| Everyone and their fat uncle knows all about Double Dragon. The
classic beat-em-up that "inspired" other classics like
Final Fight and Streets of Rage. Double Dragon started it all. It
had everything you could ask for...great graphics, cool baddies,
and even a cheesy story. So let's get that out of the way. It was
just a normal day...you and your brother were working in the ole
garage and your hooker-looking girlfriend was just minding her own
business. When suddenly she's kidnapped by a group of thugs!! And
like they say on the streets, "It's ON brutha!". You and
your brother embark on a two man rampage through the city streets,
bashing everyone in sight. Your only goal...get back your woman.
But enough about the story. The action is what DD is all about. In
addition to bare fists and karate kicks, you can use any weapons
you find along the way to bring down the gangsters. And yes, DD is
pretty shallow. It's all fighting and non thinking. But who cares?
Sometimes you just wanna hit someone in the face :)
GRAPHICS: The graphics in DD are unbelievably good, especially
for the Lynx. All the characters are exactly the same size (in
scale) to the arcade. And every character is included. The colors
are well done, but for some reason the game seems
"dark", like everything has a black film on it. Odd.
Other than that, the game looks great. ***3/4
SOUNDS: The classic Double Dragon theme shines again. It's a
dead-on perfect translation form the arcade. As are the level
themes. Which are different for every level *and* every one is
quite good. The sound effects are another story. The punches and
kick sound exactly the same. Which wouldn't be a problem, except
they sound horrible. They sound *nothing* like they should. Think
of the sound punching a wet potato bag makes. Bah, forget I said
that. Just trust me, the sound effects are BAD. **** Soundtrack **
Effects
CONTROL: Attack button. Jump button. Deal with it. There's not
much to the controls in Double Dragon. It's a no brain, brawlfest.
But, the controls you do have are well done. In addition to
punching and kicking, you can also grab your enemies and give'em a
few knees to the gut. Or just toss'em to the ground. My only
complaint is in jumping. And this has *always* been a problem in
the DD series. When you jump, you don't jump, you
"float". You catch WAY too much air, and it takes WAY
too long for you come down. This also make jump kicks almost
useless. **3/4
REPLAY: On a console system, Double Dragon gets old very fast.
Especially after you beat it. But on the Lynx, DD is the perfect
game. The simple concept of the beat-em-up is great for when you
wanna blow off some steam. ****
What Double Dragon sets out to do, it does *very* well. And
overall I can't see any big flaws. Simply put, this game's perfect
for portables. The lack of a password or continue system doesn't
hinder it. Every level is around four minutes in length, with five
levels total. And with concentration, each can be completed
without losing more than one life. That's a perfect difficulty
setting. And there's nothing left to say. Execpt...get this game!
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