Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game (Game Boy) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
261A playthrough of Acclaim's 1992 beat 'em up for the Nintendo Game Boy, Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game.
The Double Dragon games for the Game Boy to this point hadn't really attempted to put the "arcade experience" in your pocket. The first one (https://youtu.be/Z0SzYe4-08s ) more resembles the NES game (https://youtu.be/UIDs_6QQd6w ) than the coin-op original, and the second GB DD game (https://youtu.be/VudfmzNWiHU ) is a Kunio-kun game given a Double Dragon-style facelift.
Given the pattern, you might expect Double Dragon 3 to follow suit. Unfortunately, in this case, you'd be dead wrong. The NES version, DD3: The Sacred Stones (https://youtu.be/3P8aBNO3TO0 ), which was a massively improved "reimagining" of the arcade game by Technos themselves, does not serve as the foundation for the GB cart. Rather, as the subtitle "The Arcade Game" implies, this one rolls back nearly all of the improvements made for the NES. It's a lot like the Genesis version of "The Rosetta Stone" (https://youtu.be/MhaOaqDnoq0 ), just pared back due to the limitations of the hardware.
Being based on the arcade game, it suffers from its exceedingly cruel difficulty level. Many times, the only viable way to survive is to get enemies stuck on the scenery so that you can hammer on them with impunity. Making matters worse on the Game Boy, the moveset has been slashed and the extra playable characters (Chin and Yagyu) are missing. If you're determined to embrace your inner masochist and want to master the game, though, at least it's short. It can also be played with a link cable, but I wouldn't unless you want to make enemies out of your buddies.
On the plus side, the graphics look reasonably nice and the music is... well, it has music. That's something, right?
And am I crazy, or does Billy's in-game sprite's face look a bit like Alex Kidd's? And the portrait at the top - is that King from Art of Fighting? And let's not forget the intro, where he looks like Ellen DeGeneres. So many unexpected shout outs!
Overall, Double Dragon 3: The Arcade Game for the Game Boy is a cut down monochrome port of a game that wasn't worth playing to begin with. It's about as fun as Hiroko is attractive.
That snaggletooth, yikes. Needless to say, I don't recommend it.
At all.
*Recorded using Retroarch's DMG shader to mimic the look of the original hardware.*
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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