Believe it or not, but the Saturn port's biggest flaw is it's horrible framerate. And there's no excuse for it.
Just make things a little complicated, it must be noted that Saturn Doom is actually a port of the awesome PlayStation game developed by Williams, which took levels from the Jaguar version of the first Doom (slightly simplified versions of the PC levels) and also added most of the levels from Ultimate Doom's 'Thy Flesh Consumed' chapter as well as the majority of Doom II. You had a total of 50+ levels including a couple of exclusive levels here and there. Saturn Doom has all this too, so you can't exactly argue that you aren't getting enough bang for you buck.
As great as the PSX version was, it did have a few issues along the way, and considering that version was released in 1995 and the Saturn version 1997, you'd have thought that Rage would've taken the time and effort to resolve these issues themselves, but no. First of all, you still can't save your progress. Instead, you're stuck with passwords for each level. It's not the end of the world having this system in place, but considering that memory cards do exist AND the Saturn has it's own internal memory, it makes you wonder why the developers didn't take advantage of this in the first place.
The fact that the PSX version required two TV's, two consoles and two copies of the game to play multiplayer was disappointing, but considering this was presumably done to save memory and keep the game smooth I guess you could let this slide. Maybe I'm being harsh in this respect, but I think something could have been done to include a split-screen multiplayer mode for the Saturn version. Rage had two years to sort something out, but they didn't. While the multiplayer isn't exactly at the top of my priority list when it comes to Doom, a split-screen would have been nice. What is alarming however, is the fact that only the European and Japanese versions have the same multiplayer link support for the game, while the US version doesn't have any multiplayer option full stop, even though the box claims that it does! Talk about laziness.
Those two issues aside, the PSX port can be forgiven; it was an early console port, and if you chose to live with those flaws, you had one excellent game – a fast, smooth, graphically impressive port with new coloured lighting effects well a new eerie, ambient score and better (in my opinion) sound effects that the PC version didn't have. So I think it's safe to say that the PSX game was the most atmospheric and disturbing version of Doom out there. Notice how I say that the PSX game was SMOOTH and FAST. This brings me to the Saturn's biggest gripe...
The framerate in Saturn Doom is just horrendous; absolutely unforgivable. And there's no excuse for it either. The Saturn was more than capable of running Doom at a consistent thirty frames per second. But instead you get one of the choppiest ports out there, a game that's almost as slow as the abysmal 3DO Doom. When I first sat down to play the game, I was really hoping that I'd be able to report back and say that the framerate was being exaggerated by players, but you know what, they're right. It is true; Saturn Doom is choppy regardless of how many enemies are on the screen at once or how large the environment is. You'll notice it from the second you move in E1M1. And on the later levels, it's like watching a slide-show.
If Doom ain't fast, it just ain't Doom. Doom is supposed to be fast-paced and frantic, and that's one of the reasons it's so intense even to this day. But with the framerate as dodgy as it is, my favourite game of all time suddenly just isn't fun anymore. This issue also affects how fast the game responds to you actions. There's a delay when you shoot, and, well, do just about anything with your controller, and it becomes frustrating fast as you can no-doubt imagine already. Seriously, words cannot express enough just how bad the framerate is in the game, and as I already stated, there just isn't any excuse for this.
While I can't bash the game for it's content (let's face it, having basically all of Ultimate Doom and Doom II on one disc is pretty awesome) or it's sound, which has mostly been directly ported from the PSX's terrific soundtrack bar a different order of tracks (not a big deal), you can bash Rage for removing the coloured light-sourcing of the PSX version. True, this does make the game a bit brighter and easier to see, but the atmosphere has kind of gone without it, especially considering it uses the same music. Also, the echoed sound effects have been lost.
I won't lie when I say that I could live with the password system and pointless, waste-of-time multiplayer (I live in the UK so I own the European version of the game); heck, I loved the PSX version with these flaws anyhow. It also didn't really bother me that the improved lighting was missing either, as graphically the game is basically on-par with the PSX version (minus the lighting of course). Had the framerate actually been stable, I'd actually have no problem recommending this port. Of course, the PSX version would still be superior, but I'd have been much more generous with my verdict if the game was the same but still had a decent, playable framerate...
...but that's not what happened with Rage Software's rushed, choppy mess of Doom for the Sega Saturn. You're left with a game that had so much potential wasted because the developers couldn't be bothered to put any effort into it. The whole game just screams "that'll do" - like the developers just got hold of the PlayStation source code, ported it to the Saturn, didn't bother testing the game and left it with "that'll do". The only reason I've given the game a four out of ten and not a three is the fact that there's tons of content to be had. If Lobotomy Software, the developers of the excellent Quake and Duke Nukem 3D Saturn ports had got the job, this review would be very different indeed...
Wrap-up:
+ LOTS of content
+ The new music still rules
+ Well, PlayStation Doom, the game this port is based on was awesome anyway...
- ...but the potential was wasted. Could've and should've been just as good as it's PlayStation cousin, if not better considering it finally came out in 1997
- The frame-rate is so bad it's just depressing really
- The box is littered with false information
- Coloured lighting has been removed
- No save option
- Well, let's face it, every flaw the PlayStation version had is still present along with it's own faults