Double Dragon (NES)

Game description

Double Dragon for the NES is a port of the arcade original made in 1988. This is the very first game made by Technos Japan outside of the arcade world.

Although sharing the same type of gameplay, theme and characters, many elements differ from the arcade original.

The most notable is the alteration of the multiplayer mode. It is not possible to play a cooperative game, only alternating turns.

Other major change is a learning system that allows you to do new move as you get level. Each time you get 1000 heart points, you gain a level and thus, new moves. After five levels, you gained all the move of the game.

The third major change in the NES port of Double Dragon is the level design. Although following the arcade original, each level has new features. More emphasis on platforming section were added as well.

Lastly, the game includes a special mode when you can play as every character except the final boss, Machine Gun Willy. This mode can be played against the CPU or another player. Each character has unique sprites for this mode, but in Abobo case, most of it was recycled from Mode A. It is only possible to play mirror matches dues to technical limitations (it is not possible to have 2 different characters fighting each other). There is a single arena for all the fight.

You play as Billy Lee, a highly trained martial artist. One day, he witnesses thugs kidnapping his beloved girlfriend Marian. He vows to save her and go through four missions in order to defeat Machine Gun Willy and Jimmy Lee, who is revealed to be the true boss of the Shadow Warrior. Jimmy Lee’s role is unique in this port, to explain the lack of multiplayer modes.

In every other port and all the following games, he is the equivalent of Luigi in Mario Games, filling the second player slot and helping his twin brother get Marian back.

You start with 2 lives, but you don’t get extra life and there is no continue. However, health is replenished each time you change section.

Mission 1 has 2 sections, Mission 2 has a single one, Mission 3 has 4 sections and Mission 4 has 3 sections.

In the first three sections of Mission 3 as well as the first section of Mission 4, you must take the right path to advance to the next section. If you don’t, the section will loop and you will have to do it again, without your health restored. There is also a time limit for each section, but there is plenty of time to complete each mission without worrying about it.

Even if you don’t have any health remaining, you will still be able to fight until you get a knockdown.

Falling from a height will cause Billy to be in a knockdown state, but he won’t take damage. However, if you perform this action while having no hit point remaining, you will lose a life. Falling off-screen, in the water or in lava will cause you to lose a life.

Thankfully, each time you do lose a life, the game will respawn you at the last checkpoint of the current section and not at the beginning of the level.

An article about glitch, 5 Glitches for Double Dragon – NES, is about the same game, check it out!

Double Dragon Playthrough

The playthrough use the USA version of Double Dragon. It first starts with Mode A, the main game. The main goal is to get to the end of the game without being hit once. It also aim to show every move you can do in the game. Throwing or kick enemies in holes are prioritized when possible. More emphasis was put early in the game in order to level up quickly, but no tricks were used to get to the final power level with sunblock. The general idea is to kick before punching opponents.

In Abobo’s case, the idea was to take advantage of where he is fought. If there is a ledge, pushing him in his preferred. In Mission 3’s first section and Mission 4 final section’s case, going through them and kicking them is the most effective method.

The same strategy applies for Chin, but you can also hire pull him and knees before throwing him, dispatching them quickly.

This work well for Willy too, but you must make sure to not stay in front of him unless you do a perfectly timed kick to hair pull him again. Finally, for Jimmy, the ideal strategy is to use the regular kick into a high jump kick and corner him on the left side of the screen. You will have enough reach to hit or counter him.

After finishing Mode A, Mode B is selected. 6 duels were initiated against the CPU in order to see all sixth playable character. The final battle is the one featuring Abobo.

No cheats or glitches were used in the run. TASing tools were used to offer a high-quality playthrough