Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja (Arcade) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
217A playthrough of Data East's 1988 arcade beat 'em up Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja.
Played on the game's default settings.
There were *many* beat 'em ups released in the wake of Technos' 1987 seminal arcade hit Double Dragon, but this DECO contribution to the genre sits among my favorite arcade games of the late 1980s.
I must admit, I wasn't familiar with it in its own time. I was well acquainted with the 1990 NES game Bad Dudes (https://youtu.be/Z9vx10YKaHg ), but it wasn't until many years later that I realized that the NES game wasn't the original.
When I was in the fourth grade, my friend Danny and I spent so many hours sitting on the end of his bed going back and forth between Bad Dudes, Rampage, and Karnov. Apparently we really sweated Data East games!
Anyways, if you've played the NES but not this arcade game, you already have a good idea of what to expect. Because of "rampant ninja related crimes these days... Whitehouse is not the exception," President Ronald "Ronnie" Reagan has been kidnapped, and playing as an American action hero sort, you're tasked with fighting through hordes of "DragonNinja" to save him.
There are seven stages, including a city street, a convoy of trucks, a forest, a sewer, a train, a cave, and the enemy stronghold. Each of the non-autoscrolling stage has two different levels that you can jump between (like Rolling Thunder), and for a game from 1988, you have a fair number of attacks at your disposal. You can wield knives and nunchakus, and if you hold down the punch button, you can charge up to let loose an exploding punch, complete with a satisfying scream sample. You can also punch above your head and spin kick through waves of attacking ninja.
It's a fun game to be sure, even at its most obnoxious moments (like the enemy swarms in the later stages, or the guys that set themselves on fire and then chase you). The graphics and sound are pretty good, the controls are reasonably tight, and the difficulty level stays reasonable for the most part.
Just remember, real bad dudes yell, "I'M BAD!" when they accomplish their goals. You should do the same when you play, if you are indeed a "bad enough dude to rescue Ronnie". That burger won't hold forever.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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