I reckon Double Dragon is pretty famous beat 'em up game title from (late) Technos. So i'll play the least famous from its series: Super Double Dragon (1992) on Super Nintendo.
There's twin dragons so the title screen lives up to its title but (ironically) they're obstructed by the title itself. You probably know the gist about Double Dragon, but i will tell you anyway in case you never heard of it. Double Dragon refers to martial artist brothers: Billy and Jimmy Lee. Their motive to break villain's teeth isn't far from rescuing Marion that if i'm not mistaken is Billy Lee's girlfriend. If i remember correctly in Double Dragon II (Arcade), she's gunned down at the start of the game! She's most likely "reincarnated" as Marian for this game and she's narcotics investigator now. But she's still damsel in distress nonetheless and now she's captured by martial art gang called " The Shadow Warriors". The name is too mundane, i like "Mad Gear" name better. You don't find this story in the game and you can only find it from the manual or somewhere in internet like what i did.
Now that's much better as we can see the dragons but i don't like their dead fish's eyes. There's no setting option except for sound mode (Stereo or Mono). Mode A is with friendly hit 'off' while Mode B is with friendly hit 'on'. Those option isn't my concern because i go solo as per usual but if you do press "select" button to cycle through the options here.
As like in other Double Dragon, there's no character selection. Player 1 is fixed to Billy Lee in blue attire and player 2 is fixed to Jimmy Lee in red attire. There's not much difference in the brother's moveset. The basic control is as follows: d-pad to move around; 'A' Button to kick which is slow but deals more damage than punch; 'B' button to block within fixed time, useful to negate enemy's attack and allow you to retaliate afterward while the enemies recover from their previous blocked attack; 'X' button to jump, for your basic need of jumping kick; Lastly, 'Y' button to punch that's faster than kick but deal less damage. 3 consecutive punches or kicks will result in combo like usual.
Every so often in Double Dragon or Golden Axe, i use this cheap tactic. I jump into platform or any higher ground, let the enemies jump to come after me, and knock them away while in mid-air. This tactic is definitely safer than fight them in fair ground as they tend to surround me left and right. One of the goon fed up with my tactic that he begin to kick the phone booths that i'm currently on top of it, in futile. Scout_beingshotinvincible32.wav
Oh look! The bastard sibling of Lee brother is here and he has no qualm to kill me. According to the manual, his name is Jeff. I'm sorry to any Jeff that read this article, but i reckon Jeff is name for some businessman (whether honest or shady type) and not some decent martial artist's name. Nonetheless, Jeff here pretty much has the same moveset as Billy's or Jimmy's. Thus nothing special of him. There's weapon that you can pick. Like stick grenade that's brought by that thug in yellow attire, throwing knife that's Jeff carries, or piece of wood that i wield. It also appears in SNK's not-great beat em up game Burning Fight which is not a good sign. Notice that "Las Vegas" sign there? Apparently, we're in "The Entertainment Capital of the World" in Mojave Desert itself and it's depicted as whole district of Casino with many neon lights! Seems legit. [Light Sarcasm]
This is the obligatory elevator level but it doesn't work like what you expect. Enemies come from other elevator besides mine instead of coming from above. They come to that cracked side of the elevator but get this. There's no glass break effect or what have you! They just slip into the elevator without any sensible effect like no clip. This somehow reminds me of Mug Smasher because there's also case of non-sensible spatial feeling.
After fighting some more blokes in casino's office. I'm on an airport. One of the lady clerk responds to our brawl here by calling the airport securities that never come probably they know that they better be not involved with either Lee brothers or The Shadow Warriors. These kind of thug are named "Roper" (on my left) and "Williams" (on my right), they're type of enemies that you encounter very often. If you can block their punch in right timing, you will grab their arm and you can proceed to execute grapple on them. You can either do grabbed punch or kick or you can mix them. You will do repeated backhand if you grabbed punch them in final sequence or side kick their head left and right if you grabbed kick them in final sequence instead. You can also hip throw them by pressing either block or jump button. It's useful to relocate your enemies to other side but there's some bad side effect. They will get mad after you throw them like bag full of trash (which is sensible feeling). When they mad, they move faster, attack and block more often. In my opinion, during that state they prone to get grabbed block again but in general situation it's quite bad if they're angry.
After passing part of airport that's infested with enemies that i have encountered before. I encounter more goon and that tall chap named Jackson who's served as this stage boss next to a plane which needless to say it's dangerous place to fight. He's an ex-boxer and he like to dodge my fight with rope-a-dope technique like Muhammad Ali. I don't have much of strategy here. If he dodge your punches, give him some distance and try hit him again. Jumping kick seems work better against him. With him and his cohorts defeated, the plane leaves and the stage ends. I don't know much about aerodynamic physic but i should be flung while the plane flies, right? But that doesn't happen here.
Next stage takes place in Chinatown where the Double Dragon theme kicks in! You know the soundtrack, right? It's the one like in Double Dragon Neon's title screen. Another good news is i found Nunchaku and it's probably the best melee weapon in this game. With it, i can mow down any enemies pretty easily. Heavy_specialweapon08.wav
On next section of the level, my Nunchaku is gone! But i can hit enemies with this speed bag. It's kind of wrecking ball in Street of Rage 4 only faster and shorter in distance.
There's no more interesting quirk on next section. Unless you consider fighting this Chinese version of Ryuhaku Todoh is interesting. Chin Ron Foo here can counter your standing kick so don't do that. Either you use punch combo or jumping kick, is my advice.
Oh, great! I have to fight his twin Chin Ron Pyo next. Along with their bunch of disciples as well. Fun. [Double-size sarcasm]
My strategy to defeat him is the same so i like to talk about dragon power instead. You see that red bar below score? That's dragon power bar. You fill it by holding "L" or "R" button. You can execute spinning back hand like what i do here by pressing punch button while holding either of those 2 buttons while the dragon power is bit filled. If it hits enemies, they will either fling or stunned/exhausted. Or you can execute spinning jump kick that cover longer distance by pressing kick button while holding either of those 2 buttons while the dragon power is bit filled.
Next stage, i'm on moving truck and the enemies come from the sides. That Williams climb on the sides of the cargo. How adorable!
Then the truck crashes into a wall for no reason. This is why driving test is important, reader! To prevent someone with mind and skill of Spongebob Squarepants, away from traffic near you. You see that bloke with grey coat on the bottom of the group? That's the boss in Las Vegas level. I forgot to show you because he's not too special from the usual goons.
So the fat bozo stays here to fight me. Fine! My mental keep suggesting that guy is a clown but his face is free from face paint or big red nose. Probably because of his hairstyle and that shoes. But he's not alone, some thugs are ready to back him up and one of them carry oil drum because this game is legit Side-scrolling brawler/Beat 'em up game.
Yes. Yes. I get it, game. I never doubt you as real Side-scrolling brawler/Beat 'em up game. So stop giving me drum-carrying thug! Actually, i like the oil drum as my weapon that i can kick or throw at enemies. It's perfect for clearing stage from enemies plus it seems they can't block rolling drum. Another thing about dragon power is: If you manage to fill the entire bar, you will enter rage mode where your stance change while your punch and kick become stronger and knock enemies away in single blow. Moreover your kick becomes significantly faster in this mode. But be aware! Filling those power bar to the fullest takes really long time.
Oh it's you, Jackson. Here have some oil drum treat a la (classic) Donkey Kong! :D
Look what i found in this fire exit stairs! Nunchaku and another Jeff Lee...with Nunchaku. Heavy_positivevocalization01.wav
Here's the reason why Nunchaku is the best weapon: you can powerful explosive swipe like this! Not really. That just enemies getting hit by explosion from their stick grenade. Never bring grenade to martial art fight! Lesson learned.
If your power bar filled at least the half of it, i can unleash -i was about to say- Tatsumaki Senpuu Kyaku but the move more resembles Cody's spinning kick but moves quite far. To pull that move, i press either punch or kick button while holding either "L" or "R" button and the power bar is at least half filled.
The chubby chap is back with some upgrades: more health and that rotating move. Soldier_negativevocalization01.wav
Remember about my strategy that make use of higher ground? I deploy it there to make this boss fight easier. Lazy strategy for lazy boss fight, you see.
On to level 6, i throw boomerang to the enemies and it's indeed return to me...but also hurts me. I make fool of myself just for our entertainment. Boomerang mechanic on Streets of Rage 4 is way better than here.
You can't find oil drum in wilderness so there's a boulder that you can throw at enemies instead. Wait! There's oil drum in forest in Capcom's Punisher or barrels in Warriors of Fate. You're lack of creativity there, Technos. I have to say that fighting the enemies normally is tedious but lucky for me there's bit of chasm on bottom left corner that i can throw enemies into, leading to their death. Demoman_dominationdemoman04.wav
Next i have to jump over this gap with pixel perfect jumping. Duh! I could use the long-range spinning kick. I'm not smart.
Needless to say that the previous stage bosses will become regular enemies on next stages including Jackson here. The bosses usually susceptible to spinning jump kick thus using that power move over and over again is viable strategy against bosses or ex-bosses.
Did i say using spinning jump kick is good against bosses? It's also viable for this stage boss who's some kind of Arnold Schwarzenegger knock-off. His assistants are the strongest version of Williams or Roper and they keep respawning if you defeat them so don't lay your focus on them too much.
Finally, it's level 7 which is the last level on the game. You can tell that this place is the Shadow Warriors' HQ because of those intimidating statues. What also intimidating is throwing knife. If you get hit by it, you will lose half of your whole health bar and most enemies will get killed if hit by it. If throwing knife is so lethal in this world, then Hollywood and El Gado from Final Fight are straight man slayers instead of just Rolento's underlings like in reality (of Street Fighter/Final Fight's world). If you're skillful (or lucky) enough, you can knock those knife in mid-air by punching them and you can use it for later use against enemies that have lots of health. Wait! All of the enemies have dozens of health and they're tedious to fight one by one with normal unarmed mean.
Oh, good. I have to fight against Chinese version of Ryuhaku Todoh on double! Good thing that this knife can hit two enemies at once. Scout_stunballhit08.wav
After more brawling, i arrive at the true mandatory elevator part of the beat 'em up game where it's open for the enemies to come after you while traveling. There's only 2 enemies at the time but they start on each sides, surrounding you. So stay alert!
I have to fight Chin Ron Pyo, again. Really? I know that fighting the same enemies on side-scrolling brawler/beat 'em up game is mandatory or rather inevitable but in this game it feels boring thanks to the large amount of damage that they can withstand plus they have ability to block your attack. If there's some kind of unblockable move, the game will be much bearable but sadly there's no such a thing. I miss the Capcom brawler's sticky grapple method because it can be good solution to enemies that can and will block your attack here. Instead, Technos stick with Double Dragon's grapple method in which you have to successfully hit your enemies 2-3 times to make them dizzy/stun/exhaust and then you can start grapple them by approaching them. On the good side, this place gives vibe of evil palace like in Double Dragon II.
I'm not surprised that i have to fight bootleg Arnie again. By the way, here's the diving kick activated by holding down and pressing jump button while jumping. Looks cool, huh?
Excuse my zigzag strolling while
charging my dragon power, gentlemen! If i don't do this then i will most likely
lose continue before fighting your big boss. So, please understand!
The zigzag walking tactic is harder to do if you're surrounded from both sides like this. That big guy with orange trouser is the final boss and needless to say that he's capable to deplete your health bar big time in short moment. Like in most case with all of the enemies, he can block your attack right after get a clean hit! So the power of knocking enemies within single blow from the rage state is quite helpful against him.
Unlike the Arnie, the final boss here has limited scrubs to back him up. Thus charging your power bar to the fullest while he's alone is lot easier. As for the final boss' ability, he can somersault across entire screen, sweep kick in 360o on double, and he can vault over you then immediately kick you at the back of your head. I notice "W" on that door that probably means "double dragon" and not Dr. Wily symbol along with snake dragon robot.
The game ends abruptly after i defeat the final boss and this epilogue texts appear. Although there's mention of Marian at the manual, she doesn't appear at all in the game even in epilogue. I heard that this game is unfinished and i can see why. We don't get to see aforementioned Marian and what beyond that "double dragon" door. Also it's quite odd to have 7th stage as the final stage. Like, many game has even number of stages especially in this genre. For example: Streets of Rage 2 ends in 8th stage or Final Fight ends in 6th stage. Oh, wait! Mug Smasher has 7 stages. Never mind!
Techno's Super Double Dragon (1992) is the least known of the Double Dragon series and i know why. The main reason is because it's unfinished and i can tell it's more "raw" than Nightmare Busters. My main feeling about the gameplay: it's tedious and there's just a bit of fun that i can have from it. It feels unforgiving thanks to the absence of any health refill items and your health only get replenished after finishing a stage and that's it. I know that classic Double Dragon doesn't have healing item but that just make Final Fight feels better by comparison. That comparison may seems unfair. Fine! After i finish this game, i play Double Dragon II on NES and it feels better. The big difference is the enemy's durability. In DD II, the enemies can't block (as far as i know) and have only meager amount of health which is enough to make the combat is enjoyable and fast. On contradict with that, SDD has enemies that have both ability to block and big health while the bosses has even bigger health! With addition to long level, the game feels sluggish. The reuse of stage bosses doesn't help on making the game interesting. There's also case where both me and enemies are flinched together and it happens very often. Sometime enemies recover faster and immediately proceed to retaliate. Because the gameplay feels punishing, i have to resort to use savestate tons of time. Moreover, 5 credits for 7 tedious levels feels unfair and not fun. Rule of thumb: if the game gives you less credit than number of level it has, then the game is too mean for you. But there's some fun things on gameplay. The blocking is quite well designed. The duration is enough. Not too short that you need perfect timing to block attack but not too long that leaves you defenseless on the other side for too much. The countering block is great but sadly it only applies to Williams and Roper. The dragon power bar seems a good idea but the charging time is too slow to use it more properly. If the charging rate is multiplied by 150% - 200%, it will be much better. The jumping kick look nice. The hit detection is quite accurate. The weapons are fairly great although the throwing knife is too overpowered and the boomerang just sucks. As for the music, it's good but not so memorably good except for 3rd Stage's music that i mentioned before. The sound effect of the hits are pretty good.
As much as i would like to adore Super Double Dragon (1992), but the game is atrocious and it didn't get my recommendation which is very shame because it's Double Dragon game for God's sake! The famous title for Side-scrolling brawler game of all the time! It's better for you to play other Side-scrolling brawler game on SNES like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV - Turtles in Time or Final Fight 3. Trust me!
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