The Double Dragon games on the NES seemed everywhere in my neighborhood. Whether they were being rented or someone owned them, It seemed like everyone played them. The SNES games were an exception.
The SNES is a blind spot for me. Most of the games I played were games my friends rented. Super Double Dragon wasn’t a game that my friends rented or played. I discovered it much later; this is the first time I played it for writing a review.
My first impressions of the game weren’t great. It took some time to get used to the controls, which is a phrase I don’t normally say when I play a beat’em up. It isn’t as odd as Double Dragon II is initially, but it does take some time.
Super Double Dragon does look great! The animations are fantastic, but it feels slow for some reason. It might be that I’ve been playing mid to late 90s beat’em ups, but I think Technos was having a harder time transitioning to SNES, or the game was rushed.
TLDR: It is a Beautiful Game, essentially a Remake of the First Game.
Narrative
Super Double Dragon is a retelling of the first game. I’m realizing that video game companies have made remasters since the industry was created.
Billy and Jimmy have to save Marian from the Black Shadow Clan. While she doesn’t have the same kidnap and rescue fetish that Mario and Princess Peach have, bad things always happen to Marian. However, there is a better reason for her to be kidnapped now. She is a cop who is trying to infiltrate the clan.
This culminates in a fight against Duke, whom the manual calls the Director of the Black Shadow Clan. Once you win, your characters disappear—at least, that is what the story says.
Oddly, this story starts with a goal and then hopes the play forgets about it after one to two hours. There also weren’t cutscenes between the levels, which was disappointing. I might have missed them, but I don’t think they were there.
I really needed clarification on this, so I dug a little deeper. It turns out that development was rushed. This is also one of the beat’em ups that was never in the arcades.
In a Japanese language article, one of the developers explains that there were supposed to be cutscenes, but they were cut due to time constraints (InterviewLink). I couldn’t find an English translation, and I don’t know Japanese, so I relied on what others had said.
Gameplay
This is precisely what you should expect from a beat’em up. You move on a set path and beat up some people who may or may not be bad guys. Stages and in a boss battle, and the story is told in cutscenes.
At times, the controls felt sluggish. This could be due to several things. My controller could be broken, the Retro 5 I’m using could be crap, and it probably doesn’t help that I’m older and my reaction time is worse.
I wouldn’t say I like the control scheme that much, specifically how it is mapped to the controller. Over time, it isn’t bad, but it is a pain at first. My biggest issue is that you can’t change the controller layout.
If there is a way to change it, I didn’t immediately see it. Would this have been a problem in 1992? No, of course not. Is it a problem for a whinny retrospective review trying to find something to complain about? Of course, it is; that’s why I put it here.
Here is how the controller is mapped:
- Y – Punch
- A – Kick
- B – Block
- X – Jump
One thing I wasn’t sure about was the special attacks. The specials were given a button in other beat’em ups from the early 1990s. However, the Double Dragon games didn’t work this way. You needed to press two buttons at once.
Thankfully, the manual has been posted online (Manual), and it explains what the hell is going on. It is also where I got the story for the game.
Super Double Dragon has a power meter. The L and R buttons control this. You press the L and R buttons to increase the Dragon Power Gauge used for special attacks. Here is a list of the special attacks:
- Round Back Fist – Increase power gauge and press Punch
- Jumping Round Kick – Increase power gauge and press Kick
- Jumping Back Round Kick – Used for enemies for enemies behind you.
- Roundhouse Kick – Increase the power gauge over the halfway point, then press either punch or kick when an enemy is behind you.
Interestingly, some of the moves depend on the position of enemies, making the game feel a bit complicated. I haven’t encountered a system like this in another beat’em up from the early 1990s.
Because I’m dumb, I didn’t use the Special Attacks early on. They would’ve made the game much easier and could’ve gotten me out of some jams. I went back and played the game again, and the specials helped out a ton!
The game has seven stages and lasts as long as you should expect from a 1992 beat’em up. The two playable characters are coded to the controllers and play the same way, much like the previous three Double Dragon games.
There is the usual B.S. with enemies gaining up on you, but it didn’t feel as cheap early on. As the game progressed, it did become more of a problem. The game is easing you into it, so you can figure out how to deal with it.
Overall, the gameplay is good. It doesn’t feel as good as other beat’em ups on the SNES, but it is fun. Having a third or fourth playable character would’ve been an improvement.
Visuals
Super Double Dragon looks very good! It has problems when things start to move, which isn’t as big of an issue as you might think. Things felt slow while I was playing. This might have been due to outside factors, so your experience might differ.
The animations look great! You could grab enemies in the previous three Double Dragon games and do a short combo. The same happens in Super Double Dragon, but they look much better!
Even for a 1992 game, the combos stood out to me. The enemies can also break out of them, which looks great. The combos are more elaborate and look great!
On some stages, it can be hard to line up to attack. This became apparent on the elevator level. You’re on an elevator, and two enemies attack you at once. They jump from one elevator to the next, and it can be hard to maneuver in such a small space.
There aren’t too many sprites on the screen simultaneously, making the slowdown more confusing. For those who don’t know, console games used to slow down and sprite flickering when there were a lot of things going on. Super Double Dragon has 5 to 6 sprites on the screen at a time, but everything is well-detailed.
The graphics are excellent! It looks much better than most of the beat’em ups I’ve played for these reviews. I only have some minor issues, and one of them might not be the game’s fault.
7.5/10. This is a fun game from the 1990s. I would rather play other beat’em ups like Final Fight.
Pros
- Good Controls
- Decent Gameplay
- Good Graphics
Cons
- A bit of a Learning Curve
- Slow Down (This could be due to what I was playing on it on)
- Only Two Playable characters
Conclusion
Super Double Dragon was great. I had a ton of fun with it. It isn’t the best on the system but is better than most.
The slowdown in this game was odd. At first, it felt like the game was moving through water. I did get used to it, but it was strange.
The game’s story and development were much more interesting than the game itself. I love beat’em ups, and Super Double Dragon is a good one, but not as good as Turtles in Time or Hyperstone Heist. Would the story and cutscenes have helped? Yes, but they wouldn’t have elevated the game to the same level as Konami’s TMNT beat’em ups.
There is another Double Dragon game on the SNES. It features the Battletoads, which I’m not looking forward to. Maybe it will be better than I’m expecting.