Double Dragon NES Longplay

Channel:

Absolute Longplay

Subscribers:

1,450

Published on March 31, 2022 5:00:12 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKKH6WqQKiI

Game:

Double Dragon (1987)

Duration: 20:47

21 views

1

Double Dragon was ported to the Family Computer by Technōs Japan in 1988. The game was published for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America by Tradewest, who was given the license to produce other home versions of the game as well, and by Nintendo in Europe. The NES version of Double Dragon was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in April 2008 in Europe and North America.[13][14] It was also released in North America on December 12, 2013, for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U although in Europe, the former was released on December 5, while the latter was released on March 13, 2014.

The most notable difference the NES version has from the arcade game is the omission of the arcade's two players cooperative game mode in favor of alternating play. The plot was altered as a result of this change—instead of having both Lee brothers as protagonists, the NES version has players controlling Billy Lee as the lone protagonist, with Jimmy Lee serving as the antagonist and true leader of the Black Warriors.

Due to technical limitations of the NES that were not worked around, the game can only generate up to two enemies on-screen to confront the player and always as identical pairs. Additionally, any weapon on-screen (including the one carried by the player) will disappear when a wave of enemies has been defeated. A level-up system was also implemented. The player begins the game with only a limited repertoire of basic attacks and earns experience points by defeating enemies, gaining the ability to use more powerful techniques at specific thresholds. The player can achieve up to seven levels throughout the game.

The level designs are very different, with some stages featuring new areas (notably the cavern section in Mission 3) that feature greater emphasis on jumping over platforms or evading traps. Most of the enemies from the arcade version also appear, with the exception of Jeff and the mohawked variant of Abobo. A new enemy character, a Chinese martial arts master named Chin Taimei (shortened to Chintai in the localized version) serves as the boss of the second stage and appears as a recurring minor enemy for the rest of the game.

Mode B
The NES version features a bonus game mode (dubbed "Mode B") where the player can choose between Billy or one of five enemy characters (Will, Rowper, Linda, Chin, and Abobo) from the main game and compete against a double of their character controlled by the computer or a second player in a one-on-one match. Matches against the computer are handicapped in favor of the computer-controlled character, while certain characters will get a chance to wield a weapon in the 2-Players matches. The mode features larger sprites different from the main game itself.

Double Dragon was only the second game that Technōs developed for the NES, and the two-player mode was reputedly omitted because of the programmers' inexperience with the hardware. This also accounts for the game's large number of bugs and glitches.