Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls

"See if you can keep up: this is a game based on a show based on a game"

In the early 90's there was a bunch of cartoons based on video games. Captain N, Mega Man, Super Mario Brothers, Sonic, and Double Dragon. The Double Dragon one was one of the worst of them, and about all it had in common with its namesake was the presence of Billy and Jimmy Lee, marked with a double-headed dragon tattoo.

So somebody decided they could make money if they made a video game based on a cartoon that was based on a video game to begin with.

And they were wrong, and it really shouldn't have been any surprise.

Gameplay-2/10
When you think Double Dragon, you think about a be-vested vigilante karate master be challenged by multiple foes at once and being able to pick up a handy knife or oil drum to use against them. And you also think a variety of flash martial arts moves with which to smash your foes into oblivion.

You do NOT think a half-baked Street Fighter II wannabe, which is what this game is. Come on, how many of those games did we need? Not one that desecrates a classic franchise, that's for dang sure.

Anyway, there's a bunch of guys from the show (I think, I don't remember it too well), named things like Sickle, Icepick, Jawbreaker and Trigger Happy, and as Billy or Jimmy you have to beat them all up to find the Shadow Master and then beat him up. And then the day will be saved and everyone will go to school and skip through fields of flowers or something happy. The problem is you're being asked to do that with sluggish controls and repetitive fighting. And each guy has like two moves, and that just isn't acceptable from a game like this.

Graphics-3/10
Well, you can tell each guy apart, but they look like guys I drew when I was in kindergarten instead of something produced by professional video artist guys. I mean, in the dialogue screens, the Lees look FAT!! Come on, they're two of the baddest martial artists in classic gamingdom! How could you make them look fat and think nothing was wrong?

Sound-2/10
Please don't make me remember...the voices tell me to do bad things when I think about this game's audio...

Overall-2/10
This was a third-generation copy so we should've all known it was going to be bad. And nobody liked the cartoon that I can remember, so I don't see why anyone would want to play, much less give up two month's allowance for, a game about it.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 02/08/04