Virgin Games/Binary Design
£9.99 cass, £14.99 disk
Billy and Jimmy Lee were first fought the evil Black Warriors back in issue 61. Double Dragon II takes place several years on, and this time the newly formed Black Warriors are more vicious: They kidnap girl friend Marian and kill her! Billy and Jimmy vow to rid the world of the murderous bunch. In single or two-player mode you scour the five levels of tough city streets wiping out the scum. A number of combat moves are on offer, along with an array of obvious weapons (like bike chains and guns), and not so obvious - just try hefting that huge crate. But watch both the timer at the top of the screen and the energy meters that decrease at an alarming rate when you're hit. Go to it guys, and wipe 'em out!
I wasn't overly fond of the original, but Double Dragon II - The Revenge is a great improvement. Both the character sprites and the nicely detailed backdrops are monochromatic: this cuts out severe eye strain, and more importantly shows off the great writes. Both Billy and Jimmy are capable of a staggering array of moves from a swift kick in an unmentionable place, to a series of complex leaps and bounds. Beat-'em-up fans (like myself) will find plenty of action in this brilliant sequel.
MARK [87%]
Here's one for all of you who thought the original Double Dragon was too easy. Doublr Dragon II - The Revenge. The game is set out in exactly the same way with the same graphics but different backgrounds on each of the five levels. All the sprites and backgrounds are well drawn and colour has been kept at monochrome to avoid any clash. Sound is also very good with plenty of jingles, tunes and effects. The best thing about Double Dragon II is that it's much harder than the original. Everyone could easily progress really far on the first, but now it takes more time and provides the player with a real challenge. There are a few surprises thrown into this game to add to the fighting mayhem. Like walking past a combine harvester and getting mown down, Double Dragon II The Revenge is a great game and should provide you with endless beat 'em up fun.
NICK [83%]
Virgin Mastertronic
£9.99 cass/£14.99 disk
Reviewer: Sean Kelly
Hands up anyone who members the first Double Dragon on the Speccy then? Ah, good, quite a lot of you. Now, who gets a 'nice, warm, friendly glow' when they think about it? Hmm. Just as I thought. Not so many. Yes, it was a little bit of a disappointment (or at least, I thought it was).
Anyway here's the sequel, and I'm pleased to be able to tell you it's loads better. Virgin has spared no effort in the ol' 'pad it out with a scenario' stakes so even those of you who missed the first game will know what it s all about. Thus we are informed that our heroes Billy and Jimmy killed all the members of the Black Warrior gang, then rescued their hostage, Marion. But, hold on a minute that's not all! Yes, one girlie member of the Black Warriors (with the deceptively innocent name of Linda) survived, and vowed vengeance on the Double Dragon twins! Dan dan dan daaaah!
Now, being the only surviving member of a gang that's now shuttled off its collective mortal coil, what would you do? Retire to Bridlington for a quiet life? See the light and hand out leaflets on your chosen cause in town centres? Blimey no!! You'd travel east, learn lots of magic tricks, suss out how to raise the dead (neat trick, that one) and get the Black Warriors back together again so they can all take a stab at bashing up Billy and Jimmy one more time. And that, in a rather large nutshell, is exactly what our Linda has done.
Now, being dead didn't do much for the cunning nature of the Black Warriors, 'cos the first thing they did when Linda brought them back to life was kidnap Marion back again. Predictable or what? But wait, there's more! They also killed her this time! Yikes! Fortunately though, Billy and Jimmy don't let this deter them and set out once more to give the nasty Black Warriors a good whipping, hoping to 'rescue' (ie bring back to life) Marion before she gets too smelly.
Yup, it's horizontally scrolling beat-'em-up time livened up by a brilliant two player option. Billy and Jimmy have got all the usual moves kicking and punching, leaping and cartwheeling singing and dancing - you name it, the lads do it. They make the London Boys look like they've got wooden feet! Their figures are well drawn and smoothly animated and look kind of cartoony with their slightly exaggerated proportions.
Virgin has wisely gone for a monochrome screen display, and although it sometimes gets a little cluttered and difficult for you to establish what's going on (like when about four bad guys bundle in at once, for instance), for most of the time it works pretty well. Something which sets it apart from most beat-'em-ups is that boxes, rocks and just about anything else that's lying around can be picked up along the way and thrown at the bad guys. What a brilliant lark! The bad news is that they tend to throw them back at you pretty ruddy sharpish (so I often adopted the reasonably effective 'chuck it and scarper' approach). But on the whole its a brilliant addition to your standard beat-'em-up fare. There are also 'natural' hazards to be negotiated, such as holes and a fair amount of leaping, diving and climbing is required it you want to avoid dying, which (let's face it) you probably will.
The sound is alright, the usual sort of kicky, punchy, spring-aroundy types of noises, with some good crunchy bashing sounds on the 128. My only worry is that we've seen too much of this sort of thing already and (throwing option aside) it isn't different enough to distinguish itself from all the rest. I've already typed 'Dragon Ninja' in twice by mistake when writing this review so you see the problem! It's perfectly fine for passing the time in an arcade, but I doubt it'll get anyone massively excited in its Speccy incarnation.
REPLAY
Most of JON PILLAR's friends are old speccy games. No one else really understands him...
Mastertronic
£3.99
Reviewer: Jon Pillar
Another Fists game. Exactly the same as the original - team up with a pal and rush around aimlessly, thumping people a lot. Animation is jerky and the game play's stilted and repetitive. Kerrunchh! Kerpow! Kerrappp!
REPLAY
Whiffy, spiffy, tiffy and thoroughly nifty. Prey gentle molluscs, take your seats for the great YS roundup...
