Wolfenstein 3D (SNES)

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Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - USA.jpg
Platform: SNES
Year: 1994
Developer: id Software, Inc.
Buy: Amazon
This page is for the SNES game, for other platforms see Wolfenstein 3D.

The SNES port of Wolfenstein 3D is the base of the later non-DOS ports. The levels are shrunken down and the enemies can't rotate. The SNES port is even worse though. While the Macintosh, 3DO, and Jaguar ports all feature higher resolution sprites and higher quality soundtracks, the SNES version has mildly better music and terrible graphics, worse even than the original DOS port.

In the game, you play as William "B.J." Blazkowicz. The storyline of the game has been slightly altered from the original; instead of being a P.O.W. in Castle Wolfenstein, you are sent to several different castles to take out Staatmeister's evil thugs and thwart his plans. In the Japanese version, his name was changed to Colonel Trautman, and you must defeat all of his mutants, which include all the guards.

While the game is a port of the original Wolfenstein 3D, it uses many elements from its later release, Spear of Destiny (DOS) including bosses, graphics, and even music.

The SNES version of the game spread a lot of controversy because of its censoring of blood, Nazis and Nazi symbols, replacing dogs with rats and Hitler with Staatmeister (Country Master) who is basically a rehashed version of Hitler without a mustache. The guards and bosses no longer speak German and instead say "Halt!" and "Coming for ya!", respectively. The game also has no save feature, and instead features a password system for each level for each of the three levels of difficulty. However, one feature the SNES version has over the DOS original (besides the better quality music) is an automap feature. However, unlike DOOM, items aren't shown on the map; only the walls, and can only be accessed when the game is paused, not while the player is playing a level.

Because of the censorship, a rumor had spread about id Software lending their source code to the game to Wisdom Tree to make Super Noah's Ark 3D (SNES) in an act of "getting back" at Nintendo for forcing them to censor their game. However, this was later proven false by staff at Wisdom Tree. More on that can be found on that game's page.

Screenshots

Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - Title.png

The title screen.

Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - Mission Briefing.png

Quite a different opening than the original version.

Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - E1M1.png

Starting off in E1M1. The graphics have taken quite a hit.

Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - Floor Complete.png

Finished the first floor.


Music

The SNES port of Wolfenstein 3D uses music from Wolfenstein 3D (DOS) and Spear of Destiny (DOS), but the quality of the music is slightly improved thanks to the more advanced audio chip of the SNES. It sounds particularly better with the percussion instruments, but unfortunately, the port doesn't take full advantage of the audio capabilities of the SNES chip, so the sound is only marginally better.

Though Bobby Prince could not really remember much about the SNES version due to the passing years, John Romero gave us verification that Prince arranged his own music. Though it has an identical sound to the DOS originals, some things were changed, such as instrument designs being changed, some of the drum beats have been either slightly or completely altered, and even some instruments missing from the DOS originals completely. Another thing to note is the tempo of the SNES version's music is faster than the DOS originals. Prince used Sequencer Plus Gold and his Ensoniq EPS to compose the original soundtrack, and he most likely arranged the SNES version's MIDI files in the same program with the same keyboard. These MIDIs were then converted into a sound driver by Rebecca Heineman, who goes uncredited.

The SNSF file also contains the original Level Complete song from the DOS version but for some reason, it was not used in the game and it was replaced with the high scores music from the PC version (Roster).

Recording

# Title ComposerArranger Length Listen Download
01 Evil Incarnate Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:17
Download
02 U R A Hero Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:48
Download
03 Roster Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:45
Download
04 Funk You! Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 1:59
Download
05 Get Them Before They Get You Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:27
Download
06 The Ultimate Challenge Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:46
Download
07 Funkie Colonel Bill Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:11
Download
08 The SS Gonna Get You Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 3:08
Download
09 The Nazi Rap Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:50
Download
10 Zero Hour Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 2:26
Download
11 Tiptoeing Around Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 3:13
Download
12 End of Level Bobby PrinceBobby Prince 0:48
Download

Credits

(Sources: Game, Japanese Manual)

The game's credits can be found by simply waiting at the title screen. The Japanese version's instruction manual also gives credit to the id Software team, as well as the Japanese Imagineer staff. However, nobody from Imagineer worked on this game's sound.

Years after the game's release, Rebecca Heineman released Super Noah's Ark 3D's sound driver source code [1], which was originally used in this game. While the source code of the sound driver gives credit to both Heineman and John Carmack, John has stated that the driver was pretty much programmed by Heineman herself.

Heineman is not listed in the game's credits. It is unknown why she was not credited. However, a rumor states that she had left id Software, which may explain why the development team omitted her from the credits. According to Heineman, she also did voices for the game as well. She also explained that the game's instrument samples were taken from an Ensoniq SQ-1.

Game Rip

Format

Download

Size

SNSF.png

Download 551 KB

Because the SNES version doesn't utilize the S-SMP chip in the standard way, the music cannot be dumped into SPC files and had to be ripped to the SNSF format. The current recording was made by recording the game play, but a new rip should be made with the SNSF rip.

Rebecca Heineman has the MIDI files for the SNES version's arrangements of Wolfenstein 3D. However, because the game's copyright is still held by a game company, Bethesda, she is not legally permitted to distribute them. However, she did release the source code for Super Noah's Ark 3D, which uses the same sound engine.

Releases

  Japan.svg   Japan
Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - Japan.jpg
Title: ウルフェンシュタイン: The Claw of Eisenfaust (Wolfenstein 3D: The Claw of Eisenfaust)
Platform: SNES
Released: 1994-02-10
Publisher: Imagineer Co., Ltd.
  USA.svg   USA
Wolfenstein 3D - SNES - USA.jpg
Title: Wolfenstein 3D
Platform: SNES
Released: 1994-03-??
Publisher: Imagineer Co., Ltd.

Links