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.