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| josh TX | Nov 6 2007, 10:13 AM |
Monsterland Hall Of Famer
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Review: Double Dragon (Arcade, 1987) During the late 80's arcade heyday, when people still loved to drop coin after coin into their favorite machines, Technos Japan brought us the first "good" side scrolling co-op beat em up in the form of Billy and Jimmy Lee as the Double Dragons. This title could be considered the Grandfather of this style of game, as many future successes would all take cues from this title, including Streets of Rage, Final Fight, and TMNT. Double Dragon followed a simple premise of two brothers skilled in the fictional martial arts style of Sousetsuken, hunting down and taking revenge upon a local street gang, the Shadow Warriors, after the Shadow boss himself kidnaps Billy's girlfriend Marian and takes her back to his hideout. As the Lee brothers, players proceeded through 4 side scrolling stages of 2d combat at it's best, punching and kicking their way to the Shadow Warrior headquarters for the final showdown with the M-16 toting shadow boss himself. Double Dragon had a wide variety of moves and weapons for 1987, and what really made the game so enjoyable was the act of performing these moves themselves, which include headbutts, elbow smashes, cyclone kicks, and a wicked headlock that would allow players the choice of knee thrusting their enemy to death or tossing him over their shoulder like a rag doll. Plenty of street certified weapons could be found along the way as well, like whips, bats, dynamite, oil drums, and daggers. The action was fluid, the animation was done well, and the characters controlled like a dream. This was one guilty pleasure no one had a problem dropping another quarter into. Characters in the Shadow gang deserve a mention here too, as over time they have become icons in the video game world. No one forgot the muscle bound "Abobo" after they witnessed him smash through a brick wall, or Linda, the whip toting, high heel wearing female of the gang with the decidely 80's haircut eager to kick a hole in gamer's asses. Billy and Jimmy themselves, with their pallete swapped hair and vests, were the epidemy of 80's "cool". Everything was brought to life very well here, and despite the cookie cutter plot, gamers still found themselves commited to playing through till the end. Double Dragon's success in the arcade led to home version ports to almost every popular system, including the NES, Sega Master System and various computer formats. Though none of these machines had the processing power of the arcade board, they brought a slice of Double dragon home and sold millions of copies, solidifying Double dragon's presence for years to come through various sequels and remakes. A live-action film starring Mark Dacascos was even produced, though I dont reccomend watching it. cheeky sick smiley Double Dragon was a success and still is a great game because it pushed the fighting-action genre to new limits. Between co-op play with a friend, the ability to move up and down vertically across the screen, and the ability to pickup enemy weapons, this game gave players a sense of freedom and ability not found before in this style of game. Combine that with a smooth framerate, highly detailed stages and characters, and a wide repertoire of martial arts abilities, and you have a certified quarter muncher. My score: 8.5/10 thumbs up  Famous Abobo scene  Marian's Capture  The Sega Genesis cartridge |
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| Josh's Retro Reviews · Toggle Up-Video Gaming | |
4:10 AM Nov 29
