Double Dragon

The Good
In 1986, Technos Japan released Double Dragon, considered to be the grandfather of the beat-’em-up. The game was such a huge success that versions were made for the popular 8- and 16-bit systems. This included the Nintendo NES, which was published by Tradewest. You (Jimmy Lee) and your girlfriend Marion are fine-tuning your hot rod in a New York garage when Marion is beaten and kidnapped by a crime syndicate known as the Black Warriors.

This version of the game shares similarities with Bionic Commando (Capcom, 1988) in the way that it is slightly different to the original coin-op. It also shares something in common with Street Fighter (Capcom, 1987) because you can push the joystick in a specific direction while mashing buttons to perform some advanced moves other than your standard punch and kick, some of these you have to earn. These advanced moves include elbow punch, jump kick, pin attack, and over-shoulder throw.

There are a ton of enemies standing between you and the leader, and you can defeat them using the above moves. Some of the enemies carry their own weapons which drop when they go down. Picking up their weapon and using it against them is a stroke of genius. So, too, are certain structures that can be put to good use within each stage. In mission one, for instance, you can lure enemies to the edge of the conveyor belt and make them fall down to their doom. There are also new enemies; some of which make an appearance in later games. Tradewest was generous enough to include a life bar as well as a lives counter; when you die, you restart from a checkpoint, which is an unusual feature for a beat-’em-up.

The NES version of the game offers two modes for both players. Mode A is the original game as seen in the arcade version, but with a few cosmetic changes. Mode B is inspired by Street Fighter; you have nine enemies to choose from, and whatever one you choose, you need to fight them. Unlike Street Fighter, however, there is no such thing as round two; the mode ends when one of you goes down.

The game plays differently, with some missions requiring you to take a specific route through them. There is a quadruple-page spread of Double Dragon in issue one of Nintendo Power, telling readers how to beat the game. In the third mission, I kept going right just like you do in the arcade version, wondering why I was going around in circles. It turned out that I had to enter a hole in the wall, which two Abobos come out of.

Other than these changes, Double Dragon for the NES remains faithful to the original arcade game; the first mission is set in the city streets, and the following ones are set in their respective areas. The memorable soundtrack is the same for all four missions. It still lacks the boss theme, though.

The Bad
Nothing is bad about this game.

The Bottom Line
Sometime in the mid-Eighties, Technos Japan released a beat-'em-up called Double Dragon where the aim is to go through four missions, beat up bad guys, and save your girlfriend. It was a game that was never done before. In my opinion, the NES has the definite port of Double Dragon. Not only is it very close to the arcade version, it suffers from no slow-down at all, offers two game modes, and is slightly different in the later levels. Deserves to be in your NES collection. Two thumbs up, way up!