It seems like every series, even the most popular ones, has at least one title that kind of falls through the cracks.
You'd be hard pressed to find a lifelong gamer who has never heard of Double Dragon, maybe someone younger as the series' heyday was way back in the 3rd generation. The first three games are considered NES classics, even though the third is considered a bit of a step down and often the butt of jokes in the online gaming community. The games star the Lee brothers, Billy and Jimmy (or is it Bimmy?) as they take on the evil Black Warrior (a translation error later corrected to Shadow Warrior) gang. It may sound simple on paper, but Double Dragon broke a lot of ground in the beat 'em up genre gameplay and style-wise. It was one of the first genres with continuous scrolling, unique movesets and the ability to take enemy weapons. It featured cutscenes and a much darker atmosphere, drawing inspiration from both Enter the Dragon and Mad Max. I have complained on here quite frequently about how beat 'em ups kind of feel the same, like they all follow the same formula. Well, it was Double Dragon that established that formula.
A series that successful was bound to continue into the next generation. Mario, Contra, Metroid and a host of other NES mainstays made the jump to 16 bits, often to much fanfare and acclaim. Double Dragon's first entry on the Super Nintendo, Super Double Dragon, was far less of an event. I remember it existing, but I never knew anyone who had owned or even played it. That's kind of sad, because it was the only traditional-style Double Dragon game on the console. I've actually already reviewed the two other DD games that came out on the console. But Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls was a not-so-great tournament fighter, and Battletoads/Double Dragon was a crossover that elected to use Battletoads gameplay engine instead of DDs because reasons. SDD's place in the series became further convoluted with the release of Double Dragon IV...in 2017. Wait, didn't I just say DD V was a SNES game? Yeah, they skipped IV back in the day, implying that Super Double Dragon was DD IV. But now it's not, because DD IV is DD IV. It's like how Rambo is actually the second movie in the franchise (the first is actually called First Blood), but when the third movie came out they just called it Rambo III. That's confusing as all hell. Really, I spent the entire 90's dancing around SDD. People hate on the cartoon but it was must watch TV for me as a kid, I still have my Dragon Sword and Billy and Jimmy action figures. I even saw the absolutely horrible movie, that's as bad as everyone says it is. But for whatever reason, I never played Super Double Dragon. Did I miss out?
Yeah, definitely. Super Double Dragon is definitely one of the top 5 beat em' ups I've ever played and it might be my personal favorite. It had all the hallmarks of the genre, but I found the gameplay to be a bit deeper than that of its contemporaries. It was definitely lacking in certain aspects of presentation, but a lot of what's missing is largely unimportant in beat em' ups. If an RPG were missing things like this it would be a fatal flaw, but I don't think its a big deal here. I am not a huge beat em' up fan, but I really liked this game, probably more so than many of the genre's standard bearers. It was a bit slower paced for the genre, but I think that was a positive and I think I preferred this over some more popular titles.
We will start with the stuff that SDD doesn't do particularly well, which comes in the lack of presentation. The cutscenes that defined the first three games are gone, there are no fancy transitions between levels or before boss fights or anything like that. The story is nonexistent, like, there is no story at all. I have heard there were plans to include all of this stuff, but it was scrapped due to time constraints. Honestly though, it's a beat em' up, so it's not super important. This was the fourth game in the franchise, so I guess most folks just assumed you were continuing your battle against the Shadow Warriors or something to that effect. The graphics are pretty good, it's not the best-looking game on the SNES but it's solid and offers the occasional impressive moment, like the stage taking place on top of a moving truck. The music is similar, fun to listen to and technically well done but not quite on par with the top tier soundtracks of the era.
The gameplay is where SDD shines, as it makes a lot of little tweaks to differentiate it from its many contemporaries. However, I found these tweaks drastically changed the way you have to tackle the game and changed it for the better. You have your standard punch, kick and jump buttons, as well as the ability to perform attacks like dive kicks and grabs. You move left to right, up and down as you beat down hoards of Shadow Warriors, of which there are a good variety. There are two major differences here and we will first discuss the more basic: a block button. Being able to block may not seem like a big deal, but it fundamentally changes the way you need to combat your foes. It's not enough to just jump around and dive kick, or shuffle awkwardly so you can stun lock your opponent with a punch. Try and do that and you will only get a hit or two in before the enemy hits you back. You need to time and alternate your attacks and blocks if you want to defeat your enemies, who take much more punishment here than is typical of the genre. If you perfectly time a block, you can catch the enemy's punch with a grab, where you can finish them with a barrage of knees, flurry of kicks or a brutal throw (often in to other enemies). I like this because it rewards you for perfect timing without punishing you for not being as precise. You can still effectively block without exact precision, but you are incentivized to try for it.
The other gameplay addition comes in the form of the dragon power meter. You hold L or R to charge the meter, which will be used when you block or attack. Fill the meter half way and you will perform a super attack based on whichever button you press. Get it to fill all the way and you will get a temporary buff to all of your stats. It's not that easy to fill up, it takes a while and there isn't really that much downtime here. If you want to get it charged all the way you are going to have to get creative and start getting really good at dodging enemies. It adds yet another level of gameplay to a genre where deep gameplay is often lacking. The charge is absolutely worth using, a lot of times mechanics get added to games and are just a waste of space, but that isn't the case here. It is borderline essential against some of the boss enemies and it makes the game way more chaotic and interesting. SDD cuts a bit of a slower pace than the average beat em' up, but it still feels like there is a lot going on and it feels like every enemy encounter matters.
Speaking of the enemies, I have to give credit to the A.I. here. Computer enemies are absolutely relentless here...and that's a good thing. One of the biggest problems I have with most beat em' ups is that enemies often feel like they are braindead, like their sole purpose in life is to just stand in front of you as you repeatedly punch them in the face. You really have to pay attention to what you are doing, even against the weakest of enemies. Sure, they can't take you one on one, but there are always going to be more of them than you. Anyone that has extensive experience with the genre knows that the cardinal rule of beat em' ups is you always keep all the enemies on the same side of the screen. Well, enemies in SDD seem to know that too, because they are absolutely without mercy in trying to get you between them. Again, that's how it should be. The enemies seem like they actually have some level of strategy instead of existing as just fodder.
I really liked Super Double Dragon and I'm kind of upset I missed it when it came out. Again, I'm not super into the beat em' up genre, but this was a good one. I took a look back at some of SDD's review scores from back in the day and while they were generally positive, they were kind of all over the place. It definitely wasn't compared favorably to stuff like Final Fight, largely on the grounds that it felt different than those games. Maybe that difference is why I liked it more than some of the traditionally well loved beat em' ups. I definitely recommend Super Double Dragon, especially to fans of more deliberately paced action games.
Comments
Post a Comment