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Post by ian on May 31, 2009 22:41:17 GMT
Hey guys. It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so I thought it was about time I made another pick. While looking through the list of previously tackled games I realised that this Game Club has been going for a while now, as a lot of games I had in mind had already been done. Nevertheless, I chose a game that, although might not be obscure, is still great and something everyone should play. Double Dragon   This game is one of my all-time SMS favourites as it brings me a great feeling of nostalgia. This is one of the first games I had on the system and I remember playing it a lot with my dad and my brother. I definitely recommend playing it with 2 people to get the full experience. As most of you might know, this a port of the classic arcade beat’em up. I think Sega did a great job with the conversion and in my opinion, is infinitely times better than the much-lauded Nes version. It’s got a lot more playability due to the responsive controls and excellent range of moves. The goal in this game is to save your kidnapped girlfriend from a gang of thugs. To do this, you basically beat the living crap out of everyone. Simple, but fun. There’s plenty of variety though as there are a host of different moves, weapons and bad guys. For one of the system’s earlier titles, I think the graphics are top-notch. The bright colour palette, the decent-sized sprites and detailed backgrounds really immerse you in the game. The music is great and although it’s not the catchiest, it’s easily recognisable. The sound effects are fine and fit in well with the game. In general, the game runs very smooth and is very easy to pick up and play. If you can, play this game with a friend as it doubles the fun. Getting cheap shots in on your mates is always a laugh and the end battle to get the girl is epic (well I think so). Hope you guys have fun playing this classic, especially those who are fans of fighting games, as this is one of the best on the system. |
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Post by Sinistral on May 31, 2009 22:47:33 GMT
Great game, one of the best. Me and Ian tried a multiplayer game of this online a while back over emulator, wasn't greatly successful but it was fun anyway!
Ian where you been these days mate? Not seeing you on live messenger
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Post by grolt on Jun 1, 2009 2:36:12 GMT
I've never really given the game a fair run outside of a few tries at the first level. Thanks to this fine pick though, ian, I can finally give it a decent shot.
I always wondered how the game was able to be brought to the SMS when Nintendo still had their illegal exclusivity clause. In the US, the game was copyrighted to "Trade West Software" on the back of the manual, but on every single release with that manual the company name is blacked out with marker. I wonder if that was just a front for Technos Japan, and the reason they were able to release it on multiple consoles (although Technos Japan is credited on the back of the box)?
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Post by Stan on Jun 1, 2009 4:44:38 GMT
Ahhhhhhh yes, here it is! Been waiting to see who would pick it. This is, to start, my favorite port of this title. The arcade was awesome, and I always felt the SMS version did it right. Sure, the characters might have that 'superdeformed' look to them, but so what? They managed to keep most of the features of the original and even made it a bit more user-friendly in comparison to the brutal difficulty of the arcade. Going to be fun to pull this one out again.
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Aypok
Sonic the Hedgehog
Posts: 2,372
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Post by Aypok on Jun 1, 2009 7:22:41 GMT
I only picked this up a few days before last year's Sega8bit Meetup because it was listed as being in the competition. Despite not expecting it to be very enjoyable, I went on to have many hours of fun. :) I'll have to give it another go these coming days.
Good recommendation.
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Post by ddevilfingers on Jun 1, 2009 11:19:23 GMT
This was one of my favourites as a kid! I remember some cheat where if you die on purpose right away on the last level you continue to get the unlimited continues!
Awesome game! Shall have to give it another play this week!
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Post by Stan on Jun 1, 2009 18:47:33 GMT
There's a weird trick I remember. Somewhere on the fourth level, right before the things that come out of the wall, you jump kick in place about 50 times and then you get some free lives (ten I believe). I'll have to see if I can remember how to do it.
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Post by Stan on Jun 4, 2009 14:08:16 GMT
Oh, heck, I forgot, I list the dang thing right there in the site page about it!
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Phil
Sonic the Hedgehog
Posts: 2,195
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Post by Phil on Jun 4, 2009 20:33:26 GMT
This game is hideous. A terribly flickery,annoying and dull adaption. It plays like a dead dog, and doesn't look much better. A game which is definitely better on the NES. I actually had more fun playing the Atari 2600 version recently.
Although it has a 2 player option, I'd rather play Streets of Rage, Renegade or Pit Fighter down a dark damp pit than play this travesty of mankind. I'd rather stick red hot pokers in my eyes and change my name to Brenda infact.
Apart from that great choivce!
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Post by ian on Jun 5, 2009 12:54:44 GMT
This game is hideous. A terribly flickery,annoying and dull adaption. It plays like a dead dog, and doesn't look much better. A game which is definitely better on the NES. I actually had more fun playing the Atari 2600 version recently. Although it has a 2 player option, I'd rather play Streets of Rage, Renegade or Pit Fighter down a dark damp pit than play this travesty of mankind. I'd rather stick red hot pokers in my eyes and change my name to Brenda infact. Apart from that great choivce! Blasphemy! Have you no taste man? The graphics aren't that flickery, not enough to take any enjoyment out the game anyway. I seriously don't know how anyone in their right mind can say the Nes version is better. But then again, this is all coming from a man who thinks Woody Pop is awesome  I urge you to give it another try and see the greatness of this game that everyone else sees. |
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Post by canadagames on Jun 5, 2009 20:36:01 GMT
This game is hideous. A terribly flickery,annoying and dull adaption. It plays like a dead dog, and doesn't look much better. A game which is definitely better on the NES. I actually had more fun playing the Atari 2600 version recently. Although it has a 2 player option, I'd rather play Streets of Rage, Renegade or Pit Fighter down a dark damp pit than play this travesty of mankind. I'd rather stick red hot pokers in my eyes and change my name to Brenda infact. Apart from that great choivce! Blasphemy! Have you no taste man? The graphics aren't that flickery, not enough to take any enjoyment out the game anyway. I seriously don't know how anyone in their right mind can say the Nes version is better. But then again, this is all coming from a man who thinks Woody Pop is awesome I urge you to give it another try and see the greatness of this game that everyone else sees. Woody Pop IS awesome ;D |
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Post by grolt on Jun 7, 2009 16:04:50 GMT
I ran through this last night. Initially it does look like a nicer game than basically all the other home ports, but once you start playing it that flicker definitely does have an impact. I don't even understand why it flickers even when there are only a couple moving sprites on the screen at any given time. It's pretty distracting and at times makes the game tough to play. The collision detection is far from pristine, either. I had a tough time keeping the health bar up, since my punches would often just go through the enemies. At least with Altered Beast or Golden Axe, when you swing, you hit. That said, the difficulty level is pretty good - you don't get many cheap shots or overly impossible bosses or scenarios. I'd hate in Altered Beast how you'd just get bounced around from enemy to enemy like A Night at the Roxbury. Here, you get hit and you're down. I also really liked the variety of attacks. I was sporting that jump kick all night. The music is initially well done, but it gets pretty tedious when all the levels virtually sound identical. I used to play this game on the NES two player all the time, so it's nice to visit a familiar friend. You can guarantee there weren't throwable boxes that said "SEGA" on them in that version!  How is the ending for this sucker, guys? Is it worth it? |
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Post by Stan on Jun 13, 2009 19:47:13 GMT
It's pretty much par for the course for game endings from games at this time for any system.
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Post by Jo Musashi on Jun 14, 2009 13:45:25 GMT
I can still recall finishing this one with a friend without using the continues trick on the last level...no internet meant we didn't no about it at the time in 1989 ;D
The game IS flickery and has annoying collision detection at times...but it is still one of the best 8-bit titles ever. The music and graphics are excellent. Flicker doesn't bother me; I expect it from any old system. And once you realize that only a few attacks (standing punch on muscleheads and flying side kick on everyone else) are useful, the collision detection problem becomes moot. The arcade version only had one useful attack anyway - the elbow ;D
Grolt, you mentioned 2-player on the NES version? I thought it was one player only. The SMS version having 2-players was a major selling point for me.
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Post by hotdiggerdydamn on Jun 21, 2009 13:10:55 GMT
I enjoyed the game back in the day and haven't really cracked it open since then. So I got it off the shelf last night, dusted it off, and to be honest I'm not a massive fan. It's not got anything on the SMS convertions of streets of rage 1 & 2 - for me at least. The graphics are decent and the music is also quite good but the collison detection - as mentioned before - renders a lot of the moves pointless which in turn makes half of the 'varied' moves list useless and you just end up repeating 2 moves over and over again. It's a shame 'cause I can see the potential. With a bit of tweeking this would have been the best beat 'em up on any system of the time.
My conclusion unfortunately is not a good one, but I still bow to the memories I had of this game and they will always be happy ones - it's just a case of my childhood memories bigging up yet another mediocre title. But, hey, it seems like a ton of people still dig it and as long as someone's still enjoying it that's the main thing.
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