If a franchise lives long enough, it’ll eventually receive a somewhat hollow mobile cash-in. Doom got in early on the trend in the mid-2000s, but those games (which you’ll see later) weren’t actually that bad. Mighty Doom, however, is about as lazy as they come. Developed by the now-defunct Alpha Dog Games, Mighty Doom is a top-down shooter that streamlines the Doom concept into snackable hits of pew pew action that can be played while half-watching TV.

With a cutesy, chibi aesthetic based on in-game toys players can collect in the modern Doom game, it’s a kid-friendly, sanitized take on the normally gory horror series. Mighty Doom isn’t actually playable anymore, having been pulled from app stores after just a year on the market when Microsoft shut down the studio in May 2024. But the game itself was mostly forgotten well before then.

Another mobile spin-off, Doom Resurrection was released for iOS in 2009 and is based on 2004’s Doom 3, lifting its aesthetic for a touch-based on-rails shooter that was popular on iPods and phones at the time. It’s a simple, but mostly effective game that serves as a parallel story to the mainline entry.

Starring an unnamed space marine — as opposed to the usual series’ lead, Doomguy — Resurrection takes players through a handful of haunted house style levels for some competent shooting on-the-go. It doesn’t do much wrong, and was pretty impressive visually for its time, but it mostly serves as a footnote, even for the series’ mobile offerings.

As a mobile-only sub-series for the franchise, the Doom RPG games are unique for being the only Doom entries that aren’t actually shooters. To fit the limitations of 2000s mobile phone technology, the games dial back the pace and ability to run-and-gun, instead playing as turn-based RPGs where users move incrementally space-by-space to explore levels and combat foes.

Honestly, the premise works pretty well within the constraints and, in some ways, feels reminiscent of early first-person roleplaying games from the Nineties. The first installment is particularly impressive when you realize that it was a version of Doom running on a flip phone. Younger players today might be confused as to why any kind of video game on a cell phone might be shocking, but in more ancient times, it was a novelty.

The first non-mobile Doom game on this list is one that actually began as an unofficial one. Final Doom is the first entry in the series to be made without id Software, instead developed by TeamTNT, a group of hobbyist homebrew creators who were using the open-source toolkit of Doom II to make free content. Prior to its release, Doom co-creator John Romero offered to acquire the team and make their work an official part of franchise.

Designed as two episodes, TNT: Evilution and The Plutonia Experiment, Final Doom is basically a 32-level expansion of Doom II and plays nearly identical to the base game. For what it lacks in mechanical innovation, the game’s impact is important as one of the earliest instances of the PC modding community being snatched up by mainstream developers to legitimize their work — a practice that would help define the industry as games like Counter-Strike and Dota exploded from small fan mods into global hits.

When it arrived in 2004, Doom 3 was highly controversial among fans. By the late Nineties, id Software had moved on from the series, leaving it in the hands of other studios and fans while the original creators focused on their other seminal franchise, Quake. To return to Doom, the developers wanted to do something entirely new — and the result was something very different.

Doom 3 is the first reboot of the series, but once again focuses on a space marine trapped inside a Mars research facility when the hordes of Hell arrive. Unlike the original games, which were fast-paced action games wrapped in a moody horror veneer, Doom 3 is 100 percent a survival horror game. Players must creep through claustrophobic, labyrinthine areas searching for weaponry and keys to progress, and are rarely afforded the opportunity to go balls out blasting with overpowered guns. Darkness plays a huge role in the game, as it did in many previous entries, but the game irritated many by forcing players to swap between holding a gun or a flashlight to see; the constant shifting was intended to create a sense of dread by stripping defenses, but mostly slowed down what was already a very slow game.

But time has been kind to Doom 3. Over the years, fans now see that the spirit of the original games is fully present in its design, even if the execution is wildly different. Later expansions and updates have softened its edges with streamlined gameplay, but looking back, Doom 3’s vision of a visceral horror experience was ahead of its time.

In the modern era, Doom games are seen as existing in a lane of their own. Beginning with 2016’s second reboot of the series, the recent releases pay homage to the gameplay of the early entries while ratcheting up the speed and mechanical complexity of its systems. They play unlike any other shooter on the market, minimally copied by other games due to their more hardcore qualities — a mentality that serves as a badge of honor for fans.

Doom: The Dark Ages is intended to be a middle ground between the delirious speed of Doom (2016) and the slower methodology of the 1993 game. Blending the movement and pace of the older games with new, melee-focused combat that’s derived from its faux-medieval setting, The Dark Ages is a fun remix of concepts that’s a little bit of everything, yet still inherently Doom. It doesn’t work quite as well as its immediate predecessors, but there’s a quirky full-circle feeling to the game, not just harkening back to the franchises’ origins, but weaving a heavy metal-fantasy vibe that’s oddly appropriate given that OG Doom itself was inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons campaign.

While the Doom franchise benefitted greatly from the work of independent creators, its best batch of mods came from the game’s co-creator, John Romero. Sigil and its sequel were unofficial episodic expansions to Doom, designed by Romero as new additions to the base experience that solely utilize the original assets. There have been expansions like this before, like 1995’s Master Levels, but there’s something special about seeing Romero return to his early work with decades more experience and hindsight.

