Same here, I remember putting the coin in the cabinet for the first time, watching the intro thinking: “...yeah, yeah here we go again, Marian getting punched and kidn.....WTF THEY KILLED THE BITCH!!!”
Traditional fantasy and Billy and Jimmy, old fashioned hot shot icon warriors, the best fighting game ever, By Acclaim! Billy Lees is mainly inspired by John Wayne, Sgt. Rock, Madonna, and Bruce Lee, an Jimmy Lee main inspirations are Arnold Shwarzenagger, Robert Stack, Cyndi Lauper, and Bruce Lee. Billy is based on and taken from the idea of action hero Chad Mcqueen, as theirs reference in Karate Kid of Dutch for Billy Lee, and Jimmy is taken and based on the idea of the Leo influenced action&liesure arts old fashioned geek in the earlier Gen X decades.
I've really come to appreciate your content - plenty of channels do complete histories of games that show every game in a series, but your channel is the only one I've seen do deep dives of every port of one single game with detailed commentary. Can't wait to see what's next!
I'd actually prefer more history and documentary then system comparison, tends to get monotonous watching 10 versions of the same game for different systems. I like the channel otherwise, but this aspect of it I dislike.
Someone on RU-vid said they met Double Dragon's original creator at a con once and asked why Marian had to die. They answer they were given is that DD2 was not meant to be sequel, but rather a retelling of the story with a darker ending where Marian dies rather than being kidnapped and rescued. Part of the reason for that was to keep players going back to the first game since it has a happier ending.
Awesome video Pat. Agree about the controls: back in the day, the new scheme and fast pace put me off playing it too much. I always preferred the original, but I’m tempted to give it a go again on emulation, as your video really shows it has its own merits.
@@seanmyster6 They were definitely going for a Danny Trejo vibe. Especially considering the roles he was playing in at the time. He always did an excellent job playing bad ass criminals in film. It's likely because he actually lived that life until he landed his first role in a movie in 1985 *Runaway Train. I can't believe the guy is like 75 years old today.
I got the NES version of DD2 the same year I got my Game Genie. My friend and I spent 6 agonizing hours (probably only like 3, and 2 of those on Missions 6 and 7) beating the game. I still know how to pull off the spin kick, and the hyper knee to this day.
I once owned the MS DOS version of DD2 so long ago, and I remember all the dreadful noises that it made. It made no sense to hear those noises, whenever you used the shovel, watched the first boss disintegrate, or watched the cutter from the plow in the background strike you or the enemy on the 3rd stage. All those annoying beeps sounded the same. I think even when your character died, it made the same beep. 😋 I remember those Tiger Electronic games. Looking back now, they provided that cheap, oily, liquid crystal display entertainment. 😀 I also owned that Double Dragon part 1 from Tiger Electronics (Only God knows where it is and what had happened to it). Again looking back, if I recall correctly, in that game, only 1 opponent appears for you to fight at a time. You have to kick the opponent quickly, before he depletes your energy, so you can fight the next opponent that appears. The game showed you walking from one opponent to the next, but I think that it didn't show the background moving, so there was not really any scroll effect on the screen. I didn't know they had a DD2 out on Tiger Electronics either, but I also owned one WWF Tiger Electronics game too. I don't know whatever happened to that either, but if I remember that one correctly, you fight as Hulk Hogan. Your opponents appeared one by one, and the tactic to beating the game was to drain your opponents health quickly to 3 bars, and then press both punch and kick buttons simultaneously to perform a throw and K.O the opponent that way quickly. You could never throw the opponent before his health reached 3 energy bars. That much I remembered for certain. I believe for certain that plenty of those Tiger Electronic games are obsolete now, buried very deep in landfills somewhere by this day and age. 😋
In the NES version of Double Dragon II, the most powerful move is the jumping knee attack. You need to jump, land on the ground in a crouching position, then jump again from that position at the right time. It packs some serious knock back.
