Reviving the classic arcade games that many of us grew up with has proven to be popular with Xbox 360 owners. For a mere 400 points you can relive your childhood, and waste a few minutes of your adulthood. One of the newest retro titles is Double Dragon, the side scrolling, two player co-op fighting classic. Unfortunately, this title is one that should have been left to nostalgia, rather than destroying our fond memories of this game.
Who can forget the classic intro with Billy’s girlfriend getting slugged in the gut and carried off by a gang of thugs? Billy is joined by his brother Jimmy Lee on a martial arts quest to get his girl back. They battle through 4 very brief stages, culminating in a final fight with each other for the right to the girl, while she continues to remain tethered to the wall (all that work to get her back, and Billy doesn’t even bother to untie her?).
The biggest drawback to Double Dragon is the length of the game, or lack thereof. Though it seemed to go on forever and ever when the player was pumping quarters into the machine, the Xbox Live Arcade version features unlimited continues. It will take most players all of twenty minutes to beat Double Dragon, leaving the gamer wondering why he just spent 400 points on it.
The developers tried to artificially create replay value by giving Double Dragon some mutually exclusive achievements. If you can beat the game without ever picking up a weapon, you’ll unlock an achievement. If you are holding a baseball bat at the end of the 3rd stage, you’ll unlock another. Some achievements are unlocked only in one player mode, while others are unlocked in co-op. Instead of using this carrot and stick technique to get gamers to pick this title up more than once, why not create a Boss Battle mode, a Versus fight mode, or even a “Director’s Cut” mode that tosses in a few new stages? Please, give us some other options than the same outdated, button pounding rescue mission.
Graphically, the game was barely updated for 2007, and looks just about the same as it did 20 years ago. We’ve seen other titles greatly improved upon, without losing any of the flavor of the original game, so why not give Double Dragon the same treatment? The visual upgrades to games such as Centipede greatly enhanced the value of these games, and made the purchase seem worthwhile. Instead Double Dragon is filled with dated animations and backgrounds that show just how far video games have come.
