Games are recommended on a four-point scale like those "strongly agree/disagree" questions you get on surveys. This scale goes "Strongly", "If you like this kinda game", "Watch it online", and "Avoid at all costs" from best to worst. It's one part how likely I am to replay the game and one part how likely I am to recommend it to fans of that game's genre. I'm not in the business of objectivity, just what's fun to me. No reason to play a game if you're not having fun, yeah?

[#] Doom (Williams, 1995)

Doom is perhaps the single most overrated shooter in existence, but it's hard to deny its simplicity and intuitiveness. If you're somehow not aware, Doom has you controlling a space marine as he blasts his way through an overrun base on Mars. Doom is fun no matter how you play it, and compared to the ports for the Saturn, Jaguar, and 32x, this one runs full-screen and at full speed, making it perhaps the go-to console port of its day. That said, the improvements it tries to make over the PC original can be hit and miss.

Adapting keyboard controls to a gamepad works pretty well, though even with the ability to remap, you're still stuck turning with the D-pad as opposed to strafing. You get used to it, but all the turning and pushing forward makes quick work of your thumb. There's no selectable episodes, nor intermission text; you just play straight through all 30 levels, and without a save function (early PS1 games did not use the memory card well), you have to note down the end stage password wherever you wanna stop. That's a little dumb.

For those improvements, PS1 Doom features colored lighting and a new ambient soundtrack and sound effects. The sound effects are definitely my favorite: the new shotgun sound is so meaty, it alone made me use it the entire run. The colored lights, meanwhile, range from fittingly menacing to garishly dark. I think the dark blue bits are supposed to make you feel tense and in danger, but mostly, they just suck to look at. It might be weird on the eyes and hard on the thumb, but PS1 Doom is still a damn good time and addition to any PlayStation collection.