May 21st, 2011
Posted in 
“A Martial Arts Explosion!”
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| Publisher: Acclaim |
+ 2 Player Co-Op play on the NES! + Great Music + The devastating “High Jump Kick” |
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| Developer: Technos |
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| Genre: Beat’em up |
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| Released: 01/1990 | ||
| ESRB: NA |
- Glitchy – No continues, Not enough special moves |
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| Platform: NES |
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What’s the story: Double Dragon II was originally released in arcades in December of 1988. The game then made its’ way to the NES in January of 1990. The story picks up where the original left off. Billy and Jimmy Lee find themselves in a nuclear ravaged city. The evil Black Shadow Warriors are back to harass our martial arts masters. After decimating the Double Dragon Dojo, the Shadow Warriors actually kill your girlfriend Marian. And so begins our quest for revenge! What a great reason for revenge…murder!
What’s to like: The first and most obvious feature added to Double Dragon II is the addition of 2 Player simultaneous play. Due to technical limitations this very important feature was missing from the original Double Dragon on the NES. Technos added two different modes to co-op as well. If you select “Mode A”, you and your buddy won’t be able to damage one another. If you select “Mode B”, you can inflict damage on each other. Our advice: Select Mode A to avoid a broken friendship.
Next up are the story sequences that divide each stage. These sequences are similar to the cut scenes found in the original Ninja Gaiden games on the NES, only no where near as detailed or as involving. Still, they do a nice job setting up the plot for your romp through the upcoming stage. As for the stages in Double Dragon II, the arcade had a total of 4 stages, while this NES version has 9. In them, you’ll fight across rooftops, in a helicopter, and through a forest finally making your way into the Mansion of Terror – the home of the one and only “Mysterious Warrior”.
The “Mysterious Warrior” is actually exclusive to the NES version and serves as the game’s final boss. He can only be reached by playing the game on “Supreme Master” mode. Beating him is the only way to truly complete Double Dragon II. You’ll need all you’ve got to take him down – good thing there’s a few cool new moves for you to do so. The most notable are the “Hyper Uppercut”, and “High Jump Kick”. The High Jump Kick is more of a knee then a kick. No matter what the their called, both moves are extremely powerful. Both these moves are executed by performing a punch or kick when landing from a jump. Mastering these two moves are a must for completing Double Dragon II.
Whats not to like: Besides some common NES glitches (characters that flicker, etc), Double Dragon II is a fairly solid Beat em up. My two main complaints are that there are no continues without the use of a code. Second, there are no unlockable moves like the ones found in the original Double Dragon on the NES. You’ll begin the game with every move in your arsenal. While not a major issue, there was something about obtaining all 7 hearts in the original NES version that made the game more fun. Below is the first 15 minutes of Double Dragon II. As always, this video was taken from an ORIGINAL NES.
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| Double Dragon 2 is better then its predecessor in almost every category. It has sharper graphics, 2 Player simultaneous play, more enemies, a better variety of stages, and of course more weapons. Is it a perfect game? Not even close. There’s way too many glitches and not having a single continue (beside the use of a code) is really annoying. However, in the fairly large library of NES side scrolling beat’em ups, Double Dragon II stands out as one of the best. |  |
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one of the best games ive played in my life!!!
Might Final Fight (nes) was awesome too!!!
it wasn’t on microsoft, so i’m surprised u liked it. I know xbox wasn’t around then, but as much as u suck off bill gates, i figured u would have stayed a video game virgin until he came to pop ur lil bitch cherry haha
no lol!!! I trool 4 fun dude, but did not tell anyone =)
now seriously, I play since atari 2600, I have (working) Atari, NES, Master System, Sega Genesis (with cdrom), SNES and DreamCast. I Dont like sony. And since 2006 I have a launch (modded and with xclamp) and a unmodded jasper final fantasy version.
Id like to see a retro H2H with Street Fighter Turbo (SNES) VS. Street Fighter Champion Edition Sega Genesis. What do you guys think?
jajajajaja, now the Truth hurts, jajajaa!!
STILL, one of my all time favorites.
“A Martial Arts Explosion!” Best catch phrase ever.
I remember this! Thank you Lens of Truth for taking us back to our fondest Nintendo memories. This game is still nothing less than bitchin’ and I would love to see a remake. Well, no remake could do it justice because 8 year old me would not be satisfied unless it was the original. Anyways I would love to see games of this caliber come back. I think it would do well and maybe even better than this upcoming Duketard Nukem crap.
Always was bad ass, always will be bad ass. Double Dragon!
