Double Dragon

Developer: Technos Japan     Publisher: Ballistic     Released: 1992     Genre: Beat ’em up

Double Dragon, Double Dragon, Double Dragon.  It really is amazing just how widely ported Technos’ legendary beat em up really is.  And surprisingly I’ve played a significant number of the various versions of the game.  It’s not because I love the game that much; I’m only a middling Double Dragon fan.  But like Contra it seemed like the go to game whenever anyone bought a new platform.  The NES version is the one everyone is familiar with but most aren’t aware of the more arcade accurate port for the Master System.  One step above that is the Sega version, which for the longest time was probably the best version of the game, for all that is worth it.

Double Dragon was ported to every conceivable format, even some it shouldn’t have been like the Atari 2600.  The Sega Genesis version for its time was the closest to the arcade.  The sprites are the same size as the arcade and only one enemy (Chin) has been cut.  Some of the backgrounds have been redesigned but for the most part it is faithful to the source material.  Let’s be completely honest, the arcade game wasn’t exactly a showstopper.  The reason this edition is so surprising is that it came after so many subpar versions of the game, like the awful Commodore 64 version which I had the misfortune of experiencing.

While the graphics are mostly intact the gameplay has suffered.  The controls are sluggish and slow to respond.  Hitting an enemy with a jump kick or head butt is harder than it should be.  I don’t know if you need to time your button presses or not but as a whole it is wonky.  On top of that the collision detection is bad.  Nailing some of your basic attacks straight up fails for no discernible reason frequently.  It makes no sense that a full bat swing that has clearly landed has no effect on enemies at times.  Even the near invincible elbow is not as effective here.  Maybe my memory of the arcade game is fuzzy and these problems were there too, but I doubt it.

In spite of all these quirks the Genesis Double Dragon is one of the easiest versions of the game.  Even though some of the bosses and enemies are damage sponges you can take a bit of punishment too.  The frustrating platforming sections from the NES game are absent so you won’t lose a bunch of lives due to crap that shouldn’t be in the game in the first place.  Speaking of lives, you can set it to six lives and continues in the options, which is overkill.  For a game this short you don’t need that much.  Unless you suck.

Despite the Sega version’s adherence to accuracy with the arcade it still has its quirks.  This edition of the game removes the slowdown from the arcade which sounds like a plus but isn’t.  Without the slowdown the game can move too fast at times.  Enemies are more aggressive, making the game more difficult.  The most annoying though is that you have to be at the edge of the screen before it will scroll forward.  This is incredibly stupid, leaving you open to attack frequently and even cheap deaths.  I can’t believe someone didn’t notice this or cared enough to change it as it makes no sense.

The problem with this version of Double Dragon is the game itself.  While revolutionary at its core Double Dragon is a simple game.  The four stages fly by incredibly fast; stage three has a paltry nine enemies!  There are only seven different enemies in the entire game, so I guess the short length works in its favor.  A near perfect arcade port might have been great once.  But by 1993, and after numerous superior sequels, the novelty had worn off.  Think about it: this was released the same year as Streets of Rage 2!

In Closing

The Genesis version of Double Dragon is a decent game.  But that is the problem.  If it were released near the system’s launch it would have been impressive.  With games like TMNT: the Hyperstone Heist and Streets of Rage available it simply isn’t enough.  The competition is fierce, leaving this is a novelty and nothing more.