Here’s an exciting new development in the world of Super NES which blurs the lines of homebrew and professional commercial production, a new authorized version of Doom. The port of Doom released in 1995 was unimpressive, even at the time it was released and the creators thought that it justified having a whole new reworked version, adding back a lot of the content that was cut out along with doubling the frame rate and adding an extra rumble feature. Yes that is correct they have developed a joypad rumble feature and are also developing a Super NES controller with built-in vibrating rumble motors. The game is being released by Limited Run Games who don’t have the best reputation amongst the retro gamer’s at the moment. However since the reputation of ID Software is on the line here I don’t think Limited Run Games is going to do anything dodgy, it would be extremely silly of them if they did. It may be worth cautiously supporting Limited Run Games with this release and see how they go, maybe they will be able to rebuild their reputation with customers if there are no serous issues with this release.
The way the Super NES is able to run this game twice as fast as it could before is due to the aftermarket hardware that is built into the cartridge. It’s actually a virtual Super FX-3 chip with 150MHz co-processor that helps the Super NES be able to handle the load that is placed on it. In actuality it’s a Raspberry Pi RP2350B chip emulating the hardware that is responsible for the end result. However they did it, the results speak for themselves and it’s effectively the same thing as all the other Super NES cartridges that utilized after-market chips to boost the power of the system. Despite all of the upgrades made to Doom, it still is inferior to playing the game on a DOS 486. Actually these days you can play Doom on modern PC’s, online with all sorts of extra graphics and gameplay mods to choose from. This is probably the most popular way to play the game today however this new Super NES version will lead to all sorts of new benefits to the homebrew and Super Nintendo development scene. No doubt this will inspire some other projects in future that will utilize both the Raspberry Pi and the SNES joypad rumble technology.
You can pre-order the standard edition of Doom (2025) from now until the 10th of August for $99.99 US. The collector’s edition featuring the special cartridge shell and label has already had all pre-order’s filled. The rumble joypad for the Super NES is also taking pre-orders and is still available for $34.99. The rumble joypad will start shipping out to customers in February 2026 so it will be a bit of wait. Do any other games take advantage of the rumble function yet? The answer is yes, a patch for Starfox has been released that adds rumble features to the game. It adds an extra layer of game immersion that we have all gotten so used to with the PS1, PS2 and PS3 as well as the Nintendo 64.
Relevant Links
- Limited Run Games – SNES Rumble Controller Pre-Order [https://limitedrungames.com/collections/all-merch/products/snes-rumble-controller] Pre-Order’s available until August 10th, expected to ship February 24-28th 2026.
- Limited Run Games – SNES Doom Standard Edition Pre-order [https://limitedrungames.com/collections/all-games/products/doom-snes] Pre-Order’s available until August 10th expected to ship February 24-28th 2026.
- Time Extension – article on new SNES Doom release [https://www.timeextension.com/previews/hands-on-30-years-on-dooms-super-fx-3-upgrade-gives-snes-players-a-more-polished-way-to-rip-and-tear] Review of the game with the rumble controller and a list of all the game differences.
