Double Dragon (400pts)

[Gradius]

Enjoying this so far.

Was always a fan of the arcade game when it was originally released, so naturally had to try this.

The first thing i noticed was the visuals. They have been enhanced for hd really well without changing the look of the game at all. The sound is identical to the arcade as far as i can remember (apart from the enhanced tune on the menu screen).

Gameplay wise it's spot to the original. It was never as good as Final Fight but it's still good fun. Punching the enemy onto the conveyor belts and then hitting them while they are walking on the spot is always a hoot.

The achievements look quite interesting too.

[Widegoat]

Enjoying this so far.

Was always a fan of the arcade game when it was originally released, so naturally had to try this.

Gameplay wise it's spot to the original. It was never as good as Final Fight but it's still good fun. Punching the enemy onto the conveyor belts and then hitting them while they are walking on the spot is always a hoot.



Stayed in this morning for as long as I could - I really wanted to try it before setting off for work - it didn't show up in time though!

Quick question: does it "suffer" from the slowdown that versions of the arcade had - when multiple enemys fill the screen? I assume it doesn't - but wandered all the same.

[DavidHolliss]

Achievements here

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/achievements.php?gameID=238

Really looking forward to this, should be great playing co-op.

[Yoshimax]

That slowdown gave it a bit of charm though - Would be good if they left it or made it optional.

I'm all over this - I dunno why I know it'll be novel for like 10 minutes online and that'll be it. Must be the memories of battering it with my bro' down at the Barras arcade with my Dad leaning over our shoulders bemoaning the extreme violence he was witnessing.

Ah, the days of blissful innocence :D

[RuBiQ]

cant believe im back in work today, will purchase this soon as i get home.. what else is out today ? anything????

[Widegoat]

That slowdown gave it a bit of charm though - Would be good if they left it or made it optional.


I completley agree. Often you could use it to your advantage. I too hope the option is there - but I'm not holding my breath. :)

[buster_broon]

today is the 1st time i'm regretting not having xbox live :(

[AllYourBase]

count me in for a bit of billy and jimmy lee action!

[hoolak]

Just had my first go on this. It's Double Dragon like I know it. Tough, funny, great on 2 player and excellent music (especially mission 2).

The enhanced graphics look to me like the best graphical enhancement I've seen on a XBLA retro game. Look how mean Billy and Jimmy's eyes are :mad: :) The graphical enhancement doesn't eliminate any of the slowdown that was previously there. You'll notice it when quite a few baddies are on screen and you ain't walking quite as smoothly.

Damn that bridge on level 3, it takes me back. It ate a whole credit! Which leads me onto the achievements... when you do get to that bridge don't jump from the last semi broken plank, jump a little before and you'll get an achievemnt for clearing it first attempt :thumb: Finish the level with the baseball bat for another :)

Overall, it's fun and worthy of my 400msp. Playing with a friend is great (only tried locally).

Hmm, finding the flying kick move a bit hit and miss...

[Jebus]

I completley agree. Often you could use it to your advantage. I too hope the option is there - but I'm not holding my breath. :)

I just played the demo, there is most certainly slowdown on the first level...

[Zero9X]

i loved double dragon back in the day. i was too young to go play it out in the arcade, but i did put double dragon 2 in my c64 constantly back in the day.

[hoolak]

i loved double dragon back in the day. i was too young to go play it out in the arcade, but i did put double dragon 2 in my c64 constantly back in the day.

Number 2 on the NES it was very good... if I remember correctly.

[Simmy]

I just played the demo, there is most certainly slowdown on the first level...

LOL Coded slowdown FTW !

Can't wait for this, will be grabbing it as soon as I get home.

[bignige]

(As per the arcade machine) It's a pity you can still go through the whole game without losing a credit with the elbow attck.

[Yoshimax]

You tried it ?

achievement ?

[bignige]

You tried it ?

achievement ?

well, first level. But if it's arcade perfik it'll be the same on all levels.

[DavidFallows]

Number 2 on the NES it was very good... if I remember correctly.

