The #1 Arcade Smash of all time hits the Sega MegaDrive!
April 26, 2007
The #1 Arcade Smash of all time hits the Sega MegaDrive!
Double Dragon was released back in 1987 and was the first beat 'em up game I ever played.
This game defined Sega's beat 'em up genre that time and set the bench mark for other great titles such as Final Fight, Streets of Rage, TMNT ect.. Story
Okay, I'm going to keep this part short here because the game is, you know, just fifteen minutes long...Twin brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee learned to fight before they could walk Martial arts and street smarts carved them into the baddest fighting machines in the big city. But now Billy is faced with his greatest challenge - to save his girlfriend Marian from the evil clutches of the mysterious Shadow Boss and the gang of thugs known as the "Black Warriors". Well there you go, simple isn't it? Gameplay
What this game lacks in story, it most certinately makes up for in gameplay. This game is a beat 'em up, so lets get down to the basics. As a master ninja you'll punch, head-butt and high kick gutter slime into submission. A is to punch, B is to kick, press both, and you can do a jump kick, but thats not it, you can also use a special back elbow and back kick, if you know the right combinations. There are also some grapple attacks, once you grapple onto an enemy you can perform a knee smash or a throw attack. The moves are quite varied and you have to perform exact button and d-pad directions to perform them. You won't find yourself button mashing you way through this game, a lot of the moves will come down to timing. Also, when you first play the game, or are coming back to it after years of not playing (like me) you may find it hard to judge attacks as if you stand slightly above or below the enemy your attack will miss, but trust me, you will get used to it. Speaking of enemies, there isn't a wide variety of enemies in this game but be assured, the ones you do meet can often be tough and you'll find that most will carry a weapon with them. If you hit an enemy carrying a weapon then you can disarm them and pick their weapon up for your own use. The weapons you can use are: knives, dynamite, bats, whips, barrels, boulders ect. The fact that this game has multilayer (1-2 players) makes it more fun, got a friend coming over? slam this game into your MegaDrive and you'll have a blast!
Graphics
The graphics are pretty good considering it is on a 16 bit console. The levels are nicely designed and range from Rat infested slums & toxic factories brutal back alleys. Each new level has its own unique graphic style and different terrains to boot. The character models are well designed and have been very nicely animated. The only qualm I have about the graphics would be the bad guys, there aren't enough of them! I think it would have been a nice addition if they designed some more villains for this game, but this nothing to worry about, it doesn't take anything away from the game itself.
Music
Well, what can I say? The music is retro styled as you'd expect and the sound effects sound like fighting. Overall its nothing special found here, it gets the job done.
Verdict
Yes the game may only last you half an hour, but It will bee the best half an hour you've spent playing a beat 'em up title!
In a way the shortness of this game actually benefits it, you can just plug it in and have a quick game!.