so pixelated at mid-distance or farther that they blend in with the backgrounds. They also criticized the graphics in general as requiring "constant squinting" to discern what is going on and called the controls "poor and sluggish." While acknowledging that creating a port of Doom for a last generation console at all was an impressive technical accomplishment, they concluded the port to be not worthwhile and gave it two out of five stars. GamePro instead stated that distant objects appear sharp and clear, and that it is objects which are close up which appear extremely pixelated. They gave the SNES version a generally negative assessment, saying that the game is almost unplayable due to the unresponsive controls.
Linden would later develop a cancelled port of Quake for the Game Boy Advance as well as the PlayStation emulator Bleem!. On July 14, 2020, Linden released the source code for the port under the GPL-3.0-only license. At QuakeCon 2024, Limited Run Games announced a "new and improved" version of the SNES port of Doom developed with the involvement of Linden which boasts performance improvements, the inclusion of the Thy Flesh Consumed episode from The Ultimate Doom and circle strafing as well as other additions. The larger 4 MB cartridge will feature a new custom chip that exceeds the performance of the previous Super FX chips and the game will support rumble with a new compatible controller that will also be released alongside the game in 2025.