Why a Neo Geo port of Doom is functionally impossible

Here at Ars, we’ve taken pleasure in reporting on versions of Doom that run on everything from wireless earbuds and printers to Windows’ notepad.exe and even inside Doom itself. So when we hear that a piece of game-playing hardware from the ’90s (or later) can’t run Doom, our ears perk up. That hardware is the Neo Geo, an early ’90s game console that players of a certain age will remember for its eye-watering launch price and its relatively strong pixel-pushing power for the time. Despite that relative power, though, a fascinating new video from Modern Vintage Gamer argues that the Neo Geo’s architecture makes it particularly ill-suited for a port of id’s famously easy-to-port game. While those limitations might hold back a Neo Geo Doom port, the system may still be able to handle a simpler FPS like Wolfenstein 3D. Modern Vintage Gamer put together a simple Neo Geo raycasting demo for a video that approximates that game’s 90-degree walls, flat floors, and ceilings.