NES Game Review #7 – Double Dragon
Double Dragon,Techno’s arcade smash hit found its way to the NES in quite a different form to the original. Though I have only the most found memories of this one from a kid, it’s seen by many as the lesser port compared with other console versions. Being as this is the one I grew up, its my favourite, even over the Megadrive version which is near Arcade perfect.
It’s funny how memory and nostalgia work, To this day I was sure I remembered playing simultaneous 2 player with my brother but there’s no denying it, this is only turn based 2 player. Its a kind of ironic that these kind of brawlers died out when the VS tournament fighter came onto the scene seeing as one earliest ‘vs’ fighting games was included here as a bonus mode. And boy is it bad!
The fighting may feel limited by standards of modern gaming but I still find Double Dragon very satisfying to play. With new and exciting moves being unlocked through progression, the game has a nicely balanced feel keeping the player engaged as they get to grips with new ways to kick the shit out enemies.
Some fun level design, especially in stage three, lends itself to being a more dynamic game than even the original arcade, though like its sequel, the platforming stuff is let down by the stiff controls clearly not designed for such action. I’ve had 30 years of experience with this one, so such sections aren’t so punishing for me. However the final stage starts off with one of the most unfair sections in any game. The moving bricks slide out at complete random and it is just plain luck if you get hit or not. Considering you only have 3 lives for the whole game, you can easily lose one, two or all three here if you’re unlucky.
There was a time when these kind of brawlers where all the rage in the arcades, and I grew up on a diet of them. While we had both Double Dragon games growing up, I personally completed neither. It was nice to finally put an end to that.