My go-to maneuver here. My cousin had a turbo controller & was able to pull that move off easily, pretty much beating the game by only doing that. But its hard to timed it with a normal controller
Great video! I always loved the Double Dragon series. 2 was a great game that I enjoyed on several platforms. I had no idea there were so many cool influences, but makes sense because I love Bruce Lee movies and the Mad Max movies as well.. Great job!
When DD2 came out in the arcades, it was a big hit immediately. Took me almost 2 hours just to play it with so many teens on the machine at the time, but fun times indeed. I still have the NES version of the game, but the arcade will always to me be the best!!!
This game has the slowdown too. Most of the gameplay you posted shows this. And for anyone wanting to see the best double dragon true to the arcade do a search for double dragon reloaded. Plus you can play as hulk Hogan, randy savage and more. It is the best version I have ever played. Slowdown is fixed. And it's pretty faithful to the arcade. And it's free if you can find it anymore that is.
Because of the arcade version I got the "you are too into video games talk from my aunt" cuz I refused to leave the arcade in Indiana fort wayne area circa 1989 until I saw the ending. Little did she know Robotech and the Double dragon franchise were the only respite from my abusive childhood. Life goal accomplished spring 1989; take that Margarita!
I remember playing this for the first time at a Mr. Gatti’s back in the late 80s. Getting used to the new control scheme was interesting to say the least. However, I have experienced slow down in this sequel too! Still love the game and the music...😃
Movie was trash. Games was good cartoon was alright started getting wack when they started adding the dragon warriors. Plus I didn't like those stupid looking mask they look like sea serpents.
@@oaf-77 You can't be serious. That shit was garbage first off the actor's they pick to play Bill and Jimmy where way off, the cat who play Jimmy Lee didn't even have blonde hair. Abobo look crazy they didn't have roper, Linda, or Williams characters in the movie. Robert Patrick as the shadow master lol I see it in theaters I was so disappointed, I sat there a watch it twice just so I can try to like it. It fucking bad man it no cleaning that up.
I'm proud to say I've never seen the movie or the cartoon but I did like the crossover. Any movie where Marion is depicted as a 10-year-old boy I'm out.
The ending theme is very effective in both versions. The original arcade game has a beautiful bittersweet arrangement, while the NES arrangement sounds more triumphant.
Oh mu god! One of my all time favorites arcades Double Dragon II, i still play this arcade in Guatemala 🇬🇹😊 Hope you can do a video about Silk Worm/Tecmo.
I was lucky enough to find a "pre-release" of the NES version about 2 & 1/2 months before the nationwide release. I found it at "Rose's" department store, and they only had about 5 copies. It did not have the traditional shrink wrap that all new video games are sealed in. The plastic hanger that hangs on the store hooks was glued to the cardboard on the back of the box. All during the 7th grade my friends wanted to borrow it because they couldn't find a copy anywhere else for months. I wish I still owned it :(
Hokuto No Ken (aka Fist of The North Star) provided the majority of inspiration for Double Dragon, not The Warriors. It was a very popular franchise in Japan in that era. The heroes look similar, the premise is similar (post-apocalyptic setting, hero's girlfriend is kidnapped at the start by the main bad guy). The Japanese flyer's artwork also looks similar to Tetsuo Hara's style.
I used to play Amiga games with a master system controller and the extra button worked on many games. Can't remember if it did on Double Dragon 2 but I spent hours playing this on the Amiga after getting it in the Fists of fury compilation set which I still have.
I was looking forward to the NES version so much that I literally dreamed about buying and playing it. It lived up to my expectations. I loved the music and that super knee attack you could do after landing from a jump. The platforming was still a nightmare but I got through it.
Double Dragon 2 the revenge on snes is one of my favorite games! Me an my 11 month younger little sister used to be able to beat it sometimes when we were kids. I love the music during the credits! For the longest time it was probably the only game I ever beat and I always felt like I just couldn't beat games until the ps3 era when I beat fallout 3 100% and it gave me confidence in gaming and I went on to beat other games like all of the far cry games (except the first one) and rdr and rdr undead nightmare an call of Juarez bound in blood and after beating all of those in a row I started going back to older games I loved and never got to finish. I finally beat duck tales a few years ago! As much as I love gaming I'm not gonna pretend I'm very good at it but now I'm less likely to just give up and feel like it's impossible. I should meet up with my sister sometime and see if we can beat double dragon 2 as adults! Thanks for the video Patman!
