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Double Dragon for the Atari 7800 - good or bad? Opinions?


Giles N

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OK, so I was really, really curious as to how Double Dragon for the Atari 7800 played.

Everyone said it was mediocre.

But getting hold of fighting games to the 7800 aint that easy.

I had it for while not getting my console to load it.

Then I got an American (ntsc) version, and it booted and played immediatly.

But ... it was... d i f f i c u l t  !  !  !  !

So I try to find ways to get at the bad-guys, but its like every baddie is as difficult as one single opponent in Street Fighter 2: an entire 50/50 outset as fighting commences.

I get so far to the boss of Level 1, and am learning some tricks...

The Retron77 controller from RetroGameBoyz helped a lot.(and it has improved the gaming-experience for every 7800-game... with just one or two exceptions where the European Joypad-with-mini-stick is better).

Any tips for getting the fighting going?

What do you AtariAgers think about Double Dragon for the 7800?

I´d love feedback.

Fell free to comment the way you feel natural.

 

Edited by Giles N
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3 minutes ago, Mitch said:

Reverse jump kick is your friend.

 

Mitch

OK, but I seem to have difficulty making the right button-combo to distinguish a reverse jump-kick from forward jump-kick...

What are the combinations for the 1) reverse jump-kick, 2) normal forward jump-kick?

And what do you think of the game?

Good, bad, mediocre, anything else...?

Edited by Giles N
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7 minutes ago, Mitch said:

Just keep practicing it.

The game is OK. It could have been better but I am still happy that the 7800 got a port of it.

 

Mitch

Thats my reaction too.

I´d really want to get hold of Kung Fu Master (which I played at the arcades as a kid) but its ridiculously expensive...

Anyway... despite some flaws... Double Dragon is entertaining to play... I actually have fun playing it...

Edited by Giles N
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Okay, I've beaten this game a few times before so I have developed a strategy of my own that may be easier than the reverse kick trick. 

 

"Square Dancing": First of all, I've noticed that the characters move along a square. Lets say you are in the middle of the lower line of the square. From time to time, enemies move back, then up, walk around to the other side of you, walk back down, then forward to attack in a square (or rectangle, if you prefer). At the top of this square pattern, as the enemy is walking, you can move up and often get in a free attack before the enemy an react. I usually use regular kicks because they are quicker. To trigger the "square dance" I move up and down until the enemy gives up trying to fight. You'll know the pattern started because when you move up and down, the enemy stays on your plane until be begins walking backward. The enemy also moves slower while in this pattern. The more you see it the more you will recognize it. I'm sure you can get in the free reverse kick in time before the CPU knows what you're doing, I just never mastered that move. 

I also discovered online some time ago that if you can get an enemy to drop a weapon like the knife, your kicks will pack as much punch as the weapon you are carrying. It certainly helps in stage 3! 

These tips should help out a lot, I hope. 

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Like @FroggoGamer stated there the A.I. is easily fooled in this game. I used to beat it weekly once I figured out the right stuff to do at the right time when I was younger and had it new back in the day. Here is what I used to do.. and keep in mind I only had the original CX-24 controller to use or Painline as we call them now.

 

I would basically move up and down quickly until the enemy would start to walk towards me...once they do this they are on a fixed plane and do not move up or down to deviate. As a result you can move up near them or down depending on where they decide to start walking and get a good free hit on them. Getting and using the weapons is key to defeating many of the enemies during the stretch the weapon is available. 

 

My method for taking out the Abobo's was similar. Just move up and down until they lock in on their fixed plane and start to move toward you. But instead of the reverse jump kick (Takes too long to execute and animate), I used elbow punches. I was able to pick off the Abobos with just a few of these and they really weren't a problem. Most enemies could be taken out this way but the elbow punch is just deadly to the Abobo's. 

 

When you finally get to the final room of the game with the boss, just focus all attacks on him and stay away from his machine gun fire and avoid the other enemies. Once you take him out the game is over.

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22 hours ago, Mitch said:

Just keep practicing it.

The game is OK. It could have been better but I am still happy that the 7800 got a port of it.

 

Mitch

Same. C- port of ever there was one but I’m glad the 7800 got a port too. Love the attempts to improve it, even without changing the core code!

 

wish lt was 256K had a POKEY

Edited by DracIsBack
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See in the last example playing the game like the arcade results in a quick death. 

I have never beaten it even chesting with the elbow and zombie enemies always get caught up in a few beatdowns or spikes or maybe pits..

 

 

Edited by Jinks
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I personally really like the 7800's port of Double Dragon. Could it have been better in several areas? Certainly. Nevertheless, I have fun with it. You can't go into it like you would a Final Fight or Streets of Rage style beat-'em-up, or even the original Double Dragon coin-op for that matter, because you're gonna get pummeled fast that way. The 7800 version is a bit slower and more deliberate than other 8-bit ports, but practice makes perfect; the enemy AI is painfully stupid (and your normal punch is worthless because of the 'wind-up' delay - I never use it). I honestly think the game is actually a little too easy though, and I never go for the "reverse jump-kick the whole way through method," either. There's a lot of dodging and weaving and coming in close from the bottom or top of an enemy required, but once you get used to it you can find yourself automatically getting into a groove. At least that's how it is for me.

 

For me, the biggest enemy was the 7800's controller. The stock US joysticks are not well-suited to this game; the European joypads made a huge difference when I first got them years ago. Things are even easier nowadays I imagine, with mods and Edladdin's Sega adaptors and such.

 

And, the 7800 version is actually more faithful to the arcade than either the Sega Master System or (especially) Nintendo ports, from a level-layout standpoint. It's purely an aesthetic thing, but kinda nice.

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41 minutes ago, Linndrum said:

I really liked it too! The music was the only letdown! I love the graphics!

Could there be a possibility of an external sound-chip add-on, giving some more depth to the sound when switched on?

I know the Japanese Sega Master (Sega Mark something) had an extra add-on device which gave improved sound-quality over-all...

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On 7/26/2019 at 2:56 PM, Jinks said:

See in the last example playing the game like the arcade results in a quick death. 

I have never beaten it even chesting with the elbow and zombie enemies always get caught up in a few beatdowns or spikes or maybe pits..

 

 

Well, so far, I still find it difficult... but I also find it fun in its own way... but I should wish the fist-button-bashing thing had worked better...

With weapons and with some of the kicking, I can still get a feel of what it wants to resemble from the Arcade...

Edited by Giles N
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