Double Dragon II (NES, 1989)(1-player)
Graphics-8 Sound-8.5 Control-6.5 Challenge-7.5/8.5* Story-6
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5#/8/9* Fun-6.5/7# Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5/7**?/7#
*Hard mode
**2-player
#JP ver. on normal
+
Back attack kicks from the get go (pressing B while facing right or A while facing left makes you kick backwards, in DD1 NES you gained it as the second to final move)
Decent amount of special moves (forward+B+A after landing from a jump and getting back up=knee thrust, jump then B+A=tornado kick, B after landing from a jump or getting up=uppercut)
Some decent bosses (level 2 ninjas, )
Mixes in side view and platforming segments
Some impressive enemy AI (some can dodge your jump kicks and knee thrusts by ducking and some can jump up platforms to reach you)
Some interesting level gimmicks and mechanics (pits, helicopter door that sucks you and the enemies into it, pick up and throw dynamite sticks that have been thrown by the enemy, conveyor belts - DD1)
Grabs and throws (DD1)
Decent intro and hard mode ending (artwork stills and text)
Difficulty options (practice/normal/hard, see below however)
Pretty good visual variety
Can repeat knee thrusts over and over although it's pretty hard
+/-
B+A to jump (B punches left and A right here)
Uppercut is very strong but kinda awkward to use since you have to jump first and the timing is strict
Can't run
Pretty short levels (very short level 3 and level 6)
Odd difficulty in that the specials are hard to pull off but do great damage+you can keep using them on most bosses even as they get back up if you have great timing
Start with all the moves here (in DD1 you'd gain them over time like in an RPG)
Can't hurricane kick while falling back down making it a pretty situational move (sometimes it will still hit an enemy on the ground though)
Hard mode starts off good in that enemies and hazards become more aggressive rather than enemies taking more hits to kill or there being more fodder enemies - in the late game enemies take about 2x hits to kill though
Can cheese some enemies by standing in just the right spot and punching as they get back up
Can't punch enemies while they're down here and can't headbutt (DD1 NES)
No save or password feature
Enemies are more aggressive and have more health in the JP version's hard mode
-
No standard continues and you normally don't gain any 1-ups* in the western versions (have to input a code which is also different depending on the level you died on, the last one has to be done on controller 2 and you only get one shot!) - the JP version does have continues
Have to play on hard/supreme master to face the true final boss and easy/practice ends after level 3. Note that this isn't the case in the JP ver. - there you can play the full game on any difficulty!
Some control/interface issues (no invincibility time after getting back up so you can be knocked down over and over by some enemies and bosses, some movement delay after landing from a jump, kinda loose scrolling making it harder to react to danger, somewhat slow punch combos, no jump height control+annoying to have to use these to use any specials, too hard to consistently pull off hurricane kicks and knee thrusts, sometimes unforgiving hit detection - level 4 mini-boss at the spike roof's tackle+your back attacks need to be close to hit him and other larger enemies, the uppercut after getting back up can be interrupted+doesn't always trigger, too hard to land jump kicks, can't jump sideways/on the z-plane)
Weapons disappear after beating the current group of enemies that dropped them
Bosses and some enemies can just interrupt your combos over and over (feels cheap that there's no block or counter move to this especially during side view segments, still it's improved compared to DD1 where basic enemies could do it)+No reliable desperation/breakout move
Some difficulty spikes (later platforming segments - especially on hard, certain bosses in the side view segments)
Kinda repetitive (some repeated bosses and various enemies)
Can't throw enemies into each other
Poor normal mode ending
No barrels (DD1)
Notes:
*Can gain 1-ups only by killing the other player in a friendly fire enabled 2-player mode (wtf) - can be used to replenish health for both players in 2-player mode but having friendly fire sucks
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5#/8/9* Fun-6.5/7# Originality-6
Overall Score-6.5/7**?/7#
*Hard mode
**2-player
#JP ver. on normal
+
Back attack kicks from the get go (pressing B while facing right or A while facing left makes you kick backwards, in DD1 NES you gained it as the second to final move)
Decent amount of special moves (forward+B+A after landing from a jump and getting back up=knee thrust, jump then B+A=tornado kick, B after landing from a jump or getting up=uppercut)
Some decent bosses (level 2 ninjas, )
Mixes in side view and platforming segments
Some impressive enemy AI (some can dodge your jump kicks and knee thrusts by ducking and some can jump up platforms to reach you)
Some interesting level gimmicks and mechanics (pits, helicopter door that sucks you and the enemies into it, pick up and throw dynamite sticks that have been thrown by the enemy, conveyor belts - DD1)
Grabs and throws (DD1)
Decent intro and hard mode ending (artwork stills and text)
Difficulty options (practice/normal/hard, see below however)
Pretty good visual variety
Can repeat knee thrusts over and over although it's pretty hard
+/-
B+A to jump (B punches left and A right here)
Uppercut is very strong but kinda awkward to use since you have to jump first and the timing is strict
Can't run
Pretty short levels (very short level 3 and level 6)
Odd difficulty in that the specials are hard to pull off but do great damage+you can keep using them on most bosses even as they get back up if you have great timing
Start with all the moves here (in DD1 you'd gain them over time like in an RPG)
Can't hurricane kick while falling back down making it a pretty situational move (sometimes it will still hit an enemy on the ground though)
Hard mode starts off good in that enemies and hazards become more aggressive rather than enemies taking more hits to kill or there being more fodder enemies - in the late game enemies take about 2x hits to kill though
Can cheese some enemies by standing in just the right spot and punching as they get back up
Can't punch enemies while they're down here and can't headbutt (DD1 NES)
No save or password feature
Enemies are more aggressive and have more health in the JP version's hard mode
-
No standard continues and you normally don't gain any 1-ups* in the western versions (have to input a code which is also different depending on the level you died on, the last one has to be done on controller 2 and you only get one shot!) - the JP version does have continues
Have to play on hard/supreme master to face the true final boss and easy/practice ends after level 3. Note that this isn't the case in the JP ver. - there you can play the full game on any difficulty!
Some control/interface issues (no invincibility time after getting back up so you can be knocked down over and over by some enemies and bosses, some movement delay after landing from a jump, kinda loose scrolling making it harder to react to danger, somewhat slow punch combos, no jump height control+annoying to have to use these to use any specials, too hard to consistently pull off hurricane kicks and knee thrusts, sometimes unforgiving hit detection - level 4 mini-boss at the spike roof's tackle+your back attacks need to be close to hit him and other larger enemies, the uppercut after getting back up can be interrupted+doesn't always trigger, too hard to land jump kicks, can't jump sideways/on the z-plane)
Weapons disappear after beating the current group of enemies that dropped them
Bosses and some enemies can just interrupt your combos over and over (feels cheap that there's no block or counter move to this especially during side view segments, still it's improved compared to DD1 where basic enemies could do it)+No reliable desperation/breakout move
Some difficulty spikes (later platforming segments - especially on hard, certain bosses in the side view segments)
Kinda repetitive (some repeated bosses and various enemies)
Can't throw enemies into each other
Poor normal mode ending
No barrels (DD1)
Notes:
*Can gain 1-ups only by killing the other player in a friendly fire enabled 2-player mode (wtf) - can be used to replenish health for both players in 2-player mode but having friendly fire sucks