Both Sigil and Sigil II are extremely difficult, playing like amped up versions of classic Doom, but with a deeply unsettling hellish design and complex level architecture that will challenge even the most diehard fans. Initially released on their own, the duology was later licensed by Bethesda Softworks and is now playable in current franchise re-released as an official part of the Doom canon.

It’s Doom. What else can you say? A seminal first-person shooter that holds up extremely well today, the very first entry in the series easily goes toe-to-toe with every game of its ilk from eras old and new. It’s honestly surprising just how simple it is to pick up the 1993 release (or some version of it) and just have it instantly click. It’s simple, elegant, and remains endlessly playable.

And while it may be perfect for what it is, there was always room for improvement. Later sequels and mods added new mechanics, weapons, and innovative level architecture. Regardless of which specific Doom is your favorite, the impact of the first game can never be questioned. For many, it remains the franchise’s peak, with a flawless combination of pacing, music, and level design wrapped succinctly in one package. But there’s been many big swings that followed.

Take it or leave it, there’s no first-person shooter on the planet that feels like Doom Eternal. The direct follow-up to 2016’s reboot, Eternal takes the tongue-in-cheek flair of its predecessor, as well as all its breakneck action and breathless pace, and turns up the dial. Every encounter in Eternal feels like a life-or-death struggle, and only by careening platform to platform, closing gaps a mile-a-minute by hook shot for a point-blank shotgun blast can you survive.

For many, the ludicrous speed of Eternal can be dizzying. Arenas filled with waves of enemies, all different types requiring very specific methodology to kill, can be too much. It’s a Rubik’s Cube race, meant to be solved at gun point. It’s not accessible for all, but if and when it clicks, it’s an unparalleled action rush that’s second to none. It might just be one of the most exciting games ever made.

After handing off the wheel to homebrewers with Final Doom, id Software tapped out of the game for a while, but that doesn’t mean the series was ready to stop. Developed by Midway — a major player in the Nineties, known for games like Mortal Kombat — Doom 64 is the fourth installment of the franchise and the first to be designed from the ground up for a home console (a Nintendo one, no less!). On a platform not known for graphically violent games, Doom 64 thrived as a technological leap forward for the series, but also as a staple of four-person, split-screen multiplayer gaming that the N64 was known for.

Whereas the first three Doom entries mostly recycled assets, Doom 64 overhauled the aesthetic of every enemy and rendered more complex 3D environments that felt revolutionary at the time — even if the character sprites remained two-dimensional in contrast to other N64 shooters like Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, which implemented fully 3D models. The decision was the right one, however, and ensured that the game still looked and felt like Doom. The game also employed a chilling ambient score rather than a chiptune metal soundtrack, instilling a deep sense of dread.

While the game is technically a spin-off, Doom 64 is considered a cult favorite among fans, and as a Nintendo 64 exclusive for many years, it was a touchstone game for those who grew up playing it. For many, it was their first or only Doom; for others, it’s just one of the best.

It might sound sacrilegious to place Doom II: Hell on Earth over the original, but let’s face facts: it’s Doom, but better. While many consider the first game a perfect storm of succinct level design, music, and gameplay, Doom II offers a messier, more ambitious vision that frequently plays better, has cooler, more diverse enemies, and introduced many of the series’ mainstays — including the Super Shotgun, one of gaming’s most iconic weapons.

Regardless of preference, it’s well known that Doom II is one of the greatest games ever made, and when recommending an entry point for newcomers, it’s likely the best option. While some of its later levels can be very difficult to solve puzzle-wise, the juice is worth the squeeze for its improved action and variety over the original. Although the series has changed in many ways throughout the years, Doom II is a look at the franchise at its absolute best; it’s a retro gaming mountain that’s always worth climbing.

At its release in 2016, the idea of a new Doom game seemed almost inconceivable. Twelve years after the last entry divided fans, and after a decade of dominance from franchises like Call of Duty, what could a retro-minded shooter offer without feeling moot? Turns out, just about everything.

Doom (2016) is a perfect video game. Its controls are tight; its mechanics and systems are easily learnable and adaptable; its pacing in action and exploration is balanced and thoughtful. The second reboot of the series (although it’s been softly retconned into the original canon) takes the very premise of Doom and modernizes everything. Players take on the role of the Doom Slayer, who’s given a much grittier, superpowered overhaul, to once again tear through demon hordes on a Mars space station before battling their way into Hell.

The game is cheeky; the Slayer operates as mute fixture whose boundless rage and hatred for demons is comedic without veering into cheesy. Its weaponry is potent and despite having an over-the-top sci-fi bend, feels weighty and precise in ways that feels simultaneously retro and modern. Its biggest boon, however, is the Glory Kill system, which lets players shoot up enemies just enough to instantly warp in for a gratuitous melee kill. Glory Kills replenish health, meaning that chaining them together is essential to survive; every encounter plays out like a dance, fluidly moving from kill to kill until there’s nothing left.

In some ways, it’s like a rhythm game, but the feeling of improvisation that emerges when a plan falls apart is a stark contrast to the controlled cover fire and progression that bogs down so many modern shooters. While its successors would toy with the pace, either making it faster (Eternal) or slower (The Dark Ages), the systems of the 2016 game have cemented their own microcosm of death-defying shooter gameplay. For a generation of players — and even some old heads — this is Doom, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.