Wolfenstein 3D (SNES)
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- 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
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 | Composer | Arranger | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Evil Incarnate | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:17 | Download | |
| 02 | U R A Hero | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 0:48 | Download | |
| 03 | Roster | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 0:45 | Download | |
| 04 | Funk You! | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 1:59 | Download | |
| 05 | Get Them Before They Get You | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:27 | Download | |
| 06 | The Ultimate Challenge | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:46 | Download | |
| 07 | Funkie Colonel Bill | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:11 | Download | |
| 08 | The SS Gonna Get You | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 3:08 | Download | |
| 09 | The Nazi Rap | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:50 | Download | |
| 10 | Zero Hour | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 2:26 | Download | |
| 11 | Tiptoeing Around | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 3:13 | Download | |
| 12 | End of Level | Bobby Prince | Bobby Prince | 0:48 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper: Unknown
- Recorder: Doommaster1994, Elbryan42
- Game Credits:
- Music: Bobby Prince
- Uncredited Sound Driver: Rebecca Heineman
- Uncredited Sound Driver: John Carmack
- Manual Credits:
- LEVELS&SOUNDS: John Romero
(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
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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
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Links
- mobygames.com/game/snes/wolfenstein-3d_ - MobyGames.
- gamefaqs.com/snes/588858-wolfenstein-3d - GameFAQs.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfenstein_3D - Wikipedia.
- Games Released In 1994
- Games Developed By id Software
- Games
- Wolfenstein 3D (SNES)
- Games By Bobby Prince
- Games By Rebecca Heineman
- Games By John Carmack
- Games By John Romero
- Games That Use SNSF
- Old Rip Layout
- Games Released In Japan
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System Games
- Games Published By Imagineer
- Games Released In USA
