"If you're a Double Dragon fan, cry....If you're a Jaguar owner...run..don't think...just run."

As ill fated at the Jaguar ever was, every once in a while, you come across another game that just proves that the nails in the coffin are driven a little harder. With this title, it made its appearance on the SNES with disastrous results, and with the Jaguar version it didn't get any better! The supposed improvement of a visual engine and audio effects, Double Dragon V doesn't make a leap forward, but a tripping face smash into the ground. Taking control of several different characters from the Double Dragon cartoon series, you battle your way through several stages of mediocre mayhem that doesn't dazzle, but drag on with each passing stage! Billy and Jimmy Lee are out to stop the evil forces of the Shadow Lord, who is looking to take over the city. Standing in the way of your heroes are a ton of silly enemies that all have their strengths and weaknesses that can be easily moved around with enough practice. However, the sheer difficulty and cheap moves as well as the fact that the weird feeling and setup of the Jaguar controller hinders your progress only turns this game south in a matter of minutes!

-Game Play 3/10-

It's one on one action using Double Dragon characters from the animated series. While it looks and plays like a normal fighting game, the amount of difficulty in the later stages makes playing through harder than it really should be! If you're using a character that has plenty of low hitting and cheap sliding moves, you'll blaze through the stages with no problem. However, if you use a character that goes head to head, you'll find that the game takes on a whole new meaning when the computer hands your ass back to you! An interesting feature is the attributes meter which allows you to put points towards a couple of different areas and aspects of your character, but doesn't effect the game too much overall. With the different codes that you can unlock through playing, you'll find that there is a bit of replay, but only if you can stomach getting through the game more than once!

-Control 3/10-

The bulky controller doesn't help with learning the game, and the unresponsive or stiff character movement only drives a nail deeper into the proverbial coffin. With the button setup being so difficult to use, learning each character and how to use them effectively takes more time that it should, and anyone who is new to fighting games in general will find the control layout to be damn near impossible to use! All of the special attacks are done with a Street Fighter motion, which will make some gamers happy, but the overall un-usefulness of the controller will turn the same gamers off.

-Visuals 3/10-

As with the SNES version, the Jaguar version of this title isn't anything different than what you've seen before, and that isn't saying much! The characters are cartoon-ish, poorly detailed and move stiffly on the screen. Special attacks don't come off with a lot of flare, and even the backgrounds that you encounter, even though detailed, are drab and rather un-impressive to the eye! One redeeming quality of the game has to do with the Overkills which are done with a simple button press at the end of the match and do a variety of things to your opponent, but again, there isn't anything here that will leave a visual impression on your mind!

-Audio 3/10-

There isn't anything in the stage music that leaves a good impression on the ears, and all of the music seems to blend into the background rather without much of a fight! The sound effects also fall the same way, and in one shining moment where you would think that it would come out with a bang, it merely whimpers and falls flat on its face. Tinny sounds and drab fighting music make for a disappointing audio accompaniment!

-Overall 3/10-

Double Dragon V is an example of poor programming and several fighting game mistakes. With a clunky and poorly set up control as well as game play that is slow and unimpressive, visuals that are too cartoon-ish and an audio track that doesn't help, but more or less hinders the game, any fighting game fan will find plenty to complain about here. If you're a Double Dragon fan, cry. If you're a Jaguar fan, run. Either way you look at it, you'll be saving yourself from a complete disappointment!

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 10/12/01, Updated 10/12/01