Hackers have quickly created functional Doom ports for the Neo Geo, disproving earlier claims that such a port was impossible due to hardware limitations, using clever workarounds like the console's fix layer and sprite memory.
<p>Last month, we passed along Modern Vintage Gamer's (MVG) confident assertion that <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/06/why-a-neo-geo-port-of-doom-is-functionally-impossible/"><em>Doom</em> is functionally impossible to run on the Neo Geo</a>, owing to the console's sprite-based display hardware and lack of a frame buffer. We all should have known better than to tell a dedicated group of hackers that something is "impossible," though, as two recent projects have made great progress toward functional <em>Doom</em> ports on stock Neo Geo hardware.</p>
<div class="ars-video ars-video--horizontal"><div><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VJwffCeo4jU?start=0&wmode=transparent"></div></div></div>
<p>Both of these projects have significant graphical compromises that limit how viable they would have been for a marketable, '90s-era console port, as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJwffCeo4jU">MVG lays out in a new video</a>. Still, they stand as a testament to the surprising results that clever, determined coders can coax out of legacy hardware.</p>
<h2>It looks like <em>Doom</em> if you squint</h2>
<p>To create the <a href="https://github.com/FrenkelS/Doom64KB">Doom64KB</a> project for the Neo Geo, coder FrenkelS adapted <a href="https://github.com/FrenkelS/Doom8088">an earlier <em>Doom</em> port</a> they designed to run on 16-bit PC processors like the 8088 and 286. Using that engine, the Neo Geo code then makes a kind of proto-frame-buffer out of <a href="https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php/Fix_layer">the console's fix layer</a>, an area of display memory that's usually used to display menus and HUD information on top of gameplay.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/07/hackers-quickly-prove-that-neo-geo-doom-ports-are-not-impossible/">Read full article</a></p>
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# Hackers quickly prove that Neo Geo Doom ports are not "impossible"
Source: [https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/07/hackers-quickly-prove-that-neo-geo-doom-ports-are-not-impossible/](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/07/hackers-quickly-prove-that-neo-geo-doom-ports-are-not-impossible/)
Last month, we passed along Modern Vintage Gamer’s \(MVG\) confident assertion that[*Doom*is functionally impossible to run on the Neo Geo](https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/06/why-a-neo-geo-port-of-doom-is-functionally-impossible/), owing to the console’s sprite\-based display hardware and lack of a frame buffer\. We all should have known better than to tell a dedicated group of hackers that something is “impossible,” though, as two recent projects have made great progress toward functional*Doom*ports on stock Neo Geo hardware\.
Both of these projects have significant graphical compromises that limit how viable they would have been for a marketable, ’90s\-era console port, as[MVG lays out in a new video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJwffCeo4jU)\. Still, they stand as a testament to the surprising results that clever, determined coders can coax out of legacy hardware\.
## It looks like*Doom*if you squint
To create the[Doom64KB](https://github.com/FrenkelS/Doom64KB)project for the Neo Geo, coder FrenkelS adapted[an earlier*Doom*port](https://github.com/FrenkelS/Doom8088)they designed to run on 16\-bit PC processors like the 8088 and 286\. Using that engine, the Neo Geo code then makes a kind of proto frame buffer out of[the console’s fix layer](https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php/Fix_layer), an area of display memory that’s usually used to display menus and HUD information on top of gameplay\.
[](https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/doom64kb.png)
If this is what*Doom*usually looks like to you, consult an eye doctor immediately\.
If this is what*Doom*usually looks like to you, consult an eye doctor immediately\.Credit:[Doom64KB](https://github.com/FrenkelS/Doom64KB)
By rendering to this fix layer, the Doom64KB engine can animate a relatively smooth version of*Doom*maps, albeit one that uses chunky, 8×8 pixel tiles at an effective resolution 28×32 \(and just 16 colors, limiting the “light diminishing” effect as walls recede into the distance\)\. A slight modification of the same idea builds a frame buffer from the Neo Geo’s sprite memory, increasing the effective resolution to 80×56 by using 4×4\-pixel blocks\. While that increase comes at a noticeable cost to frame rate, things could get smoother with further optimization or with overclocked hardware like that on[the upcoming Neo Geo AES\+](https://plaionreplai.com/products/neogeo-aes)\.
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