I agree, I would love to see them release an arcade remake, with 4 player online co-op and an HD update. The only problem is that the game is so old now that there’s really no target audience with games like Double Dragon. The kids of today won’t know what Double Dragon is and they probably won’t care. Cause even if it does hit PSN and Live, as soon as kids try the demo for the first time they’re gonna be put off by the 8-bit graphics and slow style of gameplay that was only practical back when the NES was around. It’s a shame that people born in the mid-late 90′s will never experience what it was like when games like Double Dragon were mind-blowing, and how it was such a HUGE step up from Atari and Pacman. I think the only franchise that can pull off 8 bit graphics at the moment is MegaMan, and it only works out for that series because it’s universally known, unlike Double Dragon.
It’s a shame that a child’s introduction to gaming is this shit generation of online call of duty and GTA. That’s all they seem to know, and it sets the bar so high for smaller games that may as well not even exist. Good example, Gunstar Heroes. Arguably one of the best Genesis games to be brought back with online co-op and HD, right? But impossible to find someone online to play with. It’s nothing but a ghostland on the Gunstar servers, and the game is only a measly 5 bux :/
Word, HYPER-PANIC. I will never forget the feeling on NES, Sega, Sega Channel, damn, remember Sega Channel!? All of the “bricks” that have built what gaming is today. Those same bricks are what helped my mind get blown when I started to see games like Killzone 2, God of War, Gears of War, etc. I had roughly a five year gap between N64 and getting an Xbox 360, so I realize there are some graphical pioneers I’m leaving out there…but the games I listed wouldn’t have been as insane looking had I not grown up with Wizards & Warriors, Mario 3, etc.
Isn’t it nuts, that now when I go back to play those older games, the controls aren’t as sensitive and precise as the newer systems, and it actually takes me a good 10 minutes to adjust and start kicking ass again. I think I’ll eBay an original NES right now…
The best beat em up for a looong time… then Shenmue was released, then Yakuza, then God Hand. Yeah, we’re not getting anything better.
The music in the game was absolutely awesome.Played it with my sister back in our childhood a thousand times,I suppose)))
I recorded with K7 tape LOL!!! good times…
Oh yeah. There’s also a way around Double Dragon 2 without continues. Start the game in 2 player B and then kill the other player. If one player kills the other, that player gains a life.
Haha.. I remember the days..
Plug in and play, no patches, splitscreen with your mates,
when graphics did’nt mean shit..
That reminds me.. Anyone play minecraft?
How bout a Minecraft review? ^ _^
EASILY…
my fave beat ‘em up EVER made! I’m so gutted it hasn’t made it onto the VC, in the UK at least
As for NOT being close to perfect? I disagree. For a start, the game has even more depth than the likes of say the SOR series or the FFight series – offering a plethora of options for the player: a attack buttons – both kicks and punches accessible; the option to attack at full power towards OR away from the opponent using the ‘renegade’ system, covering all angles, not seen in any other DD; 3 MIGHTY super moves: the knee, hurrican kick and uppercut; many options upon grabbing the opponent: high kick, elbow, knee and throw. Having all the moves from the get go is a gift imo and not a detractor. The collecting of moves is great in the original, but the pace of both these games is very different as are the technical aspects of the gameplay. I don’t think it would work in DD2, and thus, detract.
Not forgetting the cooler than cool, multi-tiered levels with some nail-biting platforming shenanigans thrown in too, effortlessly switching between 2D and 3D planeing with no effect on gameplay or enjoyment.
Music and SFX are absolutely amazing. Sure, the standard punches sound so-so, but the kick sounds meaty and the pure satisfaction found from excuting the super for the explosive effect is immense. Not much in a beat em up tops Super Kneeing an open-mouthed Abobo out of an airborne chopper door.
As for the GFX? Yeah, they’re on the NES. However, they’re still bold, colourful, diverse and ‘nicely’ detailed.
As for the lack of continues? Time to get on Supreme Warrior and man the f*ck up.
Best. Beat Em Up. Ever.
(*purely opinion guys, of course
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I had this on the C64 & loved it, although it was quite different to the NES version. Target Renegade was better though, anyone remember it??? Shadow warriors was also pretty cool with its “throw” function.
This game always ended badly between me and my younger brother (about 10 and 5 and half at time). we would start off co-operating, then a few stray knife throws, would result in the other saying he had to hit the offender couple of times. I think this was cause lives were shared between two of you(continues maybe), and of course eventually it turned into full on battering each other for fun of it lol
He chased me around house with kitchen knife after one particularly fraught session lol
the good ol days
lol. Nice gaming passion!!!!!!
The good old days indeed.