Double Dragon

"As Old Skool As Run DMC"

Double Dragon is the definitive beat 'em up action game. It single handedly started the left to right, punching and kicking craze on the Nintendo Entertainment System, which would spread to later generation consoles such as the Super Nintendo and Genesis.

In Double Dragon, you play the role of Billy and Jimmy. You have to rescue your girlfriend from the evil Shadow Boss and his gang of slightly less evil henchmen. It's something you've probably heard about 7.6 million times, but story is not the important aspect of the game. Fighting is.

You venture from left to right, no going back, beating up enemies with an assortment of punches and kicks. At first, you only start out with the ability to punch and kick and jump. However, by fighting and using these skills, you gain new moves, such as a jump kick, headbutt, and the almighty hair pull kick. You can also obtain some weapons by stealing them off of enemy characters. It sounds rather repetitive, and it is a bit; however, it is fun and challenging the entire way through, and it provided the basic model that most other games copied.

The enemies in the game are pretty pedestrian, excluding the bosses. Most are rather plain looking thugs, some carrying weapons such as dynamite and baseball bats. Once you obtain the jump kick, all of the regular enemies in the game become conquerable. The bosses, however, are big, ugly, and nasty creatures that take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. It takes considerable skill to keep them down for the count. They are the real challenge of the game.

There are two multiplayer modes of the game. In one mode, you and a player go through the game at the same time. Fairly standard. However, in the second mode, you're pitted one on one against each other. At the time, this was a very new feature, and it's still fun to play with. You're not limited to just Billy and Jimmy; you're allowed to select boss characters too.

Graphically, Double Dragon is decent. Over ten years had done much to affect the impact of its graphics. It can't really compare to most of the games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, so forget about anything after that. Nothing will make you sick.

The music just might though. It's the standard repeating crappy music present in almost every pre-90's Nintendo game. The effects are virtually non-existant. Mute the television and blare the stereo, you're going to need it.

In conclusion, Double Dragon is worth playing, if simply for the historical value and context. However, it still is a very servicable game in its own right, and deserves a place in any true gamer's library. Pick it up, it can be found at yard sales for as little as a buck.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/05/01, Updated 06/05/01