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In Double Dragon you star as Billy Lee who must save his
kidnapped girlfriend Marion from his brother Jimmy, the leader of an evil
street gang. You must make your
way through four relatively short sidescrolling missions in order to meet
up with your brother at the end of the game and save your one true
love.
 Double
Dragon was originally
released in the arcades in 1987 by Technos (the
makers of River City Ransom). A year later Tradewest
released the game for the NES and had a major hit on their hands. Like any arcade translation to the NES,
the graphics were severely altered and the gameplay was changed as well. For instance in the arcade, Jimmy was
the 2nd player (ala Luigi in Super Mario Bros.) and was not someone that you would fight
against. The main change from the
arcade hit, though, was that you could no longer fight simultaneously
with a friend. This disappointed many
fans as this was a major draw to the game and the two-player cooperative mode
would be implemented in every sequel after. This has led many to incorrectly think
that the original Double Dragon for
the NES actually has this feature.
Positives:
There are a lot of great things
about Double Dragon. The fighting is crisp and easy to get
the hang of. The game has great music and is a little challenging without
having any cheap deaths. The most
unique aspect to the game is that you actually gain experience points as
you defeat enemie s.
Every kick that you connect is worth 15 points, while punches are
worth 20. Once you gain 1,000
experience points you earn a heart.
Each heart means that you have mastered a special move. You begin with one heart and must
acquire six more. After you earn the seventh heart you no longer accrue
experience points. With your second
heart you gain the ability to uppercut and high kick your opponent at the
end of a series of punches or kicks.
At three hearts you earn the ability to jump kick, which is nice
but very weak. The fourth heart is
a crucial one because you learn how to grab a hold of your opponent’s
hair and give them a good over the shoulder toss. This move is crucial to your
success. The other major heart to
earn is the sixth heart. With that
one, you gain the ability to elbow your opponent from behind. A strategy that sounds lame but is the
most effective move in the game and necessary to beating many of the
bosses. This experience point
system was very original at the time and was not season often afterwards –
it isn’t even in either of the Double Dragon sequels!
Glaring
Negatives:
Wait a second, I’m playing Double Dragon and I can’t play at
the same time as my friend, what is going on? I can only imagine that some poor
sucker out there is going to pick this game up along with the original Bomberman thinking that they are
in for a fun multi-player extravaganza only to find out that both games are
really one-player affairs. One
minor annoyance is that you can pick up some sweet weapons like bats and
whips but you lose them almost as soon as you obtain them. The only other real problem with this
game is that it is only four levels long – and the first two are ridiculously
easy. Oh, and the one-on-one
street fighting option is pretty lame as well, but props to Tradewest for even including such a unique option.
Graphics
and Sound: Great
The music in Double Dragon is very good.
Each level has a different tune so you’re not going to tire of it
the way you do in lots of other NES games. The graphics are very crisp, the
characters are decently large and the backgrounds are decently
detailed. Some climbable walls are
poorly drawn though, which may lead you to having to run through Mission 4 a 2nd time trying to find
where to go next.
 Gameplay and
Controls: Solid
I really like how you have to
earn experience points to be able to execute the good moves in the
game. The controls all work
appropriately. My main gripe with
the gameplay is that there are a few spots where if you don’t figure out
where to go then you have to do the whole level over again. This wouldn’t be such a problem if you
could easily tell what walls you can climb.
Features:
Urban Champion Redux
The main special feature of this game
is a souped-up version of Urban Champion. That’s
right this game actually has a one-on-one fighting game in it. Just like Urban Champion you can only fight against the same person
that you choose so each of you has the exact same moves. The improvement that this game offers better
graphics, but alas no tournament.
Once you defeat the computer opponent it takes you back to the
main menu.
Fun?: Definitely
You will want to keep playing
this game until you beat it. The
game plays fair: there are no birds that will knock you off of ledges and
almost no tricky jumps in the entire game. Double
Dragon is just a straight forward beat ‘em up classic.
Challenge:
A little
The first two missions are
incredibly easy but the last two are actually somewhat tough. One tricky aspect of the last two
missions is that if you miss a door to enter or wall to climb then you
have to replay the entire level.
This causes the timer to actually be a nuisance in the game. The bosses are tough if you haven’t
mastered the elbow move and the last two end guys are tough no matter
what. One nice challenge in this game
is that there are no extra guys and no continues. You get three chances to make it
through the game or you’re done.
Replay: Not
so much
After you beat this one, you will
probably put in on your shelf for awhile. Although, since it is so short
I can imagine it being busted out more often then other beat ‘em up
classics.
2
Player: Yes
 Unfortunately, and surprisingly, you can’t
fight at the same time. Even
though Double Dragon is
remembered as a two-player simultaneous series the original NES game is
lacking that key feature. In an
attempt to make up for this Tradewest offered
up the weak Urban Champion
style street fighting option that you can enjoy against a friend. Or you can play the regular game in an
alternating two-player mode.
Online
Manual?: Yes
Check out Nintendo
Age for all NES manuals.
Bottom
Line: A great early fighting game
Double
Dragon is a game that was
very popular in its time but due to some weak sequels at the end of its
series is no longer given its proper due.
Sure it’s a bit short and lacks a two-player simultaneous option
but it is still a very fun and original beat ‘em up classic. For a longer game and the ability to fight
together with a friend check out the equally classic Double Dragon II: The Revenge.
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