Double Dragon 2

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The arcade version of Double Dragon II is essentially a reworked version of the original Double Dragon, using the same engine and redrawing most of the game's graphics. The main change in the game is the replacement of the original game's punch and kick configuration in favor of a two-way attacking system (Left Attack and Right Attack) similar to one of Technos's previous beat 'emup game, Renegade. The objective is to avenge Marian's death (the girl that was kidnapped on the first game). There are four different stages to fight through that include a heliport, a lumber storehouse, a corn-field, and the gang's main hideout. All the enemy characters from the first game are back, with some of them given some makeovers such as different hairstyles or physical features, as well as some new attacks. Although its "great" name, the overall gameplay is nothing special to speak of. It gets a bit frustrating as mostly you will find yourself surrounded by several bad guys, looking to kick or punch you heavily! And more on that, you can only hit, walk or jump either from left to right (which will leave your back uncovered most of the times). Other than that, Double Dragon II (and the whole series actually) is a pretty much decent game and surely you should give it a try, just to remember the good old gaming days.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The PC version is compatible with different graphics modes. There is an extended EGA mode (probably supporting more than 16 colors on screen with dithering), an original EGA mode (also with 16 colors) and a CGA one that shows 4 colors on screen. Note: On the screenshots below we have placed all three different modes (side by side) for comparison. All 3 modes offer most of the Amiga and Atari ST details and only a few background details are missing (from the original). The sprites move fast while the area scrolling is quite smooth. The PC sound does not support any special (extended) sound effects via any Sound Blaster compatible card. It only consists of some simple PC-Speaker sounds.