"For the first time, humanity is about to be wiped out by the forces of the Dark Legion."
— Prologue
A side-scrolling, Run-and-Gun Platform Game released in 1995 by Adrenalin Entertainment for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis gaming systems. It takes place in the Mutant Chronicles universe, drawing primarily on the Mutant Chronicles Trading Card Game.
The player assumes the role of one of two commandos, the titular Doom Troopers: Capitol trooper Mitch Hunter or Bauhaus trooper Max Steiner, fighting an evil horde of gun-toting zombies, mutants and demons, the Mooks of the Dark Legion, in an effort to stop Algeroth, Dark Apostle of War. The game has a total of eight levels (Though some of these are mere boss arenas) on a number of planets throughout our solar system, most of which have been terraformed and don't really resemble their real-life counterparts.
The game was known for being rather violent, with much gore and mutilation inflicted on enemies by the player. Despite its "T" rating, it's probably one of the most Gorn filled games released on either system. It's also a rather fun one, at that. Hard, too. Thankfully, you can shoot in eight directions, and you are not a One-Hit-Point Wonder. Bring a friend, it has co-op as well.
Doom Troopers provides Bloody Hilarious examples of:
- Abnormal Ammo: It's mostly run-of-the mill bullets and grenades here, but Max Steiner's secondary weapon is a pair of wrist-mounted fireball launchers.
- All There in the Manual: Being familiar with Mutant Chronicles canon may help you enjoy this game better, such as recognizing all the characters and knowing why Venus is a jungle. Then again, maybe it wouldn't.
- Big Bad: Algeroth, Apostle of War. Other apostles make an appearance, most memorably Demnogonis the Befouler.
- BFG: Mitch Hunter's weapon of choice, an assault rifle with an integral missile launcher, is this. Variants are also seen mounted on the ground in some levels, allowing mooks to use them. The grenade launchers may also qualify, and the Razide's massive gun certainly does.
- Bottomless Magazines: You need to find ammo pickups to keep your ammo pool up, but you never have to reload. This may be justified, as both characters' guns look like they could hold a lot of shots. This trope is also played with, in the following way. The Doomtroopers can run out of ammo, but when they do they will slowly regenerate up to 10 bullets. The Doomtroopers will do this infinitely until you find more ammo or the level ends.
- Captain Geographic: Mitch Hunter's armor is rather... star-spangled.
- Doom Troops: Doomtroopers are Doom Troops, though Max Steiner definitely fits the look more than Mitch Hunter.
- Emergency Weapon: Melee is available in both versions of the game. SNES Expands on this by also letting you grab enemies, then execute them with your firearm. Considering your ammo regenerates only to a maximum of 10 bullets, this also fits the trope.
- Fat Bastard: Semai, the second boss. Full. Freakin'. Stop.
- Garden of Evil: Mercury, the game's second area. Somewhat averted in that the plant life can't actually hurt you, though it can reverse your controls for a while if you move past the large, toxic plants.
- Guns Akimbo: Max Steiner exhibits Type 1 with a pair of Hand Cannons.
- Heal Thyself: Health pickups can be found, but sometimes you have to look around a bit.
- Hellgate: Planet Nero, the tenth (
er, ninth) planet in the Solar System, where the Dark Legion first entered our reality in the main setting. Serves as the final level of the game. - Hoist by Their Own Petard: Semai's magic makes him Immune to Bullets. Luckily the drone that he attacks you with isn't. If you shoot down his drone, it'll fly around randomly and if it crashes into him, he'll take heavy damage. This is the only way to defeat Semai.
- Jungle Japes: Venus, the first level of the game. Blame terraformation.
- Lantern Jaw of Justice: Mitch Hunter.
- Losing Your Head: Legionnaires can fight while decapitated; but their aim is hilariously bad.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Legionnaires occasionally explode if you put enough rounds into them. Mitch also blows up into gibs when he dies.
- Mask Power: Max Steiner's helmet is made to look like a skull with spiky green hair.
