Double Dragon II: The Revenge
Arcade
Nostalgia Factor:
How I never played this game as a kid, I have no idea. I enjoyed the original Double Dragon for both the arcade and the NES, and I also enjoyed (from my brief time playing it) the NES version of Double Dragon II. It just boils down to the fact that none of the arcades, skating rinks, or bowling alleys in my neighborhood ever had this machine available to play. I would have loved to play it! It just never happened.
Fast forward to the year 2022, 34 years after this game's 1988 release. I just fired this up on my RetroPie and played it for the first time from start to finish not once, but twice. What would my thoughts on the game be? Let's find out!
Story:
The remnants of the evil gang you defeated in the first Double Dragon game pay a nice social visit to Billy and Jimmy's, uh, helicopter garage. To take revenge on the duo they brutally gun down Marian - the damsel in distress from the first game. Kind of makes the events from the original Double Dragon seem a bit irrelevant, but hey that's life. Billy and Jimmy come running out of their garage and chase the culprits back to their headquarters, where they defeat them with their karate skills once again. Hopefully they learned their lesson from the first game and didn't leave any survivors, but Billy and Jimmy don't seem like the sharpest duo out there, so I highly doubt that. Should I prepare myself for Double Dragon III: More Revenge?
Gameplay:
Double Dragon II does little to separate itself from its predecessor. The only major difference is that you now have two separate buttons for left and right facing attacks. You don't just attack in the direction your character is facing. Whatever. I totally didn't screw myself over by punching and kicking thin air repeatedly because I would hit the wrong button as I played. No, no. Not this guy.
Aside from that minor change, this game could essentially be "DLC" for the first Double Dragon. Combat is pretty much the same. There are slight graphical improvements and some new characters you didn't see in the first game, but these don't really make much of an impact on the gameplay. The stages all look like recycled versions of the stages from the first game. Just read the gameplay section of my review for the original Double Dragon because I don't feel like repeating myself here. I'm dead serious. This game could easily be just an extra set of levels they made and tacked onto the end of the first game.
It's also a very, very short game. There are a whopping four stages to be found here. Each stage ends with a boss character. Beat the boss, move onto the next stage. The final stage is essentially the same final stage from the previous Double Dragon game, with a few small differences - most notably that it is shorter. Even the big open room with the red carpet where you fight the final boss is the same as the first game.
Graphics:
This is a bright, colorful game. The 2D sprite characters are large and well-defined. There is a pretty big variety of enemy types to fight in the game. The gimp suit boss character is my personal favorite. The backgrounds look nice too. My favorite area is the farm stage with the cows in the background. The graphics do show slight improvement over this game's predecessor, even if it is hardly noticeable. Visually I have no problems with this game. Its graphics may be the best thing about it!
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Sound:
There's absolutely NOTHING memorable about this game's music. The original Double Dragon had a ton of catchy fight tunes, and this game doesn't have any. Even though I just beat this game twice earlier in the day, I still don't remember a single musical track from the game. The sound effects are fine, but I am pretty sure most of them are recycled from the first game. Meh.
Overall:
I almost feel guilty for not liking this game. It's not even that I don't like it, necessarily, it's just so very bland to me. If you've played the original Double Dragon you have almost no reason to play this game whatsoever, unless "more of the same" is something you're in favor of. But it's not even more of the same, really. If anything I'd say this game is less enjoyable and much more forgettable than the original.
Double Dragon II does some things properly. I don't hate this game. It plays perfectly fine. I'm sure if you played this with a second player it would be a much more fun time than playing solo. Even if I try my best, however, I just simply can't muster up any excitement for this game whatsoever. It's so middle of the road for me. And I think its review score should reflect that mediocrity.
THE GRADE:
C
40th Birthday Mop Up Duty Celebration Tour:
1984:
1985:
1986:
1987:
1988:
Double Dragon II: The Revenge
(the review you're reading)
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