You do. It kicked ass. So did the soundtrack.

[Kubrick]

This game is just how I remember it - Utter pish. Its popularity has always mystified me!

I've never been a fan of it, even back in the day.

[copperband]

Off to download this now, I spent every lunchtime of my 6th form days playing this at the local chippy! Used to be able to just about complete it in the hour if we ran there and ran back:thumb:

[Gradius]

Just played this on co-op and it was unplayably laggy, eventually it just gave up:(. We both tried to host aswell. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

[stormbreak]

Bring on Double Dragon II I say :D

[ChrisField]

Just had this auto download for me (first time - never done that before!) and gave it a whirl. The title tune brought back great memories of playing it on my Gameboy. Then it all went down hill. Really didn't like it from then on unfortunately. Used to love it! Alas, not for me this one.

[Widegoat]

Played this through tonight, I think it's absolutely brilliant. The only downside is the achievements.

I think they could have been a bit more imaginative / harder. E.g: Throw final boss five times, Get x number of Knife Kills, Pickup all weapons in one life, 1 credit game without using elbow, throw x number of (or finish game without losing any) baddies down pit / off cliff / in water etc. I dunno, regardless it's brilliant!

Love the fact that the slowdown is retained.

[Skull Commander]

I was playing this last night and thought it was good. It's only 400 points, and I remember paying around the equivilent in real money to buy the c64 version back when I was a nipper, and in comparism that version sucked! No gripes about the value here :D

[wheelaa]

Love the fact that the slowdown is retained.

But is it enough?

Don't get me, its Double Dragon therefore great!

But I am a tiny bit disappointed overall I must be honest. The enhanced mode is dire, the enemy sprites (esp their faces) look nothing like the characters should, and although it is generally much smoother and less pixellated, it just isn't how DD should be.

The original arcade version isn't spot on either. The remixed title tune is a big no imo. The slowdown is not as prevalent as the true arcade. A couple of sound effects seem off too, although the hits sounds we all know and love seem perfect. As such is just doesn't feel quite right.

Now I suppose there's a dose of nostalgia kicking in. DD certainly has an important place in gaming history, but it also has an important place in my personal gaming history. This version doesn't quite live up to the feel I know so well and love. Sure, I'll play it loads, its Double Dragon after all. But I can't help the feeling that this is one game that should only ever be played hunched over a cab.


Oh, and I agree with Wildegoat that the achievements are a bit fluff tbh. Usually I'd rinse an arcade title I really dig for the the full 200 (or at least try to..damn you contra!). This game I'm just going to enjoy playing.

[Widegoat]

Oh, and I agree with Wildegoat that the achievements are a bit fluff tbh. Usually I'd rinse an arcade title I really dig for the the full 200 (or at least try to..damn you contra!). This game I'm just going to enjoy playing.

Yeah - the thing is they are so easy, you'll get them all anyway. I got all 200 points last night - in about three play throughs. [/boast]

I wasn't going to bother with them at all - but I after playing through once - I realised I had got loads, and thought I'd finish them off.

Will still be going back to this a lot, though!

[mr_fantazmo]

Don't like the enhanced graphics, makes it look like a Flash game.

Played it on original instead. It's only 400 points mind so i'll probably buy it when a mate is round and rinse it in one night!

[AllYourBase]

Someone add 'Jimmy Blanka' if they want a co-op game on this tonight. I just played it through with some crazy Canadian guy and think I have my elbowing technique down again after 15 years of not playing this!!

[wheelaa]

If my internet is back up (shoddy sodding Wannadoo rubbish) I'm up for this. Yet to coop this so need the achievements!

[Stroppy]

It's a pity XBLA games are limited to 200 achievement points (assume that's true). Otherwise there could have been a cool 500 for finishing the game without using the elbow.

[CMcK]

I played this yesterday and I'm really dissapointed. Great game on the Speccy but this is awful. Is this an accurate port?
Shows how far games have come. Streets Of Rage is vastly superior to this.

[Yoshimax]

Yeah it tells you in the blurb during downloading that it's a "genuine arcade emulation" which I've never seen against any of the others !