Tronix
£3.99 cassette
Reviewer: Rich Pelley
The world of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48/128K beat-'em-up can be a bit predictable at times. The reasons for this are that, firstly, there's a plot which seems to always concern someone seeking revenge against somebody else. Then there's the gameplay, which naturally consists of beating everyone up with a variety of kicks, punches and the odd special move. As for the graphics, there's the playing area which generally scrolls in a sort of 3D manner so that the usually monochrome, but well animated sprites can walk in in and out of the screen. Sometimes even two players can join in as well.
What we have here is Double Dragon 2 and all the above points apply, along with a few more as well. There's extra weapons like boxes, rocks, knives and anything else left lying bout can be picked up and used to your advantage. You can also climb ladders, go through doors, fall down holes and so on.
Should you, or should you not, buy this game? Well, there's little or nothing to set Double Dragon aside from many other beat-'em-ups. It's good, but it's not as good as Target Renegade. Still, it hasn't aged, it plays well and should still be high on the list of things to spend that annoying WH Smith's voucher on that you got from Auntie Molly at Christmas.
Label: Virgin Mastertronic
Author: In House
Price: £8.95
Memory: 48/128/+3
Joystick: various
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter
What complete drivel! That was the cry that went up for Double Dragon the first time it somersaulted onto the streets over a year ago and landed flat on its face (although it still seemed to sell a lot of copies.) Well the boys are back in town and they're meaner than a gorilla with a tree wedged up his bottom (sideways!!) There can be few people who haven't played the arcade and even less who have not seen it or at least heard of it. But, for the benefit of the three of you who have just arrived on the planet, that's you Zob, Xanack and Borlock, here's the lowdown....
Billy and Jimmy our two heros are back on the streets but so are the Black Warriors, the band of weapon totin' meanies that kidnapped Billy Lee's girlfriend Marian, in DD 1. Their leader, the gun totin' Willy, is particularly mean and in a vary bad mood as he's been recently raised from the dead and it's given him a murderous hangover which has sharpened his need for revenge.
So he's kidnapped Marrion again and taken her to his secret base - but this time he's murdered her and entombed her remains in a magic field. Talk about nasty!
Our two, Shinto twin brothers must kick, punch, and gouge their way to Marion to release her and, using their Shinto powers, pump up the volume on her body so they can all leap into a space time continuum and live a happy and rewarding Shinto life.
The game is either a one or two player game, with control being selected from the menu. A lone player can have two brothers under control from just one joystick. but this makes things quite tricky. As they make their way towards Willies hideout, members of the gang will try to stop them in their tracks using whatever means they have at their disposal. Spades, daggers, whips, grenades, bike chains, you name it and they'll use it against the boys but if they are forced to drop an item, one of our heros can pick it up and deal out a little dirty fighting themselves.
This game is wicked! And uses mindless violence to its upmost. The graphics are large and wall defined, showing all the possible moves that our heros can make to their best ability. There are also soma very nice touches - if one of the lads get hit, then his facial expression changes to one of surprise and worry. I like that - and I like the game: it's a must for any fan of the coin-op and it will provide more than adequate consolation for anyone who bought the first Double Dragon. Rad!
JIM SEZ: 69%"It's alright, but haven't we all seen it a million times before - mind you, it's a damn sight better than Double Dragon 1!".
Label: Tronix
Memory: 48K/128K
Price: £3.99
Reviewer: Big Al Dykes
Girlfriends, more trouble than they're worth! Take the case of William Lee, whose girlfriend Marion keeps getting kidnapped by bad guys and mutant meanies. Every time she gets kidnapped Billy and his brother Jimmy have to rescue her. And maahn is it difficult!
I am of course talking about Double Dragon 2. The second in the Double Dragon series of games, Double Dragon 2 has you beating your way through a thong of thugs, using a variety of moves, kicks and punches, to rescue poor Billy's bird.
The original Double Dragon was a pile of old rubbish but this one is much, much better. Unfortunately the graphics and action are really nowhere near as good as the latest game DD III (which is reviewed on pages 48-49), but it's still a really good fighting bash which comes into it's own in two player mode.
Fight it out with the Black Shadow warriors using fists, feet, chains and swords in a battle to the death. Be prepared to spend some time with this game!
GARTH:
Hey, you're right about girlfriends. Mine has just left me for some XR3i driving dude! Good job I've got DD2 to have a blast with!
Spectrum 48/128 Cassette: £9.99, Diskette: £14.99
Atari ST £19.99
Amiga £19.99
DOUBLE TROUBLE FROM LITTLE CHINA
So you've completed Double Dragon and you're satisfied. Ha! Time to get the black belts out again, one of those hoodlums survived your last little martial arts extravaganza. Yes, years later, the Black Warriors are back to cause havoc, and have once again kidnapped the fated Marilyn - however, they've killed her this time. If you both fancy the battle against them again then put your dosh here. However, we won't feel slighted if only one applies - you've had a bad few years, we understand.
It's revenge this time. Jimmy (and Billy hopefully) start without any weapons (these guys are pros, aren't they?) so first things first, get some knives, guns and hand grenades. The new members of the Black Warriors have got the hardware, so like it or not, you're gonna have to kick some ninja ass to be on a par with them.
Watch out for crates etc, these are unlikely weapons but can be lifted and lobbed at all and sundry - though watch out for your partner. The energy bar zips down at an alarming rate each time you are hit so duck and dive.
Get all the weapons you can for each end-of-level baddie - this guy's a mean mother! Talking of mothers, it's all for Marilyn, remember...
Oriental beat-'em-ups are a bit old hat now, but playable ones are always welcomed on the TGM doormat - as was DDII. It closely follows the coin-op in not only look but also addictiveness. The going is tough with plenty of aggressors and pitfalls to overcome before the final showdown on level five. DDII puts another injection of life into the dying beat-'em-up genre.
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