Video Game Review #585: Vice: Project Doom

Vice: Project Doom

Nintendo Entertainment System

Before Playing:

I was born in 1982, and I've been playing video games ever since I've been able to hold a game controller. Forty years later, I still find myself discovering games that I didn't even know existed when I was growing up. Vice: Project Doom is one of those games. It came out in 1991 (when I was only nine years old), and I am just hearing about it now in 2025.

I discovered it when I was scrolling through a list of games on my RetroPie. I only played it for about ten minutes, but those ten minutes were enough to leave a lasting impression on me. The easy comparison to make is Ninja Gaiden. From the graphics and the presentation to the story sequences to the actual gameplay itself, this game just reeked of a Ninja Gaiden clone. And I love Ninja Gaiden, so I was all for it. I made a mental note to come back and play the game to completion someday. And that day has come. Let's see what I thought.

Story:

This game's story is crazy. It starts out simple enough, but it quickly goes off the rails. You're a cop, and you are called out to catch a fleeing individual who broke out of a secure scientific facility and is driving away like a madman. The car blows up, and the escapee is revealed to be a monster of some sort. The clues left behind lead you on a wild goose chase all around the world to find the people behind this. At the end of the game, the main bad guy turns out to be your clone. Or something like that. There's so much enigmatic banter between the characters, I never really had any idea what was going on here.

Although the game's presentation may immediately make you think of Ninja Gaiden, the storyline is nowhere near as interesting. It's just kind of a mess. I played through this game twice for my review, and my second time through, I skipped all the cutscenes. And I feel like I didn't really miss anything. Interestingly enough, I posted my thoughts about this game in a Facebook group, and the guy who wrote the game's story (Robb Alvey) responded and said:

"I probably wrote the text for the cut scenes while drunk. I think I was only 21 or 22 working on it so I probably didn’t take it very seriously! I would skip them, too! It was always super fun writing a horrible shit story and that’s all that mattered!"

Too funny.

Gameplay:

The game starts with a driving segment. There are only two of these segments in the game, and they are both pretty easy. It basically acts like an arcade shoot 'em up, where your car is on the bottom of the screen and you are driving "up." Enemies appear at the top of the screen, and you shoot them. They blow up. You collect power ups while trying to stay on the road. Like I said: they're easy. But they are fun.

There are also two first person shooting stages. Not first person like Doom or Wolfenstein, but first person like Lethal Enforcers or Virtua Cop. Like an on-rails shooter. These stages are easy, too. I panicked at first, because the aiming isn't very precise when using an NES controller, but the game is pretty lenient. You can take a lot of damage, and there are health items and ammo everywhere. I didn't die once on either of these shooting stages.

The meat and potatoes of the game are the 2D side scrolling stages. They will immediately make you think of Ninja Gaiden, as if the story sequences didn't already. The graphics are similar, as is the menu layout. The controls are similar. You slash with a sword. The only thing missing is the ability to scale walls. Your character also has two long distance weapons to pick from. This reminds me a bit of Batman on the NES. First weapon is a projectile that goes in a straight line, about halfway across the screen before it stops. The other weapon is an arching grenade that can do a lot of damage to an enemy. 

Mainly, I just used the sword, as the other two weapons have a "cool down" wait after you use them. The action in this game is fast and furious. One miss with your weapon could mean that you can't attack for two seconds or so. That's not going to cut it. If you use your sword, you can use it over and over again. When the action is fast like it is here, you are going to need that sword.

Each 2D level ends with a boss fight. These are also reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden and Batman at first glance. Many of them can be defeated quite easily by paying attention to their attack patterns and exploiting their weaknesses. Once you find that weakness, they drop quickly. Learning these patterns is the hard part, as you'll likely die the first time you face a boss.

Despite its similarities to other NES games, Vice: Project Doom is not nearly as challenging as the games that inspired it. Enemies don't do a massive amount of damage, and the game is fairly generous with its healing items. You can plow through a level while taking a lot of damage, and still make it through okay. Picking up 100 coins gives you an extra life, and coins are plentiful. Continues are endless. Enemy respawning is not too annoying. There is knockback, but you can control your character after you get hit mid-jump. It's not an automatic death sentence.

You can beat this game in just a few hours. It may take a little trial and error. On my second playthrough, I beat it in under one hour. That was with skipping cutscenes and using save states, though. Still, I don't think it is particularly difficult, especially when matched up against other games from its era. It is definitely an accessible game, and one I would recommend to anyone who thought the Ninja Gaiden series was too challenging to complete.

Graphics:

The cutscenes for the game look really good, even if the story is nonsensical. The game itself is fairly impressive looking. I think it doesn't look as good as Ninja Gaiden, though. The main character design is very strange. He looks kind of generic, and his animation is a bit stiff. The enemies in this game are fairly basic as well. They don't look bad, just not quite as good as other games like this. Can't complain about the bosses, though. I liked the variety in them, both in their looks and their tactics.

The backgrounds of the game are what make it stand out. I like the scrolling style that makes the game look layered. I like the intricate design of the laboratories and alien ships or wherever the hell you go in this game. There's a lot of things moving in the background. I like how there's a level where you have to cut through weeds to advance. The water and sludge effects look good. It's definitely a creative looking title.

The driving and shooting stages, however, are not too impressive. Looks more like an early NES title, and this came out in 1991.

Sound:

The music for the game is good, I guess.

I enjoyed it as I was playing, but now that I am done playing, I can't remember any of it. In one ear and out the other. There's nothing that stood out to me. Nothing that I would instantly recognize from this game. Nothing to go on a gaming music playlist. Not to say it's bad. Just very... okay? Same with the sound effects. 

Overall:

I had a pretty good experience playing this game. I have no doubt in my mind that if I had played this as a kid, it would have been one of my absolute favorites. It looks good, sounds good (I think?), and it is a manageable length and difficulty. It balances that fine line between regular difficulty and "NES hard". While it can require some trial and error, it never reaches the point of frustration. It keeps you wanting to come back and try again and again and again. It is just a lot of fun to play.

The only thing keeping this game back is the storyline. I feel that if it had interesting characters and a plot that I actually cared about, it would have helped create a more complete package. But does that even really matter? Most NES games didn't even give you cutscenes, and I didn't judge them for that. Take away this game's story, and it is still a lot of fun to play.

I recommend this to anyone who is interested in the genre. It evokes fond memories of Batman, Ninja Gaiden, and other classic NES titles that helped form me as a gamer. My only regret is that I haven't played this sooner in life. Without the nostalgic memories attached, this game drops from probably a B+ to a B. While I like this game and feel it is a solid platformer, I feel as if I have already gotten what I want from the game, and I probably won't ever play it again. Plus, am I really going to remember much about this in a couple of weeks?

THE GRADE:

B

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