Super Double Dragon

"A DISSAPOINTMENT BUT STILL DECENT"

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of the first two Double Dragon games, the third was not very good. I was rather excited to see this had come out for the SNES system. I was expecting a similar game to the first two only in 16 bit glory. What came out though was a dumbed down version that's only difficulty is in the frustrating problems. Here is my review of a game that could have been so much more.

First I will discuss the graphics. They characters of Billy and Jimmy look nice but the enemies are the same four or five types that appear every level. The backgrounds are decent and the levels vary from streets, gyms, warehouses, airports, to on top of a truck. There is nothing that stands out in way of graphics as they are pretty run of the mill for the era.

Next I will discuss the fighting. I must start out with the negatives for they are the true reason I dislike the game. Remember in the originals that Billy and Jimmy could absorb a good amount of hits and quickly defeat their opponents with one or two combos, besides bosses? Well old age is terrible. I have seen series get old and weak but never the heroes in the series get weaker. In this game the basic enemies can take as much damage as the heroes, which is not ideal. The only real way to take out your opponents quickly is with weapons that range from nunchucks to bombs. But be warned if an enemy throws a knife it will deplete half your life. This wouldn't be a big problem if the enemies didn't have the habit of walking off screen then throwing them at you while you were attacking someone else. Also bombs can do massive damage but are easier to avoid. The other problem is that the punch/kick combo animations are slow and while finishing off a combo with an uppercut or roundhouse to knock your opponent down you are completely vulneraable to a combo yourself which can hurt you a great deal. There is also a charge meter that fills when you hold down the L or R trigger, which is a great idea in theory but is completely useless. Ifthe gauge is less than 75% full you can do a backhand or jump kick which will knock the enemy down, 75% allows for a spinning kick that spans the screen knocking anything in your line down, When it is full you would expect a super move of some kind that will defeat opponents but instead it will flash and Billy will look like he is constipated. While in constipated mode every hit knocks an opponent over but doesn't seem to do any more damage than regular so it is just a waste of time.

The positives of fighting though are the moves look cool, you can grab opponents like in the old ones, and now you can block. The block can be frustrating but is useful. When you press the block key you will do a pose for about a second or two and if your enemy punches you you will grab his arm and can slap him around or toss him into another opponent. If the enemy kicks you it will not damage you.

The music is pretty standard and I don't really recall anything positive or negative about it despite the fact I played it recently. The sound effects are also the standard hiyas and grunts.
Bosses, well for the first seven levels there are none. I guess because they made the basic enemies as tough as you so they figured there was no need. You will face a new enemy near the end of the level that will seem like a boss but they return in the others as standard enemies. These enemies are not stronger or any tougher than standard enemies.The bosses you do face are dumb and forgettable featuring a clown, a M Bison wannabe, and a couple others that I have yet to face in later levels.

The story, well there is not one. I have no idea if the manual had one but I do not believe so and in all honesty I do not care. If you want one here: The shadow warriors have returned and have killed Marion again. Go fight them. There just take the story from the second game. It was the best in the series and it works well enough for the purpose.

All in all the game is forgettable. There are much better beat em ups like FInal Fight and Batman Returns or Turtles in Time. Go play those but if you are tired of them or a REAL DIE HARD fan of Double Dragon than play this one until you win or get bored, which happens quickly in my case.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 12/20/07

Game Release: Super Double Dragon (US, October 1992)