Nicely touched up graphics but yeah it's aged somewhat quickly, still - I need those achievements - they're really nicely thought out.

[Skull Commander]

Think this has a bug. I finished the third level holding the baseball bat and didn't get the achievement. Anyone else had problems with this?

[wheelaa]

No probs here.

(You did the bridge bit, climbed up and killed the boss I take it? That bit is still level 3 in case you didn't realise.)

[Gradius]

You drop the baseball bat after the mid level boss, so you need to grab it again before dropping down onto the platform. Idealy kill the mid level boss near the right side of the screen.

I personally like this game as a bit of nostalgia and nothing more. It is rubbish by todays standards, but its just how i remembered playing it in the arcades. Well worth the 400 points.

[Skull Commander]

I see where I'm going wrong now. At least it's not another turtles style bug :D

[GMass]

played this on co-op with AllmyBase lastnight. Still retains all the fun of the arcade version imho. Accidently killing Allmybase brought back so many memories...lol.

Didnt notice any lag issues and unlocked a couple of achievements. Allmybase got the girl in the end as I rather smartly fell into the pit at the end after taking a pretty nasty beating. Some things never change.

[AllYourBase]

played this on co-op with AllmyBase lastnight. Still retains all the fun of the arcade version imho. Accidently killing Allmybase brought back so many memories...lol.

Didnt notice any lag issues and unlocked a couple of achievements. Allmybase got the girl in the end as I rather smartly fell into the pit at the end after taking a pretty nasty beating. Some things never change.

Hehe I wish you had your mic on so we could have coordinated our efforts a bit more. :)

There were some cool bits like throwing the 2nd level boss off his elevator stand to his doom. I like how the bird with the whip got stuck on the conveyor belt and fell to her doom as well! LOL :lol:

I had forgotton all about the event of the 1p vs 2p fight at the end. It went on for quite a while with you running around to avoid my sneaky elbow attacks but you were no match for Jimmy Blanka (ahem, Lee I mean)! :ph34r:

[Skull Commander]

I done the same in a co-op last night as well. I spent ages dodging about and trying to beat the other player only to fall into the pit in a moment of stupidity! Fantastic fun!

[Nembot]

I was a massive fan of Double Dragon when it was first released on the arcade, I also had the Spectrum version (shite) and also the Master System and NES versions of the game.

Now all these years later when I heard it was going to be on XBL I was really excited but when I played the trial version I was really let down. I don`t know if it was because of the great memories I had of the game which is now of course poor in comparison with modern titles, I don`t know what I was expecting to be honest.

After playing the full version of the game on co-op at Rubiq`s house the magic came flooding back, fighting Green Abobo and dodging the bastard traps in the final level was class and not to mention killing your own brother to death over the slag at the end of the game!

Double Dragon is probably the 1st XBL Arcade game to fully take me back to those happy days of hunting round arcades as a kid to play these classic games.

[AllYourBase]

We were great fans of the arcade as kids. Check out this amusing reply from Julian Rignall to my mate Tristan(o) in Mean Machines issue 7 when he asked if it was out on the Megadrive! :lol:

http://www.meanmachinesmag.co.uk/upload/content_img/tristano.jpg

[Nembot]

Beef beyonet!! :lol:

It looks like the he was too busy refering to bum sex he used a picture of Double Dragon 2 by mistake! :)

With all the excitment of DD I`ve downloaded a montage of the music from all the levels of teh NES version of the game and stuck it on my mobile phone, it`s ****ing ace!!

I got it from here >>>
[link removed by DH - this stuff is still copyrighted I believe]

[RuBiQ]

Pm me later on nemboy i want some more DD Achievements :P

[Nembot]

Pm me later on nemboy i want some more DD Achievements :P

No probs!

With all the excitment of DD I`ve downloaded a montage of the music from all the levels of teh NES version of the game and stuck it on my mobile phone, it`s ****ing ace!!

I got it from here >>>
[link removed by DH - this stuff is still copyrighted I believe]

If anyone would like it PM me.