Double Dragon Advance Hands-On Impressions

Atlus recently announced that it would be bringing updated versions of both Double Dragon and River City Ransom to the Game Boy Advance later this year, and, being fans of these classic games, we were certainly excited about the idea of having updated and portable versions of these games. However, since both these games are well over a decade old, we found ourselves wondering whether they'd be able to live up to today's high standards. We still aren't sure about River City Ransom, but having had a chance to play a preview build of Double Dragon Advance, we're now more excited than ever about how the remakes of Technos' genre-defining beat-'em-ups are shaping up.

Double Dragon Advance retells the story of Billy and Jimmy Lee. The premise of the game is simple: Billy's girlfriend is kidnapped by thugs, and he and his brother intend to get her back by any means necessary. "Any means necessary" in this case means by punching and kicking dozens of thuggish gang members. Experts in martial arts, Billy and Jimmy have more than just punches and kicks at their disposal, though. They can use elbow strikes, head butts, throws, jump kicks, and a variety of other moves to deal with the superior number of enemies out to get them.

Double Dragon Advance is clearly inspired by the original arcade version of Double Dragon as well as its sequel and features redone graphics and sound that nonetheless are very reminiscent of the graphical style found in the 1987 classic. At the same time, this new game features a number of new moves, enemies, weapons, and locations--and even some great-looking cutscenes featuring nice full-screen artwork and some snappy dialogue. Double Dragon Advance of course also features optional two-player simultaneous gameplay, as well as a unique gameplay mode in which you have control of both Billy and Jimmy and can toggle between directly controlling the two of them. Unfortunately, the player not under your direct control simply stands still--ideally, the AI would exercise at least some degree of control over your companion.

Some of the new moves and abilities in Double Dragon Advance are pretty cool. Billy and Jimmy can run if you double-tap left or right on the directional pad and can perform a running body check as well as a walloping hook punch. They also now have a powerful rising uppercut and jumping knee move and can use these just as they're recovering from a fall, kind of like a "wake up" dragon punch in Street Fighter II. That way, goons crowding over them can quickly get a taste of their own medicine. For good measure, Billy and Jimmy can juggle their opponents in the air with a head butt, and the two still have their old hair-pull kick, where they grab the opponent's head, deliver a few nasty knee strikes, and then toss the enemy aside. The twins will also find some new weapons in addition to the classics like the knife, the dynamite, the baseball bat, and the whip. We also got our hands on some nunchakus and a pair of fighting sticks, which we could use to unleash fast barrages of hits against our foes.

All the old bad guys are back, but we were quick to spot some new faces. The second-level bosses were a pair of acrobatic martial artists. We also fought a number of swanky-looking secret agent guys, clearly inspired by the agents from The Matrix. These gentlemen would beat us down with a flurry of punches and kicks, then nonchalantly fix their ties as we'd tumble to the turf.

Double Dragon Advance, though it's still in development, already controls responsively, features a ton of enemies onscreen without any kind of slowdown, and boasts a great musical score based on the original arcade classic. The Game Boy Advance hasn't had too many first-rate beat-'em-ups besides Final Fight One, so it'll be great to get Double Dragon Advance, especially since it's based on the game that inspired Final Fight in the first place.