Wolfenstein 3D (SNES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Imagineer's 1994 first-person shooter for the Super Nintendo, Wolfenstein 3D.

In this video I play through the entire game on the normal difficulty, scoring 100% for enemies, treasures, and secrets in every level. After the main run ends at 3:45:32, I go back and show the two secret stages (3-5 and 6-7) and how to reach them.

By 1992, 3D graphics were nothing new - there were several "3D" games released in the 80s - but it was generally accepted that any game attempting such a feat was going to be ugly and would run terribly on the hardware of the day. Thankfully, that all changed with the release of id Software's Wolfenstein 3D. Responsive controls and a fluid framerate were no longer an impossibility on consumer-level hardware! id might be better known as the house that Doom built, but Wolfenstein 3D provided the foundation that made it all possible.

But for as impressive as it was to see an FPS running at double-digit framerates on a 286, it was perhaps even more mind-blowing to see Wolfenstein 3D in a playable state on stock Super Nintendo hardware when it launched eighteen months later.

We have id to thank for that. The guy they had hired to do the port was a complete flake and the publisher's deadline was quickly approaching, so the guys at id ended up having to do it all. They temporarily halted work on Doom and threw themselves headlong into a three-week crunch session during which they learned the SNES hardware and rebuilt the game from the ground up. On top of that, the cartridge doesn't contain any fancy hardware (like the DSP-1 or SuperFX chips) to boost performance.

Pretty incredible feat, wouldn't you say?

There are some major differences between this game and the original, though - it's not a "faithful" port so much as it is a good facsimile. The story is different, the level layouts have been simplified, and a lot of stuff had to be changed to placate Nintendo's censors, but we now have an auto-map feature, new weapons (the RPG and the flamethrower) and powerups, and a few music tracks have been brought over from Spear of Destiny.

Considering the SNES's relative lack of hardware muscle, nobody ever expected Wolfenstein 3D to be as smooth, fast, or pretty as the PC original. Most people, however, probably didn't expect it to come so close, either. This was the sort of game that stretched the legs of computers that cost ten times what a SNES deck did, after all. Many gamers got their first real taste of the FPS genre with this cart, I'm sure.

There's no reason to play this version today if all you're looking for is the pure Wolfenstein 3D experience, but it does make for an excellent time-capsule piece. In its time, Wolfenstein 3D was a phenomenal piece of work.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

[MarkMeadows]

The beta release of Doom uses the dying sound of the soldiers when you kill the monsters.

[NintendoComplete]

Wolfenstein 3D was a pretty amazing showpiece for the SNES, especially for a game that was created in three weeks and made no use of enhancement chips.

[danalong]

3:45:18: a total of only 8 people worked on this game: John Carmack, Adrian Carmack (no relation), Tom Hall, Kevin Cloud, Jay Wilbur, Shawn Green, composer Robert Prince and game design extraordinaire John Romero, who later gave us Doom, Haven, Quake and Daikatana. Microsoft now owns id Software, which is based in Mesquite, Texas, home of the world-famous championship rodeo, broadcast for many years on The Nashville Network.

[JustaAmrican]

This version of the game actually seems enjoyable to play. There's no blood so I'm pretty satisfied with this version.I really like the plot, design, and the soundtrack of the original game, however I'm not a huge fan of gore forests so I actually like this version, even if it's lower quality. I just realized that Hitler's name was changed to "Staatmeister" and all the swastika emblems were changed to iron crosses, Hitler's mustache was removed, and all the flags are just red.

[ParmMannREBORN]

That development history you mentioned in the description is wild! Had no clue, 3 weeks is insane to learn and port a game to a new console

[SomeOrangeCat]

Considering the hardware, this version runs amazingly well. It's also the basis for the MAC, Jaguar and 3DO ports of the game. Some stages were truncated, others replaced with stages from Spear of Destiny. That's also where three of the bosses come from: Trans Grosse, The Ubermutant and the Death Knight. The truncated levels and the addition of a map feature were very welcome addons to the engine.

[LeoDoesAllThis]

What I don’t like about this version of the game is that it’s lacking Nazi references of any sort, that includes the swastikas, the famous German speech from the enemies (yes, “MEIN LEBEN!” is a part of the list), and Hitler’s mustache being removed and instead got a new name, which makes this game a pretty miserable experience to play with. But the best things about it are that it’s got a cool looking map that I can take a look at while pausing and it managed to add 2 new weapons. Also, I’m not surprised that this game also runs at a decent framerate, compared to Doom on the same system. I know a lot of people hate this port, especially Wolfenstein fans, but I would personally have to agree with them unfortunately.

Edit: Changed my thoughts on this version of the game, but even though the Nazi references are something that threw me off, I realized that the gameplay is at least somewhat enjoyable, as well as the whole experience in general, compared to that monstrosity that is Doom's 3DO port.

[fabiopalma]

Man, I was scared as hell of those boss fights back then 😅

[cratedivizion]

Top 10 SNES game for me. Tons of fun, and a nice challenge since there's no saving.

[britneyspearsvillarosa]

I grew up playing Wofenstein 3D on the PC way back in 1992. I was 6 years old going to be 7 a couple of weeks later after this classic was released on May 2, 1992

[professors]

When all you had was a SNES, this was a pretty amazing port. Also, I really love the automap and was sort of annoyed to find out year later that the PC version doesn't have one!

[larrylaffer]

It's definitely impressive for what it accomplished. Shame they had to cut what they did though. Especially since Doom got a pretty much unscathed port released later on the same system.

[SuperKlondike]

Why do people hate this game so much? Sure, it's a bit cut down from the PC version, but it's not completely unplayable garbage like many make it out to be.

[bigduke]

I got this game for Christmas of 1994 because I asked for it by name and it became a running joke in my family. Not because it was bad, no way; my brother and I both really enjoyed it before we were able to play Doom. But because my brother had asked for and received Final Fantasy III. Boy, who got the better end of that deal?

[Widerspruchsfreiheit]

First use of orthogonal, special case BSP by id leading to the general 2-D BSP in Doom.

[NorthStarBlue]

I'm sure most will disagree, but personally I find the censorship changes kinda humorous. They're not really disguising anything if you've seen the original version, and it almost feels more like a parody or a "legally distinct" knockoff. That said, they did a damn good job of making this run decently on hardware that really wasn't designed for such a game.

[XxSailorScoutxX]

I had so much fun playing this on PC back in the day. Might have to try the SNES port one day

[SolidNate]

I remember playing this game at a friend's house way back in the day when it was new and even then thinking "Man these graphics suck."

[thecunninlynguist]

Do super Noah ark 3d next haha. Or the game near and dear to my heart, doom snes

[ChildrenShowArchive]

When he shoots the Nazis, they sound like Homer Simpson when he says “Doh!”