Bad Dudes

"Must...move...in...slow...mo...tion..."

Nintendo had a ton of games that were converted from Arcade machines that really didn’t get much credit for what they were. What happens when you take an arcade game and translate it to an old system is a game such as Bad Dudes that gives you more of the same that you’ve played in the arcade and then added in a whole new set of problems! From the start of the story, the game suffers from several instances of image slow down when you have too many enemies on the screen. The slow down then leads into several instances of image break up and in certain points of the game if you’ve got a really old copy, the game will freeze or glitch out. Add this into the fact that you’ve just taken the overall detail and speed of the game and divided it in half, and you’ll find that Bad Dudes is a prime of why you don’t convert certain games into a new format.

The good old days of side scrolling and kicking the crap out of bad guys is slowly coming to an end. The refreshing theme of just mindlessly beating on a hapless enemy is a starting to become a long lost art in today's market. With several different stages to roll through, ranging from streets, to the top of a train, and into a sewer, you have a wide variety of things to smash on and crush before you! The play is simple. You move from one area to another, while trying not to get yourself killed in the process. Along the way, you take on street thugs, ninjas and hit men: who will try and stop you by circling and then rushing you en masse. Your main concern, isn't really the amount of bad guys you have to fight against, but the fact that you move so slowly! It seems as though you're stuck in slow motion when you punch or kick, so be aware of the fact that you’ll get the crap kicked out of you move than once.

The game doesn’t always have to be about punching and kicking though, as in several instances you can pick up a weapon which can either help or hinder you depending on what you just happen to be going up against. One of the main features of the game that can either be seen as a blessing or a curse is the amount of difficulty that you’ll encounter in the later stages! Considering that you have three lives before you have to continue, you’ll find that fighting off a few of the different bosses can cost you several of those lives and probably most of your continues. The strategy of the game is to know when and where to be so that you don’t get your ass handed to you on a regular basis. The replay value here depends solely on the person playing. If you're into side scrolling beat-em-ups, then you're looking in the right direction. With two players, at least you'll be able to get through the game without much more than a few credits, but you're not really looking at secrets, scores or any sort of variation. It's just a beat down game that has a slightly addictive quality!

Basic and to the point, in your control setup you have a punch, kick and jump button, all of which you use to attack with. The control is set up so that anyone of any caliber can play through as long as you can get used to the damned speed! Advanced moves aren't really a factor, in which you advance towards an enemy, punch them a few times, and then move away until they get back up. When you run into using a weapon of some sort, you’ll find that the control moves a little differently, and throwing your weapon {which is usually a knife anyway} doesn’t take a brain surgeon to do, just a little aim and then throw to hit your target!

The music selection is a rock-type soundtrack that keeps the action at a normal pace. With the speed of your characters, you have to listen to the tracks and see that the music is one tempo above the action on screen, which creates more of a fluid game. The music tracks don't really variate from the rock tempo, but do throw in some minor variations on that tempo for a slightly wider selection. The sound effects aren't quite first rate, with your basic thuds, grunts and yells, even though listening to the seemingly gurgling death throw of your character is hilarious!

The visuals on the other hand are about as good as they get for a game of this age. With clean character designs, detailed stages, and a variety of enemies to fight through, Data East made a pretty good stand with Bad Dudes. The major problem here though, is the fact that the game moves so slowly, that it seems like a slow motion button was pressed, then taped, glued down with a board nailed over the top of it! The amount of image break up that you’ll find here is also something that will be noticed in the first twenty minutes of play. Throughout the game, there are instances of slow down, image break up and even cases of game freeze when the actions starts going a little too heavy for the NES to keep up with! While this may seem like the game is trying to run at high speeds, it’s not and merely a victim of console conversion at play.

While not the most premiere game in the arcades, you'll still have a good time playing through. With the brainless game play of kill or be killed, and the simple to use control, Bad Dudes is a game of gamers of any age and any skill level. If you can get past the obvious problems that the game has to offer such as the image discrepancy as well as several cases of game freeze and the ultimate slow down factor, you may find that Bad Dudes is a game worth getting just to change the pace from the Double Dragon games that are so highly regarded!

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/26/01, Updated 11/26/01