- Mercy Invincibility: Your characters are invincible when climbing a ledge, which is a good thing as they're really slow at climbing. Mastering this mechanic can greatly help with some parts of the game - especially with defeating Semai.
- Night of the Living Mooks: Legionnaires make up the bulk of the enemies you face. Essentially, these are zombies with guns. A few have BFSs instead.
- Noob Bridge: The huge waterfall in level 1. The corpses float for a little while before going over; you're supposed to use them as stepping stones.
- Pluto Is Expendable: Averted, as it's a major Dark Legion stronghold, and serves as the second-to-last level of the game. Otherwise, it's the same old lifeless chunk of ice.
- Shoulders of Doom: Both protagonists, and the Mooks to a lesser extent. Algeroth, as well.
- Shout-Out: Algeroth has an attack pattern similar to Dracula from Castlevania (he alternates between teleporting and using his projectiles) and can only be damaged by shooting his head.
- Space Marine: Both protagonists.
- Timed Mission: The second half of Pluto becomes this after you take out the reactor in the base you were sent in to destroy.
- Time-Limit Boss: Demnogonis The Befouler, first boss of the game. He gradually fills his arena with
acidic vomit, resulting in a Total Party Kill if you don't take him down fast enough. - Tin Tyrant: Algeroth, the Big Bad, wears a full suit of armor.
- The Unfought: In this game, Algeroth is the Big Bad and there is no mention of Illian who's the actual leader of the Dark Apostles in the Mutant Chronicles role-playing game. Also missing is Muawijhe the Apostle of Madness. Instead, one of the boss fights is with a Razide (an Elite Mook of the Dark Legion).
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: have I mentioned how bloody this game is? Let me break it down. You can really put the hurt on the Legionnaires, whether you riddle them with bullets, blow them to pieces, burn them to a crisp or blow their heads clean off. That last one might not kill them outright, in deference to standard zombies. It sure doesn't make their aim any better, though.
- Your Head A-Splode: Algeroth's head explodes upon defeat, followed by something else depending on the game version.
The Sega Version contains the following tropes:
- Awesome, but Impractical: Mitch's second special weapon. You get to shoot homing missiles...but they can completely ignore your intended targets, forcing you to get into their face or kill whatever's distracting their tracking first.
- Cave Behind the Falls: The first level hides a tunnel with a shrine and some pickups. You have to drop down the falls, as opposed to going through the water.
- Do Not Run with a Gun: You cannot move while firing on the ground; you can still make small hops to alleviate this.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: Max has dual flamethrowers as his first special weapon in this version of the game.
- No Range Like Point-Blank Range: Firing at enemies from muzzle flash range as Mitch will inflict a lot of damage. This is enough to instantly slay beheaded mooks, for example. The close-range shot also doesn't actually behead legionnaires, and will instead push them back, and likely kill them faster this way. Max does not have this mechanic (or anything to compensate).
- Puzzle Boss: Demnogonis. In the SNES game, you can just shoot him. In this version, you have to shoot his thrown bones, which sends them back at him. He dies in a few hits, but not all of the bones will be affected, so the fight can take a while, especially if you don't know what to do.
- Secret Level: Exclusive to this release of this game; you enter it by jumping up into a building right before the end of the last level.
- Unintentionally Unwinnable: Demnogonis can only be damaged by shooting his thrown bones in this release, causing them to bounce back into him (sometimes). If Demnogonis decides to constantly fill his arena with acid instead, your fate might be sealed.
The SNES Version contains the following tropes:
- Close-Range Combatant: Max has faster melee attacks and grabs in this version at the expense of fire rate.
- Energy Ball: Both of Max's special weapons are fireballs in this version. One explodes on hit.
- Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: After you defeat Algeroth, his head explodes and his body follows in a chain of explosions.
- Secret Room: The first level has an exclusive secret area with some tough platforming (for the first level), you have to enter it through an actual cave hidden behind a waterfall.
