Double Dragon: The Best Beat ’Em Up Retro Game Of All Time
Remember bashing up bad guys as Billy or Jimmy in the beat ‘em up retro game: Double Dragon. Did we just make you all nostalgic? Let us go learn a bit more about one the coolest games of all time.
History of retro game Double Dragon:
Developed by Technos Japan, Double Dragon was released in the year 1987 as a successor to a game developed earlier by Technos called Renegade. It was distributed in Europe and North America by Taito.
It was one of the first games which allowed the player to arm himself/herself with the weapon’s enemy after beating him up. It was also one of the few games which allowed two players to play together which is called cooperative game play.
This arcade game was released for NES, Atari 2600, Atari ST, Sega Master System, Atari 7800, Game Boy etc. The version of NES was released again for virtual console on Wii.
NES version of retro game Double Dragon:
It was in 1988 when Double Dragon was ported by Technos Japan to NES. Tradewest published the game for the North American markets. The biggest difference between the arcade game and the version for NES was the absence of cooperative gameplay. The ‘Mode A’ in two player mode was carried out by alternating. However, Billy is in control of both the players.
The developers, due to some technical limitation, could only manage to bring two enemies on-screen to fight with the players. Also, weapons from one fight cannot be carried over to the next fight if you defeat the enemy carrying it.
A system of level-up was also put in use. Initially, the player can only throw basic kicks and punches. More powerful moves were acquired by the character only
fter gaining experience points. Throughout the game, the player has several levels of skills to achieve.
In mode B, which is said to be the prototype of the original game which was planned, allowed players to choose Billy or 5 enemy characters.
Reception of the Game
It is regarded as one of the best retro games of all time. This was also admitted by websites like GameSpot, NowGamer, Yahoo!, G4 and Killer List of Videogames. Publications like Game Informer, Electronic Gaming Monthly and Empire to ranked it as one of the best NES games ever.
