Developer: Technos Publisher: PAL Soft Release: 12/20/91 Genre: Beat em up
Double Dragon 2 is commonly considered one of the best games in the series. Considering how dire the third game is it is easy to see why. But that reputation is mostly based on the fantastic NES version. The original arcade game is a whole different animal and to be completely honest not that good. The Genesis version is true to the arcade and that is only one of its problems. From performance to gameplay Double Dragon II: the Revenge is a complete mess.
Double Dragon II: the Revenge came a year after the original in the arcade. The Lee Brothers are out for revenge as Marion is gunned down by Machine Gun Willy before the game starts. Double Dragon has always had a vague post-apocalyptic setting and the Revenge codifies it. Most of the explicit ports of the arcade game were relegated to European PCs. Most of us in the US are more familiar with Acclaim’s excellent NES game. But the Genesis version tries to bring the accurate arcade experience home. It fails spectacularly and wisely stayed in japan.
The most divisive element of Double Dragon II has always been its controls. Rather than a dedicated punch and kick button the game instead uses left attack for punches and right attack for kicks. These buttons would reverse depending on the direction you were facing and while functional has always been bizarre. I can see what they were going for but this is a classic case of it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it. The Sega edition replicates the arcade’s three button layout perfectly so that at least helps. However there are many, many issues beyond that that affects the gameplay.
In terms of move set the game has regressed. You have fewer attacks in general and it affects the gameplay significantly. The only new move given to compensate is the whirlwind kick. However executing it consistently is a task in itself. When you finally do most enemies and especially bosses will duck to avoid it. It is bad enough that you have so few attacks but the game has serious problems with hit detection. At first I thought my positioning was wrong. But no my punches frequently failed to connect randomly. Even knee bashing and throwing are inconsistent. And of course the enemy has no such problems. With the basic fundamentals all screwed up it makes the game a chore to play. Sure its generous with credits and outside of the brutal Linda enemies not hard. But I have a hard time seeing anyone tolerate it beyond stage two.
At four stages Double Dragon II is just as short as its predecessor. That is not so bad in and of itself. However half of the game looks and feels like a retread of the original. You travel through similar environments, face off against (admittedly) redesigned bad guys using mostly the same move set. It all feels so familiar. It is in this area that the Nintendo version is the superior experience. Not only did they add new moves but more stages and cutscenes that move the story along. I will be the first to admit that the ill-advised platforming segments in the later stages can go die in a fire. But as far as feeling like a true sequel it can’t be beat. That is what is missing here. Technos took the time to adapt the game for the hardware and it is better for it.
I do not know who ported this game but whoever they are it is clear they did not have a good handle on the hardware. Double Dragon II runs at a subpar frame rate and never feels smooth. When three enemies are on screen it drops even lower than its already lethargic pace. There are NES games that run better than this with far more going on. The game outright hitches during certain moves which is even worse. Don’t even bother trying to play this one in coop, it is just plain sad. The sprites are smaller, the color palette is garishly ugly and a significant number of background details are missing. The final insult is the massive HUD that chops off 25% of the playing field. I dare say the NES game looks better. Whether this was a rush job or outright incompetence the results are unacceptable.
In Closing
Double Dragon II: the Revenge is a bad port of a mediocre game. Even if its myriad flaws did not exist it would not be a good game. The Genesis has a diverse library of beat em ups and you can easily skip this one unless you like seeing a train wreck in motion. All parties involved knew this was bad as it never left Japan. Be grateful for that. Now if only Double Dragon 3 had never left the arcade….
