When it comes to co-op brawler games, nothing satisfied my younger brother and myself like the fantastic Double Dragon 2 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It’s a game I often come back to along with River City Ransom on the same system. I was quite surprised to find out a number of years ago that the NES version received a CD-ROM port on the PC Engine and featured enhanced graphics, CD quality sound and cut scenes. Unfortunately, the game itself has a pretty high asking price for one in the brawler genre; so I’ve avoided picking it up until just recently.

Popping this game into my Turbo Duo, I honestly have to say I was expecting a little more for a “CD” version of Double Dragon 2. The most “cringe worthy” part of the first level is easily its soundtrack featuring a song with a sample that has a woman giving out a blood curdling scream every 30 seconds or so. The song also sounds poorly mastered and extremely distorted in portions. Those hoping to get a catchy Streets of Rage type soundtrack will not get it, though there are a couple of decent tunes later on in the game.

The NES version of Double Dragon 2 featured a diverse palette of colors, giving levels a unique look; but this version of the game lacks those characteristics comparatively. It almost seems like the developers were trying to go towards more of an arcade look with an NES level design. Unfortunately, it just ends up looking flat compared to its Nintendo counterpart.  By no means is the game poorly animated, it’s just missing some kind of special spark.

The cut scenes in this game are also nothing really to write home about either.  This game was released in 93, meaning it came 3 years after the excellent cut scenes featured in YS: Book 1 and 2 on the same system. While the scenes get the point across, they seem like the whole design process for them was rushed and later scenes often don’t fit into the in-game sequences you will experience in the next level. Billy also looks extremely different when comparing his cut scene character with his in game graphics. I’m sure that sounds picky, but it bugged me.

Operating the game is easy enough and if you are familiar with playing almost any brawler you’ll be able to jump right into this game pretty quickly, though I still feel as though it lacks the tightness that the NES version had.

In conclusion, this version of Double Dragon 2 is a neat, alternative look at what a “spiced up” NES Double Dragon 2 would play like; but it just doesn’t live up to the quality of the original.

I was really hyped for the latest game in the Battlefront series. Did the beta impress me?

The original Phantasy Star series is one that I’ve been meaning to get around to playing for years. With my default platform being the SNES back during the console war days, my Phantasy Star options were pretty limited. Sure, we could have borrowed a Genesis console from a friend; but none of my friends that owned a Genesis were into or allowed to play RPG’s at the time, so that option was out the window. Could I have rented the game and console? Yes, but we all know how long these games can take to finish and on such a limited budget; extended rentals could get expensive.

As the years have gone by, I’ve slowly acquired the majority of the Phantasy Star games on the Genesis and was just waiting for a good opportunity to play one of them. Which one though? Do I start with 2, 3 or 4? Every single person I talked to said that if I had to choose a Phantasy Star game to start with to go with 4. So, during some time off during the holiday season I popped in the 4th game in the series and my dive into a Genesis RPG began.

The story starts out with a two person team of monster hunters tasked with cleaning up a research facility, but this quickly escalates to a larger plot where many lives are at stake and eventually the entire universe. This is all presented with terrific music, simplistic menu navigation and manga like cut scenes that help the player get more into the universe. As much as I love Final Fantasy 3/6, Phantasy Star IV really fires on all cylinders with developing and presenting its plot. Could you imagine if they would of made this available for the Sega CD with actual animated cut scenes and voice overs? Redbook Audio mixes of the soundtrack?! That would have been quite a presentation.

The game has plenty to offer in terms of exploration. I never visited a town or dungeon that looked like it was copy and paste job from the last one. Just when you think you’ve seen everything there is to see, you find yourself on another planet with its own set of towns and dungeons. One of my favorite features in the game is the ability to “talk” to your characters in the party. Doing so will not only allow you to see your characters personalities come out, but will explain the current direction you need to take to advance the game. That feature alone is nice for players who may not have an opportunity to play the game through on a regular basis.

After a few very long nights that went into the early AM each time, I managed to finish the game and I can say I fell in love with it as much as I did when I finished Final Fantasy 3/6 on the SNES. The game has certainly moved into one of my favorites on the platform. Now, I’m left with the dilemma on what game in the series I should play next. 2? 3? I will give myself some time before I make the commitment to it, but I’m looking forward to visiting the universe of Phantasy Star again. If only I could go back in time and convince one of my friends to give these games a try back in the day! Just so I could play them of course.

Gamer Logic reviews  Hardcore Gaming 101’s book on Castlevania! Fans of the series will want to check out this review and see what this book is all about!