Vice: Project Doom is yet another cult classic title on the original Nintendo that I hear about in certain circles and finally decided to jump in. This game is often compared to Ninja Gaiden and as a fan of that series (despite hating the frustrating and unfair difficulty of it) I figured that this would be a natural fit for me. I was surprised for two reasons. First of all, Vice: Project Doom (or just Vice as I will refer to if from now on) is not best compared to Ninja Gaiden. I almost feel like I was deceived because the two games don’t have nearly as much in common as I initially expected. Yes, they’re both side scrolling action titles but their play styles are incredibly different. Not only that, but the pacing and tone are almost opposite one another. The second thing that surprised me with this title is that although it is hardly a comparable to Ninja Gaiden I really enjoyed it. It’s a rare title that you don’t hear about often which is a darn shame in my opinion.
Vice: Project Doom takes place in an alternate future where aliens have lived among humans for centuries. A new substance has hit the market called ‘gel’ which was once a food source for the extra-terrestrials but it has now become a black market drug for regular humans. You play as a detective named Hart who must uncover the conspiracy behind this in an attempt to discover what has happened to his previous partner who has gone missing. I think the main reason gamers choose to compare this title to Ninja Gaiden is because it also has still picture cut-scenes to move the plot forward. These are surprisingly enjoyable, and while the story isn’t all that great they’re very impressive considering the hardware. It just goes to show that the developers really cared about this release.
As far as gameplay goes Vice: Project Doom is a bit tough to describe. The developers integrated three different modes of gameplay here. It’s similar to Adventures of Bayou Billy in this sense. The primary means of play is a side scrolling action platformer. Your basic weapon is a short range sword (I don’t really understand why. It doesn’t seem to fit the theme in my opinion) and you can use this unlimitedly. You also have access to a handgun (that has surprisingly short range for some reason) and grenades that have a curved trajectory. All three are useful in different situations, and the fact that you’re given options is very cool even though I do find myself saving up the grenades for the many boss fights because that’s when they’re most useful.
The first thing you should know about Vice is that it’s a tough game. It’s not Ninja Gaiden hard by any means, but if you’re like me you’ll find yourself dying repeatedly. Enemies come at you strong and in numbers. They can be very tough to avoid, and unfortunately this game makes use of what I like to call “Castlevania knockback.” This means that whenever you take a hit your character is physically moved backwards. This isn’t a problem most of the time because this game does not emphasize bottomless pits as much as most other similar titles, but it can cause major problems in later stages. You’ll be dealing with a lot of foes that shoot projectiles, jump around, and even those that fly. They can be very tough to hit especially because you’ll be using the sword attack most often and therefore must get up close and personal. Your life bar is long but it depletes very fast when you’re surrounded. The level designs are a lot of fun with your traditional blocks that disappear as you stand on them too long, conveyor belts, and ladders. There’s plenty of diversity to ensure that you won’t get bored. I found myself suffering numerous game overs while completing the story, but it’s fun enough that I wasn’t overly frustrated when I returned.
On top of the standard side scrolling stages you’re given two separate modes of play that really mix the action up. Unfortunately there are only two of these alternate sequences apiece in the main game. I wish it was more common because they’re both a lot of fun. The first of these is an overhead perspective driving shooter. You guide your car up, down, left and right as you dodge obstacles and shoot enemies. This is reminiscent of Spy Hunter, and I really enjoyed the two sequences included here. The second is a light gun shooter of sorts, but without compatibility with the NES zapper. You guide an on-screen reticule and press the A and B buttons to either shoot bullets or throw grenades. In these sections enemies frequently pop out at you and attempt to damage you as per your usual on-rails shooter, but the screen only scrolls to the right. What’s cool is there are sections of the environments here that are destructible and these reveal power-ups. These segments are entertaining but personally I much prefer the other two means of gameplay over this. These alternate stages may seem like a far cry from the main game, but everything comes together in a cohesive package and it just works. Really, if I was compare Vice to any other game it would be Adventures of Bayou Billy because of the different gameplay styles, but it’s much better here.
Vice: Project Doom is one of the best looking games on the original Nintendo in my opinion. Let’s start with the color palette. This is above and beyond what you’ll find in most NES titles and most of the backgrounds are tiered with multiple colors. Speaking of the background graphics these are some of the most highly detailed I’ve seen on the console. The artists took a lot of care in instilling this game with its own style, and I really appreciate it. The character models offer a bit less detail but they animate well and it’s fairly easy to tell what everything is supposed to represent. Unfortunately there were several occasions in which I lost track of Hart on-screen because everything was so chaotic and the screen was flickering. This led me to several deaths that felt unfair, but I found that with more careful planning I could get past it with less problems. What I like most about this game’s engine is that the developers were able to include parallax scrolling in some of the later backgrounds. This looks absolutely amazing and these are definitely the best I’ve ever seen on the original Nintendo (or even the Master System for that matter). Vice is an amazing looking game overall. The soundtrack is also quite good. The music consists entirely of rocking bleeps and blips that fit the action incredibly well. It’s not a soundtrack I would seek out on my own, but I liked it.
This is one of those games that, chances are, most people reading this review have never heard of. It didn’t exactly set the charts on fire, nor was it created by a developer that has a dedicated fanbase. It is however an excellent side scrolling action game. Comparing it to Ninja Gaiden does both games a great disservice. Vice is it’s own thing entirely, and it’s one of the more original games on the old 8-bit platform. This title deserves more attention than it has received and that’s a fact. This is a solid action title.
