Game Review: Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Review: Double Dragon II: The Revenge

The sequel to Double Dragon begins with some annoyance. Marian, who you fought so hard to rescue in the first game, only goes and gets herself gunned down at the outset of this one by the leader of the Black Warriors who has somehow been revived. Talk about careless, Marian. Billy and Jimmy Lee set out across five levels to take their revenge against the Black Warriors. You begin at what looks like an airbase with helicopters in the background, before moving onto a factory, then outdoors through some farmland, the entrance to the Black Warriors hideout and finally the vortex of their isolated domain.

The combat is a little smoother in this sequel with your limited repertoire seeing you punch, elbow and jump kick your opponents. You can pick up some handy items like knives, whips and a shovel at one stage which is helpful. Your general enemies are limited with a tough red haired woman, a guy who likes a clown and another with crazy hair and even madder eyes being your staple opponents. There are an assortment of larger and tougher opponents as well though who emit peculiar sounds. When I played this in the early nineties I could have sworn one guy said, “I want a poo!” At least two of the larger enemies can be very annoying in the respect that once they knock you down they won’t let you get back up again and you’ll lose a life. One has sunglasses and does an unconvincing kick, the other has two swords and is pretty tough if you’re not careful.

Double Dragon II is still fun but brief and can easily be cleared in less than an hour. The enemies are not too much of a problem with a series of punches being enough to take them out if your timing is good but if you want to play it safe go for the jump kicks. Incidentally, the two enemies that are brutal and don’t let you get back up have an easy solution. Simply position yourself to their right and you’re fine. Even if they knock you down they’ll simply stand with their backs to you and just attack thin air! Unintentional glitch I’m sure but amusing all the same. This hasn’t ported so well from the arcade with no animation in the background and that field of cows you pass on the third level is wrong on so many levels and not just scale. I have echoes of Father Ted trying to explain the scale principle to Father Dougal using toy cows and comparing them to real cows in the distance. I’m also not sure why some enemies when they’ve been killed lie on the floor and randomly change the direction they’re facing.

For all its faults Double Dragon II is still good to kill half an hour on. Graphically it doesn’t look so good these days and some of the enemies look rather peculiar to say the least. More than twenty years later I’m still not sure about this relationship Billy and Jimmy Lee have with Marian. I once thought she was Billy’s girl but these days I’m just not sure anymore. While not the best version of Double Dragon II this one still has its moments.

Verdict: 2/5

About the Author:

I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school.

In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu’s Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I’m a lover of films, games, books and blogging.

I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats – Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.

David M. Brown – who has written 867 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.

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