Double Dragon

There are games that you go into just knowing you are going to hate it. But every so often you are pleasantly surprised to actually enjoy the game. Double Dragon for the Neo Geo isn't just impressive, it's highly recommended over many of the "bigger name" Neo Geo fighters. I wasn't just impressed, I was blown away.

Double Dragon is based, however loosely, off of the Double Dragon movie, which is based, however loosely, off the arcade games of the same name. The movie, while mostly forgettable does have Agent Doggett, er Robert Patrick is his other big roll after Terminator 2: Judgement Day. And it really wasn't any worse than the Super Mario Brothers movie ... but that's like comparing rotting cheese to raw sewage.

I digress, Double Dragon pits many of the characters from the movie (led by the totally daft Jimmy and Billy) in a best of three rounds fight. Many of the characters end up fighting characters they would never really fight ... but then again, at the end of the original Double Dragon you were forced to fight each other. Anyway, what we have here is nothing more than a Street Fighter 2 hybrid with Double Dragon characters.

The game stands out, however, because it has extremely precise control. The fighting engine seems fair, and not loose or too stiff. The game, however odd it may sound, literally feels perfect. The moves are extremely easy to pull off, and range from dull to extremely interesting looking. And the backgrounds really come alive. In one level a subway car crashes through the side of the building, in another you break through several walls. The game really feels like a 2D version of Dead or Alive 2.

But the game isn't perfect. It's a little limited in it's scope, and the characters aren't very well balanced. There isn't a lot here to discover, either, but what we are given is a good fighting game that is overlooked. Check it out!!