I recently played the original Doom again.

[A Black Falcon]

What do I think of Doom? Hmm... well, at the time of its release, I couldn't play it because our computer wasn't nearly good enough, and even if it was my parents would never have allowed me to play such a violent game then. I loved ID Software's earlier Commander Keen series of course, it's still my favorite PC platformer series ever, but I've never cared about Doom like I do Keen. Later on of course I knew that Doom was considered to be exceptional -- it finished near the top of most all "best PC games ever' lists, such as those in PC Gamer from when I read/subscribed to the magazine between '96 and '01 -- but I never did play much of it, maybe because my parents didn't want me playing shooters for years so I didn't play them much and even when I did try a few, I didn't like them nearly as much as other genres like strategy games or platformers a lot more. I did get the Doom-engine FPS Hexen in '96 or '97 (as a birthday gift from friends), and I somewhat liked it, but never got far into the game. And after that, while I did come to like some FPSes in the late '90s, an "old" game like Doom wasn't what I wanted to play, I wanted to play newer stuff like Jedi Knight! So yeah, I knew that Doom was very popular, but didn't get into it myself even though I think quite highly of ID/id Software.

Eventually, I did get The Ultimate Doom, as well as Doom 2 and Final Doom, for PC, as a digital download on Steam or what have you at some point. I still have not played more than a few levels of the game, though. What I did play, back sometime in the mid/late '00s (and I'm sure I posted about it at the time), is the SNES version of Doom, which, oddly enough, is the only version of Doom I've actually finished. While significantly downgraded it's actually a pretty good port, for the system, and I enjoyed it enough to beat the game. You're right, Doom has great level designs. But did I continue from there to play the PC games? Well, a few levels, but that's about it... I still haven't played much PC Doom. The games get hard after Doom 1! SNES Doom, which plays more slowly than the PC game, was easier... heh. But Final Doom on the PC, I gave up in the second or third level. As for Doom 2,. I'm not sure if I've ever actually gotten around to trying it... not that I've played most of the PC version of Doom 1 either, beyond the first episode.

Despite all that though, yes, you're right about the level designs; the original Doom's levels are great, and exploring them is pretty fun. Doom's levels have always been one of the most praised elements of the game, and it's true.

Even so though, Commander Keen 1 will always be my favorite id Software game, because it's amazing. :)