Vice: Project Doom Review and Nintendo Power Scans

Vice: Project Doom is a champion among games. It unabashedly copies the Ninja Gaiden formula, but with improvements. You play as Hart, a secret agent who has no qualms about killing people left and right. Armed with a laser sword, spy car, grenades, and a gun, you hack your way through 11 stages of men, monsters, and giant radioactive rats. Released in 1991, it managed to stand out against the SNES thanks to the Nintendo Power spread and high-quality.

Some stages play like Spy Hunter, with you driving, and an overhead perspective. Others are similar to light gun arcade games (Jurassic Park, House of the Dead). These stages keep the gameplay fresh, and, most importantly, feel 100% polished.

But the real meat is the platforming, and Vice: Project Doom doesn't disappoint. You can duck and run, and attack while ducking and running; the environment will collapse around you; enemies drop power-ups (and coins which will grant a 1UP with 100). Enemy drops are very generous, so once you start to get the hang of things taking a hit here or there doesn't completely trash your chances of beating the stage.

The challenge is fine-tuned, with a nice progression of difficulty. Overall, however, Vice is easier than Ninja Gaiden, but harder than Super Mario Bros. 3 (for whatever that's worth).

In-between stages present a cinema-driven story. As the title suggests, you are, I suppose, a narcotics officer. The Bad Guys are using some substance, "gel," to turn people into mutants and monsters. Aliens get involved, and the story degenerates into hilarity and awesomeness. The music is sometimes brilliant, sometimes not-so-brilliant, but most tracks fit the mood of the stage well.

Vice: Project Doom received significant Nintendo Power attention, including the cover spread. A creepy thought that while your character is hopping and bopping through stages, monsters lurk in the third dimension watching you. And why identify this mutant with the reader? I never even noticed the guy in the background until I really started to look at this image. It's fucking bizarre.

The Nintendo Power article covers up to stage 9, and shows off the nice boss artwork and grand scope of the game. Vice: Project Doom is an 8-Bit epic--don't miss it!