Originally conceived as an expansion for the original game, Double Dragon II eventually became a full fledged sequel. The controls are a bit wonky but once you get use to them allows for way more moves. Incidentally, I have the Tiger Electronic handhelds for Double Dragon I, II, and even III. Obviously they're not so great visually, but there is decent gameplay there. Better than many of the weaker ports you highlighted.
What I remember most about this game was: 1) you couldn’t spam the elbowsmash to plow through 2) there was a boss that looked like Andre the Giant’s fashionable doppelgänger
I just learned after posting this video that the big boss you are referring to was actually the same sprites used for Andre in the WWF superstars game that came out a year later
I had the Tiger version of this game, back in the day. Eight levels of repetitive jumping kicking and ducking to avoid darts sent from nowhere. Second portion of the game had also moving platforms with insta-death if you missed timing, flames raising randomly under your feet (screwing timing for moving platforms), and final levels featured some sort of evil clone obtained using all regular enemies' sprites constantly changing. All in all, it was a chore, but when I was eleven my dedication was absolute, and I managed to beat it a couple of times.
Yooooo. I had that Tiger handheld lol. It was right before I got a Game Boy later that year for Xmas along with DDII for it. It's also the only Double Dragon game I've beaten, aside from Super Double Dragon Thank you so much, Patman, long time viewer, first time commentating. Your serene approach is very informative and entertaining at the same time. I love all the little jokes that you throw in there on the sly as well as the extras. I come for the games, but I stay for the Patman. Thanks again!
Have you played Double Dragon Advance on GameBoy Advance? It's probably my favorite Double Dragon game PERIOD..... Really tight gameplay with lots of new attacks, 2 player simul, combines DD1 & 2, & has new enemies. It has excellent audio, too. Definitely check it out, if you haven't. You'll thank me. I also really like the Japanese version of Super DD on SNES, Return of Double Dragon. It has smarter enemies & some gameplay tweaks. DD Neon was trash, save for some quality remixes of classic tunes.
I only played this game on the NES, it was good just like the first one, I didn’t know that Steam had the games on their store, I’ll have to check them out, thanks for the look back.
The atari st version looks like a bondage beat em up! Every shot was like, "awkward moving bondage woman" and a whole menagerie of "shirtless tough guys"
I remember back in 1990 my niece wanted a Game Boy for Christmas. What she got was Double Dragon for the Tiger hand held. Her mom did not know the difference or understand why it was not as good.
In DD2 arcade, when it comes to special moves, the elbow smash in number 2 game was nerfed and wasn't nearly as powerful from the first game. I guess developers for DD2 wanted players to change up their playing habits and use different varieties of moves/special moves rather than spamming one move all the time.
Great video as always. Strangely, despite playing through the original DD more than 100 times, I have never played this sequel. Thanks to you, I will search it out.
@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Not only do I enjoy your sense of humor, I absolutely enjoy your retrospective video series of amazing arcade games from back in the day. I personally enjoyed playing Double Dragon and Double Dragon II in their original arcade format as well as their not-great home conversion counterparts respectively. I even had the pleasure of playing both on MAME. Tecmo really knew how to ensure that quarters never stayed in one's pockets for too long.
Fun fact (sorry if you mentioned and I missed it): The helicopter on the garage where the twin brothers comes from, is the helicopter from the arcade laserdisc cobra command, game that was directed by Kishimoto. Same with the car in the garage of the first arcade game: is the car from the arcade laserdisc road Blaster/ road avenger Also directed by Kishimoto. And if you check that game, you’ll notice all the designs Of the characters are based on the Mad Max universe plus Hokuto no Ken.
When I was young I was taught that I should never lay my hands on a woman, so it took me by surprise when the thug punched Marion in the first game. Then when I played the second one and she was shot, I was shocked!! I actually liked the left/right attack buttons. I found that it made things a lot easier when you were surrounded. It took a little getting used to but once I had it down, I had an easier time with DD2 because of the control scheme. Also, I have watched a ton of your videos in the last few days, so have my subscription, and I hope tons more!
I never played any of the scrolling versions but me and my school friend would play the 1 on 1 version by SNK which was based off of the movie. The game was mad and feature a super saiyan like power up feature that changed your move set. Good memories.
Wow, so many fond memories of playing this in the local arcade back in the day. I felt like pretty much everything about this game improved upon the first, except the slowdown. Boy, was it hard to play at times, specially in the two-player mode. But I was very pleased with the final result, even though some of the areas and stage designs seemed awfuly familiar. Nice video, keep it up!
I had no idea the NEC: PC Engine had Double Dragon II: The Revenge, I remember the Sega Genesis and the MSX. I also didn't know about the Road Warrior influences; Just figured Thunderdome probably had something to do with it because in the time of it most things were. I remember reading about characters all named after The Big Boss, Game Of Death, and Enter the Dragon. The Post Armageddon storyline in Revenge is said to be 100% Homage to Fist Of The North Star.
The first series of games I fell in love with 😘 I liked the cheekier moveset of Renegade tho, knees to the cobblers & ground pound, the seediness in all games was so well captured. There was a weird glitch once where I had a full health bar near the bridge in the first game, a biff effect, then I instantly died, like I was uppercutted by the lady of the lake, lolzzz. 😋 So chuffed the c64 version turned out as well as it did compared the the first turd fest, didnt play much like the arcade but was good in its own right, plus they made the effort for choons on each level, rare, even Amiga didn't have that 👍🏼
Wow!! An Electric Bugaloo reference. I remember watching that in the theater. Even if viewers know about it, I wonder how many can say the same!! Cardboxes all-day after school!!
I didn't mind the change in controls itself to be an issue. The issue was that in the UK no one ever configured the buttons on arcade machines. Half the time the left button was attack right, the middle button was attack left and the right button was jump so it was a nightmare just pressing the right buttons.
Sadly the next gen kids of today will never know what a 'home conversion' is. That was part of the allure back in the day. Experiencing the original in the arcade and getting a home version. It didn't matter what the home version was like, all that mattered was that you had your own copy bought and paid for and could play it for free whenever you liked. The original double dragon in the arcade is my favourite game of all time and when it was released by Melbourne House on the C64 I had to have it. It was possibly the worst game I had ever played but it didn't matter, because it was double dragon. I used to stare at the box art for what felt like hours and read the instruction booklet over and over again. In a few years time you won't even be able to buy a hard copy of a game when it all goes digital and those experiences I had as a child will disappear in the memories of all of us that were there.
Neither was the back-elbow attack. It's even shown on this video. I did see cyclone kicks being performed on the PC Engine version! I thought that they had taken it out. I gotta learn the modified attack execution.
Double Dragon II was the best game in the series, both in the arcades, and on the N.E.S. The Turbo Duo version was awesome as well. I even HAD the actual machine to this, which I used as my Jamma cabinet back in the day too! I remember reading the second game was actually supposed to be just an upgrade of the first, with a true sequel to follow, but decided to merely pass this off as the actual sequel instead though. It did have slowdown in a bit of places, albeit not quite as bad as the first game however.
Back the distance past, I have the 128K Speccy version, and seem to remember, the Spin Kick Killed all badguys in one hit, even the bosses, and to make matters worse/better the controls to do the move were just up+fire, to do a jump, it activated the spin kick if you were close enough to a badguy, some years later I got a NES and DD2, and it was the best-est game ever
This used to be my favourite game on the NES! It's an absolute classic.... And just to be that guy, the spin kick is there on the NES.... I have the PAL version though, not sure if that's something that'd differ across regions though.
