Modern Vintage Gamer’s (MVG) assertion that Doom is functionally impossible to run on the Neo Geo was quickly debunked by two recent projects. Despite significant graphical compromises, these efforts show that with clever coding, even legacy hardware can spring surprising results.
FrenkelS adapted an earlier PC port for 16-bit processors like the 8088 and 286 to run on Neo Geo, creating a proto frame buffer using the console’s fix layer. This method allows for a relatively smooth version of Doom maps but with chunky, 8×8 pixel tiles at an effective resolution of 28×32 (and just 16 colors).
A modification to this idea uses the Neo Geo’s sprite memory as a frame buffer, increasing the effective resolution to 80×56 by utilizing 4×4-pixel blocks. While this increase comes with a noticeable cost to frame rate, further optimization or overclocked hardware could potentially smooth things out.
These projects stand as testaments to what determined coders can achieve, proving that the Neo Geo is not as constrained as previously thought and inspiring future endeavors in retro gaming porting.
