Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game

"Really, really, not good."

Introduction- After two well done Double Dragon games, this game singlehandedly sent the series into a downward spiral that it never completely rose from (though the new GBA game brings new hope for the series). This game was little more than a money sucking system, and featured none of the enemies of the previous games, a bizarre new plot, and little to recommend it. They had the opportunity to fix the flaws of the arcade, but failed. Miserably.

Gameplay (2/10)- Not very good. At all. The controls are responsive enough, too bad the enemies are cheap and your hits never seem to connect! Geez, you'll be pounding on the guy, and like two of your hits will register. As bad as the arcade was, it was somewhat playable.

Also, even though you no longer are forced to pump quarters for lives, weapons, and moves (what was that about?), you'll need all of your credits to get to the end of the game. The weapons and moves are useless, anyways.

Story (4/10)- Gone are the simple days of beating down thugs to save your girlfriend. Now, you're out to get the Rosetta Stones. You're led by a little old lady who is supposedly you're guide and friend. You'll go from the familiar (but now linear) street setting, all the way to Egypt to battle Cleopatra herself. Makes perfect sense to me.

Graphics (5/10)- Well, the graphics are better than the coin-op's. The characters are decently detailed, and the backgrounds, while static, look okay. Too bad all of the characters are animated so choppily! Everything they do isn't fluid enough, it comes off look way too cheap (not that you'd expect this game to look polished).

Sound (3/10)- Nothing really. Only the mission 1 tune is memorable, but it can't hold a candle to the music in the original. The rest of the tracks are forgettable. The sound effects are passable, but not especially memorable, either.

Replayability (1/10)- Play it once, then be done with it. But only, I repeat, ONLY, if you're a Double Dragon fan.

Final Recommendation- Avoid this at all costs. You want Double Dragon on the Genesis? Pick up Ballistic's port of the original, it looks, sounds, and plays better. You'd think with all the damage the coin-op caused, they would've improved the game for the Genesis, but apparently making something resembling a passable game was too hard. Oh well, stick with the NES version. It's unrelentingly hard, but still better than this.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/03