Double Dragon is a beat-em-up developed by Technos and released in Japanese arcades in
1987.
The game was a commercial hit, and often credited for popularizing the genre.
A year later, Sega developed and published a port for their struggling Master System.
The game opens in New York City, with a gang called the Black Warriors kidnapping your
girlfriend.
The plot is simple, but gives you a reason to travel across the city kicking ass.
Being one of the forefathers of the genre, Double Dragon’s game play mechanics should
be immediately familiar.
Despite being ported by Sega, and on hardware with significant drawbacks compared to the
arcade, Double Dragon on the Master System does a lot of things really well.
First, the controls are smooth and responsive.
The punching and kicking happen quickly and generally seem to connect with your enemies
when you think they should.
There is a decent move set as well, using a combination of the buttons and D-Pad.
Some of these are situational, like elbowing behind you, or picking up your downed foe
and kneeing them in the head.
There are 8 moves in all but I found myself using just one of them, 99 percent of the
time.
My biggest gripe with Double Dragon is the enemies rarely seem to be stunned.
Unless you knock them over completely, punching and kicking them damages them, but they can
just hit you right back.
I found the Jump Kick to have the best range, while doing a good amount of damage, as well
as giving you the chance to get out of the way without receiving damage.
I’m not sure how this compares to the arcade original, or the other home ports, but there
is no doubt it is a bit repetitive.
Thankfully, another highlight of Double Dragon are weapons and items.
Occasionally, enemies will drop whips, bats, knives, and dynamite when you knock them down.
You can then pick these up and use them yourself.
The whip is particularly useful, with a good range, and does an awesome job taking out
the big guys that don’t have any jumping attacks.
The bat seems to do a nice amount of damage, but you have to get really close to connect.
And since the enemies don’t really get stunned, it is often not worth the risk.
There are also a few different items that can be picked up and chucked at your enemies.
These are great because they can hit multiple enemies at once, and change up the the jump
kick strategy.
Instead, you throw the item, maneuver around, and repeat.
While I find the moveset a bit underdeveloped, the weapons and items do a nice job mixing
up the combat and I welcome their inclusion.
Now, being an arcade game, from the 80’s, there are just four missions.
However, each is diverse and again adds some variety to the gameplay.
The opening mission is a simple left to right afair.
Mission 2 adds some platforming, requiring you to jump to different levels.
Mission 3 won’t stop you from walking off a ledge to your doom.
And finally, Mission 4 adds in stage hazards like moveable walls and stabby statues.
Again, it is not Earth shattering by any stretch, but for being a 1987 release, Technos really
did a lot of things right with Double Dragon and it’s obvious why this was the launching
point for beat-em-ups.
On the Master System front, Sega also did a lot right.
First, the graphics are pretty awesome.
The character and enemy sprites feature a good amount of detail and are well animated,
especially for being an 8-bit title.
The stages themselves vary.
Some look terrific with a ton of detail in the backgrounds and floor.
I must admit it can be inconsistent however, with some areas being unusually bland and
boring.
Sprite flickering is also extremely prevalent.
However, the use of color is generally terrific, and it is obvious the developers had a decent
grasp of the Master System hardware.
More impressive is the soundtrack.
Double Dragon takes full advantage of the FM Sound Unit.
Instruments sound full and rich and the compositions ranks up there with some of the best of the
era.
Mission 2 in particular is rather amazing, with an awesome mix of rock and jazz, starting
slow and catchy and progressing into something far more dramatic.
Mission 4 is also terrific, with some awesome FM horns really taking advantage of the FM
Synthesizer easily rivaling many Sega Genesis titles in terms of quality and complexity.
Finally, the boss theme really changes things up, with a fast-paced organ riff adding some
tension to the fights.
Overall, Double Dragon on the Master System is a good game.
Even I can’t deny the game is a bit too repetitive for it’s own good.
But the addition of weapons and items, a relatively short length of 30 minutes or so, two-player
co-op, and a spectacular soundtrack help to mitigate this overarching flaw.
I really came into this one not expecting to like it, but I found myself playing multiple
times back-to-back.
Somehow, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Three, out of five.