I don't understand why the consensus seems to be that GBA Doom is good and GBA Doom 2 is great.

For Doom the turn speed was spot on and the framerate consistent. Plus there are level design changes and even an entirely new level so, on top of the unique "Nightmare" difficulty, it felt like a fresh experience.

Now I'm trying GBA Doom 2 and the framerate is shit, and the turn speed feels wrong. I know they added a slider for it but at the lowest setting it's too slow and on the next setting it's too fast, so I'm constantly fighting against both the shitty framerate and the turn speed. They also seemed to have messed with the accuracy of hitscan weapons for great distances, and although it works both ways (chaingunners can't fuck you up from afar) it also makes it harder to snipe enemies. Plus the level design is very close to the original so I'm just getting "lesser Doom 2" rather than a fresh experience.

>>11844208 (OP)
I agree with you. Also Doom 2 on GBA is just a generic engine with a doom skin Doom 1 is actually Doom.

>>11844423
I've also started noticing some inaccuracies and glitches, for instance hits often don't register when you and the enemy are on the edge of a sector. Lost Souls can hit you from 5 miles away and I've also seen them and projectiles go through walls if they are thin enough. Also Armor can go above 200 (though it still says 200 on the hud) but I actually welcome that lol

>>11844208 (OP)
The framerate in the first port is complete shit unless you turn off the lighting variation and render the game at fullbright (so that looks like shit instead). Even then I remember it dipping.

>Plus the level design is very close to the original
Which is a better achievement. The first port used its own variant on the so called "Console Doom" set, which were a cut down and simplified set (less linedefs and sectors, less texture variety), originally made for the Atari Jaguar, and then used (with some adaption) for a lot of the other console ports in the 90s.
This console set also omits the Cyberdemon and Spidermastermind, along with their levels, and replace them with one original level where you fight Cacos and Barons, and then the secret level for E2 (arguably the worst level in the game) is used as the final boss level in E3.

As a kid, this felt like a complete fucking ripoff and I was actually really pissed and disappointed. I wanted something like DOS Doom but just portable, and while I understood even then that there had to be SOME concessions for the hardware (I could deal with the simplified levels and to an extent even the lighting thing), to me it was lame as fuck that the cool bosses were deleted.
I would outright warn others to not get this port because I thought it wasn't worth it.

>>11844423
Which is why it runs a lot better in a lot of ways. A similar approach was done for the SNES port, which is why that version runs at all on the relatively meager hardware.
The 'Southpaw Engine' used for GBA Doom 2 was tailor made for the handheld, as was its own adaption of the levels. It's not perfect by any means, there's other concessions instead (some which are kinda wild), but I liked it WAY more because it was way more complete, so when I wanted to Doom on the go, it became my choice.

>>11844430
>Also Armor can go above 200 (though it still says 200 on the hud)
Really?

>>11844208 (OP)
GBA Doom 1 was disappointing because it was that cut down Jaguar Doom mapset all over again. Doom 2 was actual full PC Doom 2 mapset with only one map being cut into two but fully intact otherwise. Different engine inaccuracies didn't bother people back then.

>>11844438
>Really?

Yeah I had it happen to me after getting a Soul Sphere and a Blue Armor back to back but maybe it was just a glitch idk. I spent like 2 levels getting shot at and my health even getting near 0 while my Armor was still showing "200", and only on the third level did it start to go below.

Just play:
>Dark Arena
>Ecks vs. Sever
>Ballistic: Ecks. vs. Sever

>>11844208 (OP)
They’re both kinda stinky. The homebrew port done in the recent years is better.

don't forget wolfenstein 3d on the 'BA

>>11844461
Homebrew ports have massive advantages of hindsight and being done as hobby projects with no time pressure, so I don't feel they're really fair to compare ports from back in the day with.

>>11844465
I actually didn't even know about that, I'll have to check it out.

>>11844478
It's a REALLY lousy port, doesn't have music when playing, even.

>>11844208 (OP)
imagine how many kids back in the day got used copies of DOOM I and II and never figured out how to switch weapons

>>11844452
>Dark Arena
Ludo alert
Ludo alert

>>11844208 (OP)
no joke, as a zoomer gba doom 2 was unironically my introduction to the series and will always feel like the "original" to me even compared to the dos versions of 1 and 2
it was probably the first game i've ever emulated iirc

>>11845167
That's more you being a retard

>>11844208 (OP)
Isn't turn speed tied to if you're holding down the run button? Think all of the doom console ports are like that, also doesn't this port have a game breaking bug where upon entering a new level your armor percentage will be returned to 0% untill you find an armor bonus or another armor

>>11845167
Worse places to start desu.

Advantages:
>has all the levels and all the enemies, even a fully functioning Icon Of Sin at the end
>only a bit cut down, the two biggest levels are split in pairs so that you can have most of their content playable
>gameplay and physics are overall pretty close to the original
>music is well done (compare to the 32X or Jaguar ports)
>alright controls given the amount of buttons it had to work with
>fits in your pocket, especially with a GBA SP
>still has multiplayer, both co-op and deathmatch

Disadvantages:
>censored, with green blood and toned down gore/viscera, but at least the Wolfenstein parts are just slightly tweaked instead of being butchered or deleted
>some slowdown, but if you were playing on a computer back in 1993 then you were very unlikely to be rocking a steady 35fps anyway
>the color palette as a whole is a bit simplified, and some of the graphics are a bit washed out (the Pain Elemental was not converted gracefully)
>the AI is unfortunately nearsighted, it's unable to spot you or even acknowledge your existence from enough of a distance, monsters will forget your existence if you leave their radius

As far as old console ports of Doom go, it's maybe not the best, but hardly the worst, there's a lot of effort put into it to make it as complete a port as possible.

>>11845212
>Isn't turn speed tied to if you're holding down the run button?
Yes.

My favorite feature of the GBA ports of Doom is that you can take single shots with the Chaingun, and then make rapid single shots basically as fast as you need to.

>>11846142
>>Isn't turn speed tied to if you're holding down the run button?
>Yes.

No. Not in Doom 2.

>>11846214
Coulda sworn it was, but I guess I haven't played that version in a long time now.

Also Mancubus can't shoot straight in this version, it's pretty funny. at least it makes up with how dangerous Revenants are on Nightmare (a single rocket deals 120 dmg even with 200 armor)

At the time this was novel and even enjoyable. They aged poorly.

I never played GBA Doom II but I had a lot of fun with GBA Doom. Having Doom in your pocket was rad back in the day, even with the